Name of Academic Department: Civil Engineering

Degree(s) or Program(s) covered by this report:     Master of Engineering Science in Civil Engineering

Date Submitted: June 28, 2006

Submitted by (Departmental Assessment Representative): Xing Fang and Mien Jao

For each outcome identified in your IE Plan, describe the assessments used to gather data, summarize the results (data gathered), describe how the results have been reviewed, and describe actions (changes or improvements) planned or accomplished to improve student learning or program effectiveness:

Outcome 1 – Student Learning

State the outcome:

For students in the Master of Engineering Science Degree: ability to complete 1 core course (3 credit hours) and 7 elective courses (21 credit hours) with overall GPA equal to or greater than 3.0

Assessment(s) conducted:

Core course are classified into three categories: Mathematics/Statistics (including ENGR 5304, ENGR 5347, and ENGR 5305), Optimization/Management (including ENGR 5308, ENGR 6388, ENGR 6339, and ENGR 5320), and Simulation/Control (including ENGR 5324, ENGR 6332, ENGR 5327, and ENGR 5351).

Actual results (data gathered):

During the FY05-06, all students in this degree program completed required core and elative courses.  The passing rate is 100 %.

How review of results was conducted:

The review was conducted by the program coordinator (Dr. Jao) in the degree program.

Outcome 2 - Student learning

State the outcome:

For the students in the Master of Engineering Science Degree: ability to formulate and draft a master thesis and pass the oral defense in a civil engineering research area in addition to 24 hours of credit hours of coursework.

Assessment(s) conducted:

Students are required to perform independent research in a civil engineering topic and draft a master thesis based on the research performed. The contents of the thesis must include Introduction, Literature Review, Research Methodology, Results and Discussion, and Conclusions and Recommendations. The student must perform a technical presentation and defend for his/her thesis work. 

Actual results (data gathered):

During FY 05-06, there are two (2) thesis students in the degree program. One student is expected to defend for the thesis in Summer 2006, and the second in Fall 2006.

How review of results was conducted:

The review of results was conducted by the MS Candidates’ advising committee which is comprised of 3-4 faculty members from the College of Engineering. The committee has a chair person who is supervise the students’ research work, and the committee members help the supervisor to evaluate the student’s independent study ability and performance.

Actions planned or accomplished for improvement:

We are attempting to secure the resources to hire more civil engineering faculty and encouraging the existing faculty to perform funded research to support thesis students in the degree program.

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