Drexel University AE Program

This last blog entry addressing specific schools is necessarily different. It seems appropriate to attempt to provide the same information about Drexel that I've provided about all the other schools. Of course I cannot take the same approach exactly because it's my own school and I did not interview faculty in the same manner. Nonetheless here's my best effort.

What do I Know?

About the Drexel University Architectural Engineering program

• Architectural Engineering (AE) is a program located within the department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering.
• Drexel University is a moderate-sized (12,000 total students), private, urban university that is research-intensive.
• The program is now about 20 years old, having been started by two Civil Engineering faculty when there was an enrollment trough in Civil Engineering in the mid-1980's.
• Enrollment grew rapidly and has remained approximately steady for ten years with 60-80 freshman declaring Architectural Engineering majors and 35-50 graduating each year.
  
  
  • The drift from AE is typically during the first two years when students discover that AE or even engineering "isn't for them" as happens in all engineering, and also there is a move to Civil Engineering by some students.
  
  
  • A significant percentage of AE students are "dual AE/CivE" majors because this is achievable with only about 15 credits additional work.
    
    
    • This percentage has declined over time from about 80% initially (the possibility was created as a fail-safe during the start-up period) to around 40% now.
  • The 60-80 entering students is typically slightly more than half of all department entering students.
• Students have two "tracks" or "concentrations" available to them
  
  • Structural engineering - about 70% of AE's
  • Mechanical (HVAC) - the other 30% of AE's
    
    
    • Efforts to increase interest in the HVAC track over the years have been only moderately successful
• Drexel is a Co-Op, "quarter" school
  
  
  • This means that what most schools do in four years we do in five.
  • Our 192 quarter-credit requirement for graduation translates into about 123 semester-credits
  • Most students, and many faculty would agree that the three 6-month work experiences on CoOp are highly valuable both for their careers and for focus and understanding in the classroom.
• The graduate program in AE is small and operated through Civil Engineering MS and PhD - typically 3-6 students at any given time would be identified as AE's.
  
  
  • We'd like to grow that program and are actively attempting to do so.
• Graduating Students take jobs (many determined while on Co-Op) approximately as follows:
  
  
  • Structural Consultant 35%
  • HVAC Consultant 15%
  • Construction 40%
  • Other, including graduate school 10%

Teaching Methods and Curriculum

• The guiding principle for creating the curriculum was to balance two goals:
  
  
  • Give students an understanding and ability to work with the interaction of all the major building systems:
    
    
    • Architecture; Structures; HVAC; Electrical & Lighting; Plumbing
  • Provide students with the professional tools in a specific discipline (structures or HVAC) so they can will be hired and succeed in their chosen field.
• To further the second goal students take the following differentiating courses, primarily in the last two years:
  
  
  • All the courses that the Civil structural engineers take in structural engineering
  • An equivalent number of HVAC-specific courses for the HVAC track
  • Note that we do not offer construction-specific courses despite the number pursing that career.
    
    
    • A number of students use professional electives to take construction courses, and some minor in that area.
• To further the first goal we offer a series of design courses
  
  
  • An extended (full-term equivalent) design experience in small groups in the freshman year, which may be in Architectural Engineering
  • Two architecture design studios taught by the Architecture department in the second and third years
  • A two-course sequence entitled "Architectural Engineering Design" taught in the 4th (Junior) year
    
    
    • This is a "modified architectural studio" course using multiple computer tools and presentation techniques
  • A three-term sequence (college standard) capstone design sequence that has the following characteristics
    
    
    • The first term is spent defining the problem, site, client requirements etc. in detail
    • The second term develops a conceptual design with explicit system-interaction goals
    • The third term refines and develops some portion of the design in detail.
    • This course is in small (4-6) self-selected student groups addressing problems they identify, working with their choice (subject to availability) of faculty advisors.

AE Content Issues

• BIM has increased in apparent importance over the last year
  
  
  • Not all faculty understand or would agree with its importance
  • We expect to implement Revit as a standard in the Sophomore year and build on that as the class moves through
• Sustainability is a departmental concern
  
  
  • There are not specific courses in the AE curriculum, although there are technical electives available
  • Almost all groups in the capstone design course incorporate "green" principles as part of their building criteria
• The Bachelor's + 30 movement is being discussed at a low level, but is not yet a major concern
  
  
  • Some faculty, myself included after my visits this year, believe this is a very important issue

Students

• Like most engineering students, Drexel students are hard-working, particularly after their first Co-Op experience.
• Other than university-level admission to the College of Engineering their are no specific admission criteria or enrollment caps
• The students appreciate being in a large city, both because of the job opportunities, and also the ability it gives us in classes to make site visits and take advantage of the urban environment.

University of Miami Visit - 13 April 2009

On April 13th I spent the day at the Univerisity of Miami, my 16th and last sabbatical visit. Thanks to the efforts of Rodrigo Mora I met five faculty currently teaching design aspects of the AE program. As on my previous trips everyone was welcoming and helpful, making my visit both productive and enjoyable.

What did I learn?

About the University of Miami program

• The Architectural Engineering program at Miami is located, as in many other institutions, with the Department of Civil, Architectural and Envionmental Engineering.
• The program, more than many, seems to be in transition.
  
  
  • A new department head is bringing new emphases to the department, primarily on civil engineering and research
    
    
    • He didn't have time to meet with me so this is a deduction from my conversations with other faculty
  • Two new faculty members are bringing energy to the to the AE Program
  • Over the last 10 or so years the college of engineering has reduced in size, quite possibly because of the growth of markedly less expensive public institutions nearby

Teaching Methods and Curriculum

• The program does not have "tracks"
  
  
  • The emphasis has been on structural engineering
  • HVAC is incresing in importance with the advent you young faculty in that area
• The department is proud of its working relationship with the department of architecture
  
  
  • Studio design courses are taught as service courses by that department
• Capstone design is a two-semester sequence shared by all department students
  
  
  • In a typical class of 30 students there are six teams of 5 students
    
    
    • The teams are intentionally multidisciplinary
  • Each team is provided a site and an assigned building
  • The product of the first semester is site and code research, stie design, an enviornmental impact statement and conceptual design
  • The second semester focuses on detailed development of each building system and integration of those systems
  • Students make an oral report and prepare a written report each semester
  • Students are evaluated as a team and also on individual work, which they are responsible for tracking.
  • The department is extraordinarily fortunate in the long-term involvement of an adjunct architect-engineer who is responsible for the capstone course as well as several others.

AE Content Issues

• Several faculty emphasized that the goal of the AE program is to present an integrated view of building systems
  
  
  • This view is imparted primarily in the capstone design course
• BIM is viewed by several faculty as extremely important to the future of the profession and are working to introduce it
  
  
  • They are fortunate to have an IT knowledgeable faculty with a PhD in this area
  • Not all faculty agree on the importance of BIM
• Sustainability is similarly regarded as important, with professors discussing in many classes
  
  
  • Opportunities for emphasizing "resiliency" and also solar work using the work of the well-known Florida Solar Energy Center could be rewarding.
• Bachelor's + 30 is regarded as important in the future
  
  
  • The department is promoting a 4+1 Masters program - the BS degree + 30 credits for a masters.

Students

• Total Enrollment in the department has been about 120 total for the past few years, with Architectural Engineers typically greater than 50% of the total
  
  
  • Recently the percentage of AE's has fallen below that of Civils
• Graduates typically take positions in approximately the following percentages
  
  
  • Structural Engineers 25-40%
  • HVAC Engineers 5-15%
  • Contractors 30-50%
  • Other (including graduate school) <=30%
• Approximately 40% of students take advantage of he opportunity to get a dual Civil Engineering degree with approximately a semester's extra work
• A few students take advantage of an opportunity to get an M.Arch with two additional years of work.
• Students were characterized to me as being full-time, right-after-high-school.
  
  
  • They are hard working
  • They like practical problems

Observations

• As noted initially, the department is in the midst of change. How the AE program will develop as a result of that change is uncertain. Young, enthusiastic faculty members are bringing new ideas to a long-established older group. Whether all will welcome the new ideas is not yet clear.

University of Texas at Austin Visit - 9-10 April 2009

On April 9th and 10th the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) welcomed me on my fifteenth sabbatical visit. Thanks to the efforts of Rich Klinger I met 11 faculty currently teaching the design aspects of the AE program and others as well. As on my previous trips everyone was welcoming and helpful, making my visit both productive and enjoyable.

