In This Issue . . .
2000 Annual Meeting
NEEDHA Workshop for "Class of 2001"
Destin Highlights
2000 NEEDHA Program Schedule
Note from the President
NEEDHA Officers for 99-00
State of the Organization
EC Workshop at VCU
NEEDHA invites you to participate in the 2000 Annual Meeting, March 17-21, 2000 at the Omni Royal Orleans hotel in New Orleans, LA. This is NEEDHA's first visit to New Orleans, and our hotel is located in the heart of the French Quarter, only one block from Bourbon Street. This hotel offers a rooftop pool and observation deck, fitness center and many other facilities. As usual, we will have an exciting guest program, so try not to come alone!
The Annual Meeting will be preceded by two days of workshops regarding ABET accreditation. The first workshop, on Thursday, March 16 is directed specifically to representatives of those EE and Computer Engineering programs to be visited in 2001 under ABET Criteria 2000. The second workshop, on Friday, March 17, is an ABET Evaluator Training Session, conducted by IEEE, to which all NEEDHA attendees are invited. Both of these sessions require separate registrations.
The NEEDHA Annual Meeting begins on Friday afternoon with a session for new department chairs and heads. This presentation is conducted by a seasoned department head, and is a must for those who are new to this role. The Opening Reception on Friday evening provides an opportunity for you and your guest to renew old acquaintances as well as meet some new faces.
This year's meeting has been organized around the themes of Information Engineering and New Educational Delivery Mechanisms, with a stimulating mixture of plenary and breakout sessions, and with topics ranging from long-range views of the ECE profession to important departmental operational matters. Please see the tentative meeting schedule in this Newsletter for more details, and refer to the NEEDHA Web site for more information, registration forms, and an advance attendee list.
Save the Dates and Make Your Reservations
NEEDHA 2000 Annual Meeting
To register for the meeting call the IEC at 312-559-3724
For hotel reservations contact the hotel at 504-529-5333, and
Delta Airlines is offering special discounted fares for this meeting. |
On Thursday, March 16, 2000, NEEDHA will hold a special full day ABET workshop in the Omni Royal Orleans for those programs to be visited under ABET EC2000 in the Fall of 2001. This meeting is designed to accommodate one person from each EE or Computer Engineering program to be visited under EC2000 in preparation for the visit in the Fall of 2001.
Participants will be organized into small groups with a facilitator who is experienced with respect to Criteria 2000. Within each group, presentations of each program and Self Study status will be made and best practices will be shared. The afternoon session will be organized around topics that have been identified during the morning session as needing additional attention. A representative from ABET will participate and offer observations on the process. The following facilitators are scheduled to take part: Dave Soldan (Kansas State), Ed Ernst (Univ. S. Carolina), William Sayle (Georgia Tech), William Brown (U. Arkansas), John Orr (WPI), Sherra Kerns (Olin College).
NEEDHA inaugurated this series of workshops with a session for the EC2000 "Class of 2000" held at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA, on June 12, 1999 (see related story).
Please see the ABET Workshop page on the NEEDHA Web site for further information. You may call the NEEDHA office at 312-559-3724 to have a registration form sent to you. Registration for this event is separate from registration for the Annual Meeting. You may fax a completed registration form for this workshop to the NEEDHA office at 312-559-3329.
President Barry Spielman welcomed everyone to NEEDHA's fifteenth Annual Meeting in Destin, Florida, March 5-9, 1999. The focus of the meeting was on the future, specifically the future of technologies relevant to ECE, and the future of ECE education. Bill Jennings of RPI moderated the fast-paced opening session, and keynote speaker Burks Oakley of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, set the tone with a whirlwind tour from past to present to future in both technology and education, reminding us that just 10 years ago the amount of computing power available today in a $1,500 PC cost about $8,000,000. In higher education, he mentioned three milestones: the land grant college act of the mid 1800's, the growth of public junior colleges in the 1960's, and the internet revolution in education which is just beginning. Burks brought cutting-edge educational technology to the audience, with a live, on-line demonstration of asynchronous learning technologies. He also made the points that the effective implementation of technology requires extensive faculty support, and that to be effective, the technology must be used to enhance student-faculty contact, not to replace it!
