Chapter 1 – The Institution – ORT Braude College
1.1 Brief Summary
In 1996 ORT Braude College (OBC) became an independent nonprofit
organization. Shortly thereafter, the Council for Higher Education (CHE) in Israel
recognized it as an Institution for Higher Education (non university).
OBC is an Israeli institution for higher education, located in Karmiel, in the heart
of the Galilee. It offers seven Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degrees programs in
the following disciplines: Biotechnology Engineering, Electrical and Electronic
Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Management, Information Systems
Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Software Engineering and Applied
Mathematics.
OBC was established in order to meet three higher education national objectives:
a. To satisfy the demand for high quality academic education in engineering,
science and management in the country, in general, and in the Galilee, in
particular.
b. To train highly qualified engineers needed by Israel’s industries.
c. To play a leading role in regional activities, and in the development of the
Galilee, by offering people living in the area the option of high quality
education close to home and by attracting young students to the northern
part of Israel.
These goals are fully aligned with the country’s strategic national planning.
Historically, in 1994 the Council for Higher Education in Israel authorized OBC,
the country’s first non-university institution for higher education, to register
students for engineering study programs. In 1996 the OBC became an
independent nonprofit organization and very soon after was accredited to grant
Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) degrees in four programs: Biotechnology
Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Industrial Engineering and
Management and Mechanical Engineering. In 1999, OBC also received
accreditation to grant a B.Tech. degree in Software Engineering.
In 2004, the CHE accredited OBC to grant Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degrees
to graduates of five programs: Biotechnology Engineering, Electrical and
Electronic Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Management, Mechanical
Engineering, and Information Systems Engineering (a joint program of the
Industrial Engineering and Management and Software Engineering departments).
In 2005, OBC’s Software Engineering program also received B.Sc. accreditation.
Since 2008, OBC has also offered a B.Sc. in Applied Mathematics.
Today, about 2632 students are enrolled in OBC’s engineering departments,
studying towards B.Sc. degrees in one of the seven available study programs:
1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Study Program
Bio-technology Engineering
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Industrial Engineering & Management
Software Engineering
Information Systems Engineering
Applied Mathematics
No. of Students
378
510
522
607
427
160
28
2632
Table 1.1 – The numbers of students in OBC’s study programs
About 300 lecturers teach at OBC. Eighty-three of these lecturers are faculty
members, who are associated with different departments.
The College campus, 100,000 sq. m., is located on the western side of the city of
Karmiel. Due to shortages in classrooms on campus, some classes are held offsite at the:
Kramim School, located next to the OBC campus
Science Park adjacent to the campus.
Campus facilities include classrooms, laboratories, a library, auditoria, offices,
faculty office rooms, computer labs, a sports center, cafeterias, dormitories, guest
apartments, students clubs, an art gallery and a synagogue. In and around the
campus are green and open areas that provide a relaxed and pleasant
atmosphere and environment for both students and staff members.
1.2 Mission Statement of the Institution, Its Aims and Goals
“The College strives to be the first choice for students and faculty, working
to promote excellence in teaching and research while emphasizing each
individual's personal needs.
At the same time, the College aims to play a leading role in community
activity and the development of the Galilee.”
The OBC’s vision emphasizes the quality and qualifications of its graduates with
an orientation towards the marketplace. Thus its primary aim is to train its
students academically to become independent learners, and creative,
entrepreneurial professionals.
To achieve these goals, OBC focuses on its students acquiring the necessary
tools for self-learning. OBC’s study program is also designed for students who
start their studies with lower initial achievements, as measured by the state
matriculation examinations and the standard psychometric tests. Thus, studies at
OBC are aimed at bridging the gap between these students’ high school
knowledge, and the academic standards that are required for successful
completion of OBC’s programs. This is achieved via intensive studies.
2
In general, OBC has defined five long term goals:
1. To increase student enrollment and accessibility to higher education
2. To develop and improve teaching and learning standards
3. To boost the faculty body, and promote research at OBC
4. To develop relations with the local community and industry
5. To bridge the gaps between College needs and budget restrictions
1.3 ORT Braude College – Organizational Structure
OBC is an independent nonprofit organization. Its governing authorities are the
Board of Trustees and the Board of Directors that set the College policy. The
OBC Academic Council is its supreme academic authority.
Members of the Board of Trustees are public figures, representatives of the ORT
organization and of OBC. The Board of Trustees, which convenes once a year,
oversees College policies and approves its annual budget.
The Board of Directors comprises fourteen members, chosen by the Board of
Trustees. The Board of Directors, which meets at least once every quarter,
directs the College on key issues, especially those with substantial financial
impact, and monitors the College administration.
The members of the Academic Council are: the College President, the Vice
President for Academic Affairs, heads of the academic departments, all of OBC’s
professors and associate professors, other staff members who represent their
academic departments and the teaching staff, the chairman of the Committee for
Academic Affairs, a representative of the OBC Student Association and
professors from various Israeli universities. The following College committees
report to the Academic Council:
Nominations Committee – responsible for promotion and nomination of
faculty members
Academic Council Committee – prepares the Academic Council meetings,
implements the Academic Council’s decisions, and is responsible for dayto-day management of the College
Committee for Academic Affairs – discusses and resolves academic
issues
Academic Staff Ethics Committee.
The OBC President and Vice President for Academic Affairs comprise the
executive authority. In addition to these two officeholders, OBC’s management
team includes all academic department heads, the heads of major administration
units and the Dean of Students.
The major OBC committees, aside from the ones mentioned above, are:
Academic Affairs, Research, Library Information Technology, Quality
Management, Academic Staff Evaluations, Ethics, Dormitories, Scholarships,
Discipline and Appeals, Lecturer Admissions, Continuing Education,
Infrastructure Development, Excellence Program, Academic Staff Sabbaticals,
Marketing.
An overview of OBC’s organizational structure is given in Appendix A.
3
1.4 Names of Holders of Senior Academic and Administrative Positions
Table 1.2 lists key persons in the OBC organization.
Name
Prof. Yohanan Arzi
Prof. David Shoikhet
Prof. Zeev Volkowich
Dr. Ditza Levin
Dr. Shmuel Miller
Dr. Shmuel Gazit
Dr. Shuki Dror
Prof. Zeev Barzily
Prof. Mark Elin
Prof. Jorge Berger
Dr. Judith AbrahamiEinat
Dr. Michal Maoz
Mr. Shimon Hacker
Mr. Zvi Carni
Mr. Pesach Shefer
Ms. Shani Ilani
Ms. Raya Lotan
Mr. Issac Ramot
Mr. Yonatan Katz
Position/Function
President
Vice President for Academic Affairs
Head, Software Engineering Dept.
Head, Biotechnology Engineering Dept.
Head, Electrical & Electronic Engineering Dept.
Head, Mechanical Engineering Dept.
Head, Industrial Engineering & Management Dept.
Head, Information Systems Engineering Program
Head, Mathematics Academic Unit
Head, Physics Academic Unit
Head Teaching and General Studies Dept.
The Center for the Advancement and Improvement
of Teaching and Learning, chair
Director of Organization & Administration
Chief Financial Officer & Head of Human Resources
Dean of Students
Marketing Manager
Academic Secretary
Library Manager
Computer Center Manager
Table 1.2: Key persons and their function in the OBC organization
Chapter 2 – The “Parent” Unit of the Evaluated Study Program
The parent unit of the evaluated study program is the Industrial Engineering and
Management (IE&M) Department of OBC. As such, the Parent Unit and the IE&M
Department are the same entity.
Accordingly, the report will proceed with the description of the Study Program,
(Chapter 3).
4
Chapter 3 – The Evaluated Study Program
Note: Summaries and Recommendations can be identified by the Italic font.
3.1 The Goals and Structure of the B.Sc. Study Program in Industrial
Engineering & Management at OBC
3.1.1
The name of the study program
The name of the study program is: Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Industrial
Engineering & Management (IE&M).
The history of the IE&M study program at OBC
The Industrial Engineering & Management Department at ORT Braude College
was established in 1992. At the beginning of the program OBC was accredited by
the Council for Higher Education to grant its graduates a Bachelor of Technology
(B.Tech.) degree in Industrial Engineering & Management, and the first class of
students graduated in 1996. In May 2004, the CHE accredited OBC to grant a
B.Sc. degree in Industrial Engineering & Management. In 2007 OBC conferred
the B.Sc. degree on its first graduating class of IE&M engineers.
3.1.2
Mission statement of the IE&M study program, its aims and goals
The Mission Statement of the Industrial Engineering & Management program, in
accordance with the present mission statement of ORT Braude College, reads as
follows:
• To educate and train professional engineers for the benefit of Israeli
society in general, and for the economy of the Galilee, in particular.
• To make top-level academic engineering education accessible in Israel's
northern periphery and to attract young people from all over the country to
the Galilee.
The mission's rationale is to draw students from all over the country to study at
OBC in order to acquaint them with the Galilee, its society and industries. These
objectives are being accomplished through elite positioning of the department,
resulting from excellence in both teaching and research.
Mission's breakdown:
To provide the students with top grade education aimed at:
• Developing design, planning, operations and management competences—
all critical concerns of industrial engineers.
• Instilling a systemic view and process orientation for handling production,
service and information systems; and developing the skills through which
our students will be able to integrate these systems.
• Cultivating a multidisciplinary attitude by exposing students to a variety of
engineering and management fields.
5
•
•
•
Developing mental flexibility and lifelong self-learning skills for the present
and the future that will enable OBC graduates to continually adapt to
contemporary environmental dynamics.
Instilling critical thinking, social awareness, appreciation of team work and
humanity; to ensure that students are open to the multiple needs, wants, and
desires of different stakeholders.
Nurturing an entrepreneurial spirit, creativity, and innovative orientation,
beneficial for either establishing new start-ups or enhancing the performance
of domestic and international firms.
3.1.3
Description and chart of the academic and administrative
organizational structure of the IE&M Department at OBC
The OBC IE&M Department organizational chart is shown in Figure 3.1.1. For
simplicity, the chart is divided into several major segments:
Faculty Members – There are 12 full-time academic staff members. The faculty
members teach most IE&M study program core courses. They also perform
various academic and administrative duties related to the day-to-day running of
the department and the program.
The faculty members represent the department in various College activities and
on College committees (Table 3.1.1).
In addition, faculty members are active in organizing professional conferences
held within the College such as “Quality – Theory and Practice” and
“Environmental Quality Technologies and Management” (Section 4.2.4).
It is important to note that the IE&M Department’s staff members also teach in
other OBC study programs (Section 3.2.2.3). Moreover, faculty members from
other departments teach in the IE&M study program. This cross-fertilization
permits various teaching skills and talents to be logically shared among OBC’s
different study programs.
Faculty Council – The faculty members of the IE&M Department also comprise
the Departmental Academic Council. The Council meets on a regular basis once
a month to discuss issues pertinent to the IE&M Department.
Advisors (Academic) – Different faculty members serve as guidance counselors
for students before and during their studies in various ways: assisting students in
choosing courses, helping students overcome academic obstacles, and aiding in
solving other specific problems. Faculty advisors represent a dimension of OBC’s
“friendly college” approach. Faculty members serve as advisors as part of their
departmental duties.
Additional duties and responsibilities of the faculty members:
• Coordinating connections with Council for Higher Education (CHE)
• Organizing departmental seminars
• Maintaining the departmental website
• Coordinating departmental library purchasing
• Coordinating infrastructure and equipment purchasing
6
•
Managing the CIM laboratory
Departmental committees:
Curriculum Committee: six-person committee is in charge of approving new
courses and occasionally adjusting on-going courses as a response to industry or
academia developments.
Admission Committee: four-person committee setting admission criteria and
reviewing threshold cases.
Safety Committee: four-person committee coordinating safety issues in the
department's facilities.
Aside from the department’s full-time staff, there are:
Adjunct teachers – teach on a part-time basis at OBC. Adjunct teachers are
employed on a temporary basis, and typically do not have OBC administrative
duties. Adjunct teachers come from industry, or may be freelancers, retirees, and
lecturers from other academic institutions.
Administrative staff – support the administrative activities of the IE&M
Department.
7
Department
Head
Assistant
Department Head
Secretary
Department
Council (Faculty
Members)
Adjunct
Teachers
Advisors – Faculty Members
Applicants
First year
Coordinators
Committees
Council for Higher
Education
Curriculum
Committee
Departmental
Seminars
Admissions
Committee
Second year
Third year
Fourth year
Departmental
Website
Safety
Committee
Library
Infrastructure and
Equipment
CIM Laboratory
Figure 3.1.1 – IE&M Department Organizational Chart
3.1.4
Names of holders of senior academic and administrative positions
in the IE&M Department at OBC
Department Head – Dr. Shuki Dror
Assistant Department Head– Mr. Avi Shreiber
Department Secretary – Ms. Henya Ashkenasy
Self-evaluation Project Coordinator – Dr. Maya Kaner
8
No.
Name
Academic rank and duties
Associate Professors
Recently appointed College president
1
Yohanan Arzi
2
Arie Maharshak
3
Emil Bashkansky
4
Shuki Dror
5
Tamar Gadrich
6
Maya Kaner
7
Hilla Peretz
8
Rachel Ravid
9
Boris Shnits
10
Natalia Zaitzev
11
Guy Almog
12
Ilan Hefter
Liaison with foreign universities, chairman of marketing
committee, chairman of OBC's research conference, member
of curriculum committee, board of trustees, academic council
Senior lecturers
Member of: curriculum committee, academic council, quality
committee, OBC representative on the steering committee
conferring the Galilee quality and excellence award, teacher
evaluation, chairman of the quality conference
Department head, chairman of: curriculum committee,
admission committee, Internet committee, scholarship
committee; member of: board of trustees, academic council
Academic advisor, member of: curriculum committee,
chairman of quality committee
Academic advisor, member of: curriculum committee,
academic affairs committee, excellence program committee
Lecturers
Coordinator of connections with CHE, member of conferences
and training committee
Academic advisor, member of: admission committee, library
committee, teaching and learning promotion committee, library
purchasing coordinator
Member of: research committee, safety committee,
information systems committee, coordinator of: departmental
seminars, CIM laboratory
Academic advisor, member of: admission committee, "green
campus" committee
Senior teachers
Coordinator of infrastructure and equipment purchasing,
member of: discipline committee, employment committee,
academic affairs committee, nutrition and food committee
Academic advisor, member of: admission committee, teaching
and learning promotion committee, coordinator of
departmental website
Degree
D.Sc.
Ph.D.
Ph.D.
Ph.D.
Ph.D.
Ph.D.
Ph.D.
Ph.D.
Ph.D.
Ph.D.
C.P.A.
LL.M.
M.Sc.
Table 3.1.1 - Faculty Members, IE&M Depart. OBC
3.2 The Study Program – Contents, Structure and Scope
3.2.1 The study program
Students who complete the four year study program are awarded a Bachelor of
Science (B.Sc.) in Industrial Engineering & Management. As mentioned above
(Section 3.1.1), the B.Tech. program started in 1992, and the B.Sc. program was
accredited in 2004. The entire program is taught on the Karmiel campus.
9
3.2.2
The study program content – scope and structure
The IE&M study program at OBC is designed to provide students with a strong
foundation in sciences and engineering. During the first two years of the program,
students take basic courses in mathematics, physics, fundamental engineering
and some specialized IE&M topics.
Once they acquire this foundation, they proceed during their third and fourth
years in the program to study Industrial Engineering & Management subjects.
The emphasis is on students gaining an understanding of engineering concepts,
as well as acquiring the tools necessary to solve complex engineering problems.
Starting in their seventh semester, each student chooses elective courses from
three out of the four following tracks:
• Production and Service System Design (track a)
• Production and Service System Operations (track b)
• Information Systems Design (track c)
• Management (track d)
Another key component of the IE&M program is students’ requirement to
complete one of the following during their last year in the study program:
• An Internship
or
• A Final Project (and additional elective courses).
The Internship requires IE&M Department students to work at least 900 hours in
an industrial environment, service organization, or research facility. The
Internship is supervised by a lecturer from the IE&M Department; an additional
mentor from the company also participates in the supervision. The Internship
integrates the knowledge students have acquired in the IE&M study program,
sharpens their critical thinking in order to solve real world problems, and ensures
that they gain valuable practical experience prior to graduation. This approach
promotes the desired profile of a multidisciplinary and systemic-thinking engineer.
Descriptions of the Internship and Final Project appear also in Sections 3.3.1 and
3.3.5.2.
3.2.2.1 The structure of the study program
The OBC IE&M study program is similar to IE&M programs in other well known
engineering institutes, with the exception of the Internship. The structure and
content of the IE&M study program at OBC also meets the academic
requirements of the Council for Higher Education of Israel. The IE&M study
program, itemized according to courses by semester, hours and credit points, is
detailed in Table 3.2.1 (Appendix B). The description of each course appears in
Appendix C. Students have to accumulate at least 160 credit points (CPs) to
graduate and are expected to complete the study program in four years
(optimally, in eight semesters).
The IE&M Department provides courses to other OBC departments, and receives
courses from other OBC departments.
10
Table 3.2.2 highlights the distinction between required and elective courses,
engineering and management, engineering in general and IE in particular.
Actual
Number of
CPs
Actual Credit
Points in %
Basic sciences
39
24.38
Fundamental
engineering
33
20.63
36.5
22.81
17.5
10.94
22.5/28.5
13.75/17.81
10/3.5
6.25/2.2
1
1
0.6
0.6
Category
IE courses
Management
Elective courses +
general studies
(Internship/Project)
Internship/Project
Sports
Improving
Learning skills
Total
Contents
Mathematics, Physics,
English
Eng. basics: Materials and
Mechanical Processes,
Electrical Engineering,
Engineering Graphics,
Introduction to Economics,
Probability, Statistics, etc.
IE required courses:
Design & Operations
Marketing, Accounting, &
Org. theory
Three out of four tracks (5
CPs at least from each
track)
Internship of 900 hrs or
Final Project over 1
semester
160
100
Table 3.2.2: Summary of the IE&M study program*
*The curriculum complies with the CHE requirements that are categorized slightly differently.
Table 3.2.3 presents IE&M specialization courses (required and elective),
categorized according to the fields of responsibility (design, operations and
management) of industrial engineers.
