Building and Sustaining a Successful Graduate Degree in Technology

Mohammad A. Zahraee; Niaz Latif

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Conference: 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Publication Date: June 24, 2017
Start Date: June 24, 2017
End Date: June 28, 2017
Conference Session: Developing and Establishing Graduate Study Programs - Graduate Studies Division Technical Session 2
Tagged Division: Graduate Studies
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 8
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--27986
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/27986
Download Count: 423

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Paper Authors

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Mohammad A. Zahraee Purdue University Northwest (College of Technology)

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Dr. Mohammad A. Zahraee is Professor of Mechanical Engineering Technology and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies in College of Technology at Purdue University Northwest. He holds Bachelor Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Southern Illinois University, MS in Structural Engineering and PhD in Engineering Mechanics, both from University of Illinois at Chicago. Mohammad joined Purdue University Calumet in 1989 and was the Head of the Manufacturing Engineering Technologies and Supervision Department from 1996 through 2007. He was also acting head of Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology Department from 2000 through December 2006. Mohammad is currently PI and Co-PI, working on several NSF and one DOL grant, totaling over three and half million dollars.
Zahraee served ABET from 1992 through 2010 as a program evaluator, commissioner (Accreditation Team Chair), as well as the Chair of the Engineering Technology accreditation commission of ABET during 2009-2010. He also served as a member of the ABET Board of Directors as a representative of American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) until 2016. As the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, Mohammad has been successful in making the MS in Technology program at Purdue University Northwest one of the largest in the U.S.

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Niaz Latif Purdue University Northwest

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Dr. Niaz Latif is the Dean of the College of Technology at Purdue University Northwest (PNW). He has served for two years as the Dean of the Graduate School and additional two years as the Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies at PNW. He has been Principal Investigator for National Science Foundation grants and US Department of Labor grant. He oversaw more than eighty sponsored research/project grants with a value of more than $20 million. He have as authored/co-authored numerous refereed journal articles and peer reviewed conference proceedings articles. He is a commissioner of the ABET and also serves on the Board of Engineering Technology Division iunder American Society for Engineering Education. He is a fellow of the Academic Leadership Program under the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) of 10 Universities.

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Abstract

A Master’s degree program in technology that includes leadership and management component allows students to enhance their technical skills and knowledge as well as helping them develop new leadership and management skills. Such Master’s degree program in Technology was initiated and implemented at Purdue University Northwest in the year 2008. This relatively new program has graduated over 300 students in less than 8 years, and enrolls over 150 students every semester.

Purdue University Northwest, with two campuses in Northwest Indiana, has had ABET accredited undergraduate Engineering Technology Programs since the 70’s. Therefore, there was a large alumni base to start the new Master’s program with. The Master’s program was started in 2008 with no additional faculty or administrative resources, and did not have any specific concentration. Currently, the MS degree program has six concentrations in various discipline within engineering technology and offers three industry based graduate certifications. In addition, a fixed plan of study with technology leadership and management concentration is offered that is fully on-line. The program is housed at the College level and not at the academic department level. Most students enrolled in the program take a full load of 9 credit hours and the program graduates over 50 students per year. Over 95% of these graduates obtain employment within three months.

This paper discusses the strategies of initiating, implementing, and sustaining such graduate degree program in Technology with various concentrations. Further, a fiscal model for the operation of the program by maintaining the program quality, high enrollment, and high employment rate of graduates is also discussed.

Citation
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Zahraee, M. A., & Latif, N. (2017, June), Building and Sustaining a Successful Graduate Degree in Technology Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. 10.18260/1-2--27986