Following up on this broad and stimulating introduction, three innovative educational programs were described. Dale Harris of Stanford University outlined the approach which "Stanford Online" is taking to part-time MS degree education in engineering. This program builds on Stanford's very successful video-based program conducted since 1969 with member corporations. It captures existing courses and formats them for Web delivery. The question of ownership of intellectual property for media-based courses often arises, and Dale commented that in this program, Stanford owns the courses. Dale's concluding message was significant: "Delivering on-line courses is relatively easy, but assuring the quality of an on-line degree program is much harder."
The concept of the "studio classroom" was brought to engineering education by RPI, and Jack Wilson updated NEEDHA on this approach, which replaces conventional lectures, labs, and recitations with an integrated classroom experience. This is the "studio" where groups of students (typically about 48) meet with the professor in a facility which supports laboratory, discussion, and multimedia activities. RPI now has extensive experience with this mode of instruction, with good results.
Another approach to Electrical Engineering education was presented by Mark Yoder of Rose Hulman. This is "DSP first," in which EE students begin with the principles and practice of digital signal processing, rather than circuit analysis. Mark reports excellent results in student learning and motivation.
|
|
|
Thought provoking sessions are the key to NEEDHA's success. |
Breakout Sessions on Monday afternoon provided opportunities to pursue a wide range of individual interests. Topics included: a summary of the regional ABET faculty workshops, graduate program operational issues, financial support for graduate students, and the impact of information technology on EE/ECE education. Regarding the last topic, Andy Neureuther of UC Berkeley reported that their ECE and CS programs are closely integrated, and that a course in the "structure and interpretation of signals and systems" has been developed and added to the programs of CS students.
|
|
|
Dancing was enjoyed by all after Saturday's dinner. |
After a day of rest and relaxation on Sunday, Monday's sessions focussed on technology futures. Ed Ernst of the University of South Carolina moderated the morning sessions, with presentations on Wavelets by Mark Smith of Georgia Tech, Physics and Engineering by Evelyn Hu of UC Santa Barbara, and Information and Entropy by Paul Penfield and Seth Loyd of MIT. Each of these presentations highlighted an important area of technology that the presenters believe will play major roles in ECE curricula in the future.
|
|
|
Ed Ernst moderates a lively discussion during the |
On Monday afternoon, breakout sessions addressed important aspects of our jobs as department heads: accreditation criteria and faculty buy-in to the process, faculty recruitment, and graduate student recruitment. While no one seemed to have identified the perfect solution to any of these issues, each session brought a lively exchange of ideas.
A highlight of the meeting each year is the Awards Banquet, and NEEDHA's 1999 Outstanding Service Award was presented to Marion Hagler in recognition of his many contributions to engineering education and to NEEDHA (see related story). Marshall Molen of Mississippi State University chaired the awards committee and introduced Marion.
|
|
|
Dinners during NEEDHA meetings provide members and |
Tuesday's business meeting convened with a large attendance. Candidates for Secretary-Treasurer, Sung-Mo (Steve) Kang of the University of Illinois, and James Aylor of the University of Virginia, were introduced. Paul Penfield reported on the Accreditation Issues Committee's recommendation for a Workshop on Best Practices for representatives of the EE/CompE programs to be visited under ABET EC2000 in the fall of 2000. This recommendation was endorsed by the members, and the first such workshop was held on June 12, 1999. On another accreditation matter, Barry Spielman introduced a resolution requesting that ABET establish a process by which a program may received feedback from ABET on its EC2000 process prior to the accreditation visit. This resolution was adopted.
The business meeting closed with the passing of the gavel to incoming president Roger Webb. Conference feedback confirmed the organizers' expectations that members would find the topics timely, stimulating, and valuable in their roles as department heads.
|
|
|
Barry Spielman, outgoing NEEDHA President, |
|
|
|
Guests at the 1999 meeting enjoyed a visit to |
|
|
|
Marion Hagler is flanked by Marshall Molen, Awards |
Marion O. Hagler, P. W. Horn Professor at Texas Tech University, received NEEDHA's Outstanding Service Award for 1999 at the Annual Meeting in Destin. Marion was honored for his commitment and dedication to electrical and computer engineering education, his leadership and extensive contributions to NEEDHA, and his outstanding service to the profession throughout his career. Marion was president of NEEDHA in 1993-94, and has been a vital part of the organization since its founding.
Marion received his BA degree from Rice University in 1962, his BSEE from Rice University in 1963, his MSEE from the University of Texas at Austin in 1964, and his PhD from the University of Texas at Austin in 1967. During 1995-96, Marion took leave from Texas Tech and served as Kyushu Electric Power Company Visiting Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Kumamoto University in Kumamoto Japan.