11
Field
Design
Required Courses
Elective courses (four tracks,
2008-2009)
* Work Methods Design
* Deterministic Models in
Operations Research
* Stochastic Models in Operations
Research
* Engineering Design
* Analysis of Information Systems
* Discrete Event Simulation
* Statistical Quality Management
* Plant Layout and Handling
* Computer Aided Manufacturing
Systems
* Computer Integrated
Manufacturing (CIM) Laboratory
Track a: Production and Service System
Design
• Cases in Industrial Engineering
• Introduction to Systems Engineering
• Business Process Management
• Advances in Methods Engineering
• Advanced Tools of Quality
Engineering
• Risk Management and Evaluation in
Engineering Projects
• Advanced Computer Aided
Manufacturing Systems
Track c: Information Systems Design
• Software Quality Management
• Organizational Information
Management
• Knowledge Management &
Organizational Learning
• Computer Communication
• Data Structures and Algorithms
• Seminar in Requirements Engineering
• Seminar in Human Graphic Interfaces
• Object-oriented Programming
Operations
Management
Track b: Production and Service System
Operations
* The Supply Process:
Operations and Control
* Production Systems: Control
and Management
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
• Material Requirements and Resource
Planning
• ERP Workshop
• RFID and its Applications
• Inventory Systems
• Application of Operations Research
Models
• Project Planning and Management
• Productivity and Efficiency
Measurement at the Organizational
Level
• Theory of Scheduling
Introduction to Marketing
Organizational Behavior
Human Resource Management
Managerial Accounting
Financial Accounting
Financial Management
Environmental Economics
12
Track d: Management
• Workshop for Interpersonal Skills
• Team Leadership and Group
Processes in Organizations
• Entrepreneurship Development and
Management
• Entrepreneurship and Intellectual
Property
• Multidisciplinary Project in
Entrepreneurship, Marketing Strategy
• International Marketing
Field
Required Courses
Elective courses (four tracks,
2008-2009)
• Cross Culture Management
• Business Strategy
• Complex Leadership
• Business Contracts Management
• Location Economics
• Business and Economic Applications
of Game Theory
Table 3.2.3: Required and elective courses categorized into
the main IE&M competencies
We are satisfied with the structure of the study program; yet we identify two
underemphasized areas. Contemporary aspects of industrial engineering such as
project management, service systems, supply chains and information
management (data mining and analysis) need to be given more weight in the
curriculum. The other area concerns human and social orientation—which
reflects the uniqueness of IE compared to other fields of engineering. We also
think that the ratio of required courses vs. elective courses may be too high. The
original rationale for such a high ratio was:
o To provide students with a solid foundation in the basic sciences and
fundamental engineering, before they focus on their core IE&M studies.
This broad background also complies with the CHE requirements
regarding this issue.
o To provide extra tutorials and lab hours – The curriculum compensates for
students’ poor entrance threshold by ensuring that they get extra tutorials
and lab hours.
o To allow students to complete an Internship – students get 10 CPs for the
Internship, which is a hallmark of OBC’s IE&M study program.
After reviewing this issue, we felt that the motivation was still valid and decided to
leave the ratio as is.
3.2.2.2 Courses the IE&M Department gets from other OBC departments
The engineering departments and the scientific units at OBC support each other
through their respective areas of expertise.
Mathematics – The Mathematics Unit is responsible for teaching all math courses
in the IE&M program. The course content, level and academic emphasis are
agreed upon between the Mathematics Unit and the IE&M Department. The
choice of lecturers is also an issue upon which the departments must agree. All
math courses are offered during Semesters 1 and 2. Some math courses are
also offered over the summer period. Math courses are pre-requisites for
engineering courses.
Physics – The Physics Unit is responsible for teaching all physics courses in the
IE&M Department. The teaching rationale is identical to the aforementioned math
process. All physics courses comprise lectures, tutorials and laboratory classes.
13
Software Engineering – The Software Engineering Department is responsible for
teaching the following required courses: Introduction to Computer Science,
Introduction to Systems Programming, Data Processing Laboratory, and Analysis
of Information Systems; and some elective courses: Data Structures and
Algorithms, Seminar in Requirements Engineering, Seminar in Human Graphic
Interfaces, and Object-oriented Programming.
Electrical and Electronic Engineering – The Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Department is responsible for teaching the Introduction to Electrical Engineering
course in the IE&M study program.
Mechanical Engineering – The Mechanical Engineering Department is
responsible for teaching the following courses: Materials and Mechanical
Processes IE, Engineering Graphics and Introduction to Control Systems in the
IE&M study program.
General Studies – The General Studies Department is responsible for teaching
general courses (for credit) and sports to the IE&M study program.
English Unit – The English Unit is responsible for teaching English courses.
The Center for Promotion and Development of Teaching and Learning (Section
3.4.3.3.3) – The center is responsible for teaching required courses in cognitive
and learning skills such as Instrumental Enrichment, Tools for Successful
Learning, Creative Mathematical Thinking, Systematic Inventive Thinking and
Skill Development and Problem Solving.
3.2.2.3 Courses the IE&M Department provides to other OBC departments
The IE&M Department provides the following courses to other study programs:
• Biotechnology Engineering:
o Introduction to Probability and Statistics
o Applied Statistics for Biotechnology
o Quality Assurance
o Introduction to Economics for Engineers
• Electrical and Electronic Engineering:
o Probability and Statistics Basics
o Marketing Basics
o Industrial Accounting
• Mechanical Engineering:
o Probability and Statistics
o Quality Assurance
o Marketing Basics
• Software Engineering:
o Stochastic Models
o Probability and Statistics
• Applied mathematics:
o Probability Theory
o Stochastic Models
o Micro Economics
14
•
o Random Processes
Information Systems (joint program with SE department):
o Managerial Accounting and Finance
o Probability
o Statistics
o Stochastic Models in Operations Research
o Deterministic Models in Operations Research
o Introduction to Economics
o Applied Statistics
o The Supply Process: Planning and Operations
o Production Systems: Control and Management
o Organizational Behavior
o Discrete Event Simulation
3.2.3
Reflections on the main objectives of the study program
• Objective: To have students develop a variety of competences – design,
planning, operations and management competences – of concern to
industrial engineers.
o Table 3.2.3 illustrates courses developing these competences.
•
Objective: To instill within students a systemic view and process orientation
for handling production, service and information systems; and to develop
students’ integration skills for these systems. The curriculum develops such
abilities through the following courses, among others:
o The Supply Process: Planning and Operations (req.) exposes
students to planning, control and management of productioninventory systems.
o Analysis of Information Systems (req.) shows students how
information systems based on organizational requirements are
designed.
o Business Process Management (elec.) emphasizes process
orientation through design and improvement of business and
service processes.
o The Internship (elec.) exposes the IE&M student to real-world
organizational processes and systems; provides an opportunity to
reflect on his or her accumulated integration skills.
o Project Management (elec.) supports integrative understanding of
complex project factors.
o Plant Layout and Handling (req.) enhances comprehensive
systemic development of factory or service facility layouts.
o Cases in Industrial Engineering (elec.) teaches students how to
handle problems (“cases”) in production and service systems by
15
compelling them to integrate the knowledge gained in different
courses.
•
Objective: To nurture a multidisciplinary perspective in students by exposing
them to a variety of engineering and management fields:
o Courses given by other departments (Section 3.2.2.2) that enrich
IE&M students with a broad range of knowledge relevant for the
modern engineer.
o IE&M departmental courses: the combination of engineering and
management, embedded in the department's curriculum, reflects
the notion of multidisciplinary knowledge. For example, the
marketing courses (Introduction, Industrial Marketing, Marketing
Strategy and International Marketing) integrate knowledge from
fields as varied as economy, sociology, anthropology, statistics,
psychology and management into one coherent theory.
o Multidisciplinary Project in Entrepreneurship (elec.) was initiated by
the IE&M Department in order to bring together students from
various departments. Each team comprises two students, one from
the IE&M Department and the other from any other engineering
department. The teams develop products or systems (e.g., a
sophisticated stair-climbing wheelchair, gun safety mechanism, an
energy saver apparatus combined with home water heater etc.)
through their multidisciplinary technological and business plan
development knowledge.
•
Objective: To foster students’ mental flexibility and lifelong self-learning
through the following:
o The Internship, during which the student gets hands-on experience
that enhances both his or her mental flexibility and lifelong selflearning. The student faces multiple real-world engineering
problems he or she must solve either on her or his own or as part of
a team. Typical solutions inherently create tension among
contradictory constraints (mechanical, fiscal, human, etc.), which
the student has to consider. In addition, the student is expected to
learn independently in order to figure out appropriate solutions.
o Several courses (e.g. Production Systems: Control and
Management, Cases in Industrial Engineering, Productivity and
Efficiency Measurement at the Organizational level) stimulate
students’ self-learning and independent study skills.
o Outstanding students are privileged to participate in the research
conducted by faculty members. Some courses in the Excellence
Program (Section 3.4.7) are based on self-learning.
16
o Students are pushed to make extensive use of OBC’s IT learning
infrastructure (provided by a dedicated Web center), in order to
enhance their distance learning skills (Section 3.3.3).
o Students are expected to independently expand their pool of
knowledge by searching, evaluating and sorting through valuable
sources found in information databases and on the Internet.
Furthermore, they are requested to analyze the findings and to be
able to defend their choices.
o Students are confronted with unfamiliar and counterintuitive ideas
that are in sharp contrast with their naïve intuition. The
confrontation takes place in OBC’s science, engineering and
management courses as well as in real world industry. Having to
grapple with conflicting concepts forces students to develop logical
thinking and mental flexibility.
•
Objective: To develop students’ critical thinking, social awareness, ability to
work on teams and view their work in terms of humanity:
o IE courses (e.g. Cases in Industrial Engineering, The Supply
Process: Planning and Operations, Production Systems: Control
and Management, Engineering Design) emphasize critical thinking
in the process of problem definition, assumption statements and
analysis of solution alternatives.
o Students are exposed to social theory perspectives through a
significant number of courses, including Organizational Behavior,
Human Resource Management and Marketing. All three promote
critical thinking and emphasize the human side of engineering and
management.
o The management elective courses (e.g. Workshop for Interpersonal
Skills, Team Leadership and Group Processes in Organizations,
Complex Leadership) are meant to instill the notion of humanity,
cultural variety, teamwork and human needs from broad aspects.
o The emphasis recently put on contemporary environmental
aspects, reflected in the Environmental Economics course, evokes
social awareness as well as human critical issues.
•
Objective: To instill students with an entrepreneurial spirit, creativity, and an
innovative orientation:
o The entrepreneurial spirit is promoted via courses such as:
Entrepreneurship and Patents, Industrial Marketing, Business
Strategy, Multidisciplinary Project in Entrepreneurship and
Entrepreneurship Development and Management.
o Creativity is fostered by the course Engineering Design, which asks
students to present an original perspective on engineering
challenges.
17
We are satisfied with the extent to which the above objectives are being attained.
Although reducing the ratio of required vs. elective courses could better support
achievement of several our objectives, we decided to leave this ratio as is (see
Section 3.2.2.1). We also recommend calling upon the faculty members as well
as the adjunct teachers to elevate students’ self-learning, innovation skills and
critical thinking.
3.2.4
Changes in the study program
The profession’s dynamic nature as well as the ongoing advancement in
scientific knowledge requires the IE&M Department to continually adapt in order
to remain on track.
3.2.4.1 Change mechanisms and bodies responsible for planning and
managing
The departmental Curriculum Committee has the authority to propose changes.
Fundamental changes, once reviewed by the Curriculum Committee, are
discussed and approved by the Department Council.
3.2.4.2 Fundamental changes during the last five years
The following list reflects fundamental changes made in an IE&M Department
B.Sc. program (excluding the changes made when moving from the B.Tech.
study program to a B.Sc. one).
1. English studies: previously, students were required to complete three
courses. These courses have now been merged into two courses. Today
students must meet a threshold standard before starting academic level
studies or take the additional course (which does not allocate credit points)
matching their psychometric level (out of four levels) and after completion,
go up the chain of English courses (Section 3.4.1.10)
2. Physics: the program was amended by adding modern physics topics at
the expense of less relevant (for IE&M students) issues.
3. Economics: Two new courses, Introduction to Economics and
Environmental Economics, replaced the Micro- and Macro-economics
courses in the IE&M program.
4. The required course, Computer Organization and Programming, dealing
with assembly language programming, was cancelled.
5. The required course, Improving Learning Skills, has been added as part of
OBC-wide policy.
6. The following elective courses have been added:
a. Advanced Tools in Quality Engineering
b. Business Process Management
c. Multidiscipline Project in Entrepreneurship
d. Complex Leadership
e. RFID and its Applications
f. Advanced Computer Integrated Manufacturing
g. Introduction to Systems Engineering
h. Risk Management in Engineering Projects
18
i. Computer Applications in Operations Research.
7. The following elective courses given by the Software Engineering
Department have been opened as a part of the Information Systems
Design track:
a. Seminar in Requirements Engineering
b. Seminar in Human–Graphics Interfaces
c. Object-oriented Programming
d. Computer Graphics and Advanced Programming.
3.2.5. Mechanism for coordinating and examining course content
There are several built-in mechanisms for coordinating and examining the
academic content of the various courses taught in OBC’s IE&M study program.
3.2.5.1 Curriculum Committee – The departmental Curriculum Committee is
responsible for reviewing issues related to the study program.
3.2.5.2 Syllabus – At the beginning of each semester every lecturer is required
to submit a syllabus for each course he or she teaches. The content and
framework of the syllabi are reviewed by the department head. In courses that
are taught by more than one lecturer, the syllabus is prepared jointly, and thus at
least two or even more lecturers have conferred and reviewed the course
contents before the department head reviews and approves the syllabus.
3.2.5.3 Visit to classes – The department head pays periodic visits to classes
taught by new teachers or in response to specific complaints, in order to get a
firsthand impression of the course content and the lecturers’ teaching styles.
OBC also offers lecturers the option of inviting professional reviewers to their
classes. Following the class the lecturer and the reviewer meet after to discuss
issues related to teaching style as well as other aspects of the lecture. OBC is
now examining the idea of peer review, in which the department’s faculty
members will visit their co-workers’ classes and then offer their opinion.
3.2.5.4 Final exams – In courses that are taught by more than one lecturer, the
final exam (the same exam for all students) is usually prepared by all the
lecturers involved; in any case, the exam is horizontally identical. This
requirement is a built-in check-and-balance mechanism for the course content,
and its level. In some cases, exam grading is carried out by a group of lecturers,
and thus the examination of the content is even deeper. All the records –
questionnaires as well as answer notebooks – are scanned, archived, and
accessible by those authorized to do so.
3.2.5.5 Continuation of courses in the chain – Most IE&M courses are,
intrinsically, links in a chain of courses. OBC has set up two mechanisms to
coordinate among these courses:
• Students are not allowed to take a subsequent course before successfully
passing a pre-requisite course.
• If a course in the chain is not being taught properly, the issue will be raised
by a lecturer or students fairly quickly downstream.
19
3.2.6
Summary of the program
The mission and goals of the department, which have coalesced over the last few
years, are well defined. We are quite satisfied with the implementation, yet
ceaselessly endeavour to do better. Following is the summary of the strengths
and weaknesses of the program.
Strengths
• Insistence on excellence and high standards despite students’ relatively
low initial level
• Sensibly structured curriculum that fosters students’ gradual improvement
and development
• The variety of design, operations and management courses
• The emphasis on acquiring a systemic view, a process orientation and an
integrative approach
• The emphasis on cultivating a multidisciplinary attitude
• Integration of engineering and management
• Elevated awareness of critical thinking
• Promoting students' sensitivity towards social aspects of their profession
and the interface with superiors, peers, subordinates, customers and
suppliers.
Weaknesses
• Insufficient emphasis on topics that are steadily growing in importance
across modern organizations; among these are project management,
service systems, supply chains, and information management
• Too high ratio of required vs. elective courses
• The Final Project is underweighted (only one semester and 3.5 credit
points)
• Variance among elective courses concerning their requirements;
consequently, students make their choices according to ease rather than
relevance.
3.2.7
Involvement of non-academic bodies in running the study program
All the activities that pertain to the study program are conducted in-house by the
faculty members, administrative and technical staff (Section 3.5.2). Nonacademic bodies do not participate in running the study program.
3.2.8
Future development plans for the study program
To identify the future needs of the IE&M profession, we organized the workshop:
“Industrial Engineering and Management: Present and Future” that took place
March 9th, 2009 (Appendix D). Practitioners and academicians participated in the
workshop. The former group represents the present and future industry needs;
the latter presented the development trajectory of the profession from an
academic standpoint. In general, our aforementioned recommendations,
concerning the need to expand the following topics, were almost unanimously
validated by the presenters:
• Management
20
•
•
•
•
•
Systemic thinking
Service systems
Supply chain management
Information management
Environmental issues.
We found that the presenters backed up our recommendations regarding supply
chains, service systems and human and social orientation courses and content in
the existing required and elective courses. We identified the need to move some
basic courses in social science and management (e.g. the Organizational
Behavior course) forward to earlier years.
We ardently believe that higher academic degrees advance professional
standards. In line with this, OBC has submitted two Master programs to the CHE
for approval:
• M.Sc. in Systems Engineering
• M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering & Management.
These programs explicitly reflect our position regarding multi-disciplinary
concepts.
3.3 Teaching, Learning and Learning Outcomes
3.3.1
Methods of teaching and learning
The following teaching and learning methods are used in the IE&M study
program (details, by courses, are presented in Appendix C):
Frontal lectures (including frontal tutorials) – Frontal lecturing is the most
frequently used method.
The tutorial sessions are an important element of the frontal classes. In these
classes, typically with smaller groups of students than in lectures, the instructor
focuses on solving problems and practicing the material taught in the lecture
session.
Laboratories – Teaching engineering requires the use of laboratories. Fully
dedicated laboratory courses, as well as courses that include a laboratory
component, are integral elements of OBC’s IE&M study. The value of
laboratories in teaching sciences and engineering courses is well understood.
IE&M uses the laboratories to enable students to better understand the
theoretical material via hands-on experiments.
The standard limit for a lecture is up to 60 students, for a tutorial it is up to 35
students and for a laboratory it is up to 25 students (depending on the specific
lab’s capacity).
Table 3.3.1 summarizes the “basic courses” in the IE&M study program that have
an element of laboratory activity. By basic courses we refer to all the courses
offered in the study program apart from elective courses, the Final Project and
Internship. The second column lists the total number of hours allocated to the
course, and the third column lists the number of lab hours in the course (some
21
courses are fully dedicated to laboratory activities). Table 3.3.1 does not list the
elective courses that also have a laboratory component.
