UNION COUNTY COLLEGE ACADEMIC PROGRAM REVIEW
Engineering/Environmental Science Associate in Science Degree I. Program Objectives
The Environmental Science Option offers the first two years of a bachelor’s degree program with a major in environmental science or environmental engineering. It is designed for students who seek a career in some field of environmental protection, waste management, and pollution control.
Students who plan to transfer to an engineering program should take PHY 111-112 in lieu of PHY 101-102. Other course substitutions may be appropriate and students are
encouraged to consult with a faculty advisor regarding appropriate course selections. Because of the diversity of undergraduate environmental programs, it may be necessary for students to take one or more second-year courses at their transfer institutions.
Applicants for the Environmental Science Option must present two years of algebra and one year of geometry, trigonometry, chemistry, and physics, as high school entrance credits. Students deficient in any of these subjects must take appropriate preparatory credits. All students are required to take a mathematics placement test.
The specific objectives of this program are that the graduate must be able to demonstrate:
• critical thinking and problem-solving skills in chemistry, physics, calculus, statistics, and economics;
• an understanding of ecological and geological principles and their relationship to problems involving environmental quality control;
• the ability to apply knowledge of computer science, including computer programming skills, using an appropriate programming language (e.g., C++); • the ability to perform laboratory experiments and measurements, and to graph
and analyze experimental data; • the ability to work as a team member;
• the ability to write and communicate effectively.
II. Departmental Organization and Administration
The ENES program is beneath the umbrella of the ETA
During the 2006-2007 academic year the ENES program consisted of three, full-time, tenured faculty members who taught courses within the Engineering/Physics department. The only courses within the Engineering/Physics department that are offered under the ENES program of study are Intro to Fundamental Engineering and Physics. Professors Gilbert taught courses within the Engineering/Environmental Science department during both the Fall 2006 semester and the Spring 2007 semester. Professor Garcia taught courses within the
Engineering/Environmental Science department in the Fall of 2006 and Professor Nathanson taught courses within the Engineering/Environmental Science department in the Spring of 2007. Professor Garcia taught 15 contact hours during the Fall semester and of those contact hours, 3 were within the Engineering department. Professor Gilbert taught 13 contact hours during both the Fall and Spring semesters all of which were within the Engineering department. Professor Nathanson taught 17 contact hours during the Spring semester, 6 of which were within the Engineering department.
There were no part-time faculty who taught courses in the Engineering/Environmental Science department in the Fall of 2006 or the Spring of 2007.
IV. Curriculum
Mathematics (17 credits):
MAT 148 Intro to Graphics Calculators/Derive MAT 171 Unified Calculus I
MAT 172 Unified Calculus II MAT 127 Elementary Statistics MAT 271 Unified Calculus III
Science (26 credits):
CHE 125 General Chemistry I CHE 112 General Chemistry II CHE 221 Organic Chemistry I PHY 111 Mechanics with lab
PHY 201 Electricity & Magnetism with lab GEY 101 Physical Geology
GEY 102 Historical Geology Communications (6 credits):
ENG 101 English Composition I ENG102 English Composition II
Humanities/Social Sciences (12 credits):
Elective in Social Science Elective in Humanities
ECO 201 Principles of Economics I HIS 101 Intro to Western Civilization I
Technical (3 credits): EGG 105 Intro to Fundamentals of Engineering Programming (3 credits): CSC 101 Computer Algorithms
Health (2 credits): PED 101 Concepts of Adult Fitness Total (69 credits)
employer feedback highlights the need for good communications skills from employees. The science and humanities/social science courses help contribute to developing students’ well-rounded general education.
The sequence of science courses consists of ten credits in Chemistry, eight credits in Physics and eight credits in Geology. All of these courses have the appropriate content and level as indicated by the course descriptions in the 2008-2010 UCC course catalog. All of them also have sufficient laboratory hours that are essential for application of techniques learned inside the classroom.