What did I learn?

About the UT Austin program

• As at several other schools, the current Architectural Engineering program in Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering has a long history. (Rich Klinger's excellent white papers provided most information).
  
  
  • It started life as the "School of Architectural Engineering and Drawing" in 1905
  • Architecture separated out in 1951
  • The program joined Civil Engineering in 1969
  • The name was changed about four years ago to recognize the new emphasis on AE and also the longstanding role of Environmental Engineering in the department.
• As implied above, the AE program was carefully evaluated internally about five years ago. The possibility of dropping it as a separate degree was raised, but the outcome was a renewed commitment to the program, including a search for faculty in the "Building Environmental Systems" (BES) area.
  
  
  • That emphasis now has two faculty in the area with a third expected this fall.
    
    
    • While these faculty have backgrounds that enable them to teach HVAC, their research area is Indoor Air Quality, a pattern I've seen elsewhere.
• UT Austin is a very large, very proud research-intensive institution - 50,000 students overall
  
  
  • The departmental faculty are very much a part of that tradition with superb research facilities on a separate campus about nine miles away - with most faculty devoting three days a week to research on that campus.
  • There is a significant effort to bring the research experience to undergraduates where possible - for example by allowing monitoring of the experimental house via the internet, as well as involving undergraduate students actively in ongoing research projects.

Teaching Methods and Curriculum

• There is an explicit vision for the Architectural Engineering program that distinguishes it from its component disciplines.
  A 2004 White Paper
  put it:
  
  
  • "It differs from those component disciplines in two important respects.
    "1) First, it integrates them under the general heading of building function.
  • "2) It provides a perspective from which to study the interaction of building systems, and of the disciplines underlying those systems."
  • Not all faculty expressed their version of this vision during my interviews, but it appears to be driving the department's development
• The department teaches its own two architecture studios, using an adjunct architect with a long-term commitment to the department.
  
  
  
  • These courses determine the maximum size of the AE program - 40 students per year, capped.
  • The format of these two courses uses many approaches including case studies, modeling software and physical models, with an effort to highlight the work of the best practicing Architectural Engineers.
• Capstone Design is a one-semester course taught in three sections over the year in a team approach (one professor on one day and the second later in the week).
  
  
  • Students work in teams of six with two people per discipline: Structure, Building Environmental Systems, Site work
  • All students start from a set of architectural plans handed to them rather than developing the architecture.
  • Each pair on a team writes a 40-50 page report that produces a complete set of documentation for the building.
    
    
    • An important aspect of the report is to present the options considered and the decision process.
    • They are required as well to produce a cost estimate and construction schedule.
• There are currently no "tracks" in the program though they are moving towards them  [addition 4/15/2009 per RK]
  
  
  • Students take a common curriculum through the 3rd of four years.
  • In the Senior year they may choose to fulfill five technical electives from approved courses. Most of these courses are dual-listed for graduate students.
• With an additional 2 years of work students may receive a dual Architecture and Architectural Engineering degree
  
  
  • About 3/year are currently doing so.
• As noted above, the Building Environmental Systems (BES) component of the curriculum has grown in recent years. The curriculum requirements are gradually shifting to reflect that growth.
• Despite the heavy emphasis on research, faculty emphasized to me the importance of teaching at UT Austin
  
  
  • Teaching success is measured by a mandatory student course evaluation that must be included in each faculty's annual report.
  • The faculty were clear that these evaluations were important in how their reviews.
  • To aid this teaching emphasis there is an explicit mentoring program within the department

AE Content Issues

• Sustainability is significant for the entire department
  
  
  • It has been incorporated into the capstone design course
  • There's already an elective and discussion of another course in sustainability
• BIM
  
  
  • While faculty vary in their individual opinions about it's importance, the program is actively pursuing making BIM an integral part of the program.
  • The intent is to introduce it into sophomore courses and the move it up through the curriculum year-by-year making connections to other courses.
  • There is also an outreach effort to develop a research thrust in this area that will bring useful material into the classroom.
• Bachelor's + 30 for registration movement
  
  
  • This is not under active consideration although several faculty are strong proponents
  • The department recently created a courses-only Masters degree that could be used if the B+30 is enacted.
• Curriculum Squeeze
  
  
  • Several interviewees commented on the effect on the curriculum of a university requirement for an additional freshman course without increasing graduation requirements - 126 total

Students

• Admission to the program is quite selective both because UT Austin is selective and because admission to the department is capped.
• The students that I observed were involved and intent - (and happy to interact with a stranger)
• Graduates of the program typically take employment as follows
  
  
  • Structures - 40%
  • Construction - 40%
  • Building Environmental - 10-20% - increasing
  • Other -the balance - including graduate school

Observations

• The UT Austin department has recently put a great deal of thought into the goals of the Architectural Engineering program and has taken very significant steps to pursue those goals, including new hires in Building Environmental Systems, their formerly weakest area. They're also pursuing a renewed relationship with the Architecture program. This seems likely to make their goal of addressing the interaction between building systems feasible and rewarding.

University of Oklahoma Visit - 7 April 2009

On 4/7/2009 I spent the day at the University of Oklahoma, my fourteenth sabbatical visit. Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of Kyran (Kim) Mish I met six faculty currently teaching aspects of the AE program and others as well. As on my previous trips everyone was welcoming and helpful, making my visit both productive and enjoyable.

What did I learn?

About the University of Oklahoma program

• The program is simultaneously long established and brand new.
  
  
  
  • It has a long history at UofO
  • About six years ago it had lost focus and was threatened with loss of accreditation
  • UofO made the decision to reconstitute the program at the same time that they were bringing in new structures faculty
  • At the same time they decided to redefine the curriculum
• It is small, currently about 40 students total, but growing
• It is located within the "School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science" a healthy engineering program.
• University of Oklahoma is a strong research university, which allows the AE program to make use of the the research facilities.
  
  
  
  • The spiritual "home" of the program is a physically remote structural research building. This facility has produced a strong sense of community in the faculty and at least the first group of students in the revived program.

Teaching Methods and Curriculum

• Because the new faculty were brought in as members of the department's revitalized structures group the current focus of the program is primarily structural engineering.
• MEP is regarded as important to the overall education of Architectural Engineers
  
  
  • A new faculty member in Mechanical Engineering will have an HVAC emphasis. That faculty member is expected to enhance this aspect of the AE program.
• The AE program participates in the department's capstone design sequence, of which they are very proud.
  
  
  • The first term covers a variety of topics not covered elsewhere in the curriculum
  • The second term is team-oriented, addressing the complete design of a building
  • External reviewers, often departmental graduates, participate in the design reviews and grading
• Students participated extensively in developing the revised curriculum when the program was reconstituted. 
• Students are extensively exposed to hands-on experience through laboratory work [4/15/2009 addition per TK]
  

AE Content Issues

• As noted above the redefinition of the AE program has occupied almost all their time.
• The addition of the HVAC faculty member will address the largest unresolved issue that they were facing.

Students

• I met with several students and observed several capstone design presentations. They seemed proud of their program and their role in shaping its future.
• As might be expected there isn't any significant employment data available.

Observations

• The program in its current form is so young that any observations would be premature beyond my strong sense of their enthusiasm and intent to bring the program up to the level of the rest of the university.

Oklahoma State University Visit - April 6th,2009

On 4/6/2009 I spent the day Oklahoma State University (OSU), my thirteenth sabbatical visit. Thanks to the efforts of John Phillips I met seven faculty currently teaching the design aspects of the AE program. As on my previous trips everyone was welcoming and helpful, making my visit both productive and enjoyable.

What did I learn?

About the OSU AE Program

• OSU faculty are very proud of their small (currently 6-8 graduates per year) five-year program. They view it as unique in its tight integration with the Architecture program. Graduates have 32 credits of studio courses, intense 4-contact-hour-per day, four or five days a week experiences.
• They judge its success by the feedback they receive from employers as well as their advisory council, and the demand for their graduates.
• While located in the college of engineering, the School of Architecture leads a fairly independent existence with strong support from the dean. The tenure and promotion criteria and expectations of the faculty are different from the rest of the college - essentially teaching success.
  
