Professional Engineering Licensure And Professional Experience Among Civil Engineering Faculty: A Multi Institutional Comparison

Civil engineering faculty members endeavor to prepare their students for a variety of career paths within the engineering industry. Several of those paths require or are bolstered when students decide to pursue licensure to practice as professional engineers. As students, individuals learn about the merits of professional licensure from a variety of sources. Not to be overlooked is the influence that professors, licensed as professional engineers, have on their students and the opportunity to act as a role model to those students considering a career path that includes professional licensure. The research question explored during this study was; “Among currently licensed civil engineering faculty members, what are the perceived values of professional experience and of licensure as a professional engineer?” A reality testing, qualitative-based framework was utilized to design and execute a study in response to the research question. Within this study, the authors evaluated the existing literature, both internal and external to civil engineering, relative to prior studies of experience and professional licensure among engineering faculty. Further, the authors conducted a series of interviews with licensed faculty members at three disparate universities, using a semistructured interview protocol. As the authors represent three distinctly unique academic institutions, the collected interview data were evaluated for commonality, as well as differentiation among the academic institutions. The interview process probed at issues including the perceived value of licensure among faculty members, the relationship between licensure and promotion/tenure, and the licensed faculty member as a role model for colleagues and future engineers. This paper details the research design, implementation of the study, and the resulting findings. The findings and conclusions of this study will be of interest to a variety of academic and licensure stake-holders, including: civil engineering faculty members (both licensed and unlicensed), academic administrators, and licensing organizations such as the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES). A Review of the Literature In the realm of academics, what is the value of experience as a practicing engineer and the value of licensure as a professional engineer? Does the perception of experience and licensure vary among the licensed faculty of universities with different academic missions? Those were the questions that formed the inquiry behind this study and prompted a review of the existing literature. A reasonable amount of literature discussing professional licensure of engineering faculty, both within and external to the discipline of civil engineering was found to exist. However, the amount of rigorous research in this area can best be described as limited. A fairly exhaustive review of that literature identified very few thorough studies on the P ge 14983.2 subject. This section summarizes those relatively few identified studies reported with a minimum acceptable level of rigor. Malasri, Madhavan, and Ventura 1 in the late 1990s presented the preliminary results of a licensure in academics study at the 2000 Mid-South Annual Engineering and Science Conference and subsequently in a 2003 forum within the American Society of Civil Engineer’s (ASCE) Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice. No follow-on or final publication related to this study was identified. Malasri, Madhavan, and Ventura sent a written survey to 180 deans of engineering and 95 responses were obtained. The responses came from institutions that varied in terms of highest degree offered, funding sources—both private and public—and geographical regions. The results of the survey indicate that 60% of the responding deans were registered professional engineers, while only 47% of the department chairs and 31% of full-time engineering faculty members were reportedly registered. 2 Harichandran 3 conducted a survey of the faculty hiring practices at 14 smallto mediumsized research-oriented departments of civil engineering. One of the findings of this study was that none of the participating departments require their faculty to obtain licensure as a professional engineer. Harichandran states that “research funding, scholarship, and guidance of PhD students are the primary expectations for promotion to associate professor with tenure...” at the universities that participated in the study. Thus, based on this study it would appear that professional licensure is not valued during the hiring process within the participating research-oriented departments. The lack of connection to professional practice appears to continue after the hiring process, as well. Nixon 4 conducted a survey of faculty development activities in civil engineering. He issued written surveys to 200 departments of civil engineering and obtained 46 responses. The respondents represented a diverse set of institution types. Nixon noted that only 60% of the responding departments provided some form of assistance to faculty to obtain professional licensure or other specialty certification. As Nixon suggests, degree programs run the risk of becoming too “divorced” from the practice of civil engineering by not supporting on going professional development activities. While professional licensure is not the only mechanism for maintaining a connection to practice, it does represent a common credential available to academics and practicing engineers, alike. Wherein the Harichandran study and the Nixon study illustrate a lack of connection between professional licensure and the processes of academic hiring and development, a study conducted by Dettman 5 indicates that students strongly support the idea of being taught by professors with professional experience. Dettman surveyed students enrolled in two courses at a single university (n = 84). The survey asked students to comment on the “importance or value of having professors who actively engage in professional practice in addition to their teaching duties.” Dettman’s study provided evidence that the majority of students feel that professional practice by faculty members adds significantly to the student’s educational experience. P ge 14983.3 Students are not the only educational stake holders that have voiced an opinion on the subject of licensure and professional experience among engineering faculty. ABET (formerly known as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) is the organization responsible for defining the criteria for faculty members of accredited programs. The 2008-2009 ABET Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Programs states: The overall competence of the faculty may be judged by such factors as education, diversity of backgrounds, engineering experience, teaching effectiveness and experience, ability to communicate, enthusiasm for developing more effective programs, level of scholarship, participation in professional societies, and licensure as Professional Engineers (pg. 3). 6 Further, the program criteria for civil and similarly named engineering programs states: The program must demonstrate that faculty teaching courses that are primarily design in content are qualified to teach the subject matter by virtue of professional licensure, or by education and design experience. The program must demonstrate that it is not critically dependent on one individual (pg. 9). 6 Thus, through implementation and enforcement of their accreditation criteria, ABET has placed significant value on professional licensure and/or education coupled with design experience among a portion of the civil engineering faculty. Now in its second edition, ASCE’s Body of Knowledge (BOK2) describes the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for entry into professional practice. 7 Recognizing that faculty members are a critical link in the process of implementing the educational change called for by ASCE, the BOK2 offers some guidance relative to the role of faculty. The BOK2 states: Regardless of personal desires or choice, every civil engineer who is in contact with students serves as a role model for the profession. You should be aware that students are viewing you in that light. The ideal civil engineering faculty members should present a positive role model for the profession. Students should be able to both relate to and follow these role models and be put on a path toward becoming successful engineers in their own right (pg. 40). 7 Clearly, ASCE recognizes that prior to engaging in professional practice, the students’ primary interaction with civil engineers is with civil engineering faculty. Accordingly, faculty members are being encouraged to recognize their position as role models for the profession. The BOK2 then states that “furthermore, when appropriate, civil engineering faculty should obtain professional licensure” (pg. 45). 7 Thus, it is suggested that professional licensure of civil engineering faculty is one way of acting as a role model for students that aspire to professional-track careers. The BOK2 also indicates that civil engineering faculty members can be role models through effective instruction and highquality mentoring. The BOK2 further states that design experience is necessary and professional licensure holds particular relevance for those that teach civil engineering design courses. The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) appears to support the idea of amending the hiring and promotion practices of engineering programs to place greater value on experience as a practicing engineer. In their report Educating the Engineering of 2020, the NAE states: P ge 14983.4 Colleges and universities should develop new standards for faculty qualifications, appointments, and expectations, for example, to require experience as a practicing engineer, and should create or adapt development programs to support the professional growth of engineering faculty (pg. 54