INTERNATIONAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION DIGEST
October
2005
Copyright © 2005 World Expertise LLC – All rights
reserved
A periodic electronic newsletter for engineering education
leaders,
edited by Russel C. Jones, Ph.D., P.E., and Bethany S.
Oberst, Ph.D.
CONTENTS
1 - International developments
- Major
articles discuss technology transfer in Europe
- Nobel
Peace Prize awarded to UN nuclear agency
- British
universities will try SATs as supplement to A-levels
- An
Islamic science revolution?
- Indian
professor creates network to identify rural inventors
- Biomedical
engineering receives support for internationalization
- University
creates innovative international scholarships
- Asian
student enrollments in UK drop
- Microsoft
supports academics bringing IT to developing countries
- European
and US higher education organizations meet
- Ig
Nobel (sur)Prizes
2 - US developments
- More
support for IT in US institutions
- Report
recommends overhaul of US graduate education
- NASA
unveils plan to return to Moon
- NSF
funds study of social implications of nanotechnology
- Design
shortcomings seen in New Orleans flood walls
- Leaders
ask US Congress for strengthened science and technical capacity
- US
government report contains good and bad news about technology programs
- Congress
wades into campus politics
- Kansas
Chancellor pushes back against “intelligent design”
3 - Distance education, technology
- Artificial
intelligence works in desert race
- Google
opens book sites in Europe
- Google’s
wireless plan threatens telecom
- Doctors
promote electronic record keeping
- Technology
race in the hotel industry
4 - Students, faculty, education
- ABET
“substantial equivalency” seen as possible model for global
accreditation
- An
engineering education for the future
- Warnings
of privatization of public universities
- Engineering
dean calls for major shift in undergraduate engineering curriculum
- Graduate
Record Exams undergoing major revision
- Some
changes coming in US tenure system
- TOEFL
has been substantially revised
5 – Employment
- Engineers
as commodities
- Salary
concerns renew H-1B visa opposition
- Whistleblowers
risk professional fallout
- Outsourcing
is a megatrend
- US
universities resist some outsourcing of services
6 – Journals
- Annals
of Research on Engineering Education
- Issues
in Science and Technology
- European
Journal of Engineering Education
7 – Meetings
- AAEE/ASEE
Global Colloquium
- ICEE2006
- Engineering
for the Americas Symposium
- WFEO
General Assembly
1 - International developments
Major articles discuss technology
transfer in Europe – The Chronicle of Higher
Education recently published three articles written by Goldie Blumenstyk on
the emerging technology-transfer movement in Europe.
Outside of England and Scotland, knowledge transfer, as it is known, has
been hampered in Europe by an academic culture which made professors concentrate
their efforts on prizes and publications rather than patents.
A fear of failure also impeded the serial entrepreneurship which is most
often behind successful commercialization stemming from research.
And European patent law was not as favorable to commercialization as it
is in the US. The scene is changing
however, supported by initiatives from the European Union and others.
A key factor in the success of US universities in technology transfer was
the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act, which gave intellectual property rights for government
sponsored university research back to the universities for commercialization and
development. European countries have
recently begun imitating this approach. (See
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i07/07a04401.htm)
In companion articles, Swedish and Danish universities are studied to
highlight the successes, failures and implications of national efforts to
realize practical results from research investments. Danish universities have
seen an increase in patenting, but less in commercialization, due as much to
cultural constraints as to lack of governmental support. (See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i07/07a04601.htm)
In Sweden entrepreneurial professors are hoping that the universities will take
more leadership in helping them obtain patents so that they can move to setting
up companies. Efforts are being made to forge a closer relationship between
universities and industry as one step: another is to identify sources of
capital. (See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i07/07a04701.htm)
Nobel Peace Prize awarded to UN nuclear agency – Mohamed El
Baradei and his International Atomic Energy agency have won the 2005 Nobel Peace
Prize, according to an article by George Jahn in the October 8th Aruba
Today. The Nobel endorsement is seen as a strong vindication for the
Egyptian diplomat, who favors diplomacy over confrontation in his work to curb
nuclear proliferation. The Bush administration has disagreed with El Baradei’s
position on the nuclear threat posed by Iran and Iraq, and unsuccessfully
lobbied earlier this year to block his appointment for another four-year term.