  
  • One faculty member explained this independence to me as resulting from the fact that the college also contains several technology programs which are regarded as the low-status members, leaving the Architecture and AE Programs to be independent.
• It's a very long-established program - this fall it is celebrating its 100th anniversary, coincident with a move into a newly renovated and expanded building.
  
  
  • While that building is in under construction they're in temporary space in an engineering research building that would make many departments happy.
• In its long history the department and programs within it have undergone many organizational changes. Most of the dates that follow are only approximate, but they give the overall sense. These changes include:
  
  
  • The school started life identified as an Architectural Engineering program in 1909.
  • Architecture was added later, separating out of the AE program
  • In the 1940's the name was changed to focus on Architecture
  • In the 1950s and 1960's the AE program was 5-years
  • In the 1960's it switched to a four-year bachelors and 2-year masters program
  • In 1986 they switched back to a five-year bachelors program
  • They have recently considered switching again to a bachelors+masters program but have decided against it because adding new material to the current content would require six years - too great of a recruiting disadvantage.
• Having four identified AE faculty for only 6-8 graduates (there is a cap of 15) per year makes sense within the overall department because the faculty have additional roles:
  
  
  • They teach architects as well as engineers in the team-taught studios, particularly the capstone design course - called "comprehensive" at OSU.
  • They teach service courses for the college, particularly Statics.
• There is not currently an identified Masters program for AE's or architects (a prior one was closed by the University regents due to low enrollment). The faculty, however, work with the Civil Engineering department so they do have a small graduate program, comprised mostly of OSU graduates, that receives a CivE diploma but is largely taught by AE faculty.
  
  
  • There is hope that in the new building both the undergraduate and the graduate programs may grow so that the Masters may be reinstated.

Teaching Methods and Curriculum

• The "center of the universe" for both architecture and AE students at OSU is the classic individual architectural studio.
  
  
  • Students have a nearly identical curriculum for the first two "pre-professional" years before being admitted to the professional program.
    
    
    • The only difference is whether they take the algebra-based or calculus-based math and physics courses.
  • All students share the same intense studio courses each term in those first two years
    
    
    • In the last years the AE diverge, having one more semester of studio plus the comprehensive design studio in their last
  • Only in the capstone comprehensive studio are the AE's treated differently from the architects. There the first six weeks are identical, but in the last eight the AE's focus on a complete structural design whereas the architects pursue design development for the whole building.
  • These studios are generally team-taught by rather than individual critics.
• AE students replace the studios in the last three "professional" years with technical courses
  
  
  • Some of these classes still have a project emphasis - typically the 2nd course (e.g. second steel design) has mixed lecture and project approach in order to achieve "just-in-time" learning.
• Faculty have a typical load of five courses per year. For those teaching in studios (most) this translates into a large number of contact hours per years since the typical studio is 16 contact hours/week, with the "comprehensive" studio being 20 hours/week.
• Faculty generally have significant industry experience that they draw on in their classes.
  
  
  • Quite a few have graduated from OSU and returned after an industry career.
• Teaching ability is critical in tenure and promotion decisions.
  
  
  • Extensive informal mentoring is encouraged within the school
  • The university provides teaching support through its Institute of Teaching & Learning Excellence. Attendance is not required at it's seminar, but is regarded as sometimes helpful.
  • Research is becoming increasingly important. It is mostly related to education, with an article per year related to teaching being desirable.
• The school has recently brought explicit examples of AE into the first year course in order to highlight the opportunities for entering students.
  
  
  • The results of this may well contribute to increasing the AE graduates from the current 6-8 average to the 15 maximum that their studio system permits.

AE Content Issues

• The two program emphases are structures and architecture with a conscious effort to mesh them.
  
  
  • Architects and AE's take the first of each structural class together. AE's take the second course by themselves.
• The single MEP faculty member is responsible for all MEP courses for both Architects and engineers. He emphasizes the connection between MEP and architecture using the fact that it will be necessary in the final studio as the incentive.
• The last shared studio for architects and engineers is the "comprehensive" studio taken by architects in their 4th year and AE's in their 5th year.
• The program has been limited by their space for years. With the opening of a newly renovated and expanded building this coming fall they will have additional capability.
  
  
  • If the interest increases the AE program might expand
  • It's possible that they might expand the MEP portion of the program at that time as well

Students

• The program is selective because of the limited number of places in the School of Architecture - 30 architecture and 15 AE per year.
• The students are hard-working and are valued by employers.
• The great majority of graduating students (90+ percent) go to work as consulting engineers. There is little movement into construction as is the case in many other programs.
  
  
  • The vast majority of these students stay in-state because the demand is high. In contrast, about 50% of the architects leave the state.

Observations

• OSU represents one end of the Architectural Engineering spectrum in its emphasis on the importance of Architecture. With it's 32 semester credits of studio, all shared with architects graduates of this program have far more exposure to architectural thinking than graduates of many other programs. When I asked what difference this made to their graduates the general answer was that it made them understand and thus better able to work with architects. How this understanding differed from what was achieved in other programs wasn't clear.

Kansas State University (KSU) Visit - 9-10 February 2009

On February 9th & 10th I visited Kansas State University (KSU), for my 12th sabbatical interviews. Thanks to the efforts of Dave Fritchen (Department head) and Ray Yunk (ArchE program coordinator) I met nine faculty currently teaching the design aspects of the AE program and others as well. As on my previous trips everyone was welcoming and helpful, making my visit both productive and enjoyable. (The visit also dispelled an easterner's preconceptions about the flatness of all things in Kansas and provided spring weather in February).

What did I learn?

About the Architectural Engineering And Construction Science program

• They're long established (1925)
  
  
  
  • Like many programs they've moved administratively over time, but have been in their present configuration for about 30 years
• They're clear about their mission and determined in following it - producing "industry ready" building engineers
  
  
  
  • They rely on twice-yearly advisory council meetings for indications of what industry needs
  • All of their faculty come from industry and continue industry relationships through consulting or committee activities
• They feel independent of academic trends
  
  
  
  • Of the seventeen tenure-track faculty only one has a PhD
  • Classroom teaching is the core value, with research not a part of the academic responsibilities.
  • Typical faculty teaching loads are 4 or five courses/term, with responsibility for all grading (no teaching assistants)
  • Faculty also have a strong (50+ students/faculty member) advising responsibility
  • This approach is different from most of the rest of the university
• The department's physical facilities are excellent
  
  
  
  • The department raised the money for the facilities and was involved in the design and construction
• Industry cooperation extends to student employment during the semester
  
  
  
  • Two firms (from Texas and Kansas City) have set up remote sites immediately off-campus where student employees work via the internet, supervised both by a company employee and (several hours/week) by a faculty member.
• The 800 students in the department's two programs make it the largest in the college of engineering

Teaching Methods and Curriculum

• The five-year program bachelor program uses the additional credits beyond those in the typical four-year program for greater breadth and depth
  (158 credit hours to graduate).
  
  
  
  • Students take essentially the same curriculum for the first 3-1/2 years and then have a choice between an MEP and a structural track.
  • Unlike most other AE programs the MEP track is approximately twice as popular as the structural track
• In the one-semester capstone design course (individual work, though the prior course is team-oriented) a student is expected to address all the systems in a building in depth
  
  
  
  • There are two sections of this course, one devoted to structural design, the other to MEP
  • The prior course is focused on schematic design of the MEP and structural systems with an emphasis on understanding the interaction of design decisions.  It uses a problem-based learning approach. [2/12/2009 Correction]
    
• The faculty take great pride that they have many years of industry experience and therefore can teach the students the way designs and documentation are actually created in industry
  
  
  
  • Codes are used extensively
  • There is an emphasis on professionalism in conduct as well as product
• A complement to this industry-focused approach is that the role of theory development or exploration is not viewed as a critical part of the education.
  
  
  
  • One senior faculty member explained it to me that there really hasn't been much significant change in the equipment and theories on which the industry is based in the last thirty-five years so time spent on applying theory is more valuable.
  • Another noted that most new knowledge comes through the professional association, which are very active at KSU.
    
