Summarized by J. T. P. Yao, 3/24/00

"… Engineering practice is changing profoundly and irreversibly, driven by exploding information technology, intense global competition in both manufacturing and services, and the imperatives of environmental protection and sustainable development. Current graduates have been well educated in mathematics, science, and engineering topics, most employers agree. But, they complain that graduates are not nearly as well prepared in other skills needed for success today in engineering practice … Can engineering schools meet the challenge of preparing graduates who not only are strong technically, but who can communicate and persuade, who can lead and contribute as team players, who can understand the non-technical forces that profoundly affect engineering decisions, and who are committed to lifelong learning?"

"… The academic culture and reward system increasingly favored graduate education and research and, at many institutions, penalized investment of significant faculty effort in the education, advising, and mentoring of undergraduates. As retiring professors were replaced by new, research-oriented faculty, the level of industrial experience fell to the extent that now relatively few faculty members have any industrial experience at all. Industrial influence on the engineering educational process has declined correspondingly."

"… Most observers agree that the current academic culture and reward system often discourage investment of faculty time in educational innovations and the adoption of new educational methods. It seems clear that intense effort will be required to change this culture and break the ‘implementation barrier.’ …"

"… A new set of accreditation criteria, ‘Engineering Criteria 2000,’ focuses attention on the goals of engineering education … Whether or not the promise of Criteria 2000 can be fulfilled will depend upon the ability of ABET and its member societies to develop and adequate body of well-trained and professionally astute program evaluators and team chairs. …"

"Recommendations for industry and educators

…

1. Employers must clearly articulate the intellectual skills and characteristics they expect in engineering graduates, …
2. Most engineering colleges and larger departments have industrial advisory boards … Such boards now must become active advocates for educational change. …
3. Industrial managers at all levels must encourage and support the participation of talented, perceptive engineers … as ABET program evaluators and accreditation commission members … and on engineering college and department advisory boards. …
4. Engineering deans and department chairs must accept their responsibility to their profession by actively encouraging and rewarding participation by their leading faculty in these same activities. …
5. Deans and department chairs should continue to reward scholarly contributions by faculty, but also should encourage those with special talent and interest to pursue educational, as opposed to scientific, scholarship. …

…

8. Faculty members, for their part, must recognize that schools cannot be ivory towers today; colleges will need to seek out and work enthusiastically with their industrial partners …"

"… Influential deans are supportive, but entrenched academic culture will be difficult to change. And, the journey is still far from over. …"

[Readers who are interested in this article are encouraged to read the original paper in its entirety. Other summary notes on faculty reward systems are available on the Internet at http://lohman.tamu.edu under the heading "Summaries of Papers ..."]

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