Montreal, Quebec, Canada
June 22, 2025
June 22, 2025
August 15, 2025
Cooperative and Experiential Education Division (CEED): Developing Professional and Career Readiness
Cooperative and Experiential Education Division (CEED)
17
10.18260/1-2--57207
https://peer.asee.org/57207
3
Working with Minnesota State University, Mankato to deliver an innovative, co-op-based engineering education program called the Iron Range Engineering Bell Program. Graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree through Iron Range Engineering - Minnesota State University, Mankato, and a Master of Engineering degree through the University of Minnesota Duluth
Dr. Darcie Christensen is a probationary Assistant Professor in the Department of Integrated Engineering at Minnesota State University Mankato. She teaches for Iron Range Engineering, which is a co-op based engineering program in Virginia, MN. Dr. Christensen received her Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Utah State University in the Summer of 2021. The title of her Dissertation was “A Mixed-Method Approach to Explore Student Needs for Peer Mentoring in a College of Engineering.” Darcie holds a Master of Engineering degree in Environmental Engineering (2019) and Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Engineering (2017), both from Utah State University. She is passionate about student success and support, both inside and outside of the classroom.
Andrew Lillesve is originally from Grand Rapids, Minnesota. After high school he attended the Itasca Community College Engineering Program until 2006, at which point he moved to Houghton, Michigan. There finished his Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engine
It is well known that faculty and staff roles are critical in higher education. A work-based learning model in undergraduate engineering education and a Midwest university of higher education offers a unique blend of student-facing support that cuts across both groups of faculty and staff. Tenure-track professors and adjuncts serve as the faculty members of this practice-based program, while the staff is largely made up of facilitators. Professors and facilitators have specific responsibilities that differentiate them from each other. For example, professors are solely responsible for teaching all technical content courses. Facilitators are staff members who possess degrees in engineering, often having industry experience, and serve primarily as learning coaches and mentors, especially in the design and professionalism space. However, there are many shared responsibilities that exist to create a supportive environment for students who are in various locations around the world working in full-time co-op positions or research projects while simultaneously completing the final two years of a bachelor’s degree as full-time students.
The aim of this paper is twofold: (1) to give the background and frame the positions of both facilitators and professors, emphasizing their complementary roles, and (2) to analyze responses from students, professors, directors, and facilitators to determine what their perception is of the interaction and collaboration of these positions. This is because a support model like this is the first of its kind and is unique, not found in the same capacity elsewhere in the world of academia. Based on its history of success, similar models are beginning to be implemented at other programs and institutions. Because of this, it is important that the roles of those supporting the program are formalized and analyzed since they have not previously been shared in this fashion. This will provide a definition of the structure as well as an illustration of the personal aspects of experiencing these roles from various perspectives.
Mann, C., & Christensen, D., & Lillesve, A., & Nyberg, L. J. (2025, June), The Complementary Relationship between Facilitators and Professors in a Practice-based Engineering Program Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . 10.18260/1-2--57207
ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2025 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015