    
    
    • e.g. 20 students typically attend the ASHRAE convention
• The role of hand-drawing (sketches) is highly valued
  
  
  
  • For this reason there are still two (down from nine when one faculty member was a student) hand drafting classes.
• The Construction Science program (4-year non-engineering) is an excellent complement to the AE program
  
  
  
  • Faculty in the department teach in both programs
  • Students who have difficulty with the math-science portion of engineering in the first two years find a switch to Construction Science easy.
  • There are shared upper-level elective courses that give the AE students good professional knowledge of construction
• SEI Model program
  
  
  
  • The department is working with the Civil Engineering department to develop a master's level offering that would follow the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) recommendation - perhaps offering a certificate
• Graduate program
  
  
  
  • The department has a small masters program (report rather than thesis) including a BS/MS program
    
    
    
    • Most of the students in the program are BS/Ms students
    • 3/4 are structural and 1/4 are MEP [2/17/2009 correction]
    • The program is limited in size to about 24 students - larger was found to be unwieldy [2/17/2009 correction]
      
• Seminar Program
  
  
  
  • All students in the program (freshman to senior) are required to attend a 4-times-per-semester no-credit single seminar that typically brings in outside speakers, often talking about a specific project

AE Content Issues

Overall KSU faculty feel content with what they're doing. I found no significant themes. The notes below represent observations or minor issues.

• Sustainability
  
  
  
  • The department is proud that their industry advisory board alerted them to the impeding importance of LEED and that a faculty member was the first LEED-certified instructor in the nation.
  • Energy conservation and wise use of resources is emphasized throughout the curriculum
• BIM
  
  
  
  • The attitude towards BIM appears to be that it's more important in the construction area than in the engineering area.
  • Revit is being used, but there is little sense that it's going to require significant rethinking of any other issues.
• Bachelor's + 30
  
  
  
  • The department is confident that their five-year program will meet the intent of this change
• Computer use
  
  
  
  • As noted in relation to hand-drawing and BIM, the general approach appears to be cautious about committing to computer dependence in education.
  • There is apparently a continuing discussion: computer programs are used in many courses and many are available in the department's computer labs.

Students

• Students overwhelming go into consulting engineering careers
  
  
  
  • The option for construction careers, common in many other AE programs, is addressed here by the construction science program.
• The breakdown of graduate employment (50-60/year) is approximately
  
  
  
  • MEP consulting 2/3 of graduates
  • Structural consulting 1/3
  • Other - minor
• Women are well represented in the program
  
  
  
  • About 25% of the students and the faculty
• Student attrition is fairly significant in the first two years, and not thereafter
  
  
  
  • About 120 identify as AE's as freshman
  • About 50-60 graduate

Observations

• Two aspects of the KSU program are unique and appear to contribute to its success
  
  
  
  • Its reliance on industry-trained faculty who often obtain their advanced degree (usually Masters) while teaching at KSU
  • The alliance with the construction program, which has both financial and educational advantages
• In conversations with younger faculty there was some sense that greater help in making the transition from industry to a teaching role would be helpful
  
  
  
  • There is a mentoring program - it was felt to be variably helpful
  • There is also a "LEARN" seminar series available from the university that helped some
  • The idea of a teaching workshop in the summer preceding teaching was appreciated by many
• The effects of the "flattening" of the world thanks to the internet are vividly illustrated by the firms that have set up storefront operations to take advantage of student assistance.
  
  
  
  • The implications of this flattening for future employment opportunities for graduates in a world-economy would seem to be worth considering - for KSU and every other institution.

About my Sabbatical Project

• The issue of the location of an AE program in the administrative setup was once again highlighted.
  
  
  
  • There seems to be a fairly consistent pattern that those that are contained within a "Civil, Architectural & xxxx" arrangement do not have the strength that independent departments do. Whether that's a historical artifact or a consequence of the arrangement is not clear.

Tennesse State University (TSU) Vist - 6 February 2009

On February 6th I spent the day at Tennessee State University, my twelfth sabbatical visit. Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Hinton Jones I met five faculty currently teaching the design aspects of the AE program. As on my previous trips everyone was welcoming and helpful, making my visit both productive and enjoyable. (A balmy, almost-spring day after a week of 5-10 degree weather was most welcome too.)

What did I learn?

About the Department of Architectural and Facilities Engineering program

• The Architectural Engineering program has been long-established at this Historically Black institution
  
  
  • It was founded in the 1950s
• For many years its identity was closer to architecture than to engineering
  
  
  • Its department heads have almost all been architects
  • It offered a path for black students into the building profession since few architecture programs were open to them in the days of segregation
  • This identity is changing - it now sees itself as primarily engineering although that perception is not necessarily understood by the alumni and many employers.
• It's small, but stable
  
  
  • The faculty consists of three full-time members, with a search under way for a fourth
  • The student body is about 100 total and fairly constant at that number.
• The program is undergraduate and teaching-focused
  
  
  • There is a desire to create a graduate program and to develop research
• Even though Facilities Engineering is part of the name, it's not an active program.
• As at other institutions that I've visited, recruiting a qualified HVAC faculty member is difficult
  
  
  • There's been an effort over the last four years that hasn't yet been successful
• There is an association with Penn State through visits to their Job Fair

Teaching Methods and Curriculum

• The curriculum emphasizes structures, mechanical and electrical in a single track with some electives offered.
• There is a strong emphasis on making students ready for industry. As examples, this involves:
  
  
  • Emphasis on drawing preparation and understanding of standard symbols and conventions
  • Visits to professional offices in early years
  • Use of the NEC book as the text in the electrical course
• The design sequence involves the following courses:
  
  
  • Sophomore graphics course with some design content
  • Two architectural design courses
    
    
    • One currently in junior year and one in senior year
    • In future they will both be in the junior year with space made by elimination of a CADD course.
  • A two-semester capstone design course sequence
    
    
    • The first semester focuses on problem definition
    • The semester focuses on concept development and documentation
    • Students in this course are individually responsible for a system
    • They are encouraged to work in teams of 3-4 students addressing the same building, but still maintaining the individual system responsibility, but some still work individually

AE Content Issues

• Sustainability
  
  
  • The faculty noted that sustainable concepts are embedded in the curriculum via examples and instructor emphasis
  • Most capstone design buildings use LEED certification standards
  • Energy conservation is emphasized in the HVAC courses as well as the architectural design studios
• BIM
  
  
  • Although there wasn't much explicit concern about BIM, Revit Architecture has been adopted as the standard tool in the Architecture studios.
• Bachelor's + 30
  
  
  • The faculty are in favor of extending the curriculum to five years in accordance with this initiative
    
    
    • They're in favor because it would give them the opportunity to address material now not included due to time limitations, and also because of university requirements to reduce technical credits in order to increase general education credits.
• AE Profession identity
  
  
  • The issue of employers and colleagues in other departments not understanding what is Architectural Engineering is a significant problem here.

Students

• Graduates of the program have been employed approximately as follows:
  
  
  • Construction 50%
  • Consulting 15%
  • Government 15%
  • Other 20%
  • These numbers have changed over time with consulting being higher a while ago
  • The department is making an effort to expose students to consulting firms and believes that number will go up again in future.
• Student preparation and attrition
  
  
  • Many students are not well prepared for engineering
    
    
    • For this reason a year of remedial work is not uncommon
    • The time to graduation is therefore 5 to 5-1/2 years for most students
  • There is quite a significant attrition rate for students, in large part for the same reasons
    
    
    • The entering class is about 35 students
    • The typical graduating class is about 10 students

Observations

• The students are the beneficiaries of faculty who are all highly experienced and dedicated, with many years of teaching and/or industry experience.
  
  
  • Replacing them with the next generation is probably going to be a challenge for the university in the next decade.

Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) Visit - February 4, 2009

On February 4th I visited Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), my tenth sabbatical trip. Thanks to the efforts of Jamshid Mohammadi (Department Head) and Ralph Muehleisen I met four faculty currently teaching the design aspects of the AE program and others as well. As on my previous trips everyone was welcoming and helpful, making my visit both productive and enjoyable. Thanks to IIT's emphasis on Architecture I also was able to lunch in the Rem Koolhaas student union straddling the elevated line and visit several Mies buildings including the renowned Crown Hall.

What did I learn?

About the AE program in Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Department

• It's fairly new -1995 start
  
  
  
  • It was started on the advice of the department's industry advisory board
• It's been growing - from a small start to about 100 AE students now
  
  
  
  • It's feeling some growing pains, particularly in the faculty area
• It's ambitious - wanting to cover more aspects of AE than many programs
  
  
  
  • See the curriculum section for details
• The campus academic environment is research-oriented
  
  
  
  • This has caused some problems for department faculty because of the need for heavy teaching loads to meet the curriculum requirements.

