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ASEE MECC: The Great Story of a Successful Member Initiative Jim Farison Department of Engineering, Baylor University

Abstract

Dr. Joan Gosink, Colorado School of Mines, with help from some other engineering educators, organized a forum at the ASEE 2001 annual conference in Albuquerque, NM, for faculty members interested and/or involved in multidisciplinary engineering programs. With continued leadership by Dr. Gosink and others, that initiative has increased its constituency and program at each of the succeeding ASEE Annual Conferences and has a full program comprising five technical sessions and a business meeting scheduled for the 2005 ASEE Annual Conference in Portland, OR. Accompanying the constituent and programmatic development over the past four years has been the formalization of this group into the officially recognized ASEE Multidisciplinary Engineering Constituent Committee, with bylaws, officers, and website. With the successful growth of both constituency and program, a likely next step is the petition for formal recognition as an ASEE Division.

Introduction

This paper outlines the historical development of the new ASEE group, currently recognized as the Multidisciplinary Engineering Constituent Committee (MECC), from its conception in early 2001 and initial meeting in June 2001 to its officially recognized status today. The emphasis is on the evolving development of its purpose, program and goals. The MECC purpose now includes: 1) providing a strong presence and program for its constituents (and others) each year at the annual ASEE conference, and 2) achieving the membership level to become an ASEE Division. A third, somewhat more focused, emphasis from the beginning has been to represent a significant part of its constituents in the development of the understanding and recognition of multidisciplinary (and non-traditional) engineering programs1-5 for which there are no ABET accreditation program criteria. A specific and significant initiative, with roots back to that initial assembly in 2001 that has become the MECC, is the proposal that ASEE become the engineering organization that represents these programs in the accreditation process (as ASME now does for ME programs, etc.). The story is also a documentation of the vision and achievement of the leader of the initiative that has become the MECC; namely, Dr. Joan Gosink, Colorado School of Mines.

From a flurry of email communications early in 2001 has now developed a new ASEE Constituent Committee (a precursor to a Division). Following is an outline of the history, programs, and organizational development of this initiative, which has become the ASEE Multidisciplinary Engineering Constituent Committee (MECC). From forums held in borrowed sessions at the 2001 (Albuquerque) and 2002 (Montreal) ASEE Annual Conferences and a courtesy share of a technical session at the 2003 (Nashville) meeting, MECC delivered its own full program with five technical sessions and a business meeting at the 2005 ASEE Annual

Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education

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Farison, J. (2005, June), Asee Mecc: The Great Story Of A Successful Member Initiative Paper presented at 2005 Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--15349