INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATIONAL
PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT
Niaz Latif
Department of Industrial Technology
Industrial partnership
• Criteria for identifying key industry partners and the
role and responsibilities of such partners
• Roles and responsibilities of active industrial
advisory boards for program improvement,
• Integration of employer’s input for continuous
improvement of program
• Characteristics of student and faculty internship in
industry and integration of such internship program
in the curriculum.
objectives
• effective participation by an industrial advisory
board
• continuous improvement through employers’
input
• establishment of key industry partners
• faculty and student development through
internships in industry.
MOTIVATION FOR CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT OF THE
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM
• To sustain preeminence of the program
• To create an academic environment that is
conducive to student learning
• To provide skills, values, and attitudes to
students to enable them to be good
employees and good citizens
Role of industrial advisory board
• Advise on issues related to the learning, discovery, and engagement.
• Initiate and develop mutually beneficial partnerships between the
department and business, industry, and government.
• Develop resources in the form of scholarships, endowments, and
gifts-in-kind for student
• Provide opportunities for internships and co-op positions and
employment opportunities for our graduates.
• Contribute in some financial manner to the department. This can be in
a variety of capacities, e.g., grants, scholarships, work projects, etc.
Employer input integration
• To evaluate:
– Students mastery of competencies in the field
• To identify
– Industry needs and required skill sets of
graduates
– Areas of improvement
• To introduce
– New and emerging topics
Key industry partners
• Assist with curriculum improvement through
their representative
• Provide internships for our students and faculty
• Provide funded research projects for our
faculty and graduate students
• Donate gifts-in-kind for laboratories
• Donate cash gifts for student and faculty
development, and for student scholarships
Faculty/student internships in industry
• identify an industry that is willing to provide an internship
opportunity to the faculty member
• allocate resources to replace the regular faculty member
with an adjunct faculty member for one semester of
teaching
• Defined projects that results in cost saving
• Student internship is integrated in the curriculum,
however it is not a requirement
Some examples
•
Three new laboratories (Technology Education Biometrics; Supply Chain
Management)
•
Complimentary training of faculty and students to implement new software
for the Industrial Distribution program
•
A faculty internship for one semester (industry cost savings of $300,000)
•
Several funded graduate student projects
•
Continuous upgrading of existing laboratories
•
Participation of guest lecturers
•
Endowment for students scholarships
Summary
• Accountability of academic administrators
• Active industrial advisory board
• Engaged industry partners and long term partnerships
• Regular input from employers on graduates’ competencies
• Continue to pursue real life experiences through industry
internship