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Experiences with the Review of Engineering Doctoral Programs At Texas A&M University By Dr. John A. Weese, Regents Professor Dr. N. K. Anand, Professor and Director of Graduate Programs

Abstract

Institutions are assessing graduate programs as a means of strengthening graduate education. A facet of continual assessment programs, it is brought about, in part, by regional accreditation associations. Texas A&M University has had a process for the review of doctoral programs in place for several years. The University will have completed the review of the Mechanical Engineering doctoral program by the summer of 2003. This is the fourth doctoral program to have been reviewed in Texas A&M University’s College of Engineering in as many years. The others are Chemical, Civil and Electrical Engineering. Civil and Electrical Engineering each have sizeable engineering doctoral programs of approximately 100 Ph.D. candidates. The review process involves external reviewers and the preparation of extensive documentation. This paper discusses the major features of the Mechanical Engineering doctoral program review. It outlines the review process and describes the required documentation. The procedures for identifying and choosing external reviewers are explained. The conduct of the on-site review is discussed and the procedures for documenting the review are described, as are the types of possible actions from the review. The similarities and differences between the doctoral review and an ABET review of an undergraduate engineering program are described. The review of the Mechanical Engineering doctoral program occurred in February 2003. Since this paper was completed before the visit, the presentation at the ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition will discuss the final phase of the review process. It will include the nature of the outcome and describe the feedback obtained by the Mechanical Engineering faculty as a result of the review.

Features of Texas A&M University and the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Program

Founded in 1876, Texas A&M University is a land-grant, space-grant, and sea-grant institution, located 100 miles north of Houston in College Station, Texas. With a fall 2002 enrollment of over 45,000 students, the University has ten colleges; engineering is the largest, having about 9,700 total students. Of these 2,000 are graduate students and 7,600 are undergraduates. Approximately 750 of the engineering graduate students are pursuing doctoral degrees.

The Dwight Look College of Engineering is one of four components of the Engineering Program. The other components are the Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), a state-wide agency, through which most of the engineering research is conducted; the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), also a state-wide agency, offering non-credit technical programs; and the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI). Dr. G. Kemble Bennett serves as the Vice Chancellor and Dean of Engineering and is responsible for all four organizations. The annual research expenditures through TEES is $300 million of which $70 million is directly attributable to the Dwight Look College of Engineering.

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Anand, N. K., & Weese, J. (2003, June), Experiences With The Review Of Engineering Doctoral Programs Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--11396