Course
Weekly Hours
Total
Laboratory
Total Credit
Points
Engineering Graphics
4
2
2.50
Data Processing Laboratory
3
3
1.00
Introduction to Computer Sciences
6
2
3.50
Physics IE1
5
1
3.50
Introduction to Systems Programming
4
2
2.50
Physics IE2
7
2
4.50
4.5
1.5
3.0
Physics IE3
4
1
3.0
Work Methods Design
6
2
4.0
Introduction to Electrical Engineering
5
2
3.0
2.25
0.25
2.0
Computer Integrated Manufacturing
(CIM) Laboratory
3
3
1.0
Applied Statistics
3
1
2.5
Statistical Quality Management
6
2
4.0
Discrete Event Simulation
4
2
2.5
66.75
26.75
42.5
Materials and Mechanical Processes
IE
Engineering Design
Total
Table 3.3.1: “Basic courses” in the IE&M study program that contain laboratories
As seen in Table 3.3.1, the total number of laboratory hours is 26.75, which
means that lab hours constitute 15% of the basic IE&M program (128 credits,
177.75 hours of basic courses, excluding courses without credits, see Table
3.3.2). The whole program comprises 160 credits and the remaining 32 credits
relate to the elective courses and the Internship/Final Project. Table 3.3.2
summarizes the proportions of lectures, tutorials and laboratories of the IE&M
study program’s basic courses.
22
Semester
Lecture
Tutorial
Laboratory
TOTAL
Hrs.
%
Hrs.
%
Hrs.
%
Hrs.
%
1
13
43
10
33
7
23
30
16.9
19.5
2
13
43
14
47
3
10
30
16.9
20.5
3
15
55
9
33
3.5
13
27.5
15.5
20.5
4
16
62
7
27
3
12
26
14.6
20.5
5
16
53
8
26
6.25
21
30.25
17
22.0
6
15
54
9
33
4
14
28
15.8
20.0
7
4
67
2
33
0
---
6
3.3
5.0
8
0
---
0
---
0
---
0
---
TOTAL
92
---
59
---
26.75 ---
%
52
33
15
177.75 100
Credits
128
100
Table 3.3.2: Proportions of the teaching methods in the basic courses
Distance learning – In distance learning students study the material from
recorded media, which is based on two elements:
• Video recording of lectures (Section 3.3.3.3)
• Specific course websites (Sections 3.3.3.1 and 3.3.3.2)
Guest’s Lectures – Industry practitioners often give guest lectures in some
courses (i.e., Introduction to Marketing, Introduction to Industrial Engineering,
Enterprise and Patents). These lectures are intended to enrich students’
knowledge in topics related to those covered by the course syllabus.
The teaching methods mentioned above (frontal lectures, laboratories, etc.) are
also used in elective courses. Aside from these systems, elective courses employ
other methodologies depending on the lecturer and the number of students (e.g.
group exercises, role playing and simulations). Among others, the following
processes are utilized:
Implementation and integration – In the fourth year of the study program students
choose one of the two following options: (1) an Internship, requiring them to
spend 900 hours in an industrial or service organization, OBC’s flagship program;
(2) a Final Project. About 80% students opt to take an Internship. Both options
expose students to real-life problems of Industrial Engineering and stimulate
them to use their academic knowledge to resolve these problems. This kind of
learning supports thoroughly problem analysis, integrates the knowledge
students have acquired in several courses in the IE&M study program, and
elevates exhibit originality in thinking in order to solve the problem in hand. The
learning and training is supervised by a lecturer from the IE&M Department, and
23
in the case of the Internship, an additional mentor from the company also
participates in the supervision.
Organized tours – Organized tours are used in the course Advances in Methods
Engineering, mostly to expose IE&M students to production methods and
processes at industrial sites, as related to the topics covered by the course.
Self-study – Excellent students (average grade over 85) are permitted to take the
elective course Individual Study. In this course the student is expected to
participate in the research of a faculty member. This course gives the students a
research basis for future graduate studies.
Seminar (e.g., in the course Cases in Industrial Engineering) – Students receive
material (academic articles or case studies) in advance in order to prepare for
discussion in class. The discussion is aimed at problem definition and
identification of possible solution alternatives and is guided by the lecturer or by
the students.
Table 3.3.3 presents the total proportions of the common teaching methods in the
IE&M study program.
Teaching
Methods
Academics
Hours
%
Credits
% (out of
160)
151
85
119.25
74.5
Laboratories
26.75
15
8.75
5.5
Total
177.75
100
128
80
3.5
or
10
2.2
or
6.25
28.5
or
22.5
17.81
or
13.75
Frontal
Lectures
(including in
Tutorials) (req.)
Implementation
and integration
Elective
courses
(including
additional
methods)
Final project:
14 Internship:
900 working
hours
35
or
27
Table 3.3.3: Proportions of the common teaching methods
3.3.2
Evaluation and improvement of teaching
OBC considers teaching engineering to be its primary function. Hence, improving
teaching and learning is a high priority. In order to carry out this objective, the
College established the Center for the Advancement and Development of
24
Teaching and Learning. This Center is responsible for all the activities concerned
with improving and promoting teaching and learning at OBC. The Center’s
activities are described in Appendix E.
Teaching performance and teaching development are two of our evaluation
criteria for faculty members’ promotion. The two other criteria are:
• Research activities
• Participation in departmental and collegial duties and activities.
Faculty members are evaluated annually. The process includes completing an
Annual Evaluation Report (Appendix F), followed by a meeting with the
department head. The report is then sent to the Vice President for Academic
Affairs whose office in cooperation with the Teacher Evaluation Committee
checks that the evaluation is carried out according to the criteria detailed in the
report.
3.3.2.1 Evaluation of teaching
Every semester, students are requested to evaluate their course lecturers using a
standard questionnaire (Appendix X). The forms are filled out in the presence of
the person who distributes them to the class, and in the absence of the lecturer.
The questionnaires are analyzed professionally, and a grade determined for the
lecturer The grades are then sent to the lecturer, to the department head, and
the office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
The department head attends lectures in cases when: (a) students’ complain
about a lecturer or an assistant and (b) a new lecturer is teaching a class. Thus,
at present, lecturers are evaluated almost exclusively via the students’ responses
to the questionnaire. This situation is obviously inadequate. As a result of this
deficiency, the Center for the Advancement and Development of Teaching and
Learning has appointed a committee to propose additional (or alternative)
evaluation methods. The Center is considering a proposal to have members of
the OBC’s Teaching Unit attend classes to evaluate lecturers' performance. The
peer evaluation will then be added to the students' evaluation, and will be
considered in the lecturer’s final evaluation.
3.3.2.2 Steps taken following the evaluation
Each academic year, about 15 OBC faculty members who accrued the highest
aggregate score in the annual evaluation report (Appendix F) are given the
“Excellent Faculty Member Award”; five-eight receive a financial prize. OBC also
awards prizes for each part of the faculty member’s evaluation: teaching
performance; teaching development; research and contribution in departmental
and collegial activities. The 20 teachers (faculty members or adjunct lecturers
from different departments) who students rate as the best receive a certificate of
Excellence in Teaching. The certificates and prizes are awarded at a special
ceremony. Excellence is graded according to a defined procedure – Appendix F.
Lecturers, who get graded poorly by the students (3.0 to 3.5 out of 5.0), receive a
letter from the Vice President for Academic Affairs, encouraging them to get
25
assistance from the Center for the Advancement and Improvement of Teaching
and Learning. The Center offers lecturers who seek and need help individual
professional guidance, as well as courses.
Teachers who get a grade lower than 3.0 (out of 5.0) are required, as of the
following academic year, to be assisted by a professional from the Center for the
Advancement and Development of Teaching and Learning. Employment of
lecturers who consistently perform poorly may be terminated, following a hearing.
Table 3.3.4 provides the grade statistics of faculty members and adjunct teachers
from the IE&M Department in the past four semesters (2007-2008):
Semester Mean Std. Deviation
2008 a
4.08
.41
2008 b
4.06
.38
2007 a
4.18
.40
2007 b
4.20
.29
Total
4.13
.379
Minimum
3.15
3.31
2.90
3.44
2.90
Maximum
4.81
4.75
4.81
4.82
4.82
Table 3.3.4: Teaching grades given by students
We can conclude that in general the lecturers from the IE&M department receive
high grades.
3.3.2.3 Activities for teaching improvement
Every year, the Center for the Advancement and Improvement of Teaching and
Learning organizes workshops to help teachers to improve and upgrade their
teaching skills. These workshops include: lecturing and practicing with
colleagues, and learning topics such as teams teaching and the use of animation.
Over the last three years the Center for Promotion and Development of Teaching
and Learning organized lectures and workshops on various topics concerning
teaching; among these were: Instrumental Enrichment, Math Teaching Methods
(a series of workshops), Rhetoric, and others.
Special workshops are devoted to the use of computers and the Internet as tools
to augment teaching. Teachers can learn how to use PowerPoint, how to build a
course website (using the “Clickit” platform), and how to use the “WebAssign”
system to electronically check homework.
3.3.2.4 Support given to new teachers
Towards the beginning of each semester, the College holds a special workshop
for new teachers. In this workshop new teachers get acquainted with OBC’s
academic and general requirements. They are taken for a tour of the campus and
introduced to people who have key responsibilities on campus. The Center for
the Advancement and Improvement of Teaching and Learning follows new
teachers during their first semester in the College to give them any necessary
support.
26
3.3.3 The use of information technology in teaching and learning
OBC has appointed a dedicated team to coordinate the introduction and
maintenance of information systems throughout the College.
Most IE&M laboratories are equipped with computers and software systems that
are part of the teaching/learning process (Section 3.6).
3.3.3.1 Internet website for courses
31 courses use the “Clickit 3” platform, three courses use “Clickit 2” and eight
courses in the IE&M study program use “HighLearn”. A typical website enables
the teacher to present the course material, homework assignments, syllabus,
reference material, bulletin board, and any other information relevant to the
course. Any information that is stored under the “public” category can be
accessed by the students who are registered for the course via the Internet.
Besides using the Clickit and HighLearn platforms, 14 courses have regular
websites.
Using all these platforms lecturers manage the websites and post materials that
are updated periodically.
A total of 56 courses (68%) have a course website, which enriches students’
exposure to various materials and support their learning activities.
Course websites typically contain course syllabus, lecture summaries and
presentations, solved problems and exam samples. Some sites contain complex
simulations of the course materials.
Students are encouraged to view distance learning as an aid to lectures, and not
as a method that replaces the need to attend and participate in lectures.
3.3.3.2 Students' assignment checking via the Internet
The “WebAssign” platform is used to assign and check students’ assignments via
the Internet. The platform allows assignments to be checked and graded in real
time, thereby enabling students and teachers to keep track of their progress etc.
also in real time.
Eight general courses (e.g. Calculus, Algebra, English) in the IE&M study
program use WebAssign.
3.3.3.3 Recorded lectures – OBC lecturers are encouraged by the College to
have their lectures recorded electronically. The recorded materials are available
through the College library catalog, and computer network system that is
connected to the OBC video server. The video server can also be accessed by
students outside the College via the Internet using individual User Names and
Passwords.
Video recording of lectures enables students to repeat a missed lecture or one
they may need to review again.
There are now 26 video recorded courses in the IE&M program and four general
courses (Calculus 1&2, Algebra, and Differential Equations).
27
3.3.4 Lecture attendance policy in the IE&M program
The IE&M study program policy is that lecture attendance is not compulsory. A
lecturer, however, is at liberty to require mandatory attendance. In such cases
the lecturer has to state this requirement in the syllabus, and then check
attendance. Attendance is compulsory for all laboratory sessions.
Today there are 15 courses in the IE&M study program including laboratories that
make attendance mandatory. All the elective courses (22.5 credits out of 160 for
the Internship option and 28.5 for the Final Project option) require attendance in
at least 85% of the lectures.
The IE&M Department encourages students to participate in lectures and
tutorials. The online registration system disables students’ registration to different
courses that are scheduled concurrently.
3.3.5 Learning outcomes
Lecturers in the IE&M Department have academic freedom to choose the method
for evaluating students’ achievements in their courses.
IE&M Department lecturers use standard methods for evaluating students’
achievements:
• Final exam
• Mid-term exam
• Homework
• Projects and other written assignments
• Presentations
• Laboratory reports.
The above are the most commonly used methods. Most lecturers use a
combination of the different evaluation methods. IE&M Department lecturers are
encouraged to use evaluation methods that span the entire course period, so that
the grade reflects students’ entire learning process. Lecturers post the grades of
homework assignments, exams, laboratory reports and projects as the semester
progresses. This is done, typically, by returning checked assignments with
remarks to the students, or by posting solutions on the course website.
In some cases the evaluation is done by a single lecturer. In cases where more
than one lecturer is assigned to teach a course, all lecturers are expected to
evaluate the exam (there are different mechanisms to carry out this method). In
the case of a Final Project or Internship, the supervisors, the head of department
and the coordinator of the Internship/Final Project evaluate the student.
3.3.5.1 Examinations
This section summarizes the information about the different examinations in the
IE&M study program.
a. Methods of examinations
The methods, character and relative weight of the examination methods used
in the IE&M study program are presented in detail in Appendix C. Written
exams include midterm and final exams. Exams can use both direct answers
28
and multiple choice type questions. The exams can be either closed or
opened book. Table 3.3.5 shows the percentage of use of different evaluation
methods in the program1.
Required
Elective
Course
Percentage
Midterm
Homework
Projects and
other written
assignments
Presentation
Laboratory
reports
Final
exam
Other
Number
of
courses
61%
50%
41%
9%
20%
89%
14%
44
8%
53%
79%
47%
5%
55%
34%
38
35%
51%
60%
28%
13%
72%
24%
82
Table 3.3.5: Use of different evaluation methods (percent of courses)
Oral exams are used in presentations of the Internship and Final Project reports.
The relative weight of these oral presentations in the final grade is:
• Internship: 15%
• Final Project: 35%.
As can be seen from Table 3.3.5 the evaluation methods are very diverse. This
diversity serves program aim: educating engineers who will be adept at selflearning and can seek out, process and absorb new knowledge and information.
In required courses the most popular evaluation methods are midterm and final
exams although weekly homework and written assignments and projects are also
used. In elective courses the most popular evaluation method are written
assignments and projects. Elective courses do not generally use midterm exams
as a way to evaluate learning outcomes.
b. Grades distribution
IE&M Department lecturers are expected to evaluate students’ achievements
according to the high standards of an academic institution. In general, students'
grades in the IE&M Department are not subjected to curve normalization or to
any other statistical processing.
Table 3.3.6 summarizes the average grades of 82 courses in total: 44 required
and 38 elective.
Range
All (82)
Req. (44)
Elec. (38)
55-60
2
2
0
60-65
8
7
1
65-70
7
6
1
70-75
14
13
1
75-80
10
7
3
80-85
16
5
11
85-90
16
4
12
90-95
8
0
8
95-100
1
0
1
Table 3.3.6: Average grades of IE&M courses
1
Due to the timing of this report’s submission, evaluation methods and course grades are based on
academic year 2007-2008. Since most courses are the same each year, the 2007-2008 analysis should be a
good approximation of the 2008-2009 situation.
29
Figures 3.3.1and 3.3.2 illustrate the average grades (± one approximate2
standard deviation) of required courses and elective courses, respectively.
110.00
100.00
average grade
90.00
80.00
70.00
60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
Required courses
Figure 3.3.1: Required courses’ average grade ± one standard deviation
110.00
100.00
average grade
90.00
80.00
70.00
60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
Elective courses
Figure 3.3.2: Elective courses’ average grade ± one standard deviation
2
The OBS information system provides the average grades and the grade distributions for each course. The
standard deviation is not available so we used the approximate standard deviation to illustrate our points.
30
Based on the findings above, we note the following:
• There is diversity in grading.
• As was expected, grades in the elective courses are higher than in the
required courses.
• Most required courses have a large grade dispersion, especially those
with low average grades.
• In most elective courses the grade dispersion is relatively small, certainly
smaller than in the required courses.
• It is not easy for students to achieve a passing grade in IE&M courses,
especially in the required courses. Some of these courses serve as a
filtering system to separate out students that are not suitable for
engineering studies.
c. Average grades of the graduating students – The overall average grades of
the students that graduated from the IE&M Department in the last six years is
shown in Table 3.3.7. Figure 3.3.3 focuses on grade distributions in the last
three years.
Grades
65-70
70-75
75-80
80-85
85-90
90-95
95-100
Total
Average
Standard Deviation
Number of
graduates
1999
1%
36%
39%
14%
10%
0%
0%
100%
75.4
4.74
2000
0%
27%
52%
16%
3%
2%
0%
100%
77.2
3.88
72
99
First year of study
2001
2002
1%
0%
21%
25%
46%
42%
23%
20%
9%
11%
0%
2%
0%
0%
100%
100%
77.7
77.6
4.22
5.11
81
105
2003
2%
20%
48%
18%
12%
0%
0%
100%
77.3
4.53
2004
1%
26%
43%
20%
8%
2%
0%
100%
78.6
4.31
82
58
Total
77.3
4.51
574
Table 3.3.7: Final average grades of IE&M students in the last six years
31
50%
percentage of students
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
0-65
65-70
70-75
75-80
80-85
85-90
90-95
95-100
average grades
2002-2006
2003-2007
2004-2008
Figure 3.3.3: Distribution of final average grades of IE&M students in the last
three years
Based on the above, the following conclusions have been deduced:
• Grading has been consistent over last three years.
• About 10% of our students have averages higher than 85; about 2% have
averages higher than 90. No student in the last three years has had an
average higher than 95. As a result, many of our students with strong
potential to continue to graduate studies have difficulties in getting
accepted to Israeli universities because their average grade is lower than
students' average grades in other colleges. OBC’s Excellence Program
tries to handle these difficulties (Section 3.4.7). The program is new and
only in a few years we will be able to evaluate average grades of its
graduates.
3.3.5.2 Written assignments
The array of written assignments in the IE&M study program ranges from
homework assignments, which are given to students throughout the whole study
program, through course projects to the Internship/Final Project summary report.
a. Types of written assignments
Written homework – Given weekly in most courses.
Laboratory report – In laboratory sessions students have to submit laboratory
reports summarizing their observations, findings, analysis and conclusions.
Projects – In some courses students have to submit a written project as part of
their assignments. This type of assignment is typical in required courses such as:
Work Methods Design, Engineering Design, Plant Layout and Handling, etc. and
32
elective courses such as: Advanced CIM, Business Process Management,
Scheduling Theory, etc.
Internship – the Internship requirements include written assignments as follows:
• An Internship proposal: In this assignment, the student outlines the plan
for the Internship as agreed upon with his/her mentor at the work site. The
proposal is submitted to the Internship coordinator for approval.
• Monthly progress reports: The reports are submitted to the academic
supervisor.