Teaching Methods and Curriculum

• The curriculum currently addresses AE with multiple tracks
  
  
  
  • Structural
  • Building systems
  • Construction management
  • Electrical
  • Fire Protection
    
    
  • In practice students currently follow a 'general' track because of the faculty limitations on offering courses.
  • Acoustics and Noise Control is also a significant offering though it's not currently a separate track
• The Capstone design course (one semester) is offered in a unique manner.
  
  
  
  • The university has an interdisciplinary design requirement called IPRO
  • IPRO is currently offered in two independent courses, the second of which serves as the AE capstone design course (the first occurs anytime during a student's IIT career). [correction 2/6/2009]
    
  • Each section of the IPRO course for AE's typically consists of about 5-8 architects (from the 1000+ in IIT's architecture program), 5-8 AE's and an about equal number from other IIT majors (section size 16).
  • This team must complete a building design using the talents of all the members
  • The first IPRO course sometimes serves as a precursor to this capstone experience, but not necessarily because it is administered by a separate office.
• One faculty member, Mark Snyder, is conducting some educational experiments in the freshman Introduction to The Profession (ITP) course, looking at different emphases and using assessment techniques from other institutions.
• Like many other AE programs the department does not offer a course designated or internally identified as Architectural Engineering Design.
  
  
  
  • The capstone design course serves that purpose as is often the case in elsewhere
  • There is an "architecture" course taught by an professor with both architecture and engineering credentials
• As in other institutions, cooperation with other departments is often difficult
  
  
  
  • Service courses by and for architecture have decreased in recent years
    
    
    
    • There is still, however, a desire to develop joint research and courses
  • There are similar issues with other engineering departments
• The department offers a "professional masters" degree
  
  
  
  • It is currently almost a complete overlap with the last two years of the AE program

AE Content Issues

• Sustainability
  
  
  
  • Several courses (Mechanical Systems and electrical) have a significant sustainability emphasis in their content
• BIM
  
  
  
  • Revit is currently used for representation purposes
  • There is interest in it for engineering purposes, but uncertainty about its current capabilities and resource demands
• Bachelors + 30 Movement
  
  
  
  • The university overall is quite positive about this direction for the profession
  • Several professors expressed concern about material that cannot now be in the curriculum that they believe important. That was their reason for liking the extra time this approach would provide.
• Identity
  
  
  
  • I heard from several individuals that Architectural Engineering is not well known in the Chicago area.
    
    
    
    • The department head has had to present to several state boards to allow graduates to take the PE Exam
  • One person explicitly and by extension several others would like to see more attention paid nationally to addressing this issue
• Building Systems
  
  
  
  • As noted above, there is a desire to spend significant course time on some building systems not standard in other curricula: Acoustics, Fire Protection, Plumbing

Students

• The AE program has a net inflow of students in the first several years thanks to transfers
• The majority of graduates go to work for construction firms

Observations

• The IIT program is ambitious in its desire for comprehensiveness.
  
  
  
  • Currently that ambition is checked by the lack of sufficient faculty, a check that the department hopes will be remedied.
• Its Chicago environment, with its numerous large design firms, should offer considerable opportunities in future.

Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) Visit - February 2-3, 2009

On Feburary 1st and 2nd I visited Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) for my 9th set of interviews. Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Deborah Jackman (Dept. Head) and Dr. John Zachar I met a large precentage of the faculty critical to the design aspects of AE program and quite a few others as well. As on my prior visits everyone was welcoming and helpful making my visit both productive and enjoyable.

What did I learn?

About the MSOE program

• In a small (2,500), private school, the Architectural Engineering and Building Construction Department is a large player
  
  
  
  • The department's approximately 350 students are about 15% of the school's total student body
• Unlike most other institutions I've visited, there is no Civil Engineering department at MSOE
  
  
  
  • This means that all the fundamental mechanics courses are taught by AEBC faculty
• Building Construction focuses on what many schools would call construction management
  
  
  
  • All AE students are required to take at least two courses in this area
• Graduate studies and research play a very minor role in the department
  
  
  
  • Research productivity is not an expectation of faculty, though it does "count" if faculty choose to pursue it
• Tenure is not used at MSOE
  
  
  
  • Instead there are long-term contracts
    
    
    
    • 4, 6, 8 years for assitant, associate and full professors respectively
  • In practice, once someone has passed their first review they are unlikely to be dropped
  • The review is based 60% on teaching evaluations - primarily student course evaluations used for every course
    
    
    
    • The other 40% is a list of contributions to department, university and profession (including research here)
  • Promotion assumes good teaching and depends the other 40% of the review items
• The university made a decision 10 years ago to hire only PhD graduates for full-time positions
  
  
  
  • This is having a gradual effect on the faculty, with some younger faculty having a greater desire to find time for research
• MSOE uses a very detailed "Micro-Load" system to account for faculty time
  
  
  
  • The expectation is 43 hours/week
  • It has allocations for class time, class prep, grading, advising, department meetings, coordinating

Teaching Methods and Curriculum

• MSOE is proud of it's committment to good teaching and the high ranking it has achieved in US News and World Report thanks to that reputation
• Class sizes are targeted at 20-25 students from Freshman year onward
  
  
  
  • This means that there are often multiple sections of courses
    
    
    
    • This large number of sections in turn explains the large number of adjunct faculty in the department
• The department offers three tracks for AE's, with all students taking at least two courses in each track
  
  
  
  • Building Electrical Systems
  • Building Environmental Systems
  • Building Structural Systems
• There is one explicit Architectural studio in the curriculum
  
  
  
  • There areencounters with design in earlier courses, starting with the freshman introduction course
  • The capstone Senior Design 3-course sequence requires teams of approximately 7 students to program, design and engineering a "real" building
• There is pride in making the students "industry-ready" on graduation
  
  
  
  • This translates into the curriculum in several ways
    
    
    
    • Detailed consideration of code-compliance in discipline courses
    • Labs with real industry equipment and emphasis on connecting theory to measured reality
    • Participation in, and great success in, the General Building Contractors (GBC) national competitions
    • The capstone design sequence works on "real" projects solicited by a faculty member from industry contacts.
      
      
      
      • A large portion of the grade is determined by an independent industry panel without a faculty member
• The department is content with its teaching methods
  
  
  
  • There is support for faculty who wish to take teaching improvement workshops such as those at Bucknell or the ASCE Exceed workshops.
    
    
    
    • There does not, however, appear to be great effort invested in spreading lessons learned from such activities.
  • There are university-level support activities
    
    
    
    • They do not appear to hold much interest for most faculty
• Student advising is very strong
  
  
  
  • I happened to be here during the week of the term in which students consult with their advisors about their next term's work. It was clear that faculty took this responsibility very seriously.
• Issues that concerned the faculty are:
  
  
  
  • Sustainability - there is considerable pride that they are "ahead of the curve" in incorporating it throughout the curriculum
  • BIM - Opinions varied, but what I heard most was a a"wait and see" attitude to determine how important it would become in the curiculum
    
    
    
    • AE's have already adopted Revit as a standard tool for representation
  • Bachelor + 30 - There did not appear to be much consensus on this though several faculty expressed strong, divergent opinions
    
    
    
    • There were several comments about the difficulty of fitting in everything "necessary" in the current 192 quarter credits
  • Technology - at least one faculty member expressed great pride in a fairly recent requirement that all students own a laptop
    
    
    
    • It was felt to greatly enhance communication

AE Content Issues

• The faculty are pleased with the comprehensiveness of the systems that they address. In their coursework students have farily detailed exposure to:
  
  
  
  • Structures
  • HVAC
  • Electrical
  • Plumbing
  • Fire Protection
  • Construction Management
• As noted above, Sustainability and BIM (for representation) are already incorporated in the curriculum.
• All students take at least two courses in all the track areas.

Students

Faculty volunteered few comments about the students. When I asked they were pleased overall. The following observations were gleaned in response to my questions.