In addition to his work in NEEDHA, Marion has contributed in many other ways to engineering education. He served as the guest editor for the August 1996 IEEE Transactions on Education special issue on the application of information technologies to engineering and science education. He is a member of the Educational Activities Board of the IEEE, has served on the Administrative Committee of the IEEE Education Society, and as Chair of the Finance Committee for the IEEE Educational Activities Board. He has served as Chair of the IEEE Awards Board, and as Chair of the Steering Committee for the Frontiers in Education Conference.
NEEDHA presents two awards: the Distinguished Service Award to current or former NEEDHA members who have rendered exceptional service to the organization, and the Innovative Program Award to a department or individuals who have developed and implemented a particularly innovative program in EE/ECE education. Please send nominations to Kent Fuchs, chair of the Awards Committee or to Kathy Ricker at IEC. To accommodate the selection process for the annual meeting, nominations should be received by February 1, 2000, and should be accompanied by a brief supporting statement. More information on NEEDHA awards is on the Web site.
Between NEEDHA Annual Meetings, NEEDHA members attending the ASEE Annual Meeting and the FIE Conference have a tradition of getting together socially for dinner. A group of 20 members and spouses gathered at LaVecchia's Seafood Grille in Charlotte on June 21, 1999, during the 1999 ASEE Annual Meeting, and had the opportunity to welcome back one of the founders of NEEDHA, Wayne Bennett, who is now Dean of Engineering at Mississippi State University. The following NEEDHA members gathered for a very enjoyable evening of dinner and socializing, some accompanied by spouses: Stan and Janice Burns, Fred and Ruth Grismore, Bill Hornfeck, Mohammad Karim, Bob Mattauch, John Orr, Al Rosa, David Soldan, Rod and Tracy Soukup, Keith Stanek, Robin Strickland, Raman Unnikrishnan, Gregg and Jane Vaughn, and Mani Venkata. Farid Tranjan and Dianna Boyd from UNC-Charlotte were most helpful in making the local arrangements, resulting in another great get-together.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The IEEE will sponsor a one day program on Friday, March 17th, beginning with a continental breakfast at 8:00 am and closing at 5:00 pm. Payment and registration for this program is separate from the NEEDHA Annual Meeting and is being handled by the IEEE. For information and registration, contact: Carolyn Solimine, 732-562- 5484, fax 732-981-1686, email c.solimine@ieee.org.
The NEEDHA Board recently met to plan the upcoming annual meeting. The year 2000 NEEDHA Annual Meeting will be held in New Orleans, Louisiana, March 17-21, 2000. In keeping with the meeting locale, you should expect the meeting to provide "lagniappe" (Cajun for "a little something extra"). The plenary sessions will focus on the impact (current and future) of information technology on engineering education, with a special session on industry perspectives. As usual, there will also be plenty of opportunity for socializing! Please mark your calendars to participate in what promises to be an excellent meeting.
Roger Webb, NEEDHA president
Roger Webb took over as NEEDHA president on July 1, 1999, with John Orr assuming the duties of vice president. Sung-Mo (Steve) Kang was elected to the position of secretary-treasurer. Steve is Professor and Head of the ECE Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received his BS, MS, and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from Farleigh-Dickinson University, SUNY Buffalo, and UC Berkeley, respectively. Prior to joining the U of I Steve was with Bell Labs in Murray Hill, NJ. Steve is Founding Director of the Center for ASIC Research and Development, and is internationally recognized in microelectronics. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, a foreign member of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea, and the recipient of numerous awards.
Joining the Board as members are large are James Aylor and David Soldan. Jim is Professor and Chair of Electrical Engineering at the University of Virginia. He has served as president of the IEEE Computer Society, is a Fellow of the IEEE, and is active in the research area of complex system design. David is Professor and Head of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Kansas State University. David has been active in NEEDHA for many years, serving recently as chair of the Nominating Committee. He is also a member of the Steering Committee of Frontiers in Education, and his principal research interests include computer system fault tolerance and computer networks.