The IAEA locked horns with Washington very publicly in the run-up to the 2003
Iraq war, when El Baradei challenged US claims that Saddam Hussein possessed
weapons of mass destruction. (See http://www.arubatoday.com)
British universities will try SATs as supplement to A-levels –
Grade inflation in the British system of A-level exams has prompted the
government to undertake a study of the US SAT as a possible means of
discriminating between the top-level university applicants who all receive
similar scores on those tests. The
goal is also to find a way of achieving the 50% college participation rate that
the British government would like to see by 2010, reports Aisha Labi in The
Chronicle of Higher Education. Higher
education leaders claim that the A-levels will not be replaced, but supplemented
by an additional score, if the SAT proves valid.
(See http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/09/2005092106n.htm)
An Islamic science revolution? – Iran is pouring money into
world-class facilities for biotechnology, particle physics, and astronomy,
according to a major article in the September 16th Science by
Richard Stone. But growing tensions between Iran and the West threaten a
scientific community there just coming into its own.
The new President, an ultraconservative who took office this fall with a
promise to restore the values of the Islamic revolution, has yet to express his
views on R&D. Scientists are concerned that as the new government attempts
to roll back the social reforms begun by the previous regime academic freedom
could become restricted and science could suffer. In addition, Iran’s refusal
to halt its nuclear fuel enrichment program may endanger collaborations with the
West. (See http://www.sciencemag.org)
Indian professor creates network to identify rural inventors –
Anil Gupta, a professor at the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad is
the creator of a network of people – students, academics, farmers, scientists
– who fan out across rural India to discover the odd-ball people who have
created innovative products or equipment that makes the difficult work of
earning a subsistence living a little easier.
Shailaja Neelakantan, reporting in The
Chronicle of Higher Education, tells of a farmer with a tenth grade
education who invented a sort of cotton gin which works on the tough local
cotton crops. Mansukhbhai Patel sold
versions of his original invention, but when a part failed, he compensated the
purchasers and went back to work to perfect his machine.
His reputation as an honest and inventive man spread and he was
eventually discovered by the Honey Bee Network, which helped him produce the
machine commercially. The result:
faster and easier processing, better income for its users, and a happy inventor
who now has enough income to afford a house and a car.
The network, now known as the Society for Research and Initiatives for
Sustainable Technologies and Institutions, is funded by a government endowment,
and has worked with 51,000 innovations across India. (See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i06/06a04301.htm)
Biomedical engineering receives support for internationalization –
The Whitaker Foundation, along with the Institute of International Education,
has recently announced its final program: a $20 million international exchange
program in support of biomedical engineering.
The program will focus on graduate and post-graduate education and
research, with Whitaker Fellows engaged in pre-doctoral studies and Whitaker
Scholars already holding a doctorate in biomedical engineering or a closely
related field. Their scholarships
will provide the means for them to study, conduct research or engage in policy
analysis at an institution anywhere in the world offering outstanding programs
in the field. (See http://www.iienetwork.org)
University creates innovative international scholarships –
Washington University, a private US institution, announced the creation of the
McDonnell International Scholars Academy, which will provide full scholarships
for twenty students, all graduates of Asian universities.
Under the terms of the scholarship the recipients will complete graduate
or professional degrees at Washington University.