• Special academic tasks: In addition to work activities, the academic
supervisor determines three academic tasks such as implementation of
improvement methodologies learned in the study program on site at the
Internship facility; reading and analyzing academic papers and their
possible implication for the Internship facility. The academic tasks are
submitted to the academic supervisor.
• A summary report (see examples in Appendix G): This report summarizes
the work done on site, the academic tasks, the comparison between
previous and current states in the organization as a result of the student’s
initiatives and improvements and the student’s opinion regarding the
Internship.
Final Project – in the course of performing the Final Project, the student is
required to submit the following written assignments:
• Application for approval of the project topic and approval of the project
advisor. The application is submitted to the project coordinator.
• A final summary report of the project (see examples in Appendix G)
comprises a description of the problem, theoretical background, possible
alternatives, and the alternative selected and its application, conclusions
and implications. The report is submitted to the project supervisor and
project coordinator.
b. Evaluation of the Internship/Final Project written assignments
Internship – evaluation of the Internship is based on grades given by the
departmental supervisor, by the industry mentor, and by the department head
and the Internship coordinator.
• The academic supervisor closely inspects the student’s progress,
evaluates the monthly reports, the summary report submitted by the
student and the oral presentation. The supervisor also receives the
monthly evaluation of the industry mentor. The academic supervisor’s
grading constitutes 50% of the final grade.
• The Internship coordinator evaluates the student's written summary report,
the student’s performance in the workplace and the oral presentation,
which is also evaluated by the department head. This grade comprises
25% of the final grade.
• An additional 25% of the grade comes from the industry mentor’s
evaluation of the student’s overall skills and performance.
33
Final Project – Usually the Final Project is done by pairs of students. Evaluation
of the Final Project is done as follows:
• In the first stage, the students introduce the project proposal to the project
coordinator and the department head. This oral presentation comprises
15% of each student’s final grade.
• At the completion of the project the students submit a joint final written
report to the project supervisor and the project coordinator. The
supervisor’s grade of the written report comprises 35% of the final grade of
each student and additional 10% for the individual performance of each
student. The written report is reexamined by an additional lecturer/faculty
member, and this grade comprises 20% of each student’s final grade.
• In final stage the students present the project to the class, the project
coordinator, the department head and the academic supervisor. This oral
presentation comprises 20% of each student’s the final grade.
c. Internship grade distribution
Statistical analysis of the Internship’s grade distribution is presented in the
histogram in Figure 3.3.4.
percentage of students
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
0-60
60-65
65-70
70-75
75-80
80-85
85-90
90-95
95-100
Grades
2006
2007
2008
Figure 3.3.4: Internship grade distribution
Statistical analysis of the grade distribution of the Final Project is presented in
Figure 3.3.5.
34
percentage of students
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
0-60
60-65
65-70
70-75
75-80
80-85
85-90
90-95
95-100
Grades
2006
2007
2008
Figure 3.3.5: Final project grade distribution
3.3.6
Strengths and weaknesses of the teaching and learning
The IE&M Department at OBC uses a typical “middle of the road” approach to
grading and evaluating its students’ performance. As part of a relatively new
College that is continually raising its academic standards and reputation and
increasing its student enrollment, the IE&M Department must be cautious
regarding the methods it uses to evaluate its students’ achievements. The IE&M
Department must be especially careful to maintain a sensible balance between
the need to improve its academic standards on one hand, and to ensure
representative evaluation methods for learning and teaching, on the other hand.
The IE&M Department requests that its lecturers use course textbooks and
teaching materials that are internationally accepted. In addition, the lecturers are
expected to give students test questions that are consistent with the standards of
the course textbooks. These requirements help the IE&M Department keep its
academic standards high and consistent with internationally accepted levels.
The IE&M Department implements a combination of evaluation methods. The
combination gives the department a good mix of tools for measuring students’
achievements. These methods also allow the department to rank the students
fairly, and with reasonable accuracy.
Strengths
• The average grade of the faculty members and the adjunct lecturers in the
IE&M Department in the students’ evaluation is 4.1 (out of 5.0). This
indicates that the lecturers in the IE&M Department are good teachers.
• The Internship is a unique element differentiating the IE&M study program
at OBC from other similar programs in the country. It supports the
implementation and integration of methodologies taught and ensures that
our students gain valuable work experience in a real world framework.
• The learning evaluation methods that are frequently used in the program
are good. Specifically, in the courses where the average grade is relatively
35
•
•
low, the standard deviation is relatively high. Thus in these courses, we
have students that get high grades alongside students that get low grades.
The Center for Promotion and Development of Teaching and Learning
supports improvement and advancement of teaching and learning at OBC.
The Excellence Program started three years ago encourages outstanding
students to study at the OBC (Section 3.4.7). It is our expectation that
these students will achieve a high overall average grade.
Weaknesses
• Most required courses use traditional frontal lecture/tutorial teaching.
Various other teaching methods are used in elective courses whose
proportion is relatively small in the overall number of courses in the study
program.
• Although many of our students have the potential to continue to graduate
studies, some have difficulties getting accepted to Israeli universities as
their average grade is relatively low.
3.4 Students
3.4.1
Admission criteria for the program
The IE&M study program admits students from varied backgrounds. We
challenge our students with high standards while providing them with high level
teaching and support, so that they can successfully meet the challenges awaiting
them in industry. We believe that the best way to test a student’s capabilities is
by giving him a chance to prove himself rather than trying to forecast whether he
will be able to meet our standards or not. Naturally, this results in a higher
dropout rate than in several other universities. We, nevertheless, do try to identify
in advance the students who are unlikely to finish their studies. We are obliged to
use the broadly accepted admission criteria such as the psychometric grade,
matriculation grades and so on. We contend, however, that these criteria are
poor predictors of students’ failure, but to some extent possible predictors of
excellence. We make our case further on.
There are different admission criteria for different kinds of candidates as detailed
below. The criteria have been determined by the IE&M Department in conjunction
with the OBC's standards, and were approved by the Council for Higher
Education, when the study program was approved.
3.4.1.1 Candidates with an Israeli matriculation certificate
The minimal admission criteria (registration requirements) for candidates with a
matriculation certificate (“Bagrut”) and without a practical engineering diploma are
as follows:
• Psychometric grade: at least 500
• Israeli matriculation certificate with an average of at least 70 without
bonuses. This criterion was introduced beginning academic year 2004
36
•
•
•
Mathematics grade up to 2009: at least 60 for 4 or 5 study units (4- or 5point math), or at least 60 from the OBC (or another recognized institute)
Pre-academic Preparatory Unit
Mathematics grade from 2009 (CHE requirement): at least 80 for 4 study
units, 70 for 5 study units, or at least 80 from the OBC (or from another
recognized institute) Pre-academic Preparatory Unit
English: at least 60 for 4- or 5-study units English
The IE&M Department admission requirements have been further refined beyond
the minimum requirement of the raw matriculation grade of 70 (B), and 500 in the
psychometric (P) exam. The IE&M Department uses the “combined (C) average
performance” requirement, which is calculated in the following manner:
C={(6xD)+P}/2, where D is the matriculation grade including bonuses. The
bonuses are given for at least 4 study units in Mathematics, Physics and English.
Calculation of the bonuses is detailed in the OBC Annual Catalogue 2008-2009
(Appendix H). The minimum admission requirement for the IE&M Department is
C=500.
In summary, the applicants to the IE&M study program at OBC must meet all
requirements (psychometric, matriculation, mathematics, English, and combined
average performance) in order to be accepted.
The IE&M Department admission requirements were further refined in 2009
beyond the minimum requirements. The psychometric grade requirements were
raised to 510, the C grade was raised to 510 and the quantitative section of the
psychometric exam was defined as aimed at 110.
3.4.1.2 Candidates with a foreign matriculation certificate
The minimal admission criteria (registration requirements) for candidates who
have graduated abroad and apply to the IE&M Department at OBC are as
follows:
• Psychometric grade: at least 500
• Foreign matriculation certificate from a recognized institute with a
weighted average of at least 70 (out of 100)
• The following grades on OBC’s internal exams:
o Mathematics grade: at least 60 for 4- or 5-point math prior to 2009 or at
least 80 for 4-point math or at least 70 for 5-point math since 2009.
o Hebrew grade: at least 60
3.4.1.3 Candidates who have an IE&M Practical Engineer diploma
The minimal admission criteria (registration requirements)for practical engineers
are as follows.
• An IE&M Practical Engineer diploma from a recognized institute with a
weighted average of at least 75 (out of 100), including a grade for the final
project. The weighted average is calculated as 40% of the “internal”
(school grade) weighted average grades, and 60% of the weighted
37
average grades of external exams (administered by the government). The
weighted average replaces the psychometric grade.
• All other requirements (except of the psychometric grade) are the same as
for candidates with an Israeli Matriculation Certificate.
Additional details are available in Annual Catalogue 2008-2009 (Appendix H).
3.4.1.4 Selection and admission procedure
Admissions are overseen by the Admissions Committee of the IE&M Department,
comprising three department faculty members, the department head and a
representative from the College Academic Affairs Office. The Admissions
Committee authorizes the academic office to automatically admit candidates that
comply with the criteria (higher than the acceptance criteria) decided upon each
year by the committee, and reject candidates that do not meet any of the minimal
criteria defined in Sections 3.4.1.1-3.4.1.3.
The criteria entitling candidates to be automatically admitted are generally as
follows:
Criterion
Psychometric grade
Quantitative section of the
psychometric test
Raw matriculation grade
C Grade
4-point math
5-point math
Requirements
2005 – 2008
530
Requirements
2009
520
115
115
80
530
75
70
78
520
80
70
Table 3.4.1: Criteria entitling candidates to be automatically admitted during
2005 – 2009
The IE&M Department’s Admissions Committee deals with the following cases:
1. The candidate does not comply with some of automatic admission criteria,
but complies with the minimal criteria.
2. The candidate has studied in another department or another higher
education institution and would like to join the IE&M Department.
3. The candidate was rejected but appealed the decision.
4. Further to the refinement of the minimal combined (C) average
performance, the candidacy of all the 2009 applicants that did not comply
with the new thresholds but complied with the approved OBC criteria were
reviewed by the committee.
5. The exceptions dealing with the candidates that do not meet one of the
minimal criteria, but meet the others: Our policy is to limit exceptions to no
more than 10%. The exceptions are approved by the College’s Exceptions
Committee
comprising
the
Vice
President
for
Academic
Affairs, the department head and a representative from the College
Academic Affairs Office.
38
Each case is discussed in detail, and the committee’s decision appears in the
“Admissions Committee Protocol” (Appendix I)
3.4.1.4 Statistical analysis of the IE&M Department admission procedure
The analysis is based on data from the years 2005 – 2009 (the latter using fall
semester data only). Please note that the data is based on groups under which
students are listed in the OBC Student Database. Each cohort includes not only
students who were admitted as part of a particular incoming class, but also
students who later joined the class—for instance, students who relocated from
other study programs, students from other universities, and the like.
Enrolled Admitted
% Admitted
2005
74%
209
154
2006
75%
265
198
2007
71%
323
229
2008
70%
363
255
2009
71%
211
149
Table 3.4.2: The admission rate of students over the last five years
The number of students enrolling (new applicants) in the IE&M study program
has grown over the years except for the last one (even when considering that we
only have the Fall Semester 2009 data; the number of new Spring Semester
students is traditionally much lower). The decrease in 2009 is partially due to
OBC’s demand for a higher incoming math grades.
The admission rate has stabilized over the last three years, and has not
increased despite the decrease in the 2009 enrollment rate. We are satisfied with
this finding.
Tables 3.4.3 – 3.4.9 show the distribution of the admission criteria of enrolled
candidates vs. admitted candidates over the last five years of candidates holding
an Israeli matriculation certificate—the majority of the students. Please note the
following:
1. The percentages of enrolled students are calculated based on the total
enrolled and the percentages of the admitted are calculated based on the
total admitted in any specific year.
3. Year 2009 includes Fall Semester data only.
4. Students who may be “on probation” are not identifiable using the OBC
Students Database.
39
Grade Psychometric
Enrolled
2005
Admitted
Enrolled
2006
Admitted
Enrolled
2007
Admitted
Enrolled
2008
Admitted
Enrolled
2009*
Admitted
<500
16%
2%
12%
2%
5%
0%
5%
0%
5%
0%
500-550
34%
38%
33%
34%
32%
30%
35%
28%
39%
36%
550-600
30%
33%
30%
34%
32%
33%
31%
36%
27%
30%
>=650
4%
5%
10%
11%
8%
10%
10%
13%
6%
7%
600-650
16%
21%
15%
19%
23%
27%
19%
23%
22%
26%
Min
344
481
326
491
437
502
395
500
378
500
Max
678
678
723
723
693
693
750
750
750
750
Table 3.4.3: Admittance and enrollment rates vs. psychometric grade
Matriculation Raw
Enrolled
2005
Admitted
Enrolled
2006
Admitted
Enrolled
2007
Admitted
Enrolled
2008
Admitted
Enrolled
2009*
Admitted
<70
6%
6%
10%
6%
9%
5%
5%
3%
3%
1%
70-80
54%
50%
50%
51%
49%
48%
44%
39%
42%
37%
80-90
37%
42%
36%
39%
39%
45%
48%
55%
52%
58%
>=90
3%
6%
4%
6%
2%
3%
3%
4%
3%
4%
Min
65
65
64
67
62
65
67
68
56
70
Max
93
92
95
95
94
92
96
96
95
95
Table 3.4.4: Admittance and enrollment rates vs. raw matriculation grade
Math 4-Points
Enrolled
2005
Admitted
Enrolled
2006
Admitted
Enrolled
2007
Admitted
Enrolled
2008
Admitted
Enrolled
2009
Admitted
<60
3%
0%
1%
0%
5%
3%
1%
0%
0%
0%
60-70
8%
9%
12%
11%
15%
11%
14%
13%
5%
1%
70-80
29%
26%
25%
24%
25%
21%
25%
22%
17%
12%*
80-90
28%
26%
31%
32%
29%
32%
34%
34%
46%
50%
>=90
32%
38%
31%
33%
27%
32%
26%
31%
32%
37%
Min
52
62
32
60
6
58
20
61
60
66
Max
100
100
100
100
99
99
100
100
99
99
Table 3.4.5: Admittance and enrollment rates vs. 4-point math grade
* out of 13 students who were admitted with a grade under 80, two have a grade
of 79 and three have a grade of 78.
40
Math 5-Points
Enrolled
2005
Admitted
Enrolled
2006
Admitted
Enrolled
2007
Admitted
Enrolled
2008
Admitted
Enrolled
2009
Admitted
<60
2%
3%
2%
3%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
60-70
17%
12%
14%
14%
12%
13%
16%
16%
10%
*6%
70-80
27%
29%
36%
41%
38%
41%
32%
32%
36%
33%
>=90
17%
12%
17%
16%
33%
33%
19%
22%
19%
18%
80-90
38%
44%
31%
27%
17%
13%
32%
30%
36%
42%
Min
59
59
59
59
60
60
60
60
65
65
Max
96
96
98
98
99
99
99
99
96
95
Table 3.4.6: Admittance and enrollment rates vs. 5 point math grade
* Please note that 6% in this case accounts for two students.
English Grade
Enrolled
2005 Admitted
Enrolled
2006 Admitted
Enrolled
2007 Admitted
Enrolled
2008 Admitted
Enrolled
2009* Admitted
>=60
98%
100%
99%
99%
98%
99%
99%
98%
99%
100%
<60
2%
0%
1%
1%
2%
1%
1%
2%
1%
0%
Min
42
60
54
56
55
55
57
57
45
60
Max
99
99
96
96
97
97
98
98
98
98
Table 3.4.7: Admittance and enrollment rates vs. English grade
C Grade
Enrolled
2005
Admitted
Enrolled
2006
Admitted
Enrolled
2007
Admitted
Enrolled
2008
Admitted
Enrolled
2009
Admitted
<500
14%
7%
12%
5%
10%
1%
9%
1%
9%
0%
500-550
43%
46%
42%
47%
45%
44%
46%
42%
45%
45%
550-600
34%
41%
32%
38%
36%
46%
36%
45%
36%
45%
>=600
5%
6%
8%
9%
7%
8%
9%
12%
9%
10%
Min
267
464
295
473
245
496
216
488
215
504
Max
631
631
663
663
645
645
658
658
656
656
Table 3.4.8: Admittance and enrollment rates vs. English grade
41
Quantitative
Grade
Enrolled
2005
Admitted
Enrolled
2006
Admitted
Enrolled
2007
Admitted
Enrolled
2008
Admitted
*
Enrolled
2009
Admitted
<100
9%
2%
12%
7%
4%
3%
8%
3%
6%
3%
100-110
22%
20%
20%
19%
23%
19%
21%
15%
21%
16%
110-120
27%
29%
33%
36%
30%
29%
30%
33%
36%
38%
120-130
31%
36%
24%
25%
30%
35%
27%
32%
25%
28%
>=130
11%
13%
11%
13%
13%
15%
14%
18%
12%
15%
Min
75
95
72
84
86
89
79
92
82
85
Max
142
142
145
145
144
144
150
150
145
145
Table 3.4.9: Admittance and enrollment rates vs.
quantitative section of the psychometric grade
The percentage of candidates admitted below the minimal admission criteria
values has decreased to nearly 0% for the vast majority of the criteria. Some
criteria show a mild but relatively steady increase in the quality of candidates
admitted over the years. We are highly satisfied with this finding.
3.4.1.5 Insight into the predictive ability of the admission criteria
The following statistical analysis aims at understanding how well the admission
criteria can predict the failure and excellence of our students, defining failure as
the inability to complete the IE&M study program, and excellence as having a
relatively high academic average grade. This is especially important for us
because of the wide range of students we admit.
The analysis is based on data from the years 2000 – 2005 (i.e. incoming classes
of 2000 through to 2005). 2% of these students have not yet finished the
program; however, they have finished at least three years of studies, which are a
good predictor that they will not dropout, as shown in Section 3.4.3. The process
of cleaning up the data is presented in Appendix J.
3.4.1.5.1 Single dimension failure and excellence ratio analysis
The Failure Ratio (FR) is defined as the probability that a student that has started
will fail and will not be able to finish his studies. The Excellence Ratio (ER) is
defined as the probability that a student that has started will achieve an academic
grade average of 80 or more. The latter is a very important measure for us as it
means that this student can apply for graduate studies and because it is not easy
to finish the IE&M study program at OBC with an average of 80 and above.
Figures 3.4.1-3.4.8 show the FR and ER for the 2000 – 2005 students belonging
to one of annual cohorts vis-à-vis the various admittance criteria. We have also
added the matriculation grades with bonuses to the criteria, given that in addition
to the psychometric tests, they account for the C grade.
