UNION COUNTY COLLEGE ACADEMIC PROGRAM REVIEW
Engineering/Management Associate in Science Degree I. Program Objectives
The Management Engineering Option is a transfer-oriented program designed for students who are interested in careers in industrial management, manufacturing operations, plant engineering, marketing, quality assurance, and other similar areas. This curriculum combines elements from science, mathematics, and business and provides the graduate with a broad range of transfer options
Students who choose this program are advised to seek departmental advising during their first semester to tailor their course selection to their individual career objectives and to the demands of the receiving institution.
Applicants for the Management Engineering 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 placement test.
The specific objectives of this program are that the graduate must be able to demonstrate:
• the ability to apply calculus and statistical methods to the analysis of business problems;
• the ability to apply the fundamental principles of physics and chemistry to solutions of technical problems;
• the ability to use the computer to aid in the analysis of business problems, particularly in technical fields;
• the ability to apply the fundamental principles of accounting, business problems, and economics to solutions of problems in industry;
• the ability to write and communicate effectively;
• the ability to work as a team member.
II. Departmental Organization and Administration
The ENMT program is beneath the umbrella of the ETA
(Engineering/Technology/Architecture) department that also includes physics and astronomy. Department communication is informal with no strict constraints. Frequent department meetings are held, although attendance is sometimes low due to time conflicts with laboratory teaching schedules. E-mail and mobile communication devices are used extensively among department faculty.
III. Faculty
During the 2006-2007 academic year the ENMT program consisted of four, full-time, tenured faculty members who taught courses within the Engineering/Physics department. The only course within the Engineering/Physics department that is offered under the ENMT program of study is Physics. Professors Garcia, Lukaschewsky, Gilbert, and Xu taught courses within the Engineering department during both the Fall 2006 semester and the Spring 2007 semester. Professor Garcia taught 15 contact hours during the Fall semester and 12 contact hours during the Spring semester. Of those contact hours, 3 were within the Engineering department in both the Fall and Spring semesters. Professor Likaschewsky taught 14 contact hours during the Fall semester and 10 contact hours during the Spring semester. Of those contact hours, 9 were within the Engineering department in the Fall semester and 8 were within the Engineering department in the Spring semester. Professor Gilbert taught 13 contact hours during both the Fall and Spring semesters all of which were within the Engineering department. Professor Xu taught 4 contact hours during both the Fall and Spring semesters all of which were within the Engineering department.
Keith Hajkowski, a full-time staff member, taught 3 contact hours in the Fall semester and 9 contact hours in the Spring semester. Of those contact hours, 1 was within the Engineering department in both the Fall and Spring semesters.
There was one member of the part-time faculty, Professor Ebert, who taught 4 contact hours in both the Fall and Spring semesters all of which were in the Engineering department.
IV. Curriculum
Business (17 credits):
ACC 103 Accounting I ACC 104 Accounting II
BUS 105 Organization & Management CIS 100 Intro to Computer Applications CIS 101 Intro to Information Systems
Mathematics (11 credits):
MAT 171 Unified Calculus I MAT 172 Unified Calculus II MAT 127 Elementary Statistics
Science (16 credits):
CHE 101 Chemistry I CHE 102 Chemistry II
PHY 101 General Physics I with lab PHY 102 General Physics II with lab Communications
(9 credits):
ENG 101 English Composition I ENG102 English Composition II Elective in ENG 200 or COM Humanities/Social Sciences
(12 credits):
Two Humanities Electives
ECO 201 Principles of Economics I ECO 202 Principles of Economics II
Other (3 credits): General Elective
The total number of credits required in the ENMT program meets the criteria for being awarded an Associate’s in Science degree. Foundational mathematics courses are required. The importance of the English communications courses cannot be overemphasized; repeatedly 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 business courses consists of eight credits in Accounting, three credits in Organization and Management, and six credits in Computer Information Systems. 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 ENMT 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 ENMT 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 ENMT majors, most of whom were continuing (8) or former (2) students. Table 2 details ENMT 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 from the Fall of 2004 to the Fall of 2006 remained constant (10).
Table 4 shows the number of transfers into the ENMT program. The number of transfers into the ENMT program remained steady at 1 from 2000-01 to 2004-05, decreased to zero in 2005-06 and remained at zero in 2006-07.
Student attrition throughout the ENMT program has hindered students’ academic
success. As Table 5 depicts, there was 1 first time ENMT student in the Fall 2005 semester who was enrolled, full-time for 2 semesters before being academically dismissed. There were no graduates of the ENMT program over the four semesters from the Fall 2005 cohort.
Table 6 shows the number of graduates from the ENMT program over the past five years. There were no graduates from the ENMT program in the 2000-01 academic year, the number of graduates remained at 1 from the 2001-02 to the 2002-03 academic year and decreased back to zero in the 2003-04 and 2004-05 academic years. In 2005-06 the number of ENMT graduates increased to 1 graduate then increased again to 2 graduates in 2006-07.
Credit hours generated from ENMT students increased 145 hours to 262 credit hours from fiscal year (FY) 2001 to FY 2006. Table 7 contains this information.
The ENMT direct instructional cost has increased over $23,000 between the 2001 and 2006 fiscal years, to $38,270.84, while the cost per full-time equivalent (FTE) student has also increased almost $200, to $3,487.04. Table 8 has figures since FY2001.