One unique feature of the program is that each year, the student and his
or her faculty mentor will return to the student’s home country, where the
mentor will build collaborative programs and activities at the student’s home
institution. Although the first
group of students will all be graduates of a select group of 15 Asian and
Southeast Asian universities, Washington University hopes to expand the program
around the world, reports Sara Lipka in The Chronicle of Higher Education. (See
http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/10/2005102004n.htm)
Asian student enrollments in UK drop – British universities are
reporting a significant drop in undergraduate enrollment of Chinese students
this year, reports Aisha Labi in an article in The Chronicle of Higher
Education. Preliminary figures
show a 22.5% decline, with enrollments from Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore
also down. At the same time,
enrollments of students from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka rose, along with the
numbers of students coming from the most recently admitted members of the
European Union. (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/10/2005102005n.htm)
Microsoft supports academics bringing IT to developing countries –
Microsoft has committed $1.2 million annually to fund projects by academic
researchers that aim at bringing information technology to developing countries,
reports Andrea L. Foster in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Funds will also be available for projects to use mobile communication
devices for business, education and health care.
Microsoft is hoping that other agencies and organizations will be
encouraged to provide such assistance as well.
Proposals will be accepted from November 7 to January 13, with awards
announced on February 10, 2006. (See
http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/10/2005102103t.htm)
European and US higher education organizations meet – The
American Council on Education (ACE) and the European University Association
(EUA) recently concluded the ninth bi-annual Transatlantic Dialogue, an
invitational meeting bringing together about thirty members of the two
organizations’ respective boards, along with the head of the Association of
Canadian Colleges and Universities. According
to their report issued on October 17, the focus of the two days was on
governance issues, with discussion of funding, accountability, and the need to
rebuild public trust in higher education. Prior
to the meeting EUA President Georg Winckler, president of the University of
Vienna, talked with the ACE Board about recent developments in European higher
education as a consequence of the Bologna Process.
Past meetings of the Transatlantic Dialogue have resulted in three
publications all available at the ACE website: Higher
Education in a Pluralist World, Brave New (and Smaller) World of Higher
Education, and The Faculty of the
Future. (http://www.acenet.edu)
Ig Nobel (sur)Prizes – Accompanying the award of the Nobel
Prizes was the announcement of this year’s winners of Ig Nobel Prizes, which
includes the Australian physicists who have been observing, since 1927, tar
dripping through a funnel. The
complete list is available at http://www.improb.com/ig/ig-top.html
reports Doug Lederman in Inside Higher Ed.
(See http://insidehighered.com/news/2005/10/07/qt)
2 - US developments
More support for IT in US institutions – US colleges and
universities are hiring more people to support their IT functions, especially as
related to teaching. This
information comes from an annual survey conducted by Educause, writes Scott
Carlson in the The Chronicle of Higher
Education. One interesting point: 24% of those institutions surveyed said
they were using Internet phones, with an additional 38% considering it.
(See http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/10/2005100602t.htm)
Report recommends overhaul of US graduate education – The US
based Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation published a study on “The
Responsive Ph.D.: Innovations in Doctoral Education,” prepared by the graduate
deans of twenty leading research institutions, reports Scott Jaschik in Inside
Higher Ed. The report suggests ways that graduate schools could do things
differently, showcases some successful innovations and promises future
activities in support of institutions trying to make changes.
The report tells graduate schools that they must have real leadership,
they must increase their efforts to build a more diverse student population, and
they should move away from the one-student-one-graduate-mentor model of
education, creating more links across disciplines and outside of the university.
Among the best practices cited in the study is the University of Texas at
Austin’s course on entrepreneurship, and the dissertation fellowships offered
at Arizona State University to students with doctoral advisors in more than one
discipline. (See http://insidehighered.com/news/2005/10/07/phd)
NASA unveils plan to return to Moon – NASA has released its
master plan for returning humans to the moon by 2018, according to an article in
the September 20th Washington Post by Guy Gugliotta. The
$104-billion plan includes eventually sending humans to Mars, using rocketry
from the space shuttle era. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said the plan
would not require money beyond NASA’s normal budgets. The plan envisions
development of two new rockets, one of them almost as tall as and even heavier
than the Saturn V that launched the Apollo astronauts, and a new spacecraft to
put four people on the moon for up to six months before bringing them back to
Earth in a parachute landing. The plan would leave a two-year period between the
last shuttle flight and the first flight of the new exploration vehicle when the
US will have no ability to put humans in space. (See http://www.washingtonpost.com)
NSF funds study of social implications of nanotechnology – The
US National Science Foundation (NSF) has given significant support to
consideration of the social implications of nanotechnology in the form of two
major grants awarded to Arizona State University at Tempe ($6.2 million) and the
University of California at Santa Barbara ($5 million).
