Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Main Menu

Session 3242

Potential Roles for ASEE-EMD in Distance Education

Hal Nystrom University of Missouri-Rolla

Abstract

This paper is written to propose a new role for ASEE-EMD in an effort to support the growth and survival of Engineering Management (EM). This proposal can then become a stimulus for dialogue within our division focusing on ways that the division can become more valuable. Our EM programs are currently doing well, but perhaps not up to our expectations. There is growing competition for our students as technical MBA programs address a very similar market need in the graduate level and distance education enables the entry of other competitors. At the same time, it is difficult to develop new Engineering Management programs. Because the scope of the discipline is so broad, a large number of faculty are often needed in order to provide the critical mass necessary. However, distance education represents an opportunity to enable programs to start in new schools and grow in others. Distance education can become a media to produce and provide a broad line of quality Engineering Management courses and learning modules, creating a dynamic new growth potential for the discipline. This paper proposes the consideration of the development of an integrated program of distance EM classes and modules.. It discusses current conditions and opportunities in order to identify some of the requirements, potential roadblocks and roles that ASEE-EMD might play to support this development.

Current Situation

Engineering Management (EM) continues to grow steadily. Data collected by Engineering Trends 1 shows that the number of EM graduates has grown from 1990 to 2000 at a rate of approximately 4%. The undergraduate programs have grown by approximately 2%, while master’s degrees has grown at a 4% rate and Ph.D. at a 6% rate. To put this in context, Table 1 provides a comparison of similar growth rates for engineering and business programs. Even though EM bachelor’s degrees grew only at a 2% it was considerably higher than the rest of the engineering field, where the number of graduates actually shrank by an average of 2% per year. Engineering Management also grew faster than the undergraduate business programs, which had minimal growth over this period. This documents the perceived value in the EM degree by the market. The

“Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright Ó 2002, American Society for Engineering Education

Main Menu

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Nystrom, H. (2002, June), Potential Roles For Asee Emd In Distance Education Paper presented at 2002 Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada. 10.18260/1-2--10462