V. Articulation Agreements or Joint Admission Agreements
Students who wish to pursue a four-year degree in ENES and enroll in the joint admission program between UCC and NJIT are guaranteed entry at junior level status into a parallel program, provided they have completed an associate’s degree and fulfill the necessary criteria of the dual admission program. NJIT programs include Management, Architecture, Computer Science, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Engineering Science, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering,
Construction Engineering Technology, Electrical Engineering Technology, Manufacturing Engineering Technology, and Mechanical Engineering Technology.
VI. Students
a. Program Enrollment Analysis
The proportionate change in total ENES majors enrolled over the past five years shows that the number of students fluctuates. The total enrollment in the 2006-07 academic year included 11 ENES majors, most of whom were continuing (6) or former (3) students. Table 2 details ENES enrollment patterns over the past several years. Table 3 further details fall enrollment patterns by attendance status. As can be seen in this table, the number of students enrolled has decreased each Fall from 2003 which had 13 students enrolled to 2006 which had only 6 students enrolled.
Table 4 shows the number of transfers into the ENES program. The number of transfers into the ENES program increased from 1 to 2 from 2000-01 to 2001-02 and remained at 2 in 2003-04. It then decreased to 1transfer from 2003-04 and remained at 1 in 2004-05 before decreasing to zero in 2005-06 and remaining at zero in 2006-07.
Student attrition throughout the ENES program has hindered students’ academic success. As Table 5 depicts, there was 1 first time ENES student in the Fall 2005 semester who was enrolled for 3 semesters before changing their major. There were no graduates of the ENES program over the four semesters from the Fall 2005 cohort.
Table 6 shows the number of graduates from the ENES program over the past five years. There were no graduates from the ENES program from the 2000-01 to the 2006-07 academic years.
fiscal years, to $17,950.55, while the cost per full-time equivalent (FTE) student has also decreased around $220, to $3,005.66. Table 8 has figures since FY2001.
There is one similar Certificate program in the area, 1 Associate in Applied Science degree program, 2 Associate in Science degree programs, 15 Bachelor’s degree programs, 3 Graduate Certificate programs, 7 Master’s degree programs, and 6 Doctoral degree programs. Table 9 lists these schools and programs.
b. Core Course Scheduling and Enrollment
Table 10 depicts the distribution of students among core ENES courses from the 2000-01 to 2006-07 academic years. Overall, 6,704 (duplicate) students enrolled in 348 sections of core ENES courses with an average class size of 19.3 students. A total of 1,017 (duplicate) students enrolled in the core ENES courses in academic year 2000-01. There were 43 sections that ran, with an overall average class size of 23.7 students. During the 2006-07 academic year, 851 (duplicate) students enrolled in 42 sections for an average class size of 20.3 students. It should be noted that there is no course that is run specifically for ENES majors and students in other disciplines are included in these enrollments. It should also be noted that all of the core courses in the ENES program were offered and ran at least once during the 2000-01 to 2006-07 academic years. Additional required course enrollment is presented in Table 11.
Table 12 contains core course scheduling information. There were a total of 397 core courses offered, of which 348 ran, over the seven year time period. Most ENES major courses were offered (and ran) on the Cranford campus. Tuesday/Thursday courses dominated the schedule, with 88 of the 92 offered courses running. Apart from Tuesday/Thursday courses, the most popular days for courses were Unknown (online or other) (59 that ran) and classes that started between 8:00am - 8:59am (48 that ran).
c. Student Outcomes
The Office of Assessment, Planning and Research conducts an annual survey of UCC graduates. There were no responses received from ENES graduates over the past five years. See Table 13.
An analysis using the CCbenefits occupational projections tool revealed that the job forecast for students graduating from ENES programs in the Newark-Union Labor Area is not a big concern. The area fell short of the expected change by 67 jobs but still resulted in an
increase of 146 jobs over a ten year period. Highlights of this analysis can be found in Appendix I.