Notes:
42
1. After cleaning up the data (see Appendix J), we were left with 593
students. For various reasons, we do not have all the values of the criteria
for all students (e.g., raw matriculation grades were listed from 2004 only).
2. The study population included roughly 20% excellent students and 20%
failures. These ratios change with raw matriculation grades and 5-point
math grades due to the relatively small number of students that fit these
criteria.
3. Because of the relatively small number of students with raw matriculation
grades (201 students) and 5-point math grades (147 students), one must
be very careful when concluding anything about these criteria.
4. To have a common base for comparison and as we are mostly interested
in the “edges” of the criteria, we divided each criteria into five categories
based on percentiles as follows:
Category 1st
Percentile D10
2nd
D10 − D25
3rd
D25 − D75
4th
D75 − D90
5th
D90 − D100
5. Naturally, percentiles do not create an exact division into percentages
because there can be a relatively large number of students with the criteria
value equal to the percentile value.
FR
FR
ER
ER
0.40
0.35
0.28
0.24
0.22
0.17 0.18
0.13
0.22
518-537(87)
600-638(88)
>=638(57)
Figure 3.4.1: Ratios vs. psychometric grade
FR
0.17
0.12
0.07
537-600(279)
0.22
0.19
0.16
0.07
<518(54)
0.30
0.29
0.28
<103(39)
0.05
103-108(56)
108-125(229)
125-131(60)
>=131(53)
Figure 3.4.2: Ratios vs. quantitative section
grade
ER
FR
ER
0.48
0.35
0.36
0.21
0.16 0.14
0.11
0.05
<70(19)
0.28
0.24
0.22
0.18 0.19
0.16
0.17
0.11
0.10
0.07
0.03
70-74(31)
0.22
74-82(101)
82-85(29)
>=85(21)
<79(58)
Figure 3.4.3: Ratios vs. raw matriculation
<79-83(87)
83-93(285)
93-97(96)
>=97(59)
Figure 3.4.4: Ratios vs. matriculation with
bonuses
43
FR
FR
ER
ER
0.48
0.35
0.2
0.21
0.17
0.21
0.17
0.19
0.16
0.33
0.19
0.13
0.07
0.11
<69(35)
<69-76(56)
76-91(175)
91-96(67)
>=96(43)
<63(15)
Figure 3.4.5: Ratios vs. 4-point math grade
FR
0.20
0.18
0.14
0.14
63-71(22)
71-85(70)
0.12
0.13
85-91(25)
>=91(15)
Figure 3.4.6: Ratios vs. 5-point math grade
ER
FR
ER
0.58
0.41
0.27
0.25
0.27
0.21
0.20
0.19 0.18
0.14
0.12
0.05
4(361)
0.17
5(134)
<510(56)
Figure 3.4.7: Ratios vs. 4- & 5-point math
grade
0.05
510-527(83)
527-570(280)
570-590(83)
>=590(57)
Figure 3.4.8: Ratios vs. c grade
We also conducted Chi-square dependency statistical tests to measure the
dependency between the admission criteria and the FR and ER as presented in
the following tables. Table 3.4.10 relates to dependency tests between ER and
high admission criteria values (4th quartile comprises 4th and 5th categories, see
note 4 above; 10th decile comprises 5th category). Table 3.4.11 relates to
dependency tests between FR and low admission criteria values (1st quartile
comprises 1st and 2nd categories; 1st decile comprises 1st category).
5-point math
4-point math
Matriculation
with bonuses
Raw
matriculation
Quantitative
Psychometric
C grade
Criteria
ER vs. 4th quartile 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00
0.02 0.18
th
ER vs. 10 decile 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00
0.00 0.41
Table 3.4.10: P-values of dependency tests between ER and high admission
criteria values
44
5-point math
4-point math
Matriculation
with bonuses
Raw
matriculation
Quantitative
Psychometric
C grade
Criteria
FR vs 1st quartile 0.14 0.13 0.05 0.11
0.20
0.74 0.98
st
FR vs 1 decile 0.11 0.54 0.25 0.35
0.41
0.96 0.97
Table 3.4.11: P-values of dependency tests between FR and low admission
criteria values
The admission criteria are poor predictors of failure. It is unjustified to predict
failure using these intellectual criteria, as we all know there is much more to
success and failure than intellectual abilities. As an example, a candidate in the
first quartile of the psychometric grade (below 537), has an FR ratio of
approximately 0.24. However, 7.6 out of 10 candidates with an FR of 0.24 on
average will become engineers. How can we reject a candidate the chance to
become a good engineer on the basis of the psychometric grade, especially
when bearing in mind that the OBC was established by the Israeli government to
provide young people from the north of Israel with a way to improve their
extremely low socio-economic status? Our claim is further justified by the Chisquare tests that show no dependency of failure at any reasonable confidence
level on admission criteria (with the quantitative psychometric grade being an
exception; however, looking at the relevant FR values it still does not make a
difference). Furthermore, even at the lower categories of the criteria there are a
substantial number of excellent students.
The worst predictors of failure are the math high school grades as there is hardly
any difference in the FR between the different categories. This is further
strengthened by the Chi-square tests that show an extremely high P-value. This
makes sense as students that have low high school math grade are directed to a
preparation course, and all students get several math courses during the first
year of their studies. The strangest thing about the math grades is that the Israeli
Council for Higher Education has raised the admission criteria to a grade of 80
and above for 4-point math, and a grade of 70 and above for 5-point math
whereas the FR in these categories is practically the same as is all other
categories.
All the criteria seem far better predictors of excellence than predictors of failure,
which is further strengthened by the Chi-square tests.
The best predictor of excellence, in terms of the highest prediction and in terms
of differentiating between candidates from different categories, seems the C
grade. This makes sense, as the C grade averages the candidate’s performance
in the past including some measure of his seriousness and his current potential.
45
3.4.1.5.2 Single dimension academic grade average analysis
The academic grade averages are somewhat problematic when trying to
differentiate between candidates using the admission criteria. This is because the
variance of these averages is not small.
The following figures show the academic grade averages of students that failed
the IE&M study program alongside students that have not. We will only present
the best and worst differentiators, which are, in turn, the C grade and the 4-point
high school math grades.
Averge
STD
Averge
74.94
54.74
55.49
51.93
STD
78.75
76.82
74.59
81.26
53.35
41.06
10.85
<510(15)
16.95
15.75
14.26
11.80
4.29
510-527(17)
527-570(52)
570-590(14)
>=590(7)
Figure 3.4.9 Academic average vs. c grade
failures only
Average
<510(41)
55.71
510-527(66)
527-570(228)
570-590(69)
4.32
>=590(50)
Figure 3.4.10 Academic average vs. C grade
without failures
STD
Average
75.98
46.50
4.81
4.50
4.02
75.94
STD
76.40
77.19
79.35
56.57
49.50
48.63
21.51
13.55
13.74
14.24
11.88
4.33
<69(7)
<69-76(12)
76-91(36)
91-96(11)
<69(28)
>=96(8)
Figure 3.4.11 Academic average vs. 4-point
math failures only
4.74
<69-76(44)
4.53
76-91(139)
4.61
4.94
91-96(56)
>=96(35)
Figure 3.4.11 Academic average vs. 4-point
math without failures
The admission criteria cannot explain the big difference in the academic
grade average between those who failed and those who succeeded. It seems
that there are other, much more dominant factors that affect failure, e.g., the
candidate’s seriousness or attitude, the candidate's ability to improve, the
candidate’s motivation and the like. However, once these factors exist, higher
criteria values result in better academic grade averages. Naturally, this raises
another interesting question: will a difference of 6 points in the academic
grade average predict more success in industry (Section 3.4.8.8)?
46
3.4.1.5.3 Two-dimensional analysis
The question we are trying to deal with here is whether crossing the criteria
makes a difference in their ability to predict failure or excellence. For example, if
a candidate has a low psychometric grade as well as a low matriculation with
bonuses grade, do his chances of failing increase significantly, if at all? This
analysis is problematic since when crossing criteria, the number of candidates in
the crossed category will be relatively small and thus it is very difficult to achieve
significant results. However, some insight can be gained.
We omitted from this analysis the raw matriculation grades as well as the 5-point
math grade as the number of candidates that remain in the edge categories after
crossing is too small to even get an insight.
As an example, we can cross the candidates’ psychometric grade with his
matriculation with bonuses grade to see if the crossed criteria better predict the
success or failure than each criteria individually or better than the partially
crossed C grade (partially because it calculates a weighted average of the two
grades). We divided the criteria into three ranges: 1st quartile, Mid Range, 4th
Quartile.
Matriculation with
bonuses
83>
83-93 93<
Psychometric
grade
>=600
0.15
0.31
0.55
537-600
0.09
0.18
0.26
<537
0.03
0.11
0.13
Onedimensional
criteria
ER at
4th
quartile
P-value
(single
tail)
C grade
0.39
0.05
0.33
0.01
0.31
0.005
Psychometric
grade
Matriculation
with bonuses
Table 3.4.12: ER according to the values of the crossed criteria and the ER of the
one-dimensional criteria in its 4th quartile
From Table 3.4.12 we can see that crossing the criteria significantly improves the
ER over the one-dimensional criteria as well as over the partially crossed criteria.
Matriculation with
bonuses
83>
83-93 93<
Psychometric
grade
>=600
0.27
0.18
0.13
537-600
0.20
0.17
0.14
<537
0.21
0.22
0.25
Onedimensional
criteria
FR at
1st
quartile
P-value
(single
tail)
C grade
0.22
0.323
0.23
0.375
0.23
0.374
Psychometric
grade
Matriculation
with bonuses
Table 3.4.13: FR according to the values of the crossed criteria and the FR of the
one-dimensional criteria in its 1st quartile
From Table 3.4.13 we can observe the following:
47
1. The FR does not increase clearly over the crossed criteria as in the ER
case. The largest FR in the table is when matriculation is in the 1st quartile
but the psychometric is in the 4th quartile.
2. The crossed criteria do not add significant information over the onedimensional criteria.
3. Even the largest FR in the table does not justify not admitting the student
as more than 7 out of 10 candidates in the relevant crossed category will
succeed.
4. As in the one-dimensional analysis, the crossed criteria are a better
predictor of excellence than failure.
Table 3.4.14 presents the ER when crossing criteria:
st
1 criteria
Psychometric
Psychometric
Psychometric
Psychometric
Matriculation
with bonuses
Matriculation
with bonuses
Matriculation
with bonuses
Quantitative
Quantitative
C grade
C grade
C grade
nd
2
criteria
th
th
th
Both criteria
th
in 4
quartiles
ER
obs
4 quartile C
grade
4 quartile
st
1 criteria
4 quartile
nd
2 criteria
ER
obs
ER
obs
ER
obs
Matriculation
with bonuses
Quantitative
4-point math
grade
Studied 5point math
Quantitative
0.55
40
0.39
140
0.33
143
0.31
145
Crossing
adds
significant
information?
(P-value
=0.1)
All
0.35
0.31
65
26
0.41
0.35
108
91
0.32
0.29
110
93
0.34
0.25
112
102
No
No
0.42
74
0.39
139
0.33
142
0.29
*132
0.49
35
0.41
108
0.34
112
0.29
112
4-point math
grade
Studied 5point math
4-point math
grade
Studied 5point math
Quantitative
0.36
39
0.35
91
0.25
102
0.26
90
Only to 2
criteria
All but C
grade
No
0.38
64
0.39
139
0.31
144
0.29
*132
No
0.35
23
0.39
70
0.32
73
0.24
72
No
0.34
47
0.40
107
0.34
112
0.25
*102
No
0.46
59
-
-
0.41
108
0.34
112
4-point math
grade
Studied 5point math
0.45
31
-
-
0.35
91
0.25
102
0.49
55
-
-
0.39
139
0.29
*132
Only to 2
criteria
nd
Only to 2
criteria
nd
Only to 2
criteria
nd
nd
* All students who took 5-point math
Table 3.4.14: ER when crossing criteria
Crossing criteria may increase the ability to predict excellence in some cases.
Interesting of all is crossing the psychometric and matriculation with bonuses,
which are used for calculating the C grade, as this achieves a statistically
significant better prediction. We can also see that crossing other measures with
the C grade consistently improves the C grade (although not to a statistically
significant degree). Crossing most other criteria will not increase the prediction
ability over the C grade.
48
Table 3.4.15 presents the FR when crossing criteria.
st
nd
1 criteria
2
Both criteria
st
in 1
quartiles
FR
obs
^0.27
41
1st
quartile C
grade
FR obs
0.22 142
1st
st
quartile 1
criteria
FR
obs
0.23 139
FR
0.23
obs
140
Crossing adds
significant
information?
(P-value=0.1)
No
Psychometric
Matriculation
with bonuses
Quantitative
4-point math
grade
Studied 4point math
Quantitative
^0.33
0.26
43
19
0.25
0.24
107
89
0.24
0.22
106
88
0.28
0.21
92
80
No
No
0.23
93
0.22
138
0.22
138
0.20
*360
No
0.32
24
0.25
107
0.25
106
0.28
92
No
4-point math
^0.22
41
grade
Studied 40.21 104
point math
4-point math
^0.31
35
grade
^0.29
Quantitative
Studied 465
point math
C grade
Quantitative
0.34
35
0.25
C grade
4-point math
20
grade
C grade
Studied 40.25 102
point math
* All students who took 5-point math
^ The highest FR was taken
0.24
89
0.23
86
0.21
80
No
0.22
138
0.22
138
0.20
*360
No
0.28
69
0.29
65
0.22
63
No
0.25
106
0.28
92
0.22
*277
No
-
-
0.25
0.24
107
89
0.28
0.21
92
80
No
No
-
-
0.23
137
0.20
*360
Psychometric
Psychometric
Psychometric
Matriculation
with bonuses
Matriculation
with bonuses
Matriculation
with bonuses
Quantitative
criteria
1st quartile
nd
2 criteria
Only to 2nd
criteria
Table 3.4.15: The FR when crossing criteria
In the vast majority of the cases we can see that crossing criteria does not
improve the poor failure prediction capability of the criteria. In very few cases
(e.g., adding the quantitative grade to the C grade), crossing criteria may
increase the ability to predict failure. However, even then, the FR value is not at a
level that will justify denying candidate admittance.
We can conclude:
The policy of admitting candidates with a wide range of criteria is a correct one.
The current admission policy based only on intellectual criteria should be revised.
Other measures should be sought, and introduced into the admission procedure.
The CHE’s new requirements, raising the required minimal math grade, should
be revised as our findings show that a student’s low school math grade cannot
predict failure. Moreover, these requirements result in young people from the
north of the country being denied the chance of becoming engineers and
escaping their low socio-economic status.
49
3.4.1.6 Criteria for advancement from year to year
The four criteria that define “proper” academic status are:
a. An accumulative average of at least 65 points
b. An average of at least 55 for the last semester
c. Failure (course grade is less than 55) of no more than three courses
(accumulated)
d. No more than one failure (course grade is less than 55) in a single course.
A student who fails to meet one of these criteria is given the academic status
defined as “improper”, and receives a “warning” letter from the Academic Affairs
office. At this point the student is required to take specific courses that are
designed to return the student to a proper academic status. When students have
an improper academic status for two consecutive semesters, their files are
reviewed by the IE&M Department head and the Vice President for Academic
Affairs.
The results of the review could lead to:
1. A termination of the student's studies in the department.
2. Continuation of the studies under a strict academic recovery plan.
3. Continuation of studies for only one additional semester under a severe
call for a speedy academic recovery.
3.4.1.7 Criteria for completion of the IE&M study program
The criteria for completion of the study program requirements, which entitles the
student to receive an academic degree, are:
• Passing all academic requirements in the IE&M Department – required
and elective courses.
• Earning at least 160 credit points, with an acceptable academic standing –
a weighted accumulated average of at least 65.0
The calculation of the average includes all required and elective courses. If a
student took more elective courses than needed, the courses in which the
highest grades were received will be taken into account. Additional details are
available in Appendix H.
3.4.1.8 Admission of special needs students
No different admission criteria are defined for students with special needs.
However, about 1% of students admitted may be students with special needs that
do not meet the minimal admission requirements of the IE&M Department.
Students that meet the department’s admission requirements but have special
needs are identified as such, and are treated in a different manner than the
standard student, after they have begun studying. Special needs students may
ask for and get extra time during exams, focused help in their studies or special
attention by their advisors who help them throughout their period at OBC. See
Appendix K – Support Center for Students with Special Needs.
3.4.1.9 Decisions regarding admission
The decisions to upgrade the requirements have been driven and ratified by the
IE&M Departmental Council, with the objective of raising the standards of the
students admitted to the program. This process is gradual, and it requires a
50
conscious desire to improve on one hand, and the motivation to focus on the
mission statement, and to admit candidates with diverse backgrounds, on the
other hand.
3.4.1.10 To what extent are the admitted students prepared for the
programs in IE&M?
The OBC IE&M Department is aware of the fact that the admission criteria in
mathematics and English are not as high as in the Israeli research universities.
Also, candidates to the IE&M study program are not required to have high school
physics knowledge. As a result, most first year IE&M students are required to
take especially intensive introductory courses in Physics and English. The
objective of these courses is to close the gap before they start taking engineering
courses. Students who need these introductory courses do not get credit points
for taking them. The courses are:
Introduction to Academic Mathematics – for students whose grade was
less than 80 for 4-point math, or less than 75 for 5-point math. The course
was cancelled in 2009 because of the increase in the mathematics
admission criterion. Students admitted ‘under exception’ take this course
with students from other departments.
• Introduction to Academic Physics – for students whose physics
matriculation grade was less than 75 for 5 study units, or who did not
study high school physics at all.
• English according to the student’s psychometric level – there are four
English courses. Students who receive less than 134 in the English
section of the psychometric test have to take the course matching their
psychometric level and then go up the chain of courses after this course
(e.g., after English for beginners, they will take English for mid-level
students).
All the above are courses do not grant academic credit points. Students have to
pass these courses, but the grades are not taken into account in calculating the
students’ weighted average. Additional details are available in Appendix H.
•
3.4.2 Communication between the IE&M Department and the students
Internet and cell phones have added two important tools for communicating in
addition to the traditional methods. The IE&M Department at OBC, as other
modern academic institutions, has been exploiting the Internet for both academic
and administrative purposes when communicating with students.
3.4.2.1 Material regarding the study program
Every year around March-April, OBC publishes its Annual Catalogue for the next
academic year, which typically starts in October. The catalogue is available as
both a CD and a digital file on the OBC website. The catalogue contains
information regarding the College’s policies, the IE&M Department study
program, and the various syllabi. Other information is posted on Information
Stations – accessed through the Internet using personal passwords.
