2001 MICHIGAN ENGINEERING COLLEGE/
COMMUNITY COLLEGE LIAISON COMMITTEE CONFERENCE
OCTOBER 19, 2001
WELCOME—Gary Burbridge, Dean & Associate Provost of School of Arts and
Sciences at Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC), welcomed representatives from
four-year Institutions and Community Colleges. Jim Chesla, Department HeadMathematics Department, also welcomed the participants to the GRCC campus for their
annual meeting.
MATRIX—John Nee (CMU) Circulated copies of the MATRIX surveying bachelor
degree programs in engineering available at Michigan colleges and universities.
Representatives of the Colleges and Universities were asked for any corrections, and the
following was offered:
CALVIN COLLEGE:
Computer Science- Bachelor’s degree program
Computer Engineering- Option
UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT MERCY:
Environmental Science/Engineering-Required 4-year CO-OP program
LAKE SUPERIOR STATE UNIVERSITY:
Minimum GPA- 2.2
Computer Engineering- Bachelor’s degree program, CO-OP part of program is
optional
Electrical Engineering- Accredited by ABET, CO-OP part of program is optional
Mechanical Engineering- Accredited by ABET, CO-OP part of program is optional
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN-ANN ARBOR:
Biomedical Engineering- Bachelor’s degree program
Computer Science- Minimum GPA 3.5, accredited by ABET, CO-OP part of program
is optional
MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY:
Minimum GPA- 2.75, except Surveying it stays at 2.5
WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY:
Minimum GPA for the Pre-professional program- 2.0
Minimum GPA for the Professional program- 3.0
Computer Science- Bachelor’s degree program
Manufacturing Engineering- Not offered in Bachelor degree program, optional
Material Science & Engineering- Discontinued
John Nee volunteered to update the MATRIX and forward. The revised MATRIX will be
included in with the current minutes of this meeting. Also John stated that he was going
to post it on the CMU website.
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ROSTER—Jim Chesla asked each attendant to look over the current roster included in
each participant’s folder. He went around the room and the changes were noted. The
updated version will also be included with the current meetings minutes.
Individual reports from MCE/CCLC representatives follow. Breaks were interspersed
between four-year colleges’ and two-year community college’ reports. Any information
that a particular college representative brought with them was set up on tables around the
room.
INDIVIDUAL REPORTS: FOUR-YEAR ENGINEERING COLLEGES:
CALVIN COLLEGE— Jeremy VanAntwerp reporting. Of engineering students there
are approximately 70 students graduating a year. The Engineering Projects Building
has been completed, for use during Freshman and Senior years. More students are
taking Chemistry in the first two years of college. Calvin College has added three
new classes this year: Engineering 106, Chemistry 106, and Engineering 209Introduction to Chemistry it studies the principals of mass and engineering.
UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT MERCY—Carolyn Rimle reporting. In the 2002
edition of the U.S. News and World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” placed the
University of Detroit Mercy in the Top tier of the Midwest Universities and first in
Michigan. Enrollment of undergraduate engineering students was 448 and the
number of graduate engineering students was 203. They have many scholarships
including the Ford/NSF scholarship, which pays $10,000 over a two-year period.
They have switched the textbook they are using for their Chemistry classes
(Chemistry: Matter and Its Changes, 3rd Edition by Brady, Holum and Russell).
FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY—Carl Shangraw reporting. There were one
hundred students enrolled of those 30% were traditional students, 60% were nontraditional and 10% were foreign students. They stated that each graduate gets
approximately 8-10 jobs offers during there senior year. The salary for these offers is
approximately $40,000-50,000 a year positions.
GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY—Jeff Ray reporting. They have opened
their 7 million-dollar, 30,000-sq./ft downtown campus. They have now gone online
with their classes. They now have a wireless network that students can excess 24
hours a day, 7 days a week. In total campus enrollment is up 5.6%, and engineering
classes are up 28% in one year, and 35-40% of students are transfer students.