• The students are hard-working
  
  
  
  • I had some comments that they find dealing with open-ended problems difficult - as is the case for students in most institutions.
• Most have part-time jobs to help meet their expenses
  
  
  
  • But I heard no complaints about the part-time work hindering class performance
• I heard some a few comments that students are not as well prepared in their math and sciences as the faculty expected
• Attrition is fairly high during and at the end of the first year
  
  
  
  • In the last two years enrollment is stable
  • At least one faculty member regarded the atttiriton as a strength, proving that they had advised students well in the first year - students had real knowledge of what they were choosing, with some realizing that it wasn't for them.
• I did not get good data on graduate employment other than that their graduates are much sought after
  
  
  
  • Anecdotally I was told that most AE's pursue consulting engineering design jobs plus with some in construction as well as ancillary occupations.
  • The Building Construction major serves those who wish to work in the construction side of the industry

Observations

• MSOE strikes me as an institution that has a clear view of its role, one that has changed little over the years and one of which it's proud. They are training "industry-ready" practitioners with great success.
• Changes at MSOE are slow, but real
  
  
  
  • The emphasis on sustaibility and the introduction of the BIM tool are examples of changes that not all schools have made
  • The increasing importance of the PhD for faculty and the consequent gradual increase in the value placed on research by the faculty is another.

About my Sabbatical Project

• In my seminar presentation to the faculty I had the first opportunity to present some of the results from that I'd generated for my ASEE paper.
  
  
  
  • I had few questions or comments about my analysis of the nine categories I've created to discuss the AE Design definitions.

University of Kansas (KU) Visit - December 8th & 9th 2008

On December 8th &9th I spent two informative days at the University of Kansas (KU), my eighth sabbatical visit. Thanks to the efforts of Tom Mulinazzi and Craig Adams (Department Head) I met eight faculty currently teaching the design aspects of the AE program and others as well. As on my previous trips everyone was welcoming and helpful, making my visit both productive and enjoyable.

What did I learn?

About the KU Architectural Engineering (ArcE) program

•  It's a five year program Bachelors program with longstanding ties to the Architecture program, ties that the department wishes to strengthen again.
• Many faculty are proud of this tie and feel that it distinguishes their program from most other ArcE programs.
• Administratively it has an unusual history.  
• Until recently it was an independent program reporting jointly to the School of Architecture and Urban Planning, and also the Engineering School.  
• In 2001 it moved fully to engineering as part of the newly renamed department of Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering.  
• Students for the ArcE program are still admitted by the Architecture program.
• Of the 24 tenure-track faculty in the department the ArcE faculty 5-6 would probably state that their primary identification is as ArcE faculty.
• There are also several full-time auxiliary faculty who are important to the program.

Teaching Methods and Curriculum

• Although the number of Architecture studio courses has decreased in recent years, there's still a strong architectural studio experience in the first two years with studios similar to those for architecture students although now taught separately with higher student-faculty ratios for ArcE's. 
• Design in some form is present throughout the student's five years
• There are design problems in the first year introduction to Architectural Engineering course
• Architectural design starts in the first year and extends through the sophomore year
• Students take discipline design classes in the intermediate years and have design problems as part of some of the discipline analysis courses
• The capstone design sequence is two semesters long - 6 credits each semester and thus intense
• The first semester is organized sequentially into three parts addressing structures; mechanical; electrical (power) & lighting
• In the second semester students choose an discipline area in which to specialize
• The program offer four emphasis areas which are achieved by selection in the capstone sequence and through electives selected by the students.
• Building Environmental Systems (HVAC, energy, acoustics)
• Lighting/Electrical
• Building Construction Engineering and Management
• Building Structural Systems
• AE students must take the FE exam to graduate
• There is graduate study in the department for ArcE's with the MS in ArcE and the PhD in Civil.  
• It's also possible, and encouraged, to continue on to a Master of Architecture - currently 2-3 students per year follow this option.
• The faculty take pride in preparing students for industry.
• They take advantage of industry contacts (primarily from Kansas City) as adjuncts, consultants in the design classes, and as full-time auxiliaries.
• There is also considerable pride on the quality of their teaching as a group.
• Faculty identified use of many teaching methods
• Lecture in many classes - often spiced with field trips and guest lecturers.
• Studio in Architecture
• Modified studio in several classes
• Case Study - as examples in lecture classes

AE Content Issues

• Balance of curiculum ingredients
• In my conversations I found a number of different views on the appropriate balance of  curriculum agreements
• The strongest, though not unanimous, belief was that the architecture emphasis was important
• Structures was perceived as being the dominant curriculum element and discipline emphasis by some, with a desire for more MEP
• There's an effort to reestablish a former strength in lighting
• Sustainability
• Faculty cited multiple elements related to sustainability in the current curriculum although it isn't explicitly emphasized .
• BIM
• There will be a new BIM course next term.
• Other than that it wasn't generally perceived as particularly important by most faculty although several tied it, sustainability and economic design together as jointly important.
• Coordination with Other departments and Programs
• As noted above the relationship with the architecture program is considered highly important and there is considerable effort to improve it.
• There was little mention of a desire to establish relationships with other departments (although some are doing so) or institutions.

Students

• Departmental Enrollment is approximately as follows
• 240 Civil Engineers
• 175 Architectural Engineers
• ?? Environmental Engineers
• ArcE graduates work approximately as follows:
• Construction & Structures each 1/3
• MEP 1/6
• Other 1/6
• Admission for ArcE students is fairly selective
• They are limited by the places available in the initial architectural studios
• An estimate was that only 1 in 3 is admitted
• They have high ACT scores, amongst the highest in all engineering
• There is considerable encouragement to get international experience
• There are study-abroad relationships with Newcastle University in Australia as well as a new one with Leeeds in the UK.

Observations

• The administrative changes in the department disrupted its operation for a number of years, but there is now a sense of optimisim and a desire to continue what all regard as as strong, unique tradition.
• As is the case at many of the other institutions I've visited there in some curiousity about the results of my study, but there's little apparent interest in significant cooperation with other Architectural Engineering programs.
• I believe that this is the case for most of the programs because there's little benefit perceived to come from such cooperation and because there's a significant rivalry with nearby instutitions.

Missouri University of Science and Technology - 12/4-5 Visit

On December 4-5 I spent two worthwhile days at Missouri University of Science and Technology (MS and T), my seventh sabbatical visit. Thanks to the efforts of Stuart Baur I met seven faculty currently teaching the design aspects of the AE program and others as well. As on my previous trips everyone was welcoming and helpful, making my visit both productive and enjoyable.

What did I learn?

About the MS&T program

•  It's young – established in 2001, accredited 2005
  

• It was created because a study showed that previously many Missouri residents were leaving the state to get an ArchE education and as a way to increase university enrollment without a major resource commitment.
  

• It's growing – started at about 30 students and now about 90 entering as freshmen and 150 in the last two years (compared to about 225 in CivE)
  
  
  
  • The enrollment seems to be stabilizing, although if it grows there could be implications for faculty needs and class sizes.
    
• It's undergraduate and teaching focused
  
  
  
  • They pride themselves on small (<30) class sizes
    
• They're in a strong department (Civil, Architectural and Environmental) which has:
  
  
  
  • Very loyal, supportive alumni – the amounts of money raised directly from alumni by the department amazed me
    
  • A handsome new (2001) building with excellent teaching and research spaces
    
  • A strong, long-established, diverse civil engineering curriculum
    
    
    
    • Civil structural students actually take fewer structures courses than ArchE students
      
• An unusual university structure – there are no deans
• A faculty appointment system that explicitly recognizes their program affiliation. Out of 23 tenure track faculty
  
  
  
  • Two in-department tenure track are 100% ArchE
  • One is about 70% ArchE
  • Others are partially ArchE if they teach courses ArchE's take
• Tenure and promotion criteria address teaching and research approximately equally with service valued as well.
  
• There is also support from faculty in other departments as well as adjunct faculty.
  
  
  
  • Because of a Missouri-Kansas agreement there are no Architecture programs in the public system
    
    
    
    • This means that MS&T had to hire two architects to teach the architectural portion of the ArchE program
      
    • Tenure and promotion criteria are the same as for other departmental faculty, a source of some uncertainty.
      

Teaching Methods and Curriculum

• The curriculum is still evolving
  
  
  
  • It started at 138 credits, but has been reduced to 128 credits by university mandate
    
    
    
    • At that level most students take about 4-1/2 years to graduate
      
• Students are offered four concentration options although there is no official declaration process: Structures, Building Systems; Construction Engineering and Project Management, and Construction Materials
  
  
  
  • These concentrations are achieved by the students choosing their two “technical electives” in one of the three areas
    
  • They may also use their two “free electives” if they wish to specialize even more
    
• Architectural and/or Architectural Engineering design experiences occur in three classes (203, 204, 205), the one-semester capstone class (298) as well as discipline-specific design experiences in other courses.
  
