To have engineering programs that meet the needs of their constituents, it is necessary to continuously evaluate and improve the programs. To that end, the ECE Department has developed a Program Improvement Process that is repeatable, manageable, and sustainable.

The process aims at achieving the department program objectives that are based on the mission statements for the University, College, and Department.  Several distinct constituents were involved in setting those objectives.  The constituents included undergraduate faculty, graduate faculty, employers and students.  Each group contributed in some aspect to this process.  To define the department’s mission the faculty first reviewed the University’s and the College’s mission statements to determine how the programs offered by the department could best help the University and College achieve their missions.

The mission and objectives of the electrical/electronic Engineering and computer engineering program are reviewed at least once every six years by all the constituents. Three years after the ABET accreditation visit the department chair solicits inputs from the abovementioned groups.  The faculty, as a whole, evaluates the inputs to decide if any changes in the objectives are warranted.  If changes are made, the assessment plans are revised to evaluate the effectiveness of the changes.

The department is responsible for verifying that its graduates satisfy the education objectives of its programs. ABET has stated that achievement of education objectives should be measured three to five years after graduation, and to for that purpose, the ECE department has developed an assessment process as outlined below.  The process is executed once each year, but there is a different set of inputs each year. 

1. Setting Program Educational Objectives

 Several distinct constituents were involved in setting the objectives for the Electrical and Computer Engineering programs. The constituents included undergraduate faculty, graduate faculty, employers and students.  Each group contributed in some aspect to this process.  Prior to setting the objective for the Computer Engineering Program it was necessary to define the mission of the department. To define the department’s mission the faculty first reviewed the University’s and the College’s mission statements to determine how the programs offered by the department could best help the University and College achieve their missions. 

 The University mission statement:

“California State University, Chico is a comprehensive university serving Northern California and other regions of the state, as well as the nation and the world, through instruction, research, and public service.

Our first priority is the education of our students by creating and maintaining selected quality undergraduate and graduate programs. We will be known for the purposeful integration of liberal and applied learning that provides our students with the knowledge, skills, and moral and intellectual virtues that form the basis for life-long learning and contribution.

We affirm the importance of scholarship and public service. We support the exploration of the frontiers of knowledge, the integration of ideas, the connecting of thought to action, and the inspiring of students.

We make the results of these academic efforts available for public scrutiny by all our constituents. We will maintain extensive continuing education and public service programs that serve the needs of our varied constituencies.” 

The College mission statement:

 “The Mission of the College is to provide engineering, computer science, and technology students with a strong, broad based education that will provide them with the knowledge and skills to be successful practitioners, and empower them to continue their education at the graduate level and cultivate a lifetime of learning.  The College mission is also to support the success of its various programs, as articulated through their respective missions and objectives.” 

Based on these mission statements and what the faculty thought was the best direction for the department to take, the following was established: 

The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department educates each student to be a responsible and productive electrical or computer engineer who can effectively respond to future challenges. 

This mission statement was developed by the faculty and reviewed by the department’s IAB and the College administration. They agreed that the statement was appropriate and consistent with the goals of the university and compatible with the University’s mission statement.  The faculty then defined what they thought the objectives of the Electrical/Electronic Engineering and Computer Engineering Programs should be. The subject was discussed at several meetings of the entire faculty and a draft objective was defined. That draft was then sent to the subset of faculty who teach the majority of the department’s graduate courses for their review and approval. They were asked to review the objective from the point of view of those who would be evaluating our applicants for admission to graduate programs. After the graduate faculty revised and approved the objective, it was presented to the department’s IAB for review and approval. The IAB was asked if students who met the program objective would satisfy the needs of industry. The IAB felt that graduates who met the program’s objective would be employable in a variety of computer engineering jobs. 

This process leads to the Program Objectives described in the “Program Mission, Objectives and Outcomes” link on the ABET menu to the left.  Because objectives are defined at a relatively high level, measurable outcomes have also been defined for each program.  The ECE faculty has chosen to adopt the ABET suggested program outcomes commonly referred to as outcomes a through k. These outcomes specify the minimum capabilities that every graduate from each program must have at the time of graduation from the Chico ECE programs. Those outcomes are also described in the abovementioned link.

 

The mission, objectives and outcomes of both Electrical/Electronic Engineering and Computer Engineering programs are reviewed at least once every six years by all the constituents. The department chair solicits inputs from the following groups:

·        undergraduate faculty- faculty who teach at least 3 undergraduate courses per year

·        graduate faculty- faculty who teach at least one graduate course per year

·        employers- represented by Industrial Advisory Board

·        students- represented by Eta Kappa Nu honor society

 The faculty, as a whole, evaluates the inputs to decide if any changes in the objectives are warranted. If changes are made, the assessment plans are revised to evaluate the effectiveness of the changes. 

2. Measuring Achievement of Program Educational Objectives 

The department is responsible for verifying that its graduates satisfy the education objectives of its programs. ABET has stated that achievement of education objectives should be measured three to five years after graduation, the following process is used to that end.

The process is executed once each year, but there is a different set of inputs each year. The ECE Department’s Program Improvement Process is described in “Improvement Process” link on the ABET Accreditation menu. 

3.  Assessment of Program Outcomes 

The ECE faculty has chosen to adopt the ABET suggested program outcomes commonly referred to as outcomes a through k. These outcomes specify the minimum capabilities that every graduate from each program must have at the time of graduation from the Chico ECE programs. 

Mapping Required Courses to Program Educational Outcomes: 

The figure below illustrates several important facts about the Program Outcomes and the courses required in the major. First, every required course in the program, including those taken outside the engineering disciplines, supports at least one of the Program Outcomes. A course may support an outcome by introducing material related to the outcome (Introduced), giving students the opportunity to practice applying methods and techniques necessary to develop proficiency in the outcome (Practiced), or by measuring how well the student has mastered the outcome (Assessed).

Second, the table shows that every Program Outcome the material is Introduced, Practiced, and Assessed in multiple courses. This ensures that students have multiple chances to learn how to master each Program Outcome.

Third, each Program Outcome is assessed at least once during a student’s course of studies. By requiring each student to pass at least one assignment that directly assessed the mastery of an outcome, we can guarantee that no student will graduate from the program without having demonstrated mastery of every one of the outcomes. 

Required Courses In Computer Engineering

Program Educational Outcomes

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

i

j

k

MATH120-260

CHEM 111

PHYS 204A-C

CSCI 112

EECE 101

EECE 144

EECE 221

EECE 135

EECE 211

EECE 211L

EECE 311

CSCI 311

EECE 365

EECE 315

EECE 320

EECE 335

EECE 344

EECE 343