There is one similar Bachelor’s degree program in the area, 1 Graduate Certificate program, and 3 Master’s degree programs. Table 9 lists these schools and programs.
b. Core Course Scheduling and Enrollment
Table 10 depicts the distribution of students among core ENMT courses from the 2000-01 to 2006-07 academic years. Overall, 20,2000-010 (duplicate) students enrolled in 940 sections of core ENMT courses with an average class size of 21.3 students. A total of 2,770 (duplicate) students enrolled in the core ENMT courses in academic year 2000-01. There were 120 sections that ran, with an overall average class size of 23.1 students. During the 2006-07 academic year, 2,887 (duplicate) students enrolled in 139 sections for an average class size of 20.8 students. It should be noted that there is no course that is run specifically for ENMT majors and students in other disciplines are included in these enrollments. It should also be noted that all of the core courses in the ENMT 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. Please note that the required course CHE 101 ran only once during the 2000-01 to 2006-07 academic years while the required course CHE 102 never ran.
Table 12 contains core course scheduling information. There were a total of 1037 core courses offered, of which 940 ran, over the seven year time period. Most ENMT major courses were offered (and ran) on the Cranford campus. Tuesday/Thursday courses dominated the schedule, with 270 of the 283 offered courses running. Apart from Tuesday/Thursday courses, the most popular days for courses were Unknown (online or other) (174 that ran) and classes that started between 7:00pm - 7:59pm (140 that ran).
c. Student Outcomes
The Office of Assessment, Planning and Research conducts an annual survey of UCC graduates. All of the ENMT respondents reported that they accomplished their objective at UCC. One of the students who transferred to a 4-year institution after graduating from UCC transferred to Kean University to pursue a degree in Management Science. Survey results from two of the ENMT graduates over the past five years also emphasize that they are generally satisfied with UCC. Further details from this survey are presented in Table 13.
An analysis using the CCbenefits occupational projections tool revealed that the job forecast for students graduating from ENMT programs in the Newark-Union Labor Area is a concern. The area fell short of the expected change by 151 jobs showing a decrease of 4 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 ENMT program is low enrollment. Enrollment in the ENMT program was 7 students in 2000-02. Subsequent enrollment increased to 10 students in 2002-03 and continued to increase to 12 students in 2003-04 and 14 students in 2004-05. Enrollment then decreased to 11 students in both FY 06 and FY 07. The number of first-time students in the program in FY 2007 was only 8, 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 ENMT program is that there are no courses offered specifically for the ENMT major nor are there any engineering courses offered. The curriculum should be adjusted to focus more on engineering management.
The cost per FTE of the ENMT program, i.e., $3,487.04, exceeds the median cost per FTE of programs at UCC which was $2,974.67 in FY 2006. The cost per FTE of the ENMT program has exceeded the median cost per FTE of programs at UCC since FY 2001.
Of particular concern is the projected decline in jobs for Engineering Managers for the Newark-Union labor area. Over the next decade, a decrease of .032% is projected in the region for Engineering Managers. Similarly, a 1% decline in employment for Engineering Managers is forecast for the State and a 12% decline in jobs is expected for the nation. 1 It should be noted that when Fort Monmouth closes in 2011, a portion of the more than 7,000 engineers and scientists who are displaced will be seeking employment in the region. The lack of jobs may in part explain the propensity for graduates to transfer to a four-year college or university. The occupation employment projections for Engineering Managers show ten annual average job openings from 2004 to 2014 for Union County. 2
An analysis of the curriculum shows that the ENMT Program is lacking courses in management and engineering. 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: CCbenefits 2
Engineering/Management Table 9
Local Engineering Programs
Institution Program Degree
Engineering/Management
Stevens Institute of Technology Engineering Management B.E.
Stevens Institute of Technology Engineering Management Grad. Cert.
Stevens Institute of Technology Engineering Management M.E.
Rowan University Engineering Management M.E.M.
New Jersey Institute of Technology Engineering Management M.S.
Appendix I Engineering/Management 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/Management program, Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code 14.1301. The analysis links the academic program by CIP code to the federal government’s Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. CIP code 14.1301 is mapped to SOC code 11-9041, engineering managers.
Engineering/Management (CIP 14.1301) Mapped to SOC 11-9041: Engineering managers. For the Newark-Union Labor Area (Essex, Hunterdon, Morris, Sussex,
Union)
Timeframe: 2007-2012 (5 years)
Over the next five years, a projected decrease of seventeen
engineering/management jobs (1.38%) is predicted for the Newark-Union Labor area. This compares to no change throughout New Jersey and a 5% increase nationally.
General economic growth throughout the US should create about 109 additional engineering/management jobs in this area over the next five years. However, an expected 43 engineering/management jobs will be lost in the local area over the next five years. A regional decline of 83 engineering/management jobs is expected by the year 2012. In sum, 109 jobs created – 43 local jobs lost – 83 national jobs lost = 17 total projected job loss.
The concentration of engineering/management jobs in the Newark-Union Labor area is below the national average and this concentration is expected to decline over the next five years. Throughout the State of New Jersey, areas that specialize in
engineering/management jobs are Burlington, Somerset, Mercer, Morris, Camden, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Salem, Middlesex and Atlantic counties, since these areas are above the national concentration average in engineering/management jobs.
Timeframe: 2007-2017 (10 years)
The engineering/management job market in the Newark-Union Labor area over the next ten years is projected to have a decrease of four jobs. Regionally, a decrease of 0.32% of engineering jobs is anticipated over the next 10 years, compared to an increase of 1% at the state and an increase of 12% at the national level.
The future health of the economy over the next ten years should account for an additional 186 engineering/management jobs in the Newark-Union Labor area. A projected loss of 39 engineering/management jobs in the local area is a result of occupational performance at the national level. Regional attributes are expected to account for the loss of 151 jobs in this labor area. In total, this equates to a job loss 4 engineering/management jobs over the next ten years.
Future engineering/management job concentration in the region is also expected to remain below the national average by the year 2017.