  
  
  • Senior (capstone) design is organized in teams of approximately a dozen students working on a “real” project. Each student has an individual design task (IDT) and individual presentation in addition to the group presentation given by the team leader whose IDT is the project management.
    
  • All of these classes are taught in what I would call a “modified studio” method
    
• HVAC, acoustics and electrical courses are taught by faculty from other departments
  
  
  
  • There is some concern about how to continue these courses since the current faculty may become unavailable in the near future, with no tenure-track replacements likely from the departments. The department is advertising for an MEP faculty and is considering distance education options (an initial effort that way was not a success, but it may be revisited).
    

AE Content Issues

• Sustainability
  
  
  
  • This is perceived as an significant area, with more organization desirable
    
  • It's included in several courses already
    
  • One faculty is pursuing LEED certification
    
  • The Solar Decathlon competition has been important both because of strong student involvement and because it has led to several courses (electives) being developed
    
• BIM
  
  
  
  • The general attitude is “wait-and-see” with a number of faculty thinking it is a fad or a mere skills course that would better be taught at a trade school such as Rolla Technical Institute (RTI).
    
• Bachelors + 30
  
  
  
  • As with BIM, the general attitude is “wait-and-see” with the many changes of definition and apparent goals being noted.
    
• Student Ethics
  
  
  
  • Ethics arose at least once as an area needing attention – particularly the problems of copying work
    

Students

• The program has no special selection criteria or enrollment cap
  
  
  
  • MS&T is fairly selective as an institution, with the 2^nd highest ACT scores in the state.
    
• Students are very involved with student organizations and service
  
  
  
  • There are multiple strong student organizations including: AEI; Engineers Without Borders; Solar Decathlon.
    
  • Students have a service requirement – which (at least in part) involves fund-raising telephone solicitations to alumni
    
  • The institution has a strong supporting role – there is a campus center, with plans for a new building to support such activities
    
• Graduates of the ArchE (and department) pursue careers approximately as follows:
  
  
  
  • Construction – 30%
    
  • Structures 30%
    
  • Graduate studies 10%
    
  • Other – balance
    
• Work Experience
  
  
  
  • Students generally have some work experience in the field while they at MS&T
    
    
    
    • About 95% have a summer work experience, at least once
      
    • About 20% have a CoOp work term at some point
      
  • The faculty find this experience valuable
    

Observations

• Attitudes about AE Design
  
  
  
  • Most faculty believe that “AE Design” is a valid concept and that it involved working with more than a single system. Beyond that there was considerable diversity of definitions.
    
• Need for faculty in MEP disciplines
  
  
  
  • As noted above, while they have been fortunate in finding faculty from other departments, most of these faculty are likely to become unavailable in the near future. There is considerable concern, as at other institutions, about how to get these faculty. The problems that they see are:
    
    
    
    • Where to find such faculty because they are in short supply
      
    • How to make them “tenurable” given the institution's requirements and the general research atmosphere.
      
  • They are explicitly considering distance learning options despite an unfavorable initial experience.
    
    
    
    • Some faculty question the effect of this approach on the students, at least in core concentration areas.
      

About my Sabbatical Project

• Importance of Department Structure
  
  
  
  • For the first time I explicitly posed a question as part of my discussion whether it might be the case that independent “AE departments are likely to have stronger scholarly focus and success compared to those programs” that are combined with others in the departmental structure.
    
  • The response that I received was that it might be the case, but that it wasn't feasible for a variety of reasons including external funding resources.
    

University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Omaha - Peter Kiewit Institute - 12/2/2008

On 12/2/2008 I visited the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Architectural Engineering program, my sixth sabbatical trip. Thanks to the efforts of Clarence Waters I interviewed six faculty currently teaching in the AE program, the executive director of the Peter Kiewit Institute Winnie Callahan, and others as well.  As on my previous trips everyone was welcoming and helpful, making my visit both productive and enjoyable.

What did I learn?

About the Architectural Engineering program

• It's young – they just celebrated their 10^th birthday
  
• It's an accredited Masters program – though students may leave with an unaccredited bachelors degree after four years
  
• It's very selective – because of the masters degree there is a cutoff of a 3.0 GPA at the beginning of the third year
  
  
  
  • Because of this cutoff the retention rate within the program from freshman to final year was reported to me as 30%
    
• It's growing – there enrollment is currently about 300 students (counting those not yet past the cuttoff) and increasing.
• They have superb facilities – the Peter Kiewit Institute (PKI) in which they are housed, is designed to expose all the building systems and allow their use in classes.
• They are well supported – Thanks to the support of the Omaha business community, particularly Mr. Walter Scott, the AE program is well supported financially and has working ties to the very large AE firms community.
• They're eager to interact with other AE programs – perhaps through distance learning exchanges (they have excellent facilities).
  
  
  • In particular, they're eager to attract excellent faculty thanks to their pattern of growth and good support.
• Their administrative structure is unusual
  
  
  • They're part of the Peter Kiewit Institute which incorporates elements of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and University of Nebraska at Omaha as well as a large and very successful business partnership program.
  • They're part of the UNL college of engineering, but they're not officially a department – the relationship is through the Pieter Kiewit Institute.
• Their explicit tenure and promotion criteria for most faculty are 50% teaching, 40% research, 10% service. So far as I could tell these criteria were used explicitly in at least the annual evaluations of faculty.
• They're very proud of what they're doing – with good cause so far as I can see.

Teaching Methods and Curriculum

• Their major focus is building energy systems, though structure is an option. The also have one of the few acoustic emphases in AE programs.
• It's a five-year program because it's a Master's program
  
  
  • Anticipation of the move towards the masters as a first professional degree was a key factor in setting up the curriculum.
• They have, and make good use of, excellent laboratory capabilities in all the disciplines.
• Because they're part of the the PKI they have extraordinary opportunities to work with the large and successful group of AE firms in Omaha.
  
  
  • They take advantage of that through site visits and professional involvement in classes.
  • This involvement is particularly important in their capstone design class (5^th year) where each team of students works with an industry team involving all disciplines that meets with the students throughout the semester.
• Construction Engineering (not Management) is another member of the PKI with strong ties to the AE program.

AE Content Issues

• BIM is being introduced into classes, but it does not appear to have a high importance in their thinking.
  
• Similarly, sustainability issues are certainly present because of the energy systems focus, but they were not emphasized by any of the faculty in our conversations.
  
• The faculty were quite happy with they way they've had the opportunity to shape their program and did not raise any other content issues.
  

Students

• As noted above the program is highly selective. As a result, the student test scores (ACT) are the highest in the college of engineering.
  
  
  
  • Despite predictions that there would be trouble attracting good students, that has not been the case.
    
• There seems to be a high level of student activity outside classes. I noticed five or six student organizations with active programs, including AEI.
  

Observations

• As what I've recorded above indicates, this program is unusual in many ways: youth, support, selectivity, emphasis, degree accredited.
  
• They have a clear mission that has support from faculty, students (I deduce), the PKI institute and the Omaha business community.
  
• One opportunity that they have not yet embraced that is inherent in the PKI mission is a close collaboration with the Information Technology branch of the PKI – a collaboration that was explicitly intended by the founders of the PKI.
  
• A repeated topic of conversation was the tension between Omaha and Lincoln. This tension has been evident in many ways, starting with the founding of the PKI and continuing today.
  
• If I were a mobile faculty member with both a research and teaching interest this would be a very attractive location.
  

About my Sabbatical Project

• The importance of the administrative structure and the support of the larger community were again emphasized.
• The difference between four-year and five-year program's ability to explore technical issues in depth was also again apparent.

Penn State Visit - November 17-18 2008

On November 17th & 18th I visited Penn State, my fifth sabbatical trip. Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Chimay Anumba (department head) and Kevin Parfitt I interviewed 11 faculty and discussed this sabbatical topic with about five others at lunch on the 18th.  As on my previous trips everyone was welcoming and helpful, making my visit both productive and enjoyable.

What did I learn?