The Arizona State project includes an innovative teaming of social and
natural scientists who will work together to influence the development of the
new technology as it happens, so as to avoid unintended negative consequences
and enhance positive results. The agenda for the team at UC Santa Barbara
includes a study of the perceived risks of nanotechnology.
Nanotechnologists work at the atomic scale to create extremely small
devices: one nanometer is 100,000 times smaller than a strand of human hair,
writes Jeffrey Brainard in this article from The Chronicle of Higher Education. (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/10/2005101005n.htm)
Design
shortcomings seen in New Orleans flood walls – Concrete flood walls
installed along drainage and barge canals cutting into New Orleans over the last
several decades were built in a way that left them potentially unstable in a
flood, according to an article by Andrew Revkin in the September 21st
New York Times. While the great earthen levees along the Mississippi
River and Lake Pontchartrain were ample to hold off much of the surging water
from Hurricane Katrina, the concrete flood walls installed by the US Army Corps
of Engineers collapsed in several places during the storm. As a result of
Federal budget constraints the concrete walls were never tested for their
ability to withstand the cascades of lake water that rushed up to or over their
tops, according to Corps and local officials. Corps officials have said that
there is a simple explanation for the devastation: Hurricane Katrina was a
Category 4 storm, and Congress authorized a flood control system to handle only
a Category 3 storm. But questions have been raised about how the concrete walls
were designed and constructed, as well as whether the soil in some spots was too
weak to hold them. Investigations by federal engineers and outside experts have
begun, to answer such questions. (See http://www.nytimes.com)
Leaders ask US Congress for strengthened science and technical capacity –
The US National Academies, responding to a request last summer from two US
Senators, formed a 20 member committee of prominent leaders in the scientific
communities of both universities and industry to study the need to strengthen
the country’s scientific and technological capacity.
This committee issued a report, “Rising Above the Gathering Storm:
Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future,” in which
they call for a $10 billion program including college scholarships for US
citizens to study math, science and engineering, and new graduate fellowships in
areas of national need. Also included in the study were recommendations for
greater focused investment on the development of additional sources of energy,
and the improvement of the nation’s public schools.
The committee members were working under the shadow of previous reports
that predicted shortages of engineers and scientists that failed to materialize,
leaving many graduates underemployed. They also acknowledged that the amount of
investment they were asking for will be a hard sell, in light of current US
budget shortfalls caused by the Iraq war and damage done by hurricane Katrina,
reports Jeffrey Brainard in The Chronicle
of Higher Education. (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/10/2005101304n.htm)
US government report contains good and bad news about technology programs –
The US Government Accountability Office, writes Doug Lederman in Inside
Higher Ed, has issued a report outlining existing federal programs that
support the production of technologically competent graduates. It also suggests
additional steps that might be taken in this direction.
The results of this study may be controversial because by some accounts,
the investment has been significant and the results not all bad.
In 2004, 13 federal agencies spent $2.8 billion on programs aimed at
least partly at improving and strengthening STEM programs (science, technology,
engineering and math). Two thirds of
that money came through the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National
Institutes of Health (NIH). There
was a 21% increase in the number of students enrolled in science, technology and
math from 1995-1996 to 2003-2004, including significant increase in the numbers
of African American and Hispanic students. The
bad news, however, is that the number of students enrolled in STEM doctoral
programs declined during that same period, from 217,395 to 198,504.
