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Session 2532

Graduate Teaching Alliances - Experiences from a Western Experiment

B. Johnson, D. Egolf, G. Venkataramanan, V. Gerez, J. Hamann University of Idaho/Montana State University/University of Wyoming

Abstract Resources for higher education have become scarce in recent years due to decreased budget allo- cations from state governments. At the faculty level this has meant that the time available for teaching graduate courses is becoming limited as more time is spent on undergraduate teaching and research. However, training needs for graduate students keep growing to meet technological advances and research needs. Modest-sized graduate programs face the difficulty of achieving sufficient enrollments in graduate courses, further limiting course availability for graduate stu- dents. Attracting and retaining graduate students becomes challenging under such circumstances. However, graduate students form the backbone of any successful research program. The experi- ment presented in this paper was conducted to study the feasibility of forming teaching alliances focused in electrical engineering. These alliances allow several programs to pool their resources.

I. Introduction Resources for higher education have become scarce in recent years due to decreased budget allo- cations from state governments. At the faculty level this has meant that the time available for teaching graduate courses is becoming limited as more time is spent on undergraduate teaching and research. However, training needs for graduate students keep growing to meet technological advances and research needs. Modest-sized graduate programs such as those in several state uni- versities in the Northern Rocky Mountain Region and the Pacific Northwest also face the diffi- culty of achieving sufficient enrollments in graduate courses, further limiting course availability for graduate students. Attracting and retaining graduate students becomes challenging under such circumstances. However, graduate students form the backbone of any successful research pro- gram and hence graduate course offerings need strengthening under tight budget constraints. The experiment presented in this paper was conducted to study the feasibility of forming teaching al- liances focused in a particular field, electrical engineering. Success in forming such alliances could mean an increased spectrum of course offerings in various universities, cross-fertilization of expertise across campuses, and various other advantages. The experiment involved the sharing of two courses between the electrical engineering departments at Montana State University in Bozeman, and University of Idaho in Moscow. The courses were shared via a videotape ex- change program with support over the Internet. The paper will discuss logistics of the exchange program, experiences from faculty, and students, and other practical considerations. The experiment has now expanded in a program called the Western Virtual Engineering Consortium (WestVEC), which now involves eight universities with the addition of Idaho State University, the University of Nevada-Reno, Utah State Univer- sity, the University of Victoria-British Columbia, Washington State University, and the Univer- sity of Wyoming. Early results from this organization and future plans will be discussed in the paper.

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Gerez, V., & Venkataramanan, G., & Egolf, D., & Johnson, B. K., & Hamann, J. (1997, June), Graduate Teaching Alliances Experiences From A Western Experiment Paper presented at 1997 Annual Conference, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 10.18260/1-2--6593