UNION COUNTY COLLEGE ACADEMIC PROGRAM REVIEW
Computer Science/Engineering
Associate in Science Degree
I. Program Objectives
The Computer Science/Engineering (ENCS) program offers the first two years of a computer science curriculum and prepares graduates for successful transfer to bachelor’s degree programs at leading engineering colleges throughout the country. Computer science, as an option in the Engineering program, studies the theoretical and practical problems of system implementation involving both software and hardware. The program prepares the student for a career in design and development of computer systems. Baccalaureate degree graduates
understand hardware and software and can engineer computer systems for a variety of customer applications.
Union County College has dual admission agreements with New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers University. These allow Union County College graduates to transfer with junior status without going through a second admission process. Union County College also has formal transfer agreements with many other colleges.
Applicants for the Computer 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 the appropriate preparatory courses. All candidates are required to take a mathematics and a physics placement test.
The specific objectives of this program are that the graduate must be able to demonstrate: • the ability to apply knowledge of computer system components, organization, and
software operating systems;
• the ability to apply knowledge of computer algorithms, data structures, assembly language, and programming and data processing skills;
• critical thinking and mathematical problem-solving skills in calculus; • an understanding of fundamental principles and problem-solving skills in
chemistry and physics;
• the ability to write and communicate effectively; and • the ability to work as a team member.
II. Departmental Organization and Administration
The ENCS program is beneath the umbrella of the ETA
III. Faculty
During the 2006-2007 academic year the ENCS program consisted of three, full-time, tenured faculty members. Professor Dzuback taught courses within the ENCS program during both the Fall 2006 semester and the Spring 2007 semester. Professor O’Donnell taught courses within the ENCS program during the Fall 2006 semester only and Professor Hawthorne taught during the Spring 2007 semester only. Professor Dzubak taught 21 contact hours during the Fall semester and 12 contact hours during the Spring semester. Of those contact hours, 15 were within the ENCS program in Fall semester and 9 were within the ENCS program in the Spring semester. Professor O’Donnell taught 24 contact hours during the Fall semester, 12 of those hours were within the ENCS program. Professor Hawthorne taught 12 contact hours during the Spring semester 3 of those hours were within the ENCS program.
There were no part-time faculty during the 2006-2007 academic year in the ENCS program.
IV. Curriculum
Mathematics (15 credits):
MAT 171 Unified Calculus I MAT 172 Unified Calculus II MAT 267 Discrete Mathematics MAT 271 Unified Calculus III
Science (12 credits)
CHE 111 General Chemistry I PHY 111 Mechanics with lab
PHY 201 Electricity & Magnetism with lab Communications
(6 credits)
ENG 101 English Composition I ENG102 English Composition II
Humanities/Social Sciences (12 credits)
Two History Electives
ECO 201 Principles of Economics I or ECO 202 Principles of Economics II Psychology or Sociology Elective
Programming (15 credits)
CSC 101 Computer Algorithms CSC 102 Data Structures CSC 121 Assembly Language I CSC 126 Intro to Operating Systems
CSC 231 Computer Organization & Architecture Technical (3 credits) EGG 105 Intro to Fundamentals of Engineering Health (2 credits) PED 101 Concepts of Adult Fitness
Total (65 credits)
communications skills from employees. The science and humanities/social science and health courses help contribute to developing students’ well-rounded general education.
The sequence of technical courses consists of three credits in engineering. Fifteen credits remain for computer programming. 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 ENCS 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 ENCS majors enrolled over the past five years shows that the number of students fluctuates. The total enrollment in the 2006-07 academic year included 123 ENCS majors, most of whom were continuing (82) or first-time (24) students. Table 2 details ENCS enrollment patterns over the past several years. Table 3 further details fall enrollment patterns by attendance status. As can be seen in this table, there was about an 2% decrease in the number of students enrolled in the Fall of 2005 (93) to the Fall of 2006 (91).
Table 4 shows the number of transfers into the ENCS program. The ENCS program had an increase from 1 to 3 in the 2006-07 academic year.
