Work in progress - general engineering program assessment - where do we stand?

Abstract

Identifying and adopting suitable assessment methods are the beginning steps in planning for an accreditation process of a program. For a non-degree-granting department such as the General Engineering Department at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, where do we begin? It is not a degree-granting department; rather it feeds students into the pipeline of the majors after they have completed the basic and core engineering science courses. Assessment requires and reflects a long-term commitment to the program and its constituencies, viz., the students, alumni and industry partners. Like most engineering programs, we have a long history of self-assessment and improvement. However, we had a little documentation of processes already in place. This paper is a discussion of possible assessment measures for departments such as ours and also raises questions about what more could be done.