February 05, 2001

CPE Approves Agreement For Joint Engineering Program; WKU To Begin Offering Bachelor's Degrees In Fall 2001

• Facts About WKU Engineering Degrees
• WKU Receives More Than $5 Million In Private Funding
  For Engineering Program
• Project-Based Learning Focus Of WKU Engineering Program

Bowling Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University will begin offering bachelor's degrees in engineering this fall.

On Monday, the Council on Postsecondary Education approved an agreement under which joint engineering programs between WKU and the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville will be offered.

"The statewide engineering strategy initiated by the Council and Kentucky's colleges and universities will have two major results," CPE President Gordon Davies said. "First, talented students who cannot come to Lexington or Louisville to study engineering will be able to complete degrees at comprehensive universities that join in the initiative. Second, local industries that need engineers will be able to recruit them locally, and even send their employees to study engineering while they work."

Dr. John Russell, head of WKU's Engineering Department, called the decision "a tremendous victory for this region and the state."

Western will work with UK to offer bachelor's degrees in civil engineering and mechanical engineering and with U of L to offer bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering. The program will become eligible for accreditation from the Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering Technology (EAC/ABET) when the first graduates are produced in about five years.

"The joint nature of the program makes use of the combined talents and resources of the three universities and is especially important as Western completes the accreditation process," WKU President Gary Ransdell said.

By expanding the engineering degrees to Western and other comprehensive universities and lifting restrictions on professional certification, Kentucky will reduce its shortage of engineering practitioners, will keep engineering students in the state and will improve its economic development opportunities.

"We want to become the program of choice and reverse the trend of students seeking engineering education in other states," Dr. Ransdell said. According to figures compiled by Western's Office of Institutional Research, 489 Kentucky students were enrolled in engineering programs in neighboring states last spring.
Dr. Russell anticipates an enrollment of 100 this fall with numbers eventually growing to 100 to 150 majors in each discipline. That figure would produce 75 graduates a year or 25 per discipline.

"Our program is designed to be regionally relevant, baccalaureate-driven and will feature a project-based learning environment," Dr. Russell said.

Dr. Davies said, "I envision this initiative evolving into a Commonwealth Engineering Network, with eminent professors teaching and doing research all over Kentucky. We owe Western Kentucky University thanks for bringing this need to our attention."

For several years, Western has been working with state, education, legislative and industrial officials on a plan to offer baccalaureate degrees in engineering. Last year, the CPE approved a Strategy for Statewide Engineering in Kentucky that addressed two primary areas:
· The need to increase the number of baccalaureate engineers in Kentucky
· The need to address regional issues of access and productivity in engineering education.

Graduates of the WKU program will be eligible for registration (certification) as professional engineers in Kentucky.

The economic and employment impact isn't limited to professional engineers, Dr. Russell said. Each engineering position is supported by 10 technical positions, he said.

"The Statewide Strategy for Engineering formally acknowledges that if this state is going to develop economically, it must have engineering programs accessible to more people," Dr. Russell said.

Extending the opportunity for bachelor's degrees in engineering to the state's comprehensive universities is "a huge change" for Kentucky and the nation, he said.
Since July, provosts and deans at the three universities have worked to create the Framework of Agreement that "becomes the template for new expansions of programs taking place at the schools," he said.

"We are moving along to get the curriculum developed for each of the three programs, and hope to have this accomplished within the next several weeks," WKU Provost Barbara Burch said.

Western is revising its curriculum to transition from engineering technology degrees to engineering degree and plans to hire three new faculty members (one in each discipline) this year. The joint degree programs, which will be offered on Western's campus, will offer comparable curriculum and common admissions standards with those at UK and U of L.

Following the CPE's approval, Western will begin actively recruiting students for the new degree program.

"I think students will come to this program as they learn of the opportunity to do project-based learning," Dr. Russell said. "We're going to offer students a chance to do engineering."

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