Some written information is also available on the IE&M Department’s bulletin
board. Also, hard copy material is handed out to students on different occasions.
51
3.4.2.2 Course syllabus
The course syllabus describes the scope and content of the particular course.
Typically, lecturers use a standard format to present information in the syllabus,
which contains the following elements:
•
•
•
•
•
Administrative information – name of lecturer, means of communication,
time and schedule of lectures, laboratories, tutorials, consultation hours
and location, etc.
Course objectives and topics
Bibliography – specifies the course textbooks and recommended reading
material
Course grade – mid-term exams, final exams, homework etc. and their
relative weight in the overall course grade
Any other material that supports the course instruction.
The syllabus is perceived as the course contract between the lecturer and the
student – a binding agreement that defines their mutual responsibilities regarding
the course, and the expectations of the parties regarding the completion of the
course and the potential outcome.
3.4.2.3 Course materials
Course materials are usually posted by the course lecturers in electronic form on
the Internet and Intranet websites. The materials include syllabi, homework
assignments and solutions, sample tests etc. (see Section 3.3.3). Also, booklets
that contain course materials are sold in the OBC photocopying center.
3.4.2.4 Exams
All student exam notebooks and solutions provided by the lecturer are scanned
and stored on the OBC Intranet site. Students and lecturers can view them there
(accessible only with a personal password) and download the exams for the
purpose of reviewing the material or appealing the grade. The appeal process is
carried out over the Intranet system – the student and the lecturer do not confront
each other in person during the appeal process.
3.4.2.5 Grades
Course grades are available over the Intranet (information is protected under a
personal password), through cell phone SMS text messages, e-mails and on the
departmental bulletin board.
3.4.2.6 On-going communications
Depending on the type, urgency, size and other factors, on-going communication
is maintained through one or more of the following channels:
• Classroom meetings
• IE&M Department web site where lecturers publish information
• E-mails
• Departmental bulletin board
• Verbal telephone calls
• SMS text messaging
• Personal discussions
52
3.4.3 Yearly dropout rate of students from the IE&M study program
The statistical analysis of the number of students that dropped out from the IE&M
study program was done using the student cohort of each year as registered in
the OBC Student Database. We used data of the last five cohorts, of which all or
the vast majority of the students have completed their studies. Note that some
students have not yet completed their studies; however, their number is relatively
small and the chance of their dropping out is negligible. We included their
information because we wanted our data to be as up-to-date as possible.
3.4.3.1 Yearly dropout rate and point at which students dropped out of the
IE&M study program over the last five years
1st
11%
14%
14%
20%
26%
2nd
6%
8%
12%
4%
4%
3rd
3%
5%
2%
1%
4%
4th
0%
2%
1%
0%
2%
4th+
2%
0%
0%
1%
0%
17.0%
6.8%
3.1%
0.9%
0.5%
59.9%
24.2%
11.0%
3.3%
1.6%
Total
Listed
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Total % of
Listed
Total % of
Dropouts
Year of dropout
Dropou
t Rate
First year of
study
21%
29%
28%
26%
*36%
103
153
133
134
120
28%
643
Table 3.4.16: Dropout rate
*See section 3.4.3.2
Table 3.4.16 shows that about 84% of the dropouts dropped out during their first
two years and 60% of dropouts dropped out during their first year. We are
satisfied with this finding, especially due to the fact that we admit a wide range of
students to OBC in terms of admission criteria and that we are committed to high
academic standards.
Table 3.4.16 shows that about 16% of the students dropped out after two years
of study and more than 4% dropped out during or after their fourth year of study.
We are not satisfied with this finding. The IE&M Department should put even
more effort into identifying students that cannot deal with the IE&M study
program during the three first semesters.
3.4.3.2 Reasons for students dropping out of the IE&M study program
Most students leave the IE&M study program because they choose to do so
(“Left” in Table 3.4.17), because they have been asked to leave by the
department due to failing grades (“Expelled” in Table 3.4.17), or because they
53
choose to move to a different study program or different institution (“Relocated” in
Table 3.4.17).
To further analyze the dropout rate discussed in Section 3.4.3.1, we analyzed the
reasons for dropping out (Table 3.4.17).
9% 0% 0% 21%
21%
13% 0% 1% 29%
29%
9% 3% 0% 28%
25%
7% 2% 0% 26%
24%
5% 10% 1% 36%
26%
Table 3.4.17: Dropout analysis
Total Listed
Effective
Dropout
Rate*
Total
Dropout
Rate
Other
Relocated
Left
13%
15%
16%
16%
20%
Expelled
First year of
study
2001
2002
2003
2004**
2005**
103
153
133
134
120
*The effective dropout rate=Left+Expelled
** B.Sc. program
Analyzing the specific files of the students who “relocated”, we found the
following:
91% of the “relocated” students switched to OBC’s Information Systems Program
and 6% transferred to OBC’s Software Engineering Program. (Note: The
Information Systems Program started in 2005 so that in that year the students
enrolled in the IE&M program and then relocated to the Information System
program.)
We are satisfied with this finding as the Information Systems Program is a joint
program of the IE&M and Software Engineering Departments and because it is
only natural that students starting the IE&M study program who have affinity to
systems engineering and analysis as well as to computer science will move to
the area of Information Systems. It also makes sense that some students, with an
affinity to computer science, find out with time that they are less interested in
systems engineering and so, to focus further on computer science, they transfer
to the Software Engineering study program. However, the OBC Database lists
them as dropouts, which is in our opinion misleading.
When discussing dropouts we recommend considering the effective dropout rate,
which does not include the students who have transferred to another department
at OBC.
Table 3.4.17 demonstrates that the effective dropout rate (which does not count
students who have transferred) has stabilized over the last three years at
54
approximately 25%. We are satisfied with this finding as it implies that the
dropout rate is under control.
By far, the highest dropout rate comes from students choosing to leave the IE&M
study program. Moreover, this number has increased over time. This calls for
further analysis as students who potentially could finish the program may be
among those dropping out. We, of course, do not want these students to leave
the program. In the following section we discuss how we are dealing with this
issue.
3.4.3.2.1 Determining who are the students choosing to leave the program
Analyzing the data collected on students that chose to leave the program, three
major groups clearly stand out:
1. Students with a passing grade average (65 and up) in courses for which they
have accumulated a reasonable number of credit points (15 and over) –
showing that the grade average is somewhat representative of their potential.
We define this group as the “Reasonable (proven) Potential” group.
2. Students with a failing grade average (less than 65) in courses for which they
have accumulated a reasonable number of credit points (15 and over) –
showing that the grade average is somewhat representative of their potential.
We define this group as the “Left Before Expelled” group, given that most
likely these students are failing and want to leave before their study is
terminated by OBC.
3. Students for which we have insufficient data about their potential, meaning
that they have accumulated a low number of credit points (less than 15 or
even none in some cases) and we cannot assume anything from their grade
average about their potential. We define this group as the “Unknown
Potential” group.
Table 3.4.18 shows the number of students in the various groups over the last
five years:
First year of
Reasonable
Left Before
Unknown
study
Potential
Expelled
Potential
2001
2
4
7
2002
6
6
11
2003
8
6
11
2004
4
3
15
2005
2
8
14
Total number of
students
22
27
58
% of Annual
21%
25%
54%
Total
Table 3.4.18: Types of students that left the program
55
Annual
Total
13
23
25
22
24
107
100%
21% of the students that chose to leave the program have a reasonable potential
to succeed in their studies. Looking at the numbers of this type of students in
2006 – 2008, we can see only one such student in 2006 only, which indicates
that the trend appears to be diminishing. 25% the students that chose to leave
the program left prior to termination of their studies. Unfortunately, they tried to
keep up with the study program requirements but failed. Our attitude towards
these students is the same as per the students whose studied were terminated.
54% of the students that chose to leave appear to be of Unknown Potential;
however, this is not quite accurate as we will show in the next section. The vast
majority of latter type actually has no potential. Accordingly, we are satisfied with
the results as they show that generally, we are not losing potentially successful
students.
3.4.3.2.2 In-depth look at the unknown potential students who dropped out
Since almost all of the unknown potential students left during their first year, we
chose to investigate students from the incoming classes of 2006 to 2008 in order
to have the most up-to-date information. There were 49 students in this category
during this period, and we managed to get hold of 29 of them by phone to answer
a brief survey. Following are the major results of the survey:
Number of
students
% of
students
st
After the
exams of the
st
1 semester
nd
During first two
st
weeks of 1
semester
During 1
semester but
before the exams
During 2
semester
Total
17
4
6
2
29
59%
14%
21%
7%
100%
Table 3.4.19: Point at which students left OBC
59% of the students who left the program and whose potential is unknown left
during the first two weeks of their first semester, implying that they had not even
tried to deal with the IE&M study program. The rest of the students persevered
through at least one semester of the IE&M study program.
Students leaving during the first two weeks should not be considered dropouts.
However, because they never officially left OBC, they remain in the OBC Student
Database. Consequently, the official dropout rate is higher than it actually is.
We recommend that OBC find a way to identify the students that leave during the
first two weeks of their studies and do not inform the College that they have done
so, in order not to list them as dropouts.
Reasons for leaving the College as reported in the survey:
56
IE&M is
not for me
1
7
2
3
3
2
7
0
2
17% 10%
48%
7%
Table 3.4.20: Reasons for leaving OBC
Personal
Financial
difficulty
Accepted
to other
institution
Study
difficulty
2
Number of students who
didn’t try to deal with the
studies
Number of students who
tried to deal with the
studies
% of students
17%
What are they studying today?
IE&M or
Information
Systems in
other
institution
Didn’t try
Tried
Economics
or Business
Management
in other
institution
Other BA
(e.g.,
Social
Sciences)
Not
studying for
an academic
degree
1
12
1
1
6
1
Table 3.4.21: Where former IE&M students are now
3
4
Did they apply for help with their studies (e.g., advisor, scholarship, psychological
help)?
Did not apply because
did not want to apply
Didn’t try
Tried
Did not apply
because did not
know that help was
available
2
14
10
2
Table 3.4.22: Applied for assistance
Applied
1
0
The main reason students whose potential was unknown gave for leaving OBC
and not trying to deal with the IE&M study program was that they discovered that
IE&M is not for them. The fact that most went on to study for a BA in “soft” fields
strengthens this finding. Those who did try to deal with the program transferred to
fields more associated with IE&M—the majority went to study Economics or
Business Management in other institutions. However, judging by their academic
achievements in the IE&M program, it seems that these students were unable to
deal mentally with the high academic demands of the IE&M study program.
Furthermore, Table 3.4.22 shows that the vast majority of the students did not
apply for any type of assistance although they knew it was available. Therefore,
one can conclude that in general, a substantial portion of the group of students
57
whose potential we cannot determine actually could not have, potentially, finished
the IE&M study program either because of lack of interest, determination or
ability.
3.4.3.3 Steps taken to reduce dropout errors
The previous section provided details about the substantial number of students
that tried but failed. Some students’ studies were terminated and other students
chose to leave because they could not meet the department’s requirements.
Now, If H 0 stands for “fit for engineering”, then we want to avoid type 2 errors
( β ) , meaning that we do not want to “force” students that are not suitable for
engineering to be engineers. On the other hand we want to avoid type 1
errors (α ) , categorizing as a “unsuitable” students that do fit the program, but
have temporary difficulties such as financial difficulties or find it hard to get back
to studying after being away from a school environment for a long time. Avoiding
type 1 errors is especially important for us in light of OBC’s unique mission.
Avoiding type 2 errors is an imperative if we want to maintain the good reputation
of our graduates yet is due to the fact that we admit a wide range of candidates.
Therefore, OBC created a number of mechanisms to prevent both types of
errors.
3.4.3.3.1 The academic warning system
The warning system described in Section 3.4.1.6 aims at reducing both error
types. It automatically flags those who have an improper academic status and
sends them warning letters thus alerting them to take action and serving to
reduce type 1 errors. As the system also flags students that have two or more
consecutive warnings, it allows the IE&M Department to locate type 2 errors and
take action.
4th
1st
2nd
3rd
Academic year
2008 2007 2006 2005 Total
First year of study
52
1
18
12
13
9
Number of
48
2
37
3
6
2
consecutive
20
warnings
3+
0
10
4
6
Table 3.4.23: Consecutive warnings status of IE&M students
at the end of academic year 2008
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
Academic year
2008 2007 2006 2005 Total
First year of study
Number of
103
1
43
25
30
5
warnings
78
2
37
16
17
8
(including
45
3+
0
12
11
22
consecutive ones)
Table 3.4.24: Total number of warnings of IE&M students
at the end of academic year 2008
58
Looking at years 2005 – 2008 we can see there are substantially more students
with two or less warnings in total than students with two or less consecutive
warnings. This implies that many of the alerted students took action to correct
their academic status, which helps avoid type 1 errors. We are satisfied with this
finding. Nevertheless, we can see that there are many students with three or
more consecutive warnings and many more with three or more warnings in total.
We are not satisfied with these findings as it possibly implies that the concern
with avoiding type 1 errors produces type 2 errors.
We recommend enforcing the OBC studies termination policy more strictly. The
IE&M Department should consider taking into account not only the number of
consecutive warnings at the end of each semester, but also the total number of
warnings given to a student. Students with a large number of warnings weigh
down the system and their ability to become good engineers is in question. It
could be more productive to reallocate some resources designated to preventing
dropouts to other areas such as, for example, promoting excellence.
3.4.3.3.2 The counseling system
The departmental counselors present the files of students that have two or more
consecutive warnings to the department head and the OBC Vice President for
Academic Affairs. These officeholders review the cases and determine which
students get a second chance. These students receive individual guidance from
the counselors, which include: measures to prevent type 1 errors such as limiting
the number of courses taken in the following semester, or balancing the
academic load of the student’s timetable so that, for example, a student who has
to correct failing grades will not take too many difficult courses together; directing
students that have non academic difficulties to other support systems and the
like; and measures to prevent type 2 errors such as forcing students to
immediately redo the courses they failed instead of postponing this action.
3.4.3.3.3 The OBC Center for Promotion and Development of Teaching and
Learning
The Center was established to support and develop students’ learning
capabilities, especially students who start their studies with lower initial academic
achievements, as measured by the state matriculation examinations and the
standard psychometric tests. One of this Center’s main goals is to reduce
dropouts (type 1 errors). For this purpose several systems were developed:
1. Required course Improving Learning Skills – This course was added to the
IE&M curriculum in spring 2004. Every student is required to complete a
course during his first year of study. Available options for this course
include Instrumental Enrichment, Tools for Successful Learning, Creative
Mathematical Thinking, Systematic Inventive Thinking and Skill
Development and Problem Solving.
2. The Leaders Project – selected outstanding students lead workshops in
courses that have high failure rates. Each workshop, conducted in tandem
with the relevant course, has approximately 12 students. The project's
59
achievements were reviewed for the first time just recently, given that it
has only been operating a short while. The single finding that we can
address shows that many students show up only for a few of the workshop
sessions, i.e. their attendance is sporadic or short lived.
3. The IAS Project – This is a new project that identifies students with an
Improper Academic Status and with two consecutive academic warnings
at the end of their first year. The project’s staff invite such students in for a
professional problem diagnostic session, and directs them thereafter to
supporting activities such as personal tutors (selected outstanding
students), coaches (selected OBC lecturers who complete a coaching
qualification program) etc.
4. Course for improving and fostering learning skills for students with learning
disabilities – A special room for this course equipped with supporting
technologies such as scanners, translators and the like has been set up.
5. The OBC Psychological Advisor – This advisor assists students with
psychological difficulties such as exam anxiety, math anxiety etc.
We recommend working on ensuring students’ awareness regarding the Leaders
and IAS Projects and consistent attendance of the Leaders Project workshop.
3.4.3.3.4 Scholarships
The OBC Scholarship Committee assists students with difficult socio-economic
status or exceptional personal difficulties by providing scholarships, thus reducing
type 1 errors. In 2008 the Dean of Students’ office distributed more than 5 million
NIS to OBC Students, approximately 4.55 million NIS of which were allocated to
students with difficult socio-economic status (outstanding students received the
remainder).
3.4.3.3.5 The OBC Appeals Committee
Students whose studies are terminated have the right to appeal the decision to
the OBC Appeals Committee composed of the OBC President, Vice President for
Academic Affairs, and the department head. The OBC Appeals Committee can
grant students a second chance by allowing them to repeat the courses they
failed. Sometimes this is done through the OBC External Courses Department.
This further reduces type 1 errors.
3.4.4 Student involvement in research projects
We do not have graduate studies. However, as research is highly important for
OBC in general, and the IE&M Department in particular, several research options
are available:
1. Individual study: Students whose grade average is higher than 85 can conduct
a personal one-semester research study, overseen by or together with a
faculty member. This is considered an elective course worth 2.5 credit points.
60
2. Research work: Students in the Excellence Program (Section 3.4.7) are
required to carry out research work. In their third academic year these
students participate in a two-semester research project worth 5 credit points.
3. Research Internship: Students who participate in this program get 10 credit
points and have to complete about 900 working hours.
Examples of the research subjects are presented in Appendix L.
3.4.5 Counseling/advisory system
The main goal of the advisory system is to help the students as they work their
way through undergraduate studies. This system provides vital support and
counseling to the students, follows their individual progress, and exposes them to
possible directions for their future professional careers.
The advisory system is an integral part of a complex academic support
environment, which includes the department advisors; IE&M Department head,
his assistant and the department secretary; and the OBC’s Center for Promotion
and Development of Teaching and Learning, Center for Promotion of Students
with Special Needs, the Office of the Dean of Students and the College
psychologist. The advisors are the main link between the student and all the
other support mechanisms.
Students with special needs receive particular attention in the advisory system.
Their difficulties are recognized and evaluated by the advisor, who subsequently
directs the student to the relevant authority for further diagnostics and aid.
The IE&M Department’s advisory system meets students’ needs. During the last
three years, the system successfully handled the increased number of special
cases among the students (i.e., the extended reserve duty of many of our
students prompted a large number to seek help).
3.4.5.1 Description of the advisory system in the IE&M Department
The IE&M Department’s advisory staff counsels potential applicants, current
students, and students at the beginning of their professional careers. Each
academic advisor—there are five—is responsible for a particular stage of the
student’s academic progress, according to the amount of academic credit points
the student has accumulated. This arrangement results in approximately 120
students being counseled by a single advisor.
The general duties of the academic advisor are to advise students in curriculum
structuring, approve changes in students’ course registration, follow students’
progress, and ensure that they take courses in the correct order. The advisors
also provide special help to students who serve in reserve duty during their
studies.
