Name of Academic Department: Civil Engineering

Degree(s) or Program(s) covered by this report:     Master of Engineering 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 the non-thesis option students (Master of Engineering Degree): ability to complete 3 core courses (9 credit hours) and 9 electives (27 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).  Students are required to complete three core courses in order to graduate.

Actual results (data gathered):

During the FY05-06, all students in this degree program completed required core and elective 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 non-thesis option students (Master of Engineering Degree): ability to pass the comprehensive examination in three subjects in Civil Engineering Topics after 36 credit hours of coursework.

Assessment(s) conducted:

Three close-book comprehensive exams were conducted in the fall semester and spring semester, and in summer II session. Each comprehensive exam will test a minimum of three engineering design subjects. Students are required to pass all three subjects in order to graduate.

Actual results (data gathered):

If a student fails to pass three subjects in the first attempt or fails to pass any subject at the second attempt of the comprehensive examination, the student will be required to stay one more semester and take additional courses without scholarship and retake the final comprehensive examination before the graduation.  During the FY05-06, all students in this degree program passed the comprehensive exam.  The passing rate is 100 %. 

How review of results was conducted:

The review was conducted by the program coordinator in the degree program using the statistics of the comprehensive exams.

Actions planned or accomplished for improvement:

The current plan seems working well, except that we need more faculty members to strengthen the degree program and offer more advanced courses in the Department

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