KETTERING UNIVERSITY—Wyn Wilson reporting. Their enrollment is steady,
670 students, 60 of them are transfer students. Transfer students have the opportunity
to get between $100,000-150,000 dollars in scholarships. Kettering University Coop’s with over seven hundred different companies, right now they have 26 students
working at the CIA. Their website is fully integrated now. They are doing a lot of
remodeling, they are tearing down a lot of the old General Motors building and
rebuilding new building, example a Mechanical Engineering Building. The have
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reworked some of the programs, they now use 40-4credit classes and have sixty
minutes classes instead of fifty minute classes. With the reworking of programs the
classes that transfer in will decrease. They have stated that starting next year to
follow the new guide sheets. They also have a study abroad program there hope is
that 50% of students will take advantage of this program, right now only 20% of
junior’s are participating.
LAKE SUPERIOR STATE UNIVERISTY—Ray Adams reporting. They have
received their ABET accreditation. Their enrollment this year is 300 students total,
with 2/3 of those students are in the engineering program. Their specialty is Robotics
and Automation. The transfer of Technology courses is not going on right now, but
Statics will transfer. They use the Ideas software for their graphics classes.
LAWRENCE TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY—Richard Maslowski reporting.
The enrollment is stable, 1800 students in three different areas (undergraduate,
Associate bachelor’s program, and graduate). There are 130-140 students in the
Computer Engineering Program right now. In Fall of 2000 they implemented the use
of laptops in the school, every freshman was given a laptop computer with a
technology fee. They have completed the new University Laboratory, studios,
technology lab center, galleries and a chapel; it is a 20million-dollar structure and
88,000 sq./ft. There campus visit day is coming on November 10,2001.
Their new programs include a graduate level program in the doctoral arena. They
have limited Co-op options and the Ford Motor Company has been very helpful with
the co-op program.
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN-ANN ARBOR—Mike Nazareth reporting. In the
Fall of 2001 semester they had 165 transfer students from Michigan Colleges. They
are providing fifteen different programs for their students, two of which are new.
They are no longer going to be doing any mailings all their forms and applications are
now on their website. The US News rated the University number 1 in the country for
most females graduated in engineering (approx. 300). You can now get a minor in the
Liberal arts while in the Engineering program.
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN-DEARBORN—Reinaldo Perez reporting. In the
undergraduate engineering program they have 1487 students and in the graduate
program they have 870 students. They have nine undergraduate programs and twelve
graduate programs in the engineering field; they have added Software engineering to
both graduate and undergraduate degrees. To be accepted the student must have a
minimum GPA of 2.75, grades of C- or lower are not acceptable.
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY—Scott Keely reporting. Their enrollment is
stable. They have changed the alternative major program it now includes the 14-10
rule; you have to have at least 14 credits and 10 have to be technical. Students with
GPA’s 2.2 or lower are having a difficult time. To transfer to the Manufacturing
Program your must have a minimum GPA of 3.5. The number of transfer students is
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low; they only have 110 spots in their engineering programs set aside for transfer
students, which are spread evenly throughout all the programs.
MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY—Mark Provoast reporting. Their
enrollment in total is down 5 to 7% this year, with 3260 students. They have 908
Freshman, and the number of females has gone up 7%. They have a $100,000
scholarship for Michigan community college transfer students. They recently
acquired 100 scholarships for any student interested in the profession of Paving. If
anyone (students, parents, or teachers) is interested to visit the campus they will
make arraignments for you to visit for a weekend, just let them know in advance.
OAKLAND UNIVERSITY—Pat Bennett reporting. Their enrollment is up 12.5% in
total; they have about 1500 students. To transfer to Oakland you must have a GPA of
2.8; half of their enrollment is transfer students. Students need at GPA 2.5-2.8 to
have an Engineering candidate status at Oakland. Computer Science is the 2nd largest
major, and is offered at an option for a minor. Their transfer guidelines are online.
SAGINAW VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY-- Altaf-Ur-Rahman reporting. The
enrollment this year was up 25% in the Freshman class; 8600 student’s total and 750
in the engineering program. They have completed a new Science building. Their
Engineering Open House is tentatively scheduled in March of 2002. They have been
involved Canadian exchange program.
