Central/Northern Region
Saturday, February 01, 2003
Sacramento (Radisson Hotel)

The engineering Discipline Meeting was called to order by Darlene Mathias, Engineering Professor at Cosumnes River College and President of the Community College Segment of the Engineering Liaison Committee, substituting for Lead Faculty Member Jim Shackelford of UC Davis. Attendees were:

Heathcote, John: Reedley College (john.heathcote@reedleycollege.edu)
Van Horn-Landre, Denise: Las Positas Community College (dvanhorn@clpccd.cc.ca.us)

We noted that the three of us were from community colleges. No universities were represented.

The following topics were discussed:

Transfer A.S. Degree: Denise Van Horn-Landre presented her idea which was first introduced at the Oct 26, 2002 Oakland IMPAC meeting. Ms. Van Horn-Landre also serves as the Articulation Officer for the IMPAC Engineering Discipline. She identified a minimum set of GE courses that would qualify a community college transfer student for admission to both UCs and CUSs, and a list of lower division courses that are typically required for engineering majors. These courses could provide the basis for A.S. degrees at community colleges for engineering transfer students. The intent was to strip down the GE portion of the lower division to the minimum needed for transfer and to include the foundation needed to undertake upper division work at the university immediately upon transfer. Students following this pattern would avoid the pitfalls for high unit majors of IGETC. Ms. Van Horn-Landre's work is attached as Appendix I.

Upon discussion of the list of courses required for the major, it became clear that one list will not fit all engineering majors. Indeed, this is also the conclusion of the Engineering Liaison Committee (ELC). The idea of multiple tracks surfaced at the Nov 16, 2002 Long Beach IMPAC meeting. The three tracks of mechanical/civil engineering, electrical/computer engineering, and chemical/bio/environmental engineering were suggested by representatives from UC Irvine. Participants of the Sacramento meeting request that the ELC recommend appropriate tracks, and the courses that should be included in each track. Darlene Mathias will enlist the expertise of the ELC at the ELC's March 2003 meeting.

Note was made in previous regional IMPAC meeting notes that the ELC discussed a two track model at its fall 2002 meeting, and that the idea was not generally well received by the Community College Segment. The rationale was that the advising tool produced by the ELC (formerly titled "The Summit Agreement," currently called "Engineering Articulation Guideline") is designed to give students a broad background that will support the choice of any engineering major. Students who have decided on a specific engineering major and a specific transfer university are best served by referring to that university's lower division requirements. Perhaps adding a track for General Engineering, or Engineering, Specific Major Undecided, to IMPAC's proposed model for Transfer A.S. Degrees would serve all needs. The ELC may be able to support such a model if completion of the Transfer A.S. Degree does not preclude additional lower division university requirements.

The ELC's most recent (1998) "Engineering Articulation Guideline" is attached as Appendix II.

The proposed model for Transfer A.S. Engineering Degrees with minimal GE may not satisfy individual community college graduation requirements. Colleges could augment it with their local requirements.

CAN Descriptors: Our small group noted that the description for CAN ENGR 2, Graphics, should be modified to include design. We did not feel qualified to make recommendations, and would instead refer review of the CAN descriptors to the ELC. Darlene Mathias will take such a request to the March 2003 ELC meeting.

Science Clusters: The consensus of our group coincided with the consensus of previous regional meetings that engineering should be grouped with mathematics and physics, if the clusters hold any significance beyond historical. We concur that the clusters should be reorganized and renamed "Physical Science Cluster" and "Biological Science Cluster."

Biggest Barriers to Transfer: We noted that the biggest barriers to students transferring in engineering prepared to undertake upper division work are inaccurate advising at the community colleges, and lack of standardization of the lower division between universities and between engineering majors. Adopting a model Transfer A.S.Degree for engineering could improve advising at community colleges.

Respectfully submitted,

Darlene Mathias
Engineering Professor at Cosumnes River College
President of the Community College Segment of The Engineering Liaison Committee