VII. Summary and Conclusions
The obvious weakness of the ENES program is low enrollment. Enrollment in the ENES program was 9 students in 2000-01. Subsequent enrollment increased to 11 students in 2001-02 and continued to increase to 18 and then 19 students in 2002-03 and 2003-04
2007 was only 2, which is a relatively small number for an entering class. Given the low retention rate in the program, the number of students surviving to the second and third semesters will likely be small.
Another weakness of the ENES program is that there are no courses offered specifically for the ENES major. The curriculum should be adjusted to focus more on environmental science.
The cost per FTE of the ENES program, i.e., $3,005.66, exceeds the median cost per FTE of programs at UCC which was $2,974.67 in FY 2006.
The occupation employment projections for Environmental Scientists and
Environmental Engineers show zero annual average job openings from 2004 to 2014 for Union County. 1 However, over the next decade, an increase of 10% is projected in the region for Environmental Scientists and Environmental Engineers.2 The ENES Program was not designated as a regional program because it is not unique among community colleges in the State, e.g., Essex, Ocean and Sussex offer programs. Multiple 4-year institutions in New Jersey offer the program as a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and doctoral degree.
An analysis of the curriculum shows that the ENES Program is lacking courses in environmental science. The curriculum needs to be revised and updated to address current topics and developments in the field.
It is recommended that the program be closed to new students until such time as a new curriculum has been submitted to the curriculum committee for approval by the faculty.
1
Source: State of New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development
2
Table 1 Faculty Profile 2006-2007 Academic Year Number Number of Credits Taught Fall 2006 Full-Time Faculty 2 28 1 Part-Time Faculty 0 0 Spring 2007 Full-Time Faculty 2 30 2 Part-Time Faculty 0 0 2
11 credits were not in the Engineering Department
1
Engineering/Environmental Science Table 2
Program Enrollment Five Year Summary
Table 3
Full-Time/Part-Time Status Five Year Summary
Engineering/Environmental Science Table 4
External Transfers Five Year Summary
Academic Year
00/01 01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07
Number of students 1 2 2 1 1 0 0
Table 5 Attrition / Retention First Time in Fall 2005
# %
Enrolled for 1 semester 1 100
Enrolled full-time for 1 semester 0 N/A
After 1 semester 1 100
Enrolled for 2 semesters 1 100
Enrolled full-time for 2 semesters 0 N/A
After 2 semesters 1 100
Enrolled for 3 semesters 1 100
Enrolled full-time for 3 semesters 0 N/A
After 3 semesters 0 1 N/A
Enrolled for 4 semesters 0 N/A
Enrolled full-time for 4 semesters 0 N/A
After 4 semesters 0 N/A
1
Engineering/Environmental Science Table 6
Degrees Conferred Five Year Summary
00/01 01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07
Number of degrees 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
% change N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Table 7
Credit Hours Generated
Program FY 2001 FY 2002 FY 2003 FY 2004 FY 2005 FY 2006
Engineering/Environmental Science (ENES) 132 195 358 367 278 165
Engineering/Environmental Science Table 8
Direct Instructional Cost (in dollars) FY 2001 FY 2002 FY 2003 FY 2004 FY 2005 FY 2006 Direct Cost 18,010.17 23,669.12 38,040.42 38,996.48 40,734.43 17,950.55
Local Engineering Programs
Institution Program Degree
Engineering/Environmental Science
Essex County College Environmental Science A.A.S
Ocean County College Environmental Science A.S.
Sussex County Community College Environmental Science A.S.
Ramapo College of New Jersey Environmental Science B.A.
Richard Stockton College of New Jersey Environmental Science B.A.
Rowan University Environmental Science B.A.
Stevens Institute of Technology Environmental Engineering B.E. Rutgers University/New Bruswick Environmental Policy/Institutions & Behavior B.S. Fairleigh Dickinson University Environmental Science B.S.
Ramapo College of New Jersey Environmental Science B.S.
William Paterson University of NJ Environmental Science B.S.
Monmouth University Environmental Sciences B.S.