WAYNE STATE UNIVERISTY—Steven Salley reporting. They have received their
ABET accreditation. The Bachelor’s degree program of Material Science has been
discontinued; also the Manufacturing Program is not an option. The enrollment in the
Bachelor’s degree program has gone up 2%, and the graduate program has risen 5%
this year.
WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY—Larry Williams reporting. 29, 500
students enrolled in Western this year; 3160 of those are enrolled in the engineering
program and of those there are 534 freshman. They added a computer science class
this year. Plus they plan on phasing out graphics, and electronics classes as
requirements, the will have them as options.
INDIVIDUAL REPORTS:
FOUR-YEAR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES:
NON-DEGREE PROGRAMS IN ENGINEERING
ALBION COLLEGE—Dr. Charles Moreau reporting. He stated that there are 3-4
students who finish the two-year degree and go on to Engineering school. They
going to reevaluate there transfer courses. Also they are looking into how to train
students.
CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERISTY -- John Nee reporting. He introduced his
replacement when he retires, Molu Olumolade. This year enrollment was it’s largest
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for Central, 28,015 students. Of those there were 3,607 freshman; the graduate and
undergraduate programs’ enrollment in creased as well this year. There were 107
students in the pre-engineering program and 170 students’ total. They are going to
design a webpage for specific programs/professions. They have or will be starting
construction on the Health professions building which should be ready in 2003; also,
their remodeled library should reopen in January 2002. They are going too
reevaluate their math sequence. At Central they use the Ideas software, it is used in
eight of their classes. The largest major is Vehicle Design Management.
EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY—J. Jan Jellema reporting. Their articulation
agreements are going fine. The local industries are very supportive and the biggest
push is retention, they want to reverse the trend.
COMMUNITY COLLEGE:
ALPENA COMMUNITY COLLEGE—Steve Lewis reporting. Steve introduced Jim
Berles a new employee. Enrollment is up all around, all there sections are full. The
freshmen population has decreased this year. Dual-enrollment high school students
populate 75-80% of classes.
DELTA COLLEGE—Don Bieri reporting. Enrollment is up 8-9% this year. There
are 212 students in the pre-engineering program and 50 in the graduate program that
are most likely to continue on in the engineering field. They approximately 7000
credit hours. They have a new chemical processing plant, operators training facility,
and new technological and manufacturing labs. They have added a new program:
Manufacturing/Tech program.
GRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE—Jim Chesla reporting. Enrollment for
the college is about 13,700, enrollment in the engineering programs are steady.
HENRY FORD COMMUNITY COLLEGE—Mike LoPresto reporting. They have
transfer agreement with University of Detroit Mercy and University of MichiganDearborn. They have adjunct faculty from the Ford Motor Company. He stated the
few take the degree program; Also you can receive an associate of science degree if
you are enrolled in the pre-engineering program. They trying to develop an
introduction courses for engineering.
JACKSON COMMUNITY COLLEGE—Greg Severance in attendance. They
attended the meeting but did not get a chance to speak; he had to leave early.
KELLOGG COMMUNITY COLLEGE—Doris Lewis in attendance. She attended
the meeting but had to leave before she got a chance to speak.
LANSING COMMUNITY COLLEGE—Don Collins reporting. Total enrollment for
this year was 17,700 students, which is an increase of 10% from last year. The also
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participate with Michigan State University on the 2+2+2 program. They have 155
Calculus I students, 76 Chemistry students, and 88 students in Calculus II.
MACOMB COMMUNITY COLLEGE—Sandra Willett reporting. When applying to
Macomb students are asked to pick a program code for their curriculum. In Fall 2001
they had 868 students with engineering as their major go on to a Four-year university.
This way they can follow up on transfers with the program codes.