Additionally, there is little information about the effectiveness of
current programs. Recommendations in
the report include improving the quality of instruction in high school math and
science, improving the quality of teacher education and preparation in science,
increasing outreach to women and minorities, and considering the National
Defense Education Act of 1958 as a possible model for future government
involvement in science and technology education. (See http://insidehighered.com/news/2005/10/14/stem)
Congress wades into campus politics – Republicans in the US
Congress are pushing for an academic bill of rights to ensure dissenting
viewpoints in college classes, according to an article in the October 4th
Wall Street Journal by June Kronholz. The measure’s chief promoter,
activist David Horowitz, says the bill would protect students from possible
political discrimination by their professors. Professors say that Mr. Horowitz
is really trying to silence liberal faculty members. Colleges say the measure is
not needed – but with Congress providing billions of dollars to higher
education they are worried. (See http://www.wsj.com)
Kansas Chancellor pushes back against “intelligent design” –
The growing debate over intelligent design as a legitimate alternative to
evolution which must be taught in US schools moved the Chancellor of the
University of Kansas to write an open letter to all faculty and staff declaring
that intelligent design should best be taught in philosophy and religion courses
rather than in science courses. Evolution,
wrote Chancellor Robert E. Hemenway, is the “unifying principle of modern
biology,” and the current debate, being fed by statements made by Steve
Abrams, chairman of the Kansas Board of Education, is raising concerns in the
minds of potential candidates for faculty positions in that state.
Thomas Bartlett, writing in The
Chronicle of Higher Education, points out that the vast majority of
scientists know that evolution is scientifically sound, and that creationism, or
intelligent design, is not. (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/09/2005092802n.htm)
3 - Distance education, technology
Artificial intelligence works in desert race – Five robots
successfully navigated a 132-mile course in the Nevada desert recently in the
DARPA Grand Challenge, according to an article by John Markoff in the October 14th
Wall Street Journal. The winning vehicle, which covered the course in 6
hours and 53 minutes, was designed by the Stanford Artificial Intelligence
Laboratory. Unlike the previous Grand Challenge where none of the entrants came
close to completing the course, this year’s contest demonstrated the promise
of artificial intelligence. The leap between the two contests is credited to a
shift from logic and rule-based systems to more probability and
statistics-oriented software technologies. (See http://www.nytimes.com)
Google opens book sites in Europe – Google has begun operating
local-language sites in eight European countries for its Google Print program,
according to an article by Edward Wyatt in the October 18th New
York Times. The sites – in France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands,
Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Spain – enable users to search books
provided by publishers in each country as well as English-language books for
which the company has secured local rights. The new sites currently contain only
small numbers of books. (See http://www.nytimes.com)
Google’s wireless plan threatens telecom – Internet companies
are making an aggressive thrust into services traditionally offered by phone and
cable companies, according to an article in the October 3rd Wall
Street Journal by Jesse Drucker, Kevin Delaney and Peter Grant. Google Inc.
recently unveiled the latest such effort, with a proposal to provide free,
wireless high-speed Internet access in the city of San Francisco. The service
would allow users to bypass fee-based connections of local cable and phone
companies in favor of wireless links. Users would be able to log on through
computers to do anything they can do with traditional Internet connections –
including making phone calls with voice over IP technology. This bid follows the
recent purchase of Skype Technologies by eBay Inc., and the recent acquisition
of a small Internet calling technology company by Microsoft Corporation –
aimed at providing free peer-to-peer telephone services. Google’s plan would
bring an entirely different business model to the industry, since it generates
nearly all of its revenue from the small advertisements it shows alongside
search results and other Web content. By offering customers free Web access,
Google could pressure traditional providers to slash fees for Internet
access. (See http://www.wsj.com) Also
see “How the Internet killed the phone business”, in the September 17th
The Economist (http://www.economist.com)
Doctors promote electronic record keeping – Electronic records,
particularly ones that can be shared online by different doctors and hospitals,