As NEEDHA prepares for its sixteenth Annual Meeting, the numerical statistics (which follow) demonstrate that we are very successful as an organization. We count the large majority of eligible departments as members, and well over 50 percent of our members attend the Annual Meetings each year. The reasons for our success seem clear. We are: focussed on issues of concern specifically to EE/ECE department heads, manageable in size, and inclusive across the broad range of EE/ECE departments. Finally, we are efficient and blessedly non-bureaucratic. While the Board intends to maintain our focus, they do look for new ways for NEEDHA to be of value to members. One example is the new series of workshops for representatives of programs to be visited under ABET Criteria 2000, where best practices can be shared among a group with interests in this vital area. Following are some significant NEEDHA statistics.
Register for the 2000 Annual Meeting, get information on related workshops, and review the meeting schedule and attendee list on the NEEDHA Web site at www.needha.org.
President
Roger Webb, Georgia Institute of Technology
Vice President
John A. Orr, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Secretary-Treasurer
Sung-Mo (Steve) Kang, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Junior Past President
Barry Spielman, Washington University
Senior Past President
William D. Brown, University of Arkansas
Members at Large
David L. Soldan, Kansas State University (until 2001),
James H. Aylor, University of Virginia (until 2000)
IEC Representative
A. Wayne Bennett, Mississippi State University
Executive Director, Assistant Treasurer
Robert M. Janowiak, IEC
Awards Committee Chair
W. Kent Fuchs, Purdue University
Nominating Committee Chair
Barry Spielman, Washington University
Survey Committee Chair
S.S (Mani) Venkata, Iowa State University
Accreditation Issues Committee Chair
David Soldan, Kansas State University
Web Committee Chair
Paul Penfield, Jr., MIT
James Aylor, University of Virginia
Newsletter Editor
John A. Orr, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
|
|
|
NEEDHA Board of Directors at summer Board meeting. |
Responding to a recommendation of the Accreditation Issues Committee, endorsed by the NEEDHA membership at the Destin meeting, a workshop was organized for representatives of EE and Computer Engineering programs to be visited under ABET Criteria 2000 in the fall of 2000. The workshop on June 12, 1999 attracted twenty-nine participants, 26 from programs to be visited in the fall of 2000, and 3 from programs to be visited in the fall of 1999. The workshop was hosted with outstanding hospitality by Bob Mattauch at Virginia Commonwealth University, and was organized by Bob and John Orr. The intensive one-day workshop was organized around small groups (7 or 8 people), each with a facilitator. Facilitators, all with substantial EC2000 experience, were Bill Sayle, Bill Brown, Ed Ernst, and John Orr.
The groups shared best practices and examples of their curricular development and assessment processes and results, as well as implementation difficulties. All participants were asked to bring copies of material prepared to date which relate to implementation of Criteria 2000 and the ABET self study for their program. Examples include educational goals and objectives, constituent input, related curriculum development activities, assessment plans, assessment results and analyses, summary reports, etc.
|
|
|
The EC 2000 Workshop held at Virginia Commonwealth |
Two general sessions were held, where all of the participants learned of best practices which had been identified in the groups. Dan Hodge, Accreditation Director of ABET, (and NEEDHA alum) participated in the Workshop. He provided valuable comments on the material presented, as well as observations from the visits conducted to date under EC 2000.
Following are popular types of assessment tools and approaches, as reported by the participants: surveys of current students, graduating seniors, and alumni (these appear to be by far the most common assessment tools); identification of desired outcomes with specific courses, and correlation of course grade (and/or grades in specific assignments and exams) with accomplishment of the outcomes; course reports prepared by faculty relating course results to specific outcomes; a required exam addressing ECE topics. The following problems and concerns also appeared: the faculty time and effort required for implementation of EC 2000, both initially and on an ongoing basis; the "credit" which faculty would or would not receive for time devoted to EC 2000; institutional and departmental commitment to EC 2000; faculty "buy-in" related to the above issues.
Given the success of this workshop, NEEDHA intends to repeat the event at each Annual Meeting, at least until one complete cycle of EC2000 visits has been completed (six years).
|
Other newsletters: 1995-96, 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 2001-02|
Created: Jan 4, 2000
|
Modified: Jan 4, 2000|
To NEEDHA home page
|
Your comments are welcome. Lexikon Lebensversicherung Rechtsschutzversicherung Krankenversicherungsvergleiche Test Wasserbett komplett gesucht? Wasserbetten Onlineshop, ob bodytone, hardside, softside Vergleich Versicherung Websuche Erotik Rechtsschutz Lexikon Haftpflicht Lexikon Viking Direkt Büromöbel Büromaterial Bürobedarf & Büromöbel
Organizers: David Soldan, Kansas State University,
