Civic Engagement as a Component of Engineering Education

Engineers in practice are required to insure their designs meet a variety of civic codes and standards. Often the engineer is required to educate their client on the prevailing codes that affect the project and guide them through the implications of said regulations. Typical course design projects rarely require students to meet with a client, help the client define their actual need, develop a problem statement or determine what codes apply to their given situation. At Santa Clara University, all students are required to have a civic engagement experience. This is defined as the ability to work with the community, to develop a realization of their vocation, and to develop an understanding of the civic bodies who oversee projects that impact the public. To provide engineering students with a relevant engineering experience and meet the university’s civic engagement requirement, the “Engineering Projects for the Community” course was developed and has been taught for the past twelve quarters. This paper highlights a variety of projects for community clients. The course required students to determine what civic requirements applied to their project and to provide guidance to their clients as they worked with the client from problem definition to project deliverable phases. The civic requirements can have a significant impact on design decisions and project costs. Projects range a wide variety of engineering majors including civil, mechanical, electrical, bio and computer. Through the use of student reflections, this paper attempts to identify the influence of working with civic regulatory bodies on student learning and student perception of their chosen career path. As one group noted, the regulations impacting their project resulted in unforeseen costs but the entities who established these regulations were both purposeful and necessary to protect the environment. Introduction Santa Clara University is committed to providing educational opportunities aimed to instill the knowledge, habits of thought and action, and orientation to society that the university believes will best prepare students for life. Towards this goal, the university has a new core education experience 1 that includes requirements in “civic engagement,” as well as other more traditional areas. The book Civic Engagement and Higher Education defines civic engagement as “working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes.” 2 At Santa Clara University, the civic engagement requirement specifically intends to develop students’ capacities for and commitment to addressing major contemporary social issues raised by scientific and technological advances. This core requirement should also expand students’ understanding of the skills needed to effectively participate in contemporary life, including investigation, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. As such, the university requires that assignments be aligned with the following learning objectives. Students will be able to: critically evaluate and express reasoned opinions about the role of public organizations (governmental, non-governmental, multilateral, or international) in civic life through both oral and written work, and analyze and evaluate civic issues by engaging in active and collaborative learning with peers and others through one or more of the following: working cooperatively with other students in class, observing and participating in the contemporary ramifications of various types of civic life or civic discourse, or working with civic organizations beyond the walls of the University. At most universities, the path to meet the civic engagement requirement is often found in service-learning or community service programs organized in the social science or humanities departments. However, as a profession, engineering has incredible potential to promote and improve the quality of life for both individuals and communities. Further, engineering projects are required to meet codes, standards, and regulations set forth by governing bodies. As such, this paper presents a course that was developed to allow students to meet the university’s civic engagement requirement, focusing specifically on working with civic organizations and the applicable codes and regulations these organizations impose when developing a relevant engineering project. Engineering Projects for the Community