can improve the quality and safety of patient care by reducing errors, according
to an article by Milt Freudenheim in the September 19th New York
Times. Government and industry officials say that up to 60% of Americans
receive their primary care at small-scale physicians offices where electronic
record keeping is currently not usual. But an effort in collaboration by some
500 doctors, hospitals, insurers and employers in the Hudson Valley may provide
a model for addressing this issue. The pilot effort there is clearing barriers
that have previously made modern information technology inaccessible to small
doctors’ offices around the nation. Hurdles typically include up-front costs
as high as $30,000 for each doctor, and the need for technical support and
training. To minimize such costs, the Hudson Valley doctors are pooling their
resources and knowledge. (See http://www.nytimes.com)
Technology race in the hotel industry – A technology arms race
is underway in hotel rooms, according to an article in the September 18th
New York Times by John Holusha. Standard televisions are being replaced
by flat panel, high definition displays, Internet connections are becoming
standard, some hotels are providing docking stations for recharging of computers
and other devices, satellite radios and iPod connections play music over
speakers, and Internet-based telephones may replace the standard versions. Big
operators like Marriott and W Hotels are pushing to stay ahead of the technology
curve, and to distinguish themselves from competitors. (See http://www.nytimes.com)
4 - Students, faculty, education
ABET “substantial equivalency” seen as possible
model for global accreditation – The US based Accreditation Board for
Engineering and Technology (ABET) features prominently in “American
Accreditors Go Abroad,” authored by Burton Bollag for The Chronicle of Higher Education. US accrediting organizations – both
regional and professional – are increasingly being called upon to accredit
institutions and programs abroad, raising concerns about what Philip G. Altbach
of Boston College calls “academic neo-colonialism.”
This interest in US-designed accreditation is due to the rapid
proliferation of higher education programs abroad, and the general absence of
quality assurance mechanisms in countries around the world.
While some US educators are calling for other countries to establish
their own systems, they are also being drawn more frequently into collaboration
with foreign institutions. The ABET
model of substantial equivalency may point the way toward a common ground
between the immediate and the long-term needs for quality assurance.
Under the terms of the 1989 ABET Washington Accord, the accrediting
organizations in nine countries have concluded a pact by which they confer
mutual recognition of each other’s standards.
(See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i05/05a03601.htm)
An engineering education for the future – Writing a viewpoint in
the October 2005 Engineering Times, Dean David Wormley of Penn State
addresses the impact of globalization on engineering practice, and implications
of that impact for engineering education. He notes that engineering curricula
have already made changes in response to the changing nature of practice:
enhancing the roles of teamwork, communications, ethics, lifelong learning, and
globalization. But he suggests that further changes are needed, such as those
suggested in the new National Academy of Engineering report on the Engineer of
2020, and the American Society of Civil Engineers' report on the Body of
Knowledge. Both reports suggest that a four-year undergraduate degree is
insufficient for current and future engineering practice. The author calls upon
engineering professional societies and educational institutions to enhance
engineering education to better prepare graduates for practice in a globalized
world. (See http://www.nspe.org)
Warnings of privatization of public universities – Taxpayer
support for public universities has plunged precipitously since 2001, and
several university presidents are calling the decline a de facto
privatization of their “public” universities. As reported by Sam Dillon in
the October 16th New York Times, there is concern that the
institutions that have played a critical role in the creation of the American
middle class are being dismantled. US Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings
has appointed a national Commission on the Future of Higher Education,
expressing concern that the US system – arguably the best in the world – is
being overtaken by others. (See http://www.nytimes.com)
Engineering dean calls for major shift in undergraduate engineering
curriculum – Inside Higher Ed published an article entitled
“Is It Time to Shut Down Engineering Colleges?” by Domenico Grasso, Dean of
Engineering and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Vermont (USA).
Grasso argues that engineering education in the US should be restructured
completely to shift from educating problem solvers to creating problem definers.
