Institutional Adaptations

Chapter 7: Institutional Adaptations

This report provides a significant resource for colleges and universities seeking to develop or improve undergraduate programs in computer engineering. The appendices to this report offer an extensive analysis of the structure and scope of computer engineering knowledge along with viable approaches to the undergraduate curriculum. Implementing a curriculum successfully, however, requires each institution to consider broad strategic and tactical issues that transcend such details. The purpose of this chapter is to enumerate some of these issues and illustrate ways to address these issues. For schools with existing engineering programs, much of what follows may already be in place or understood.

7.1 The need for local adaptation

The task of designing a computer engineering curriculum is a difficult one, in part because so much depends on the characteristics of an individual institution and the interests and expertise of its faculty members. Even if every institution could agree on a common set of knowledge and skills for undergraduate education, many additional factors would influence curriculum design. These factors include the following.

• Type of institution and the expectations for its degree programs: Institutions vary enormously in mission,

structure and scope of undergraduate degree requirements. A curriculum that works well at a small college in the United States may be completely inappropriate for a research university elsewhere in the world.

• Spectrum of topics included in computer engineering: Each institution needs to select a focus for its program, ensuring the ethos of computer engineering with proper balance between breadth and depth. • Range of postgraduate options that students pursue: An institution whose primary purpose is to prepare a

skilled workforce for the computer engineering profession is likely to have different curricular goals than one seeking to prepare students for research and graduate study. Each individual school must ensure that the curriculum it offers allows students the necessary preparation for their eventual academic and career paths including those outside computer engineering.

• Preparation and background of entering students: Students at different institutions—and often within a single institution—vary substantially in their level of preparation. As a result, computer engineering departments often need to tailor their introductory offerings so that they meet the needs of their students.

• Position of the program within the institution: Computer engineering programs may reside in schools

(colleges) of computing, schools of engineering, and/or schools of arts and sciences, for example. In any case, these programs require a supportive environment that will ensure the ongoing health and vitality of the program.

• Faculty resources: The number of faculty members supporting a computer engineering program may vary from fewer than five at a small college to a hundred or more at a large research university. Program size

heavily influences the flexibility and options available to a program. Independent of the program size, faculty members need to set priorities for ways in which they will use their limited resources.

• Interests and expertise of the faculty: Individual curricula often vary according to the specific interests and knowledge base of the department, particularly at smaller institutions where expertise is concentrated in

particular areas.

Creating a workable curriculum requires finding an appropriate balance among these factors, which will require different choices at every institution. No single curriculum can work for everyone. Every college and university will need to consider the various models proposed in this document and design an implementation that meets the need of their environment.

7.2 Attracting and retaining faculty

One of the most daunting problems that computer engineering departments face is the problem of attracting, and then retaining, qualified faculty. In computer engineering, there are often more advertised positions than the number One of the most daunting problems that computer engineering departments face is the problem of attracting, and then retaining, qualified faculty. In computer engineering, there are often more advertised positions than the number

While the computer engineering program may draw on faculty from related disciplines, as a professional field there must be a core faculty with appropriate professional training and experience. Additionally, faculty members must maintain currency with developments in the field. Institutions must make appropriate accommodations for the professional development of faculty, whether achieved through research, conference participation, sabbaticals (perhaps in industry), consulting, or other activities.

7.3 The need for adequate laboratory resources

It is essential for institutions to recognize that the financial resources required to support a computer engineering program are significant. Software acquisition and maintenance can represent a substantial fraction of the overall cost of computing, particularly if one includes the development costs of courseware. Acquisition and maintenance of the hardware and instrumentation infrastructure required for experimentation and hands-on system development by students is costly. Providing adequate support staff to maintain the laboratory facilities represents another expense. To be successful, computer engineering programs must receive adequate funding to support the laboratory needs of both faculty and students and to provide an atmosphere conducive to learning.

Because of rapid changes in technology, computer hardware generally becomes obsolete long before it ceases to function. The useful lifetime of computer systems, particularly those used to support advanced laboratories and state-of-the-art software tools, may be as little as two or three years. Planning and budgeting for regular updating and replacement of computer systems is essential.

Computer engineering typically has many required laboratories included in the curriculum. The laboratory component leads to an increased need for staff to assist in both the development of materials and the teaching of laboratory sections. This development will add to the academic support costs of a high-quality computer engineering program. Close contacts with relevant industry can lead to the ready availability of interesting up-to-date case study material, but also can open up opportunities for students to engage in internships. Refreshing laboratory material on

a regular basis serves to continually motivate and excite new students.

Finally, with the availability of up-to-date reference materials on the internet, institutions should provide access to such resources as the IEEE Xplore Digital Library and the ACM Digital Library. Webinars, e-books, online tutorials, MOOCs, and other resources are all increasingly available and relevant; these are available through, for instance, the ACM Learning Center.

7.4 Transfer and educational pathways

Access, retention, and degree attainment across bachelor’s academic CE programs are shaped by multiple factors such as admission criteria, student academic preparedness, the diversity of student population, life experiences, and different configurations of educational pathways. The transition points from K-12 through college education vary for successful employment or for further education with advanced degrees throughout the world. This section examines pathways into and through bachelor’s CE degree programs from a global perspective.

7.4.1 Four-year transfers

Understanding the entry points into, and the pathways through, bachelor’s CE programs will help structure these pathways to serve students, companies, and the computing industry as a whole. In particular, appreciating variations and compatibilities in these pathways across the regions of the world will help enable a global computing workforce.

The steering committee considered pathways toward a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and considered the rigor of some CE programs. The group defined a “demanding” program as one that requires a significant number of science courses beyond general education, at least five courses in mathematics, and one in which more than 50% of the program relates technically to computer engineering. It hypothesized that fewer students transfer into demanding programs as compared with transfers into non-demanding programs. If a program was too demanding students may be less likely to complete the program successfully. Transfers would likely take place only between universities of equal caliber. There are many exceptions, of course. Notwithstanding, one would expect that successful transfers between two demanding CE programs and transfers between two non-demanding CE programs would be highly more likely than a transfer from a non-demanding CE program to a demanding CE program.

7.4.2 Technical institute transfers

It would be unlikely that a person enrolled in a program at a technical institute could successfully transfer to four- year computer engineering program at a university. The contexts of the two programs would be very different. Students attending technical institutes would like not study mathematics and science at university levels. Additionally, those students would likely not have the requisite general education courses expected from this experience. Hence, course transfer would likely not even occur.

In many parts of the world, transfer from technical institutes to university CE programs is almost non-existent. Although exceptions could occur, it is almost impossible for a student to transfer any course experiences at a technical institute to a university.

7.4.3 Community college transfers

In countries where community colleges or two-year college programs thrive, transfer to a university CE program from a community college is common. In fact, such a mode of transfer is even encouraged, especially in the United States and Canada. In the United States, for example, in some states students have a legal right to transfer credit for the same course from a community college to a university program. In fact, the two courses might even have the same code and title such as CHEM 101: Chemistry 1. Indeed, many states distinguish community college transfer programs by sponsoring the Associate in Science (A.S.) degree as opposed to the Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree, which is a career-oriented degree.

Going a step further, it is very common in the United States to have articulation agreements between community colleges and universities. These agreements have a certain legal status in that a student who successfully passes courses at a community college has a right to transfer that course to a university that is a signatory to the articulation agreement. Since student enrollment at community colleges is approximately equal to the undergraduate student enrollment at universities, this vehicle of study is very popular around the country. It is common for a community college to have articulation agreements with several universities to which student transfer is likely.