Rider University Environmental Sciences B.S.
Rutgers University/New Bruswick Environmental Sciences B.S. Rutgers University/Newark Environmental Sciences (w/NJIT) B.S. New Jersey Institute of Technology Environmental Sciences (w/Rutgers-Nwk) B.S. Richard Stockton College of New Jersey Environmental Studies B.S. New Jersey Institute of Technology Environmental Engineering B.S.
Felician College Environmental Science Certif.
Fairleigh Dickinson University Environmental Science Grad. Cert. Rutgers University/New Bruswick Environmental Resource Monitoring Grad. Cert. Stevens Institute of Technology Air Pollution Technology Grad. Cert.
Montclair State University Environmental Studies M.A.
Number Avg. Number Avg. Number Avg. Number Avg. Total of Class Total of Class Total of Class Total of Class Students Sections Size Students Sections Size Students Sections Size Students Sections Size
CHE 221 - - -.- 1 1 1.0 2 1 2.0 6 1 6.0 CSC 101 170 5 34.0 145 9 16.1 103 6 17.2 79 5 15.8 ECO 201 595 22 27.0 575 22 26.1 573 22 26.0 572 24 23.8 EGG 105 - - -.- - - -.- 18 2 9.0 19 2 9.5 GEY 101 14 1 14.0 29 2 14.3 42 3 14.0 58 4 14.5 GEY 102 9 1 9.0 - - -.- 18 1 18.0 18 1 18.0 MAT 148 102 7 14.6 111 7 15.9 161 8 20.1 131 8 16.4 PHY 111 42 2 21.0 37 2 18.5 49 4 12.3 29 2 14.5 PHYL111 43 3 14.3 35 3 11.7 49 3 16.3 26 2 13.0 PHY 201 21 1 21.0 17 1 17.0 15 1 15.0 11 2 5.5 PHYL201 21 1 21.0 17 1 17.0 15 1 15.0 10 2 5.0 Annual Total 1017 43 23.7 967 48 20.1 1045 52 20.1 959 53 18.1 TOTAL
Number Avg. Number Avg. Number Avg. Number Avg.
Total of Class Total of Class Total of Class Total of Class Students Sections Size Students Sections Size Students Sections Size Students Sections Size
CHE 221 3 1 3.0 2 1 2.0 - - -.- 14 5 2.0 CSC 101 67 5 13.4 48 4 12.0 46 4 11.5 658 38 17.3 ECO 201 583 28 20.8 579 28 20.7 581 23 25.3 4058 169 24.0 EGG 105 39 2 19.5 13 1 13.0 27 2 13.5 116 9 12.9 GEY 101 65 4 16 3 55 3 18 3 55 3 18 3 318 20 16 2 Course 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 Engineering/Environmental Science Table 10
Core Course Enrollment
Table 11
Additional Course Enrollment
Number Avg. Number Avg. Number Avg. Number Avg.
Total of Class Total of Class Total of Class Total of Class
Students Sections Size Students Sections Size Students Sections Size Students Sections Size
CHE 112 27 3 9.0 49 4 12.3 63 4 15.8 58 4 14.5 CHE 125 4 3 1.3 1 1 1.0 4 3 1.3 3 3 1.0 ENG 101 1,323 61 21.7 1,409 61 23.1 1,629 67 24.3 1,651 73 22.6 ENG 102 1,060 46 23.0 1,252 56 22.4 1,402 59 23.8 1,596 71 22.5 HIS 101 963 30 32.1 990 28 35.4 1,125 34 33.1 1,171 31 37.8 MAT 127 137 9 15.2 146 8 18.3 193 9 21.4 191 9 21.2 MAT 171 134 7 19.1 155 7 22.1 205 8 25.6 179 8 22.4 MAT 172 53 3 17.7 47 3 15.7 58 4 14.5 51 3 17.0 MAT 271 23 2 11.5 25 1 25.0 22 2 11.0 19 1 19.0 PED 101 26 3 8.7 33 3 11.0 36 3 12.0 56 6 9.3 Annual Total 3,750 167 22.5 4,107 172 23.9 4,737 193 24.5 4,975 209 23.8 TOTAL
Number Avg. Number Avg. Number Avg. Number Avg.