Under his model, narrow technical courses might be more appropriately
taught in nine month masters programs, leaving room in the undergraduate
curriculum for courses giving the student insights into the “humanity” which
engineers are dedicated to serve. Grasso
believes the levees in New Orleans might not have been breached if not for
“decades of engineering and technical hubris, which resulted in . . .
overbuilding on a grand scale.” (See
http://insidehighered.com/views/2005/09/23/grasso)
Graduate Record Exams undergoing major revision – The Graduate
Record Examination, key to entrance into US and other graduate programs, has
been exhaustively re-written, with the new form set to be administered for the
first time in October 2006. On the
operational side, the test will no longer use computer adaptive format, it will
last at least four hours, up from the current two and a half hours, and it will
be given only 30 times each year. Its
content will emphasize more critical thinking with longer reading passages, and
the math will emphasize real-world applications and data interpretation. The
writing section which requires candidates to produce a coherent essay will now
be on a more specifically defined topic. Deans
of admission will have access to those essays, rather than just to the scores,
reports Elizabeth Farrell in the The
Chronicle of Higher Education. Over
all the test in supposed to be more effective in determining how well a
candidate will do in graduate school. (See
http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/10/2005100705n.htm)
Some changes coming in US tenure system – In late September
representatives from 26 first-tier US universities gathered to discuss
flexibility in their tenure-track policies, at a meeting sponsored by the
American Council on Education and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
A survey of those institutions indicates increased acceptance of
diversions from the traditional linear path to tenure, but still no
comprehensive change in institutional culture.
While 96.2% of the 26 universities have adjusted the tenure clock for
their faculty, such changes are not automatic.
Phased retirement is still not the norm, and it remains difficult to move
between full-time and part-time faculty status.
(See http://www.acenet.edu)
TOEFL has been substantially revised – The venerable Test of
English as a Foreign Language (Toefl) has been updated to better assess the
integrated language skills of test-takers and to adequately measure students’
ability to speak the language. This
new test, which has been under study for about a decade, will be Web-based, thus
allowing the cheap and easy transmission of students’ responses to teams of
expert evaluators around the world. After
the roll-out of the new test this coming summer, the Educational Testing
Service, which owns it, plans to expand the number of testing sites from the
current 600 to 3,000, writes Burton Bollag in The
Chronicle of Higher Education. (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/09/2005092606n.htm)
5 – Employment
Engineers as commodities – Writing in the October 2005 issue of Today’s
Engineer, George McClure suggests that productivity improvements have
contributed to the trend to move engineers from the commodity category to the
“skilled artist” category. But he points out that engineers are
interchangeable in many jobs, and their jobs are in great danger of being
outsourced. Globalization means lower-cost engineers, at least those doing
traditional engineering work. Intuition, innovation, and conceptual thinking in
engineering are the attributes that lead to job security and rewards. He cites
three questions about job security: 1) Can someone overseas do your job cheaper?
2) Can a computer do your job faster? 3) Is what you offer in demand, in an age
of abundance? (See http://www.todaysengineer.org)
Salary concerns renew H-1B visa opposition – As US technical jobs have
been exported overseas, the need to import workers through the H1-B visa
mechanism seems to have subsided in recent years. But according to an October 6th
article by Ed Frauenheim on CNET News.com, 15 years after its inception
the program remains in full force and headed for new battles. The Indian
government recently made a proposal to the World Trade Organization that the
annual cap of H1-B visas be raised from 65,000 to 195,000. The key question is
whether the program is still needed, given the number of jobs leaving US shores.
Industry leaders argue that the program serves as a brake on offshoring by
easing shortages of skilled labor within US borders. Critics maintain that the
program serves only to replace American workers with cheap foreign labor. (See http://www.news.com.com)
Whistleblowers risk professional fallout – The lead article in
the October 2005 issue of Engineering Times, by Jane Byrne, discusses
mandates for reporting unethical or illegal practice contained in codes of
ethics, and the experience of some engineers who have become whistleblowers. The
article points out that whistleblowers often risk their own careers,
professional reputations, and the possibility that their cries may go unheeded.
Some engineers attempt to make anonymous tips about unethical practice in order
to protect themselves, but this often is ineffective. There are some resources
for engineers who choose to expose such practices, such as the Government
Accountability Project (www.whistleblower.org).
