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Faculty Reward System Reform for Advancement of Professional Engineering Education for Innovation: Looking at Representative Criteria for Merit Promotion in Advanced Engineering Practice in Industry

1. Introduction

This is the second of three invited papers prepared for a special panel session of the National Collaborative Task Force on Engineering Graduate Education Reform that is focusing on the criteria for merit promotion of engineers in practice in industry to set the stage for designing a new faculty reward system for faculty participating in the graduate level instruction of practicing engineers. This is complementary to the traditional research-oriented faculty reward system for advancement of professional engineering education. Using professional attainment guidelines in engineering practice for industry, government service, NSPE, and ASCE this paper sets the foundation for rethinking new unit criteria for professionally-oriented faculty at the nation’s colleges of engineering and technology.

This paper describes how almost all engineers in industry now move ahead solely by merit pay increases and merit promotions by progressively increasing their abilities. It describes how engineers progress within a grade level, or from one grade level to another when capability is demonstrated, and not by seniority, or by cost-of-living increases. As such, the paper provides information for making a knowledgeable recommendation for a new unit criteria for faculty who teach, perform professional scholarship, and engagement oriented toward the creative practice of engineering, that should pattern and correlate closely with professional achievement criteria as put forth by the practicing engineering profession as a complement to unit criteria for research- oriented faculty.

2. The Professional Advancement Path for Engineers

In modern, high technology industries, engineers are a necessary, and a valued resource. These engineers create (invent), design, develop, and innovate to produce new / improved / breakthrough technologies. Most of these engineers enter the industrial workplace with a Baccalaureate degree. They progress up the professional ladder to increased compensation, and higher pay grades as their capability is demonstrated by a progressive gain in their abilities, and not by seniority. The process of Lifelong Learning for these engineers in industry is very necessary since the engineering profession is not static, but continues to advance rapidly. This learning is composed of on-the-job learning, company provided training courses, single courses from universities (continuing education), and gaining advanced (postgraduate level) degrees. The day of across-the-board cost of living increases, and/or progressing up the ladder by seniority is in the past.

See Appendix A for detailed descriptions of engineering job rankings by level, and a relation to academic levels.

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Olson, R., & Quick, D., & Truesdale, S., & Depew, D., & Bertoline, G., & Schuver, M., & Dunlap, D., & Keating, D., & Stanford, T. (2007, June), Faculty Reward System Reform For Advancement Of Professional Engineering Education For Innovation: Looking At Representative Criteria For Merit Promotion In Advanced Engineering Practice In Industry Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--1623