Student attrition throughout the ENCS program has hindered students’ academic success. As Table 5 depicts, there were 26 first time ENCS students in the Fall 2005 semester, yet only 5 endured after four semesters. Those who did not continue in the program either did not re-enroll (13 students, or 50%), were academically dismissed (4 students, or 15%) or changed their major program of study (4 students, or 15%). Three of the students that stayed after four semesters were full-time for all four semesters. There were no graduates of the ENCS program over the four semesters from the Fall 2005 cohort.
Table 6 shows the number of graduates from the ENCS program over the past five years. The number of graduates from the ENCS program remained at 4 from the 2000-01 to the 2001-02 academic year and increased to 5 graduates in the 202001-02-03 academic year. In 2003-04 the number of ENCS graduates decreased to 2 graduates then decreased to 1 graduate in 2004-05 and 2005-06. 2006-07 had another decrease of 1 graduate leaving zero graduates.
The ENCS direct instructional cost has decreased over $200,000 between the 2001 and 2006 fiscal years, to $261,949.29, while the cost per full-time equivalent (FTE) student has increased almost $155, to $3,155.98. Table 8 has figures since FY2001.
There are 7 similar Associate’s degree programs in the area, 20 Bachelor’s degree programs, 5 Graduate Certificate programs, 9 Master’s degree programs and 5 Doctorate programs. Table 9 lists these schools and programs.
B. Core Course Scheduling and Enrollment
Table 10 depicts the distribution of students among core ENCS courses from the 2000-01 to 2006-07 academic years. Overall, 1679 (duplicate) students enrolled in 115 sections of core ENCS courses with an average class size of 14.6 students. A total of 584 (duplicate) students enrolled in the core ENCS courses in academic year 2000-01. There were 32 sections that ran, with an overall average class size of 18.3 students. During the 2006-07 academic year, 78 (duplicate) students enrolled in 8 sections for an average class size of 9.8 students. It should be noted that all of the core courses in the ENCS program were offered and ran at least once during the 2001-02 to 2005-06 academic years. Additional required course enrollment is presented in Table 11.
Table 12 contains core course scheduling information. There were a total of 139 core courses offered, of which 115 ran, over the seven year time period. Most ENCS major courses were offered (and ran) on the Cranford campus. Tuesday/Thursday courses dominated the schedule, with 57 of the 63 offered courses running. Apart from Tuesday/Thursday courses, the most popular days for courses were Unknown (online or other) (17 that ran) and classes that started between 12:00pm-12:59pm or 7:00pm - 7:59pm (20 that ran).
C. Student Outcomes
The Office of Assessment, Planning and Research conducts an annual survey of UCC graduates. All of the ENCS respondents reported that they accomplished their objective at UCC. Two of the students who transferred to a 4-year institution after graduating from UCC transferred to NJIT to pursue a degree in Computer Science. One of the students who transferred to a 4-year institution after graduating from UCC transferred to Rutgers to pursue a degree in Computer Engineering. Survey results over the past five years also emphasize that the majority of ENCS graduates are generally satisfied with UCC. Further details from this survey are presented in Table 13.
VII. Summary and Conclusions
The obvious weakness of the ENCS program is attrition/retention. The number of first-time students in the program in FY 2007 was only 24, 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.
The credit hours generated for the Computer Science/Engineering program has decreased every year since FY 2001. Also, the cost per FTE of the ENGR program, i.e., $3,155.98, exceeds the median cost per FTE of programs at UCC which was $2,974.67 in FY 2006.
The occupation employment projections for Engineering managers and Engineers show sixty annual average job openings from 2004 to 2014 for Union County. 1 The ENCS Program was not designated as a regional program because it is not unique among community colleges in the state, e.g., Essex, Passaic, Brookdale, Camden, Cumberland, Hudson, and Ocean offer programs. There are also several institutions that offer bachelors, masters and doctoral degree programs in the state.
The Program Coordinator needs to develop an action plan to increase retention to graduation of students in the ENCS program. Actions should be targeted at increasing enrollment of students in the second year of the program.
Assessment of student learning outcomes in the capstone course should be undertaken without delay. The results of the assessment should be used to enforce the program. Changes made to the program based on assessment results should be documented and submitted to the Vice President for Academic Affairs in FY 2010.
1
Computer Science/Engineering Table 9
Local Engineering Programs
Institution Program Degree
Computer Science/Engineering
Essex County College Applied Computer Science A.S.