(See http://www.nspe.org)
Outsourcing is a megatrend – Writing in the October 15th
New York Times, Zubin Jelveh reports on a question and answer session
with Nanda Nilekani, chief executive of Infosys Technologies – India’s
second largest outsourcer. After achieving success in software engineering and
back-office service, the company has now begun to compete with major
international technology companies for more lucrative consulting work. Mr.
Nilekani feels that developments in technology and demographics which lead to
outsourcing are megatrends which cannot be stopped by politicians. (See http://www.nytimes.com)
US universities resist some outsourcing of services – A
report from the US-based Institute for Higher Education Policy looks at 35
universities with enrollment of 15,000 students or more, and concludes that
there is substantial resistance to outsourcing certain services in order to
control rising costs. The
institutions surveyed indicated that they would most resist outsourcing human
resources and financial and accounting services, for fear of losing their
identity and sense of community. The
report says that some institutions will not consider outsourcing because they
are generally resistant to change, because they cannot see how it would help
reduce costs, or because as parts of large state systems they do not have the
autonomy to do so, writes Audrey Williams June in The
Chronicle of Higher Education. (See http://chronicle.com.daily/2005/09/2005092004n.htm)
6 – Journals
Annals of Research on Engineering Education – A
new web site has been developed at the US National Academy of Engineering, a web
portal/journal for the community of people interested in research and practice
within engineering education. The site is intended to be collaboratively
generated by the community through the submission of comments, recommended
resources, advice, questions, and concerns. The aim is to highlight what has
been learned in engineering education, reflect on how that learning occurred,
and discuss how best to advance the enterprise. (See http://www.AREEonline.org)
Issues in Science and Technology – The
Fall 2005 issue is focused on Information Technology and the Research
University. Featured articles include Envisioning a Transformed University,
Cyberinfrastructure and the Future of Collaborative Work, the Economic
Imperative for Teaching and Technology, Managing a Rapidly Changing Environment,
and Even Universities Change. (See http://www.issues.org)
European Journal of Engineering Education – The
September 2005 issue of EJEE includes ten articles on a wide variety of
engineering education topics, including: engineering and science institutions in
the UK, assessment of graduates, challenges for higher education in Russia,
environmental engineering, Microsystems engineering, nontraditional
manufacturing, and freshman design experiences. (See http://www.tandf.co.uk)
7 – Meetings
AAEE/ASEE Global Colloquium - The
Australasian Association for Engineering Education hosted a conference on
engineering education in Sydney, Australia from 26-30 September 2005. Jointly
sponsored by the American Society for Engineering Education, the meeting
included papers in three tracks: globalization of engineering education, k-12
pipeline, and transformation of the disciplines. (See http://www.gcee2005.com)
ICEE2006 – The 2006
International Conference on Engineering Education will be held at the University
of Puerto Rico – Mayaguez from 24-28 July 2006. A list of topics on which
papers are sought, and other details of the conference, can be found at http://www.icee2006.uprm.edu.
Abstracts are due by 15 February 2006.
Engineering for the Americas
Symposium – A major conference
on enhancement of engineering education in the Hemisphere of the Americas will
be held in Lima, Peru on 29 November to 2 December 2005. Organized by the
Organization of American States, the invitational conference will focus on needs
of the productive sector for engineers, enhancement of engineering education and
its quality assurance, and country level plans for development of engineering
education and engineering practice. (See http://www.oas.org)
WFEO General Assembly – The
biennial General Assembly of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations
was held in San Juan, Puerto Rico from 16-22 October 2005. In addition to
organizational meetings of the WFEO Executive Council and General Assembly, a
conference with presentations on several topics was conducted: capacity
building, resources and environmental perspective, energy efficiency and
renewable resources, prevention and mitigation of natural disasters, and
anti-corruption. During the meeting Dato Lee of Malaysia completed his term as
President, Kamel Ayadi of Tunis was installed as President of WFEO for the next
two years, and Barry Grear of Australia was elected President-elect. (See http://wfeo2005.org)
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