Case Study – UCC

Accred: BE degree in Civil Engineering

QA: Dept of Civil & Environmental Eng

J Philip O’kane PhD CEng

Professor of Civil Engineering (1845)

Head of Department of Civil & Env Eng

Former Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, UCC and NUI

In 2000 Combined QA & Accred

With Elec Eng

• IEI recommendations for continued accreditation of our 3rd level degree

• Up-grade labs!

• Reported under-resourcing to Dept of E&Sc in 2 ex 25

• Strategic plan 2000-2005, on our own!

• UCC QA Office not satisified with combination• No self-assessment

• No QA of 4th or 5th levels

In Last Week of May 2005 Back-to-back QA & Accred

• Separated from Elec & Microelectronic Eng

• IEI– Red book!

• UCC QA office– Stable procedures– All QA docs on the UCC intranet!

IEI Accred in Late May 2005

• Red book - 2004!

• Training to meet the red book – oct 2004

• Chair of accred panel at CIT – jan 2005

• Chair of accred panel at NUIG – mar 2005– Accred of IEI by washington accord

• Univ of missouri at rolla

• Univ of newfoundland at st. Johns

• Univ of hong kong

– Success!

IEI Accred in Late May 2005 • Deadline for submission of docs

– mid April 2005

• Begin– January 6– Declare emergency– Engage with the process– Run as fast as possible

• Aim to set the national standard!– Relational database of docs– Deliver both hardcopy and CD– Useful for other purposes

• our website, recruiting new staff and students, publicity …

Contents of CD ROM, now on our website!

Structure of Documentation.doc

This folder contains the following sub-folders. 1. MainDocument –main accreditation document and appendix G.2. NavigationalTool – this folder contains three sub-folders.

YearMatrices with the learning modules on a year by year basis. LearningOutcomesMatrices - with programme areas y-by-y basis.BookofModules - all the module descriptions.

3. MultimediaHomoFaber virtual exhibition and supporting Academic Papers on curriculum.

D&A_K IFA&S_P D_S&E U_E&R W&L C S&M T ICT D&D EP CE4001 CE4001 CE4001 S&BC CE4001 CE4001 CE4001

Working backwards from final year, each year matrix shows how modules CE4001, CE4002 … deliver all 6 programme outcomes in the six learning areas.

For example, the learning outcomes for module CE4001 determine the hits in the matrix below.

Each module entry is hot-linked to the book of modules.

Programme Outcomes/Programme Areas

Derive and apply solutions from knowledge

Identify, formulate, analyse & solve engineering problems

Design a. Systems, components; Processes; b. experiments

Understand a. ethics b. responsib-ilities

Work & Learn Communicate

Science & Math

Technology CE4002CM CE4002CM CE4005CM CE4006SMS CE4007SMS CE4009EM CE4010SME CE4013SME GL4014EM CE4015EM

CE4018 SMB CE4020 EM

CE4002CM CE4004CM CE4005CM CE4008SMS CE4012SME CE4014SME CE4019SMB

CE4002CM

CE4018 SMB

CE4002CM CE4002CM

CE4005CM

YearMatrix for final year

Learning outcome (a) Derive & apply solutions from knowledge Programme Areas

Year 4 Year 3 Year 2 Year 1

Science & Math ST3905CM

GL3006SMS

AM2021 AM2022 AM2032

AM1021 AM1022 CM1001 MA1008 PY1006 PY1007

Technology CE4002CM CE3002CM

CE3004CM

CE3005CCM

CE3007CM

CE3010SMB

CE3013EM

CE2001 CE2002 CE2003 CE2004 CE2008

ICT CE4002CM CE3013EM

CE3011CM

AM2021 AM2032 AM2022 CE2001 CE2002

AM1021 AM1022

LearningOutcomeMatrix

The four Books of Modules

CE4001

CE4001

CE4001

CE4001

Textbooks - mandatoryJohnston, S., Gostelow, P., Jones, E. and Fourikis, R. ENGINEERING AND SOCIETY An Australian Perspective. ISBN 0 06 312145 X. Harper Educational, Pymble, NSW. 1995. Venables, J. Communication Skills for Engineers and Scientists ISBN 0852954557. Institution of Chemical Engineers, London. 2002

Web sites http://www.irishplanninginstitute.ie/index.jsphttp://www.pleanala.ie/conduct.htmlhttp://www.umsl.edu/~rkeel/280/soconstr.htmlhttp://www.iei.ie/ethics/codeofethics.pasp

Related texts Engineering and Society Ferguson, Eugene S.Engineering and the Mind’s EyeISBN 0-262-06147-3. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass. 1993. Latour, BrunoScience in Action – How to follow Engineers and Scientists through Society.ISBN 0-674-79291-2. Harvard University Press. 1987.

The QA Exercise

All staff elect a Chair who is not the Professorial Head of Department.

All staff elect a small committeefor the QA exercise.The HOD is a member of the committee.

Staff, student, graduate and employer Questionnaires

• The primary objective is to enable the gathering of views on all aspects of the work of the department and, in particular, any suggestions for improvement.

Self-assessment!

Benchmarking

• Within ireland– None relevant!

– Position not accepted by the QA office

– Asked the professorial head to do it

• Outside ireland– RAE procedure in the UK

– Extern examiners from MIT

– Professor of structural engineering from the TU helsinki

Chair of Dept QA Committee

• Writes the internal QA report– New mission statement– Summary of self-assessment reports– Recommendations– Primary document for external QA panel

Accred and QA Exercises

• Complementary

• Best done back-to-back

• Prepare in 2.5 months

• Defend in 1 week

• Use IT for maximum continuity

• Accred far more significant than QA

• Problem of credibility of recommendations

The Dialectic of the Universities

• Contradictions• Must balance the books

• Cannot charge undergraduate fees

• State grant in decline

• Must pay national wage agreements

• Non-EU students pay fees and displace Irish students

The Dialectic of the Universities

• Contradictions• Professors must

– Lead academically

– Follow Governing Body

– Not show independence of thought & action

– Not mention ethics

– Raise money to balance the books

In a room under the stands of the University of Chicago's sport stadium.

Enrico Fermi [1901-1954]

A small neutron source was placed on the floor. Then more and more graphite pieces were put on it, all of which contained a little uranium ball.

Control rods of cadmium were inserted to absorb neutrons.

It went critical – chain reaction of slow neutrons – December 2, 1942

Health & Safety?

SCRAM, "Safety Control Reserve Axed Man".

The "suicide squad", with borated water filled pails

The “great and good”