Passaic County Community College Applied Computer Science A.S.
Brookdale Community College Computer Science A.S.
Camden County College Computer Science A.S.
Cumberland County College Computer Science A.S.
Hudson County Community College Computer Science A.S.
Ocean County College Computer Science A.S.
Princeton University Computer Science B.A.
Steven's Institute of Technology Computer Engineering B.E.
Fairleigh Dickinson University Computer Science B.S.
Kean University Computer Science B.S.
Monmouth University Computer Science B.S.
Montclair State University Computer Science B.S.
New Jersey City University Computer Science B.S.
New Jersey Institute of Technology Computer Science B.S.
Ramapo College of New Jersey Computer Science B.S.
Rowan University Computer Science B.S.
Rutgers University/Camden Computer Science B.S.
Rutgers University/New Brunswick Computer Science B.S.
St. Peter's College Computer Science B.S.
Seton Hall University Computer Science B.S.
The College of New Jersey Computer Science B.S.
William Paterson University Computer Science B.S.
New Jersey Institute of Technology Computer Engineering B.S.
New Jersey Institute of Technology Computer Engineering B.S.
Monmouth University Software Engineering B.S.
The College of New Jersey Computer Engineering B.S.Co.E.
Princeton University Computer Science B.S.E.
Steven's Institute of Technology Computer & Communications Security Grad. Cert.
Monmouth University Software Development Grad. Cert.
Monmouth University Software Engineering Grad. Cert.
Steven's Institute of Technology Software Engineering Grad. Cert.
New Jersey Institute of Technology Computer Engineering Grad. Cert.
Steven's Institute of Technology Computer Engineering D.E.
Princeton University Computer Science M.A.
Steven's Institute of Technology Computer & Information Engineering M.E.
Steven's Institute of Technology Computer Engineering M.E.
Steven's Institute of Technology Computer & Information Engineering M.S.
Fairleigh Dickinson University Computer Engineering M.S.
New Jersey Institute of Technology Computer Engineering M.S.
Monmouth University Software Engineering M.S.
Steven's Institute of Technology Software Engineering M.S.
Princeton University Computer Science M.S.E.
Steven's Institute of Technology Computer & Information Engineering Ph.D.
New Jersey Institute of Technology Computer Engineering Ph.D.
Steven's Institute of Technology Computer Engineering Ph.D.
Appendix I
Computer Science/Engineering 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 Computer Science/Engineering program, Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) codes 14.0901, 14.0902, 14.0903, and 14.0999. The analysis links the academic program by CIP code to the federal government’s Standard Occupational
Classification (SOC) system. CIP codes 14.0901, 14.0902, 14.0903, and 14.0999 are mapped to SOC codes 11-9041, engineering managers, 15-1031, Computer software engineers,
applications, 15-1032, Computer software engineers, systems software and 17-2061, Computer hardware engineers.
Computer Science/Engineering (CIP 14.0901, 14.0902, 14.0903, and 14.0999) Mapped to SOC 11-9041: Engineering Managers; SOC 15-1031: Computer software engineers, applications; SOC 15-1032: Computer software engineers, systems software; and SOC 17-2061: Computer hardware 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 1,106 computer science/engineering jobs (10.14%) is predicted for the Newark-Union Labor area. This compares to a 10% increase throughout New Jersey and 16% nationally.
General economic growth throughout the US should create about 964 additional computer science/engineering jobs in this area over the next five years. However, an expected 86 computer science/engineering jobs will be lost in the local area over the next five years. A regional decline of 652 computer science/engineering jobs is expected by the year 2012. In sum, 964 jobs created + 794 local jobs gained – 652 national jobs lost = 1,106 total projected jobs.
The concentration of computer science/engineering 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 jobs are
Somerset, Middlesex, Morris, Mercer, Burlington, Monmouth, Hudson, Bergen, Hunterdon, and Union counties, since these areas are above the national concentration average in engineering
obs. j
Timeframe: 2007-2017 (10 years)
The computer science/engineering job market in the Newark-Union Labor area over the next ten years is projected to have an increase of 2,054 jobs. Regionally, an increase of 18.84% of computer science/engineering jobs is anticipated over the next 10 years, compared to increases of 20% at the state and 31% at the national level.