Students who are unsuccessful in following their study program receive a
warning letter at the end of the semester. Such students are required to meet
with their advisor and plan their future studies according to his/her
recommendations. If a student receives warning letters in two consecutive
semesters, his advisor compiles all the needed data and transfers the case to the
61
department head. Starting this year (2009), the final decision on such cases will
be made by a committee consisting of the advisor, psychologist, and two
members of the Center for Teaching and Learning.
The responsibilities and duties of advisors at different stages of students’
academic progress are as follows:
•
The advisor to the department’s candidates addresses the special needs
of prospective students, explains the general scope of the profession, and
checks whether the applicant fulfills the department’s entrance
requirements. Prior to starting their studies, new students participate in an
introductory workshop, which shows them how to use the on-line schedule
planning system, and describes in detail the campus facilities, and OBC’s
study support systems.
•
The advisor to freshman students (less than 40 academic points) has to
handle a broad range of issues, including socio-economic problems,
learning disabilities, and academic difficulties. The advisor, after
screening, directs students that need more than academic support to the
relevant OBC authorities. The relative abundance of academic problems in
the first year of study, compared to subsequent years, makes the advisor’s
job especially demanding and important. Early, successful solution of first
year academic problems significantly lowers the total number of type 1
errors (see Section 3.4.3.3).
•
The advisor to students with 40-79 academic points and the advisor to
students with 80-119 academic points (formerly, the second and third year
advisors, respectively) continue following students’ progress.
•
The advisor to senior students, those with more than 120 academic points,
introduces students to the Internship and the Final Project programs, and
makes sure that they comply with all the requirements for starting the
Internship.
The present style of counseling in the IE&M Department has the following
characteristics:
1. It is friendly and deals with students on a personal basis.
2. It covers the whole academic process from registration until the end of
studies with special care being given to specific study year-related needs
and students with special needs.
3. The counseling that is given is unique in terms of the attention the student
gets from the advisors.
4. The advisory system in the IE&M Department is continually improving,
according to the changing needs of the student population and the
academic environment. For example, one recent development is the
introduction of the computerized “management display” system, which
allows the advisors to check the updated academic status of any student
and to provide instant help. Furthermore, as mentioned above, starting this
62
year (2009) the final decision regarding the termination of students’
studies will be dealt with by a broad professional committee.
5. The advisory system focuses on students that have an improper academic
status or personal problems. Although potentially outstanding students
could benefit from the advisory system; they are not tracked by the
advisors and usually do not approach the advisory systems.
We are satisfied with points 1 to 4 but not fully with point 5. Attention from the
advisors might increase the number of excellent students in the IE&M
department, which is one of our weaker points. The counseling system should
put more effort into identifying excellent students and students with a potential to
excel. The advisory system should be leveraged to help maintain the excellence
of the first group, and motivate students in the second group to excel and make
both groups aware of the possibilities that will open up for them if they graduate
as excellent students. Students tend to think about the short term, and are not
usually aware that graduating “cum laude” makes it easier to get a job, and that it
is a must when thinking about going on to a higher degree. As the current
advisors are kept very busy, it might be a good idea to appoint a special advisor
for this specific target.
In addition:
We recommend that the IE&M Department exploit its admirable advisory system
in marketing its study program. The IE&M Department should also make students
more aware of the benefit that they could gain from the counseling service.
3.4.5.2 Counseling regarding future professional career
OBC does not have an in-house placement office, but there are various activities
that help and guide graduating students vis-à-vis their future professional
careers.
• The Internship program. The program impacts significantly on students’
future professional directions. The existence of the Internship as well as
the provision of a professional advisor from the IE&M Department during
the Internship offers guidance and support to the student during his first
exposure to working in industry. Our students find it very helpful, as
described is Section 3.4.8.
• During the last year of the study program, OBC hosts a Job Fair. Various
companies attend and here too the future professional careers of the
graduating students may be influenced.
• The IE&M Department is in contact with industry and posts all career and
job offers that reach the office on the departmental bulletin board.
Furthermore, employers can publish job offers themselves on the OBC
website.
63
3.4.6 The mechanisms that deal with students’ complaints
Student complaints are handled by:
1. Lecturers – they are in direct contact with students and have an important
duty, solving problems when they are small before they become big. This
is done in classes, in person and in writing.
2. Advisors – they are not formally defined as an address for complaints;
however, due to their position they sometimes hear complaints from
students, especially issues that the students feel were not handled
satisfactorily by the lecturer or issues of a personal matter related to a
lecturer.
3. The IE&M Department’s administration – the department’s administration
maintains an open door policy. Students can file a complaint on the phone,
personally or in writing to the department head, his assistant or the
department secretary. These individuals also advise the lecturers and the
advisors with regards to complaints.
4. The formal OBC system:
• A student may appeal an administrative decision concerning his/her
personal issues on campus, such as dormitory residence or
scholarships etc., via a letter to the Dean of Students. The Dean of
Students is expected to respond in writing, within seven days. The
Dean of Students is responsible for filing the appeal and the answer
in the student's personal file.
•
Any student may submit an academic or administrative complaint via
OBC’s website. Also, a complaint may be sent by mail to the relevant
OBC office.
•
If the student is not satisfied with the response to his/her complaint,
then he/she may submit the case to the Vice President for Academic
Affairs. The VP for Academic Affairs is expected to respond, in
writing, within seven days. The VP for Academic Affairs is responsible
for filing the appeal and the answer in the student's personal file.
•
If the student is not satisfied with the response of the VP for
Academic Affairs, the student may submit an appeal in writing to the
OBC President or use the appeals site on the OBC website. The
President is expected to respond to the student’s complaint within
seven days. The OBC President is responsible for filing the appeal
and the answer in the student's personal file.
•
In addition, OBC has appointed an Ombudsman who is responsible
for dealing with written complaints filed by students.
5. The informal OBC system: twice a year OBC students have an “over a cup
of coffee” meeting with the OBC president, held in the OBC coffee lounge.
Here students can discuss problems with the OBC President and the VP
for Academic Affairs in an informal, friendly and open manner.
64
We recommend to the IE&M Department to adopt the “meeting over a cup of
coffee” approach on a department-wide or cohort basis. These meetings should
be held once a year or once a semester, with the department head or the
counselors attending. They are very likely to help stop many small problems from
becoming big as well as act as a positive medium to convey important
“messages” to the students.
3.4.7 Outstanding students
At the beginning of academic year 2007, OBC formally introduced the Excellence
Program for undergraduate students in its engineering departments. This does
not mean that in previous years outstanding students did not receive special
attention and benefits. The objectives of the present program are to identify
excellent students and enhance their capabilities by personal counseling,
focused enrichment of their study programs and participation in research.
Students may enter the Excellence Program in the first year of their studies, or
join the program up to their third semester, if their grades meet the criteria set for
the program. The program is described in detail in the OBC catalogue (Appendix
H).
Currently, eight students from the IE&M Department are taking part in the
program (out of which only two were admitted to the program in their first year).
In addition to the Excellence Program, described above, OBC rewards
outstanding students in several other ways:
• All the outstanding students who make the Dean’s distinction (an average
higher than 84.5), and the President’s distinction (an average higher than
91.5) receive, at the end of the academic year, a certificate commending
their performance and a stipend. The financial award is given by the
College.
• A list of all outstanding students is posted on the College bulletin boards.
Excellence awards are granted for academic excellence regardless of the
student’s financial situation. Other forms of financial aid are available from the
Office of the Dean of Students. Out of more than 5 million NIS disbursed in 2008
by the Dean’s office, approximately 0.45 million NIS was awarded to excellent
students.
As mentioned in Sections 3.3.5.1 and 3.3.6, we are not differentiating enough
between the good students and the rest of the students, and we are putting the
former at a disadvantage when competing against graduates from other
institutions for graduate studies. We recommend to the IE&M Department that it
find ways to improve the position of its good students. In the context of this
section, this may mean increasing the number of students in the Excellence
Program. Because they are closely monitored and are given special attention,
their chances of graduating “cum laude” increase.
65
3.4.8 IE&M graduates survey
The IE&M Department conducted an alumni survey for this report. The survey
was carried out by the OBC Marketing Department. 93 graduates were surveyed:
15 had their graduation ceremony in 2000, 23 in 2005, 30 in 2007 and 25 in
2008.
Following are the major results from the survey.
3.4.8.1 Place of residence of the IE&M graduates
• About 48% of our graduates came from the north of Israel, 39% came
from the Haifa area (Haifa and Krayot) and 13% came from south of Haifa.
• About 43% of our graduates live in the north of Israel today, 34% live in
the Haifa area and 23% live south of Haifa.
• 24% of our graduates who lived in the north prior to studying today either
live in Haifa and south of it whereas only 13% of the graduates that lived in
the Haifa area and south of it prior to studying today, live in the north.
We are not satisfied with the fact that only 13% of our graduates originally came
from south of Haifa, and from the fact that more graduates move away from the
north after graduation than move to the north after graduation. One of our goals
is to attract young and promising people to the north of Israel and the opposite
seems to be happening. We should put more effort in attracting candidates who
are not from the north and keeping our graduates in the north after graduation.
3.4.8.2 Integration of IE&M graduates in industry
Table 3.4.25 lists the time elapsed between graduation and employment.
Immediately
Within 6
months
Within 1
year
Not
working in
IE&M
79.6%
15.1%
2.2%
3.2%
Table 3.4.25: The time between graduation and employment
We are satisfied with this finding as it implies that the vast majority of our
graduates find work in the profession immediately or shortly after graduation.
Table 3.4.26 lists the percentages of our working graduates and the types of
organizations they work in.
Production Service Consulting
Currently
78.5%
16.1%
5.4%
Most of the time
80.7%
14.5%
4.8%
Table 3.4.26: The percentages of our graduates and the type of organizations
they work in
66
The data strengths our conclusions regarding strengthening the service systems
field in our study program.
Table 3.4.27 lists the percentages of our graduates and the IE&M field they work
in.
Currently
Most of
the time*
Operations
Management
(without PM)
49.5%
52.2%
Project
Management
(PM)
22.6%
25.3%
Information
Systems
16.1%
12.4%
Quality
assurance
Marketing
Other
5.4%
5.9%
3.2%
2.2%
3.2%
2.2%
Table 3.4.27: The percentages of our graduates and IE&M field they work in
* If a graduate worked in two fields equally most of his time, we gave each field a weight of 0.5
The data strengths our conclusions regarding strengthening the project
management field in our study program.
The following comprises the partial list of organizations employing our graduates:
Elbit, Flextronics, RAFAEL, Iscar, IDF Sanmina, Plasan Sasa, Phoenicia, Tefen,
Strauss Group, Lumines, Techjet Aerofoils, IAI, Intel, Rambam Hospital, Delta,
STI, Tefron, Sun High Tech, Afcon, GE, Idit, Atzmaut, Eltam, Netvision,
Merkavim, Sicamore, Metal Industries, Teva-Naot, Haifa Port, Siltech Systems,
Pascal Technologies, MSB, Yediot Printing, USR, Ducart, Cocacola, P4P, Hilan
TECH, EPS, Keter Plastics, Israeli Railways, Sides, Shamir Optical Industry,
Plasson, ADT, Master Food.
Table 3.4.28 lists the gross monthly income of our graduates in NIS (74
answered):
Up to 10K 10-15K 15-20K over 20K
26.0%
65.8%
1.4%
6.8%
Table 3.4.28: The gross monthly income of our graduates
Our graduates integrate extremely well into Israeli Industry, most in the northern
part of Israel and the Haifa area, and work in a wide range of well known
organizations. Only 3% of our graduates do not work in IE&M. We are satisfied
with these results.
3.4.8.3 Progress of IE&M graduates in industry
91.4% of our graduates reported they have advanced in work. Table 3.4.29
shows the satisfaction of our graduates from their advancement in industry on a
scale of 0-5 where 0 stands for “have not made any progress” and 5 stands for
“extremely satisfied with my progress”.
67
Satisfaction
<=2
3
4
5
%
2.2%
28.0%
37.6%
32.3%
Table 3.4.29: Alumni satisfaction from their professional advancement
About 40 % of our graduates reported that they hold a junior managerial position
and 12% of our graduates reported that they hold a senior managerial position.
The graduates that reported that they hold a managerial position reported that it
took them 1.1 years on average to get to this position. The graduates that
reported that they hold a senior managerial position reported that it took them 2.3
years on average to move from a junior position to become a senior manager.
Table 3.4.30 shows the average years working vs. the monthly income (NIS) of
our graduates.
Income Up to 10K 10-15K 15 and up
Years
3.4
3.8
8.7
Table 3.4.30: Period working vs. monthly income
From the above we can conclude that our graduates have advanced throughout
the years both in their positions and income. We are satisfied with this result.
3.4.8.4 Role of Internship in the integration of IE&M graduates in industry
• 84% of our graduates perform an Internship during their studies.
• 37% of the graduates who complete the Internship continued to work in
the same organization after the Internship (78 answered).
Table 3.4.31 lists the average ranking on a 0-5 scale of the contribution the
Internship made to our graduates’ professional education, as perceived by our
graduates (77 answered):
Contribution
Average
grade
Std
Application and
understanding of
theory
Role and
position
of IE
Understanding
human/social
aspect of
organizations
Evaluating
self
capabilities
and
knowledge
Smooth and
successful
entrance to
Industry
3.8
3.7
3.8
3.8
4.2
1.3
1.2
1.3
1.1
Table 3.4.31: The contribution of the Internship
1.2
When asked what other contribution the Internship made (not listed in Table
3.31), the following were mentioned: income during studies, personal and
professional contacts and advantage in work interviews after finishing their
degree.
68
The Internship is perceived as important and valuable by our graduates. We
should keep the Internship option and should also exploit it for promotional
purposes.
3.4.8.5 Role of the IE&M Study Program in the integration of IE&M
graduates in industry
Table 3.4.32 lists the average grade on a 0-5 scale of the fitness of the IE&M
study program to industry requirements as perceived by our graduates.
Requirement
Teamwork
Presentation in
writing
Presentation
in front of audience
Problem
analysis and
solving
Grade
Std
3.0
1.6
3.1
1.4
3.7
1.2
3.8
0.9
Requirement
Practical IE tools
(e.g., models)
Supportive
tools (e.g.
software)
Knowledge
apprehension and
self learning
Multi
dimensional
organizational
view
3.5
3.1
3.7
3.4
1.1
1.1
1.2
1
Table 3.4.32: The fitness of IE&M study program to industry requirements
Grade
Std
When asked which capabilities they acquired during their studies that do not
appear in Table 3.4.32, several graduates spoke of: dealing with pressure and
workload, human relationships, dealing with a competitive environment, and “out
of the box” thinking. When asked which capabilities they are missing and that do
not appear in Table 3.4.32, several graduates mentioned: multidisciplinary
integration, leadership, and dealing with organizational politics. When asked
which areas should be improved in the IE&M study program, graduates cited:
popular software, especially Excel and ERP, project management, information
systems, focus on classical IE, general management, supply chain management,
quality management etc.
Although overall we are satisfied with the above results, there is certainly room
for improvement, especially in the areas of teamwork and writing capabilities. A
current employers’ survey would help in getting their view of the suitability of our
program.
3.4.8.6 The graduates’ attitude towards the IE&M Department and study
program
82% of our graduates would recommend studying IE&M at OBC to their friends
(92 answered), mainly because of the following: high academic level (25 out of
92), good lecturers, good reputation, good atmosphere, staff’s friendly attitude, a
good profession with broad employment possibilities, good study program, the
Internship. The graduates gave the following reasons for not recommending
OBC’s IE&M program to their friends: not as reputable as other universities,
69
unknown south of Haifa, academic requirements are too high compared to the
degree's value.
99% of our graduates would recommend employing OBC’s IE&M graduates,
because of: the high quality of graduates (27 out of 92), the high quality of the
institution, and the commitment of graduates to their profession and career.
We are satisfied with this result as it shows that our graduates think highly of
themselves and the OBC’s IE&M B.Sc. degree. We are especially satisfied with
the fact that most of our graduates appreciate our high academic level.
3.4.8.7 Graduates and higher degrees
About 10% of our surveyed graduates have acquired a Master’s Degree, 19%
are currently studying and 51% are planning to study.
Of 9 graduates (out of 93 who answered) that have acquired a Master’s degree:
o 6 studied Management (2 in the University of Haifa, 1 in Tel Aviv
University, 1 in the Open University, 1 in the College of Management, 1 in
Ramat-Gan College – all without thesis)
o 1 studied Operations Research (Technion – with thesis)
o 1 studied Information Systems(Technion – with thesis)
Of 18 graduates currently studying for a Master’s degree:
o 12 are in Management (4 in Bar-Ilan University, 4 in the Open University, 1
in the Technion, 1 in Ramat-Gan College, 1 in Netanya College and 1 in
Derby College – all without thesis)
o 3 are in Logistics (University of Haifa – without thesis).
o 1 is in Industrial Engineering (Technion – without thesis)
o 1 is in Economics (Bar-Ilan University – without thesis)
o 1 is in Political Science (Bar-Ilan University – without thesis)
Of 43 graduates that are planning to study for a Master’s degree:
o 58% would like to study Management without a thesis
o 16% would like to study IE&M
o 26% would like to study in other areas (Information Systems,
Economics, Law, Organizational Behaviour, Philosophy)
o Only 1 is planning to do a Master’s degree with a thesis
o 8 would like to do their Master’s degree at OBC, 4 at the University of
Haifa, 3 at Tel Aviv University, 3 at the Open University, 2 at the
Technion, 1 at Bar-Ilan University and the rest do not yet know.
o Only 2 of the graduates have mentioned they are planning to study for a
Ph.D.
We are satisfied with the fact that a substantial number of our graduates are
working toward or have acquired a higher degree and that most of our graduates
are aiming for higher degrees. However, we are not satisfied with the following
facts:
70
1. Very few have studied or plan to study for a Master’s degree with a thesis.
2. Most graduates have studied or plan to study for a Master’s degree in
Management. OBC does not plan to offer such a program because the
Council for Higher Education will not allow us to open such a study
program.
Quite a few graduates would like to do their Master’s degree at OBC and many
have not decided yet where they would like to study. However, we do not yet
have a graduate studies program.
3.4.8.8 Connection between the graduates’ grade average and their success
in industry
We can evaluate our graduates’ success in industry using only the two measures
of our survey: managerial position and monthly paycheck. Nevertheless, a
graduate’s tenure can also affect his position and/or wage. Therefore, we
compare between graduates of the same graduating class only. Furthermore,
given that we also do not have many graduates per graduating class in this
survey, we must be very careful drawing any conclusions. However, as this issue
is of high interest and its implications can obviously help us in shaping the IE&M
study program in the future, we analyzed the existing data despite the
aforementioned limitations. Due to the relatively small number of observations we
will compare the two measures for the top third of the class graduates and the
bottom third of the class.