MONROE COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE—Vinnie Maltese reporting. The
colleges total enrollment is up 2.6% to 3,649 this semester, the pre-engineering
program is up 19.7% to 91 students enrolled, and the mechanical engineering
technology is up 90.9% with 21 students enrolled. He informed us about a camp that
the college sponsors for eleventh grade girls to introduce them to engineering and
sciences. They also put together a semester by semester account of what courses
students should take.
NORTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN COLLEGE—Richard Busz reporting. He stated
that enrollment was up 5-8% this year. Also that North Central had no preengineering program as of right now.
SCHOOLCRAFT COLLEGE—Lisa Zaccone reporting. The college has put together
an engineering program; they added Statics and Dynamics classes as 3 credit-hour
classes with no lab.
ST. CLAIR COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE—Haddock Snyder reporting. The
enrollment of engineering courses were the same, the total enrollment for the college
was up 3-4%; and that courses in the math department were up 20% this year. He also
stated that St. Clair had no formal engineering program, but they would be looking
into it.
WEST SHORE COMMUNITY COLLEGE—Paul Drelles reporting. Enrollment is
up 2% this year to 1320 students. They have 7 students in the engineering and physics
classes. There were 5 students enrolled in Calculus II class this semester. They also
have a new math and science wing.
OTHER BUSINESS:
Jim Chesla introduced Nancy Forrest to explain about the Engineering Pathways
Program. Highlights:
Provides information on engineering to high school students.
Helps them understand what engineering is, and what kind of things to look
for if you are interested in engineering.
Helps inform current GRCC students about the options in engineering.
They get to do interactive graphing activities to help further their awareness of
engineering.
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It also prepares students in there transition to a 4-year institution.
Jim Chesla introduced Dr. Ken Snow of the Michigan Department of Career
Development, Jim had asked Dr. Snow to come and speak.
Works with all 28 community college is the state, 3 universities and 1 tribal school.
The Michigan Department of Career Development (MDCD) is now using the Perkins
III grant for all the schools listed above.
Perkins grants pays for 2 years for Michigan engineering technology.
Perkins funds not used for transfer students.
Dr. Snow indicated that the MCDC wanted to facilitate and provide for the schools.
The most important thing was access and excellence through careers, guidance,
electronics, and communication skills.
The MCDC also works with schools that start with kindergartners through seniors in
high school; with technical assistance.
The quest is for a strong Michigan economy.
Jim stated there should be a Transfer School Module. Others from the attending
community colleges agreed.
Jim Chesla brought up some questions for discussion. The first question is what the
community college role in preparation of engineers’?
When students apply for community college they should pick a program code.
They could have pre-engineering courses (ex. Graphics, intro to engineering, and
statics). Someone stated that the school should make sure you have students
interested in an engineering program before you create one.
Community colleges could have the specific courses laid out for a specific program.
Have solid math and science curriculum, also a curriculum model for transfers.
Focus on team building, communication, planning, and project management.
Community colleges could develop a brochure with a common list of courses.
They could encourage students to contact four-year schools. To get them exposed to
engineering schools.
They could start up course planning sessions.
The big factor was communication between four-year schools and community colleges,
everyone agreed that this would help the students with the transition. Also, there was a
suggestion made that maybe all community colleges should come together to develop all
Intro to engineering courses with similar content, so they were more easily transferable.
The second question , Jim proposed was what can four-year universities do to aid
community colleges with students in engineering programs.
It was suggested that four-year universities could give community colleges feedback
about students that have transferred.
They could come up with a general statics course that could satisfy community
colleges.
Need to be informed about what courses are transferable to four-year universities that
they should take while at a community college.
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NEW BUISNESS:
It was mentioned that maybe a website could be fashioned for MEC/CCLC committee
that information could be placed on the website so everyone could access it. Also, it
would help with communication issues.
Colleges want to resolve the communication issue, someone suggested that schools
should get their presidents involved, so that he may designate one person per school that
would be the person to contact for information.
Future Conference Sites Previously Planned:
2002— Michigan State University
2003— Macomb Community College
2004— Ferris State University
The meeting concluded with Jim Chesla thanking everyone for coming and participating
with helpful information. Hopefully with the topics discussed here today, further
communication will prosper.
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