Total of Class Total of Class Total of Class Total of Class
Students Sections Size Students Sections Size Students Sections Size Students Sections Size
Engineering/Environmental Science Table 12
ENES Core Course Scheduling (including laboratories) Academic Year 2000-01 to 2006-07 Frequency Offered Ran Campus Cranford 303 280 Elizabeth 32 28 Plainfield 1 0 Off Campus 61 40 Total 397 348 Days Monday 25 22 Tuesday 24 23 Wednesday 9 8 Thursday 13 13 Friday 16 13 Saturday 13 9 Sunday 1 0 Monday/Wednesday 43 41 Tuesday/Thursday 92 88 Wednesday/Friday 7 7 M d /W d d /F id 61 58 Monday/Wednesday/Friday 61 58 Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday/Friday 7 7 Unknown 86 59 Total 397 348
Class Start Times
9:00 - 9:59 pm 11 11
Unknown 86 59
Engineering/Environmental Science Table 13
Graduate Survey Information
Graduate Survey Information -- ENES Majors
2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05
n=0 n=0 n=0 n=0 n=0
Accomplished objective -- -- -- --
--Currently employed full-time -- -- -- --
--Currently employed part-time -- -- -- --
--Satisfied with UCC, in general -- -- -- --
--Would choose UCC again -- -- -- --
--Recommend UCC -- -- -- --
--Transferred -- -- -- --
--School -- -- -- --
--CIP Code(s) -- -- -- --
--Engineering/Environmental Science Job Forecast
CCbenefits provides data, tools and reports for community colleges to use for occupational projections with respect to specific educational programs. For the purposes of this report, the APR office utilized the economic forecaster module to investigate the occupational projections for graduates of the Engineering/Environmental Science
program, Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) codes 03.0104 and 14.1401. The analysis links the academic program by CIP code to the federal government’s Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. CIP code 03.0104 is mapped to SOC codes 19-2041, environmental scientist and specialists, including health and 19-4091,
environmental science and protection technicians, including health. CIP code 14.1401 is mapped to SOC code 17-2081, environmental engineers.
Environmental Science (CIP 03.0104) Mapped to SOC 19-2041: Environmental scientists and specialists, including health and; SOC 19-4091: Environmental science and
protection technicians, including health. Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering (CIP 14.1401) Mapped to SOC 17-2081: Environmental engineers. For the
Newark-Union Labor Area (Essex, Hunterdon, Morris, Sussex, Union).
Timeframe: 2007-2012 (5 years)
Over the next five years, a projected increase of eighty-eight
engineering/environmental science jobs (6.10%) is predicted for the Newark-Union Labor area. This compares to a 6% increase in New Jersey and a 12% increase nationally.
General economic growth throughout the US should create about 125 additional engineering/environmental science jobs in this area over the next five years. An expected 40 engineering/environmental science jobs will be created in the local area over the next five years. However, a regional decline of 77 engineering/environmental science jobs is expected by the year 2012. In sum, 125 jobs created + 40 local jobs gained – 77 national jobs lost = 88 total projected job gain.
The concentration of engineering/environmental science jobs in the Newark-Union Labor area is above the national average but this concentration is expected to decline over the next five years. Throughout the State of New Jersey, areas that
specialize in engineering/environmental science jobs are Mercer, Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon, Union, Salem, Monmouth and Essex counties, since these areas are above the national concentration average in engineering/environmental science jobs.
Timeframe: 2007-2017 (10 years)
The engineering/environmental science job market in the Newark-Union Labor area over the next ten years is projected to have an increase of one hundred and forty-six jobs. Regionally, an increase of 10% of engineering jobs is anticipated over the next 10 years, compared to an increase of 10% at the state and 20% at the national level.