About the Penn State program. It is:

• Big: 500 undergraduates plus graduates students; 18 full time faculty
  
  
  
  • this is in keeping with Penn State - 44,000 (corrected 11/21/2008) students on this campus I was told
• Old: It was founded in 1910
• Independent: it's in it's own department in the college of engineering
• Proud: It claims (with much evidence to support it) that it is the "preeminent" AE program
• Forward looking: it has been working with BIM and sustainability for some years. It has identified "High Performance Buildings" as a focus area incorporating both of these topics.

Teaching Methods and Curriculum

• The undergraduate curriculum offers 4 tracks, covering all of the generally accepted AE sub-disciplines with students graduating in the following approximate percentages (corrected 11/21/2008):
  
  
  • 
    
    

    Structures	35%
    Construction Management	35%
    HVAC	15%
    Electrical/Lighting	15%

• The fifth year of the program allows considerable depth, including 4 semesters of architectural design.
• About 50% of the students pursue a bachelors+masters program - again made easy by the 5th year
• There is a strong emphasis on meeting the needs of industr
  
  
  • A few faculty felt there was too much such emphasis
• The emphasis in design classes, particularly Senior Thesis (year-long), is on individual rather than team projects
  
  
  
  • There are team projects in prior classes
  • Students are explicitly required to demonstrate both depth in a discipline area and breadth by work in two other areas
• Design Teaching are primarily what I would call "studio" and "Modified Studio"
• In other classes there is a significant amount of hands-on lab work as well computer software.
• "Practitioner Instructor" faculty are an important resource to the department, bringing industry experience to the mix.
• The department is monitoring the Bachelor's + 30 goal of ASCE
  
  
  
  • They feel that they meet the intent of the criteria already although there is concern about specific wording issues.

Issues

• BIM (Revit Architecture) has been part of the curriculum for about five years and is rapidly becoming the primary tool, with plans to expand to Revit Structural and MEP.
• Sustainability is at the heart of the department's mission statement and is incorporated into many of the classes
  
  
  
  • Construction Management Faculty seem to be leading in the both the BIM and sustainability areas, though the HVAC and Lighting faculty have long been concerned about sustainability issues.(corrected 11/21/2008)
    
• The university reward (Tenure and Promotion) system concerns many of the faculty
  
  
  
  • A number feel some variation (there was considerable variety) of the sense that what is important to industry and their graduates is not what is rewarded by the T&P system.
  • Others felt that that the teaching loads prevented their pursing what was important to them and the reward system - research
• The department has good, cooperative relationships with both Civil Engineering and Architecture for both course offerings and some research projects.

Students

• Penn State is a highly selective program
  with a capped enrollment of 100 students per year
  
  
  
  • Students are admitted only after having achieved at least a 3.0 average in their first year at the university
• Their attrition rate from the program is negligible from 2nd through 5th year.
• The relative numbers of Structural, Mechanical and Electrical graduates are recognized not to match the job opportunities in industry.
  
  
  
  • Since all their graduates receive multiple job offers this is not a high priority issue.
• The fall-semester Penn State Job Fair is the big hiring opportunity. The number of firms attending (166 this year) far outnumbers the students (~100)
  
  
  
  • Firms have found that hiring interns from the fair is an excellent way to hire graduates ultimately.
  • Professors value the internship experience of their students.
  • NCAT and Tennessee State both participate in the Job Fair
• About 30% of the students are female.

Observations

• Few of the faculty expressed much interest in how other AE programs
  operate or the Architectural Engineering Institute (AEI).
  
  
  
  • Some expressed interest in arriving at a more specific definition of AE for accreditation purposes
  • It's my belief that Penn State has much to offer other AE programs and that there might well be things they could learn beneficially as well.
• While the research efforts and graduate program are not the focus of my study, I'd note that both seem to be very healthy and well organized.
• As noted in the introduction, Penn State is a very proud institution that believes it is preeminent in AE education. Since I haven't visited all the AE programs yet I couldn't proclaim a "best", but everything I saw impressed me. I came away with definite ideas about how to improve my own program.

About my Sabbatical Project

• What Jay Pluckett had first suggested to me was reemphasized on this visit, that it's important to distinguish between four-year and five-year programs in any analysis. It's clear that the extra year offers many opportunities for increased depth and breadth.
• I'll also be looking at the difference between stand-alone and combined program departments (e.g. Civil + AE + xxx).

North Carolina A&T State University

On November 12th I visited visited North Carolina A&T State University (NCAT), my fourth sabbatical trip. Thanks to the efforts of Sameer Hamoush (Dept. Head) I met all faculty currently teaching the design aspects of the AE program and others as well.   As on my previous trips everyone was welcoming and helpful, making my visit both productive and enjoyable.

What did I learn?

About the NCAT Program

It has a sixty-plus year history of providing a path for African-American (and other) students to enter the professions, both Architecture and Engineering.

• Until the mid-1990's as many architects as engineers emerged from the program.
• Now, with changes in registration requirements, the program is solely engineering-focused, with the majority of the graduates going to work in construction firms.
• Enrollment has fluctuated with varying university admissions policies. It is currently near or at it's highest - 36 students in the capstone design class this year, versus 15 or so only four years ago.

Teaching is the primary responsbility of the department

• Teaching loads are demanding, with course loads of 9-12 credits/semester being common.
• The growth in enrollment has been coincident with a loss of faculty for various reasons, resulting in increased class sizes and teaching loads.
• As in other institutions the university-level atmosphere is changing. More research expectations are being placed on faculty without a corresponding decrease in teaching load or increase in research resources.

Teaching Methods and Curriculum

• The curriculum makes an effort to include all the ABET-identified building systems.
  
  
  
  • There is little construction management included.
• Faculty varied in their identification of teaching methods used in the curriculum.
  
  
  
  • Lecture is the predominant teaching mode.
  • The two Architectural Design courses (taught by department architectural faculty) use a modified studio method
  • The two-semester capstone design sequence uses teamwork extensively, focusing (usually) on the engineering design of building plans taken from a real multistory project. The effort is to take students all the way through schematic, design development and construction document phases.
  • Individual instructors make significant efforts to introduce site visits, visiting lecturers and other methods to bring the external world into the classroom.
• At one point the program had a Masters degree in AE, but that was dropped in 1998 when enrollment decreased.
  
  
  
  • In 1995 the program changed from a 5-year to a 4-year program, in signficant part as a response to the change in architectural registration requirements.
  • There's little discussion of ASCE's possible move to a Bachelor's+30 program. When I raised the issue, there were signficant doubts about its benefits.
• Because the faculty is quite small (5 full-time currently), coordination appears to be quite informal.
• There appears to be some tension in relation to the design classes between those with a practice background and those without because of differring views of what's important.

AE Content Issues

• Sustainability is significant concern with one faculty member as a champion.
  
  
  
  • There is a LEED certification course
  • Sustainability examples are introduced into at least some of the design courses.
• BIM is not seen as a major issue
  
  
  
  • There appears to be little attention paid to it overall
• The Bachelors+30 movement, as noted above, is not given much attention.
• Most faculty attention is on student-related issues, including those of providing good teaching when dealing with the heavy loads experienced.

Students

• As noted above, the school has a proud history of providing opportunity for African Americans.
• AE students are about 3/4 of the department's current senior class of 40 students
• Many arrive not fully prepared in math and sciences, which contributes to a significant attrition rate from freshman to senior year (80 entering with about 30 graduating were current numbers though they should be adjusted to reflect the growing enrollment)
• Many work 20 or more hours a week in non-engineering jobs in order to meet the financial demands, with consequent effects on their academic performance.
• Despite intense efforts on the part of the faculty many do not see the value of preparing for the FE exam, thus producing a performance that disappoints the faculty.

Observations

• The faculty are proud of what their students are able to achieve, while recognizing that many students must live with issues that prevent them from always achieving full potential.
• A number of faculty expressed interest in the results of this study, wanting to see themselve compared to other schools.
• The teaching loads are extremely high, leaving little time in most cases for experimentation or research.
  
  
  
  • Some though, are remakably successful at maintaining a research and professional society engagement despite the loads and limited resources.
• I didn't have time to visit student classes, though several faculy were disappointed at not being able to show me what their students were doing. Those students I observed in and around the deparment were friendly, and cheerful.

About my Sabbatical Project

• Again I'm reinforced in my belief that the face-to-face meetings bring to light relationships that I would never understand strictly from the survey results.