Access And Opportunity: An Alternative Delivery Of A Baccalaureate Of Science Degree In Engineering Technology

The engineering technology divisions at Lima Technical College, Columbus and Washington State Community Colleges, North Central State College and the department of engineering technology at Miami University (Ohio) have developed a unique plus two (+2) baccalaureate degree engineering technology degree completion program at instructional hubs in the state of Ohio. These strategic locations serve as access campuses and for students who have already completed an engineering technology associate degree program. In December 1995, the Ohio Board of Regents approved a ‘Plus 2 Engineering Technology’ program at Miami University. Upon developing articulation agreements between Miami and these two-year community/technical colleges, Miami began offering the plus 2 engineering technology program to students at Columbus State Community College by alternative methods including distance (interactive teleconferencing), internet, e-mail, and on-site in Columbus, Ohio. In fall of 1997, the first group of students enrolled in the Columbus–Miami partnership. By August 2000, five students had already completed the program and graduated. There were twenty-five (25) additional students, as of August 2000, who had enrolled in Columbus-Miami partnership program. In a joint grant proposal to the Ohio Learning Network, requesting assistance for the distance delivery of the program, during Fall 2000, the partnership was expanded to include Lima Technical College (Lima, OH), North Central State College (Mansfield, OH), and Washington State Community College (Marietta, OH). This paper will focus on that which we have learned, in delivering the BS completion program and the expansion plan that will nearly make the program available statewide including: • Introduction and background, • ET: Building Bridges between 2and 4-Year Colleges, • Assessment, and • Conclusion. • Introduction and background The idea of distance education goes back almost 3000 years, when the monarch of China bridged the hurdles of his country’s vast geography, by sending representatives to teach P ge 631.1 “Proceedings of the 2001 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright O 2001, American Society for Engineering Education” governors how to conduct the business of government. Later, in the 19 century, Oxford and Cambridge, two well known universities, proffered courses for the first time to the general public who commanded access to higher education. Then, in mid 20 century, the circling airplane brought television to higher education in the heartland. Finally, today in the 21 century, Miami University (Ohio); in partnership with LTC, CSCC, WSCC and NCSC; has developed and will deliver a unique degree completion program at instructional hubs in the state of Ohio. Miami University’s regional campuses (Hamilton and Middletown) are open-enrollment institutions, each serving approximately six thousand students annually. In December of 1995, the Ohio Board of Regents approved a Bachelor of Science in Applied Science degree program in engineering technology at Miami University, as a ’+2’ baccalaureate degree designed to articulate with two-year associate degree programs in Electronics, Mechanical, Electro-Mechanical and/or similarly titled engineering technology programs. Most students in the program are graduates of an associate degree program from Miami University and/or other Technical and Community Colleges throughout Ohio. In fall 1996, approximately twenty-five students (25) were admitted to the program and both enrollment and graduate’s numbers have steadily grown since inception to one hundred and fifty students and twenty graduates in 1999-00 academic year. The engineering technology divisions at four technical/community colleges (Lima Technical College, Columbus State Community College, Washington State Community Colleges and North Central State College), and the department of engineering technology at Miami University’s regional campuses have developed and will deliver a unique plus 2 engineering technology degree completion program at instructional hubs in the state of Ohio (figure 1). These strategic locations, for the purposes of delivering courses leading to a baccalaureate degree in engineering technology, serve as access campuses and for students who have already completed an engineering technology associate degree program. • Engineering Technology: Building Bridges between 2and 4-Year Colleges The hub sites, building bridges between 2and 4-year colleges, identified are locations for offering the baccalaureate courses through distance education. These sites, 2-year technical and community colleges, are the hub campuses that have associate degree programs in engineering technology, also serve other campuses within an hour drive from each hub. Selection criteria for each hub included: • at least two additional access campuses located near the hub, • hubs and access campuses located within an hour drive of each other, • high level of faculty and administrative support, and • IVDL facility/capability at the hub site. Access campuses (marked with an * in Table 1), already have articulation agreements with Miami University, while articulation with other listed campuses are under development to enable students to move from one institution (2-year) to another (4-year). Hub sites for the far Northeast and Northwest corners of the state were not identified, due to close proximity to engineering technology baccalaureate programs at four year universities (Northeast: Cleveland State University, Kent State university, University of Akron, Youngstown Page 631.2 “Proceedings of the 2001 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright O 2001, American Society for Engineering Education” University, and Northwest: University of Toledo). The geographical relationship of hub and access campus locations is presented in Figure 1 and Table 1. The department of engineering technology, at Miami University, began using distance education in the delivery of courses in 1997 when the department offered the Mechanics I: Statics (ENT-271) course between the Hamilton and Middletown campuses using the IVDL systems. Since that time, the department has delivered other courses between Miami Hamilton, Middletown and/or Columbus State Community College. The department has delivered the ‘+2’ engineering technology baccalaureate program to students at Columbus State Community College since 1998, and students have expressed a great deal of satisfaction with this type of program. The first graduates, in Miami-Columbus partnership, received their degree in May 2000. Approximately twenty-five students are currently enrolled in this partnership. Students in these partnerships, take eleven courses from Miami University via IVDL, plus support courses from the 2-year campuses (typically from the access campuses). Miami University incorporates the World Wide Web in all distance courses. Blackboard software is used to provide and collect assignments, provide e-mail and a chat room for students’ discussion assignments. Labs and simulations are also conducted over the web. Students use Labview software and the web server is connected to lab equipment at the Miami University campuses. In this manner, data is read live at the hub sites while the lab is being performed.