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Session 1547

Bridging the Gap - between Engineers and Technicians

Jay F. Kunze*, Ranaye J. Marsh, Jonathan Lawson, William E. Stratton Idaho State University, Pocatello ID 83209

Abstract

Workplace contention between those trained in the engineering profession and those with associate degrees (two or three years) in technology is commonly observed. The issues are generally created by pride and misunderstanding. Improved communication would be an obvious approach to mitigating the contention. Further questions are how much of this contention and concern may be fostered initially in the academic setting, and how much might be mitigated by efforts during the student’s education program?

To explore these issues a one-and-a-half day symposium was held in April 1998 at Idaho State University (ISU), co-sponsored by Boise State University and Ricks College. Approximately 100 attendees from throughout the nation presented papers and engaged in discussion of example efforts to improve or develop successful symbiotic relationships between engineering professionals and technicians. Both academic and industrial leaders participated.

Introduction

The authors, all in administrative positions at Idaho State University (ISU), had observed contention between certain academic colleges (engineering and business in particular) and departments in the School of Applied Technology. These two groups were separated physically by half the distance across campus, by credit non-transferability, and by minimal appreciation and understanding of the role of the other in society. The contention is most obvious among faculty members, but it is presumed that faculty attitudes are transferred to students, whether directly or indirectly by innuendo reflecting those attitudes. Although we were attempting to solve these attitudes of contention within our university setting, we felt that this issue was not uncommon throughout the nation. Those of us with industrial experience were well aware of similar problems in the workplace. Consequently, we felt it would be worthwhile to hold a symposium in an attempt to determine how universal these contentious issues were, and what others had done to mitigate the problem. For this purpose the symposium of April 1998 was held at ISU at which over 60 papers were presented.

The introductory keynote speech was presented by Robert Furgason 1 who had recently completed his elected term as the President of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). At the time (1998), ABET was just starting to implement trial cases for its newly

Proceedings of the 2001 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright 2001, American Society for Engineering Education

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Stratton, W., & Marsh, R., & Lawson, J., & Kunze, J. (2001, June), Bridging The Gap Between Engineers And Technicians Paper presented at 2001 Annual Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 10.18260/1-2--8962