The Herff College - University of Memphis

DEAN’S PErSPECTIvE
During the past several months,
most of us have been saturated
with messages from the
presidential candidates of each
major political party calling for
change in one form or another.
Reflecting on those messages, I
realized that the University and
the Herff College of Engineering
have undergone and continue to
experience numerous changes.
The University even changed its
name!
CrEATING ExCLuSIvE PrOGrAMS
Over the past nearly 15 years, the College has redefined itself, its
faculty, its academic programs, and its research and scholarship
activities. These changes have been driven, to a very large extent,
by our vision to be the College of choice for engineering students
in this region, not just the best engineering college on Central
Avenue.
New degree programs have been added to increase career options
and opportunities. In 1999, the Tennessee higher Education
Commission (ThEC) formally approved the College’s proposal
for a B.S. in Computer Engineering. This is the only such program
within 200 miles of Memphis in any direction. Shortly after the
first group of students graduated in 2003, the program underwent
a successful accreditation visit by the Engineering Accreditation
Commission of ABET, Inc. (formerly the Accreditation Board for
Engineering and Technology). The 2003 re-accreditation visits for
the civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering programs and the
three engineering technology concentrations also were successful.
In July 2005, ThEC approved our proposal for a B.S. in Biomedical
Engineering (BME), and 17 new students entered in August.
This was another exclusive for the College, offering the only BME
program within 200 miles of Memphis. The BME undergraduate
program will produce its first graduates in spring 2009 and will
undergo its initial accreditation visit in fall 2009.
PrEPArING FOr ACCrEDITATION
Simultaneous with the BME visit, the four engineering and three
engineering technology concentrations will be reviewed for reaccreditation
by teams of ABET evaluators. Since 2003, the criteria
used for accrediting engineering and engineering technology
programs have undergone major changes. These changes have
required programs to move from requiring courses in certain
areas to demonstrating or ‘proving’ that their graduates have
certain knowledge and abilities. For example, requiring a speech
or writing course in the curriculum does not ‘prove’ a graduate can
communicate effectively. These new criteria have required that
the faculty devote a great deal of time to acquiring data to assess
student performance and evaluating that data to ensure we can
demonstrate that our graduates have the required knowledge and
abilities.
In preparation for the fall 2009 accreditation visits, the College
underwent mock accreditation visits in May by teams of
experienced engineering and engineering technology program
evaluators for the Engineering and Technology Accreditation
Commissions of ABET. The two teams critiqued drafts of
departmental self-study reports that were prepared for each of
the five engineering programs and each of the three technology
concentrations. Those critiques provided numerous suggestions for
additional materials and approaches.
Our College is fortunate that many of our faculty serve as the
evaluators for engineering and engineering technology programs
at other institutions, and thus are able to observe ‘good practices’
developed elsewhere. Nevertheless, even given this knowledge
base, our faculty and staff will have to devote a great deal of time
this academic year preparing for the formal ABET visits next fall.
We realize that our requests for feedback from you as a part of our
periodic alumni surveys can become burdensome; however, we
hope you realize that these requests are an important component
of our efforts to prepare for successful accreditation visits and that
you will take time from your busy schedules to respond to our
requests.
INvESTING IN PEOPLE
In every dynamic college of engineering, personnel changes are
continual. Senior faculty members retire, new faculty members
arrive, and adjunct faculty members come and go. Our College has
had and continues to undergo many such changes. Since 1994,
over 50 faculty and staff have departed, and many new faculty
and staff have joined the College. The changes in staffing came
from existing open positions, new faculty positions provided by the
central administration, and openings due to deaths, retirements,
and resignations. Additional faculty members have indicated their
intention to retire, and we project that by 2010, five to 10 new
faculty will join the College.
INvESTING IN FACILITIES
If you’ve been on campus during the past several years, you’ve
seen the almost continual construction of new facilities and
renovations of buildings and classrooms. Some of the major
projects include the openings of the new Michael D. rose Theatre
2 hErFF hIGhLIGhTS