Table 3.4.33 lists the effect of the graduates’ grade average on their managerial
position.
% of graduates who are now managers
Graduating Class
2000
2005
2007
2008
Bottom third of the class
60 %
63%
55%
38%
Top third of the class
60%
50%
50%
38%
Table 3.4.33: Grade average and managerial position
Table 3.4.34 lists the effect of the graduates’ grade average on their average
monthly wages
Average monthly wage category
2000
Graduating Class
2005
2007
2008
Bottom third of the class
2.20
1.83
1.60
1.86
Top third of the class
3.00
1.33
1.89
2.14
Table 3.4.34: Grade average and monthly wage
As we can see, no significant connection between our graduates’ average and
their success in industry appears
71
3.4.8.9 Level of contact with our graduates
It was not easy to contact the students as many of the contact details in the OBC
Database are no longer current. While 75% of our graduates are interested in
receiving information about seminars and conferences, only 40% of our
graduates are actually informed. While 74% of our graduates are interested in
receiving information about enrichment courses, only 26% of our graduates are
actually informed.
We are not happy with this result. Improving the level of contact with graduates is
now a high priority at OBC in general (e.g., in May 2009 the first reunion of OBC
graduates took place). The IE&M Department has particularly warm relationships
with graduates who employ our students. In general, the level of contact with
graduates should be improved, the contact details should be brought up to date
and information dissemination to graduates should be extended.
3.4.8.10 Graduates that finished their studies with distinction
OBC awards two kinds of academic distinction:
1. President’s distinction (summa cum laude) – students with an accumulated
average higher than 91.5
2. Dean’ s distinction (magna cum laude) – students with an accumulated
average higher than 84.5
Table 3.4.35 lists the percentage of IE&M study program graduates in the last
five graduating classes who were on the Department Head’s distinction:
Year
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Dean’ s distinction
5%
10%
12%
10%
9%
Number of graduates
81
60
100
89
76
Table 3.4.35: Graduates that finished their studies with distinction
Only three of our graduates in the last five ceremonies were on the President’s
Distinction (2 in 2006 and 1 in 2008).
We are not satisfied with the above results. The number of graduates that were
on the Dean’s distinction is relatively small compared to other OBC departments
and other institutions. This reduces our graduates’ competitiveness, especially
when they apply to a Master’s degree with thesis program. The number of
graduates that were on the President’s distinction is extremely low. We must find
ways to improve this situation.
3.4.9 Summary
Strengths
• We accept a wide range of students, allowing them to prove themselves
under high academic standards rather than trying to forecast who will
72
•
•
•
•
succeed and who will not. Nonetheless, within this context, we strictly
follow the existing admission criteria.
The counseling system means that individual students get a lot of
attention.
The activities of the OBC Center for Promotion and Development of
Teaching and Learning and the Center for Promotion of Students with
Special Needs works to reduce the number of students who have the
potential to be good engineers but who may dropout because of
difficulties (financial, social, educational).
The Excellence Program offers outstanding students ways to enhance
their capabilities by personal counseling, focused enrichment of their
study programs and participation in research.
Our graduates integrate well into Israeli Industry and think highly of their
classmates (IE&M graduates) and the IE&M study program.
Weaknesses
• The admission criteria (in particular 4-point math) are poor predictors of
students’ failure.
• The termination of the studies of the failed students is not strict enough.
• OBC and the IE&M Department do not provide enough encouragement
and counseling to students with the potential to become excellent
students.
• Few of our students finished their studies with distinction.
• Only 13% of our graduates come from south of Haifa, and more
graduates relocate from the north after graduation than move to the
north after graduation.
• We cannot offer our students a Master's degree in Management, which
our graduates want, and currently we have no graduate studies program
whatsoever.
• The level of contact with our graduates is unsatisfactory.
3.5 Human Resources
3.5.1 Teaching staff
3.5.1.1 Profile of the program teaching staff
The OBC teaching staff consists of faculty members (lecturers and teachers), as
well as adjunct lecturers (senior and junior).
Faculty members – lecturers: OBC is defined as the main workplace for the IE&M
Department’s regular faculty members - lecturers. As such, these lecturers are
obligated to promote the professional and academic standards of the IE&M
Department. A faculty member is expected to teach, carry out research, and
dedicate time to as well as be involved in departmental and College committees.
All lecturers have a Ph.D. The ranks are: lecturer, senior lecturer, associate
professor and full professor.
73
Faculty members – teachers: here too, OBC is defined as the main workplace for
the IE&M Department’s regular faculty members - teachers. Teachers hold an
M.Sc. or equivalent degree. Teachers are expected to teach (with a higher load
than lecturers) and dedicate time to as well as be involved in departmental and
College committees. Teachers' ranks are: teacher and senior teacher. We must
add that the current policy is to recruit only faculty member that hold a doctoral
degree.
Faculty members’ CVs appear in Appendix M.
It is important to note that about 25 courses in the IE&M study program are
taught by faculty members (lecturers and teachers) from other OBC departments.
These courses are offered by departments that employ experts in basic sciences
(mainly mathematics and physics).
Adjunct teachers – The teaching load of an adjunct teacher is typically less than
the full load of a faculty member, but some adjunct lecturers in the IE&M
Department have higher loads. Adjunct teachers are expected to teach courses
and instruct students. In addition, the department is fully committed to recruiting
experts both from academia and industry to teach as adjuncts. Although adjunct
teachers have no official departmental administrative duties, they participate in
the following activities: teaching excellence awards, department seminars,
conferences, and social activities.
27 lecturers, 8 teachers, and 33 adjunct lecturers teach in the IE&M study
program (Table 3.5.2A trough Table 3.5.2D (Appendix N)).
The lecturers and adjunct teachers are involved in various instructional duties:
lectures, tutorials, laboratories, project and Internship supervision. Tutorials and
laboratories are mainly given by adjunct teachers.
Faculty members’ areas of specialization and courses being taught in the present
academic year are listed in Table 3.5.1. The full profile of the entire IE&M study
program’s teaching staff is given in Table 3.5.2A through Table 3.5.2D (Appendix
N).
Area of
expertise
Industrial
Engineering
Faculty Member
Boris Shnits
Maya Kaner
Courses taught
Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM)
Laboratory (req.)
Computer Aided Manufacturing Systems (req.)
Advanced Computer Aided Manufacturing
Systems (elec.)
Material Requirements and Resource Planning
(elec.)
Introduction to Industrial Engineering (req.)
The Supply Process: Planning and
Operations (req.)
Business Process Management (elec.)
74
Area of
expertise
Industrial
Engineering
Faculty Member
Ilan Hefter
Yohanan Arzi
(OBC president)
Hilla Peretz
Behavioral
Science
Marketing
Arie Maharshak
Economics
and Finance
Natalia Zaitsev
Quality
Engineering
Probability
Statistics,
OR (stochastic)
Information
Systems
Courses taught
Introduction to Industrial Engineering (req.)
Plant Layout and Handling (req.)
Production Systems: Control and Management
(req.)
Instrumental Enrichment (req.)
Project Planning and Management (elec.)
Theory of Scheduling (elec.)
Productivity and Efficiency Measurement at the
Organization Level (elec.)
Organizational Behavior (req.)
Human Resource Management (req.)
Improving Learning Skills (req.)
Cross Culture Management (elec.)
Introduction to Marketing (req.)
International Marketing (elec.)
Multidisciplinary Project in Entrepreneurship
(elec.)
Marketing Strategy (elec.)
Industrial Marketing (elec.)
Introduction to Macroeconomics (req.)
Introduction to Economics (req.)
Environmental Economics (req.)
Guy Almog
Managerial Accounting (req.)
Financial Accounting (req.)
Financial Management (req.)
Emil Bashkansky
Statistical Quality Management (req.)
Advanced Tools of Quality Engineering (elec.)
Probability (req.)
Stochastic models in operations research (req.)
Stochastic models in operations research (req.)
Tamar Gadrich
Rachel Ravid
Shuki Dror
(department head)
Avi Soffer*
Zeev Barzily*
Applied Statistics (req.)
Discrete Event Simulation (req.)
Software Quality Management (elec.)
Analysis of Information Systems (req.)
Analysis of Information Systems (req.)
*faculty members from the Software Engineering Department
Table 3.5.1: Areas of specialization of the IE&M faculty
75
Analyzing Table 3.5.2A – Table 3.5.2D (Appendix N), we may conclude the
following:
• On the whole, faculty members and adjunct teachers teach courses in the
areas of their expertise. The staff profile enables a fair amount of flexibility
and dynamism within the program.
•
11% of the required courses are given solely by adjunct lecturers (Work
Methods Design, Statistics, Deterministic Models in Operations Research,
Data Processing Lab, Sports, and Engineering Design). There are also
IE&M faculty members that can teach Work Methods Design and
Statistics.
•
68% of the required courses are given by lecturers, senior lecturers and
professors (our goal is to reach 70%). The implementation of the
department’s recruitment plan (Section 3.5.1.8) will raise the number of
required courses given by lecturers, senior lecturers and professors.
•
This year 58% of the faculty members (Prof. Arzi, Prof. Maharshak, Dr.
Kaner, Dr. Bashkansky, Dr. Peretz, Mr. Hefter and Dr. Shnits) will be
teaching at least one elective course. In general, all faculty members
teach at least one elective course in their specialization field.
•
Most of the elective courses are given by adjunct lecturers who have
extensive experience working in industry.
3.5.1.2 Required skills of faculty members
As mentioned above, all lecturers (faculty members) and senior adjunct teachers
(Tables 3.5.2A and 3.5.2C in Appendix N) have a doctoral degree. All teachers
(faculty members) and junior adjunct teachers (Tables 3.5.2B and 3.5.2D in
Appendix N) have a Master’s degree. Department policy is that all faculty
members should have a Ph.D., and the aspiration is that adjunct lecturers will
have also a doctoral degree. As is common in academia, lecturers do not need
special teaching skills in order to teach in an OBC study program. Most academic
institutions do not require their lecturers or teachers to have a teaching
certificate. Typically, faculty members or adjunct lecturers teach in the field of
their expertise, and in the area of their research and interest.
Since OBC emphasizes the value of quality teaching, every candidate for a
teaching position is examined by a departmental Lecturer Admissions Committee
comprising the department head and several other faculty members who are in
similar fields to that of the candidate. As part of the interview process, candidates
present a sample lecture, followed by a Q&A session.
Candidates for a faculty member position are further evaluated by the Collegelevel Nominations Committee. This committee reviews additional aspects such as
professional experience, achievements in research, personal compatibility with
OBC style, and recommendations of supervisors and peers. The Nominations
Committee is authorized to accept or reject the candidate, even if the
departmental committee has made a positive recommendation (Section 3.5.1.8).
76
Several faculty members and adjunct lecturers serve as supervisors for students’
Internship and Final Project. The supervisors have knowledge and experience in
the field of the project they supervise.
3.5.1.3 Academic and professional updating of faculty members
In parallel to OBC’s commitment to excellence in teaching, the College also
promotes the professional proficiency of its teaching faculty. In line with this
policy, OBC offers and encourages faculty members to participate in continuing
education programs including workshops, professional conferences, short and
long term training programs (including Sabbatical leaves), seminars etc.
Another element of professional updating involves periodic evaluations of faculty
members (Appendix F). These evaluation sessions are designed to assess the
professional advancement of faculty members.
OBC has a committee that makes recommendations to the President and the
Vice President for Academic Affairs regarding how to promote and budget
continuous education programs for faculty members.
Sabbatical leaves – OBC supports, through College funds, some Sabbatical
expenses for department heads and several faculty members (e.g. faculty
members who have won the Faculty Member Excellence Award for 6 out of 10
years or faculty members who have made a special contribution to the College)
who leave for half-year sabbaticals.
Workshops – OBC encourages faculty members to participate in professional
enrichment workshops in Israel and abroad. These workshops may be related to
improving teaching or professional skills. In some cases workshops are also
offered to adjunct teachers. The OBC Training Committee provides some funding
for workshop participation.
Professional Associations – OBC also funds the membership and other dues of
faculty members who join a professional organization. This is another way to
keep faculty members updated and professionally involved in their field of
expertise.
Books – The IE&M Department has an annual budget of 70,000 NIS that is
dedicated to purchasing library books for faculty members and for the use of
students in the study program. The department library coordinator is authorized
to purchases books (using the IE&M Department’s budget), on behalf of faculty
members and students, thus making the process relatively simple and
straightforward.
The balance of the library budget is earmarked for the use of electronic
databases and professional periodicals.
Conferences – The IE&M Department’s faculty members are encouraged to take
part in professional meetings in Israel and abroad, with the objective of
broadening their knowledge in the fields of their interest and keeping up with
what is going on in these fields around the world by meeting with colleagues. An
OBC committee having both academic and administration members, led by the
Vice President for Academic Affairs, is responsible for approving faculty
77
members’ participation in conferences. Typically, the committee approves
funding for one conference abroad, at least, per year and participation in
conferences in Israel without any limit. The approval procedure involves the
department head, the committee and the VP for Academic Affairs.
Seminars – As in other academic institutions, OBC holds periodic colloquium
meetings. The IE&M Department also holds 4-6 seminar sessions per semester.
3.5.1.4 Procedures for appointment to positions
The rules for appointments to different positions are described in the OBC
Academic Bylaws, 2006, Chapter 32, Appendix O.
The Nominations Committee – This committee is appointed by the Academic
Council, for the purpose of academic ranking of new and existing faculty
members. The members of the Nominations Committee are: the OBC President,
the Vice President for Academic Affairs, the head of the department (of the
person to be promoted), and three professors from the OBC Academic Council,
one of whom serves as the committee chair.
The duties of the Nominations Committee are to evaluate and recommend to the
OBC President what rank new faculty members should get, as well as what
promotion existing faculty members should get.
The Nominations Committee has the authority to promote faculty members up to
the rank of Senior Lecturer. Appointments to Associate Professor and Full
Professor are brought before a committee appointed by the Council for Higher
Education.
Steps in the promotion procedures
• The department head submits the name of a faculty member slated for
promotion to the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
• The VP for Academic Affairs prepares the candidate’s file and submits the
request for promotion to the Nominations Committee.
Promotion to the rank of Lecturer and Senior Lecturer:
• The VP for Academic Affairs sends the candidate’s files to reviewers for
their recommendation.
• The reviews are submitted to the Nomination Committee for its decision.
Promotion to the rank of Professor:
• The Nominations Committee appoints a professional committee.
• The professional committee discusses the candidate’s achievements and
sends the documents to the professional reviewers (at least 5).
• The professional committee receives recommendations/opinions regarding
the candidate and recommends to the Nominations Committee to either
promote the candidate or not.
• The Nominations Committee decides if the promotion process should
proceed and if the documents should be sent to the Council for Higher
Education.
78
•
The documents are sent to the Council for Higher Education, which
reviews the file and rules on it.
There is no standard duration for remaining in any position; however, new faculty
members are expected to obtain the Senior Lecturer rank within three years. The
minimal time between two consecutive ranks is two years.
Appointing a department head (OBC Academic Bylaws, 2006, Paragraph 98,
Appendix O) – Department heads are appointed for a period of three years, with
an option for a one-year extension. The procedure for appointing a department
head is a follows:
• The department council proposes candidates for the position. Other
candidates may be suggested by the College President. The department
head must be a Senior Lecturer, at least.
• The candidacies are reviewed and approved by the OBC Academic
Council.
• The OBC President will choose the best candidate from the list approved
by the Academic Council.
We are satisfied by the promotion and appointment procedures. We think that the
ranking of our faculty members reflects their academic level.
3.5.1.5 The position of department head
Chapter 15 of the OBC Academic Bylaws, 2006, Appendix O, defines the duties
and responsibilities of an OBC department head. He/she
• Is responsible for the overall management of the department,
academically, financially and administratively;
• Is charged with pursuing the development of the department academically
(teaching and research), as well as administratively;
• Maintains relations with students, faculty members and the College
management and administration, and represents the department internally
and externally;
• Is a member of the College management and the Academic Council;
• Chairs the department council;
• Assigns and delegates academic and administrative duties and
responsibilities to the department’s teaching and administrative staff;
• Assigns teaching duties to the teaching staff;
• Ensures that faculty members and adjunct lecturers perform their work
(teaching and other functions) as defined;
• Supports and encourages research by faculty members;
• Prepares and manages the departmental budgets (teaching and
administrative, including funding for department growth).
The credentials of the department head: Full Professor, Associate Professor or
Senior Lecturer, solely and full-time employed by OBC. The department head is a
79
faculty member, and academically and professionally integrated in the IE&M
Department.
3.5.1.6 Definitions of employment
Faculty members are employed at OBC on a 12 month/year basis. The typical
teaching load for a lecturer is 12 hrs/week and for a teacher, 16 hrs/week.
Faculty members are expected to carry out research work in the field of their
expertise and to take part in academic and department activities. Faculty
members are expected to lecture, tutor, teach laboratory courses, and serve as
Internship/Final Project supervisors.
As pointed out earlier, faculty members carry out College and departmental
duties such as participation in committees, counseling students, being charge of
laboratories and other functions (Table 3.1.1).
3.5.1.7 Assignments of faculty members as supervisors for Internship/Final
Projects
Several faculty members with the experience and knowledge in the field of the
Internships or Final Projects serve as supervisors (Section 3.3.5.2).
3.5.1.8 Recruiting a new faculty member
Chapter 31 of the OBC Academic Bylaws, 2006, Appendix O, describes the
procedure for recruiting new faculty members, and adjunct teachers.
The typical steps in recruiting a new faculty member or adjunct teacher are as
follows:
• The candidate and the department head meet to assess the mutual
interest in filling the position.
• The candidate sends in a CV with a letter of intent.
• The departmental Academic Committee reviews the candidate’s CV, and
decides with the department head, whether to move on to the next phase.
• The candidate is examined by a departmental Lecturer Admissions
Committee comprising the department head and several other faculty
members who are in similar fields to that of the candidate. As part of the
interview process, candidates present a sample lecture, followed by a
Q&A session.
• Candidates for a faculty member position further meet members of the
department.
• Candidates for a faculty member position are then evaluated by the
College-level Nominations Committee. The Nominations Committee is
authorized to accept or reject the candidate, even if the departmental
committee has made a positive recommendation.
Plans for future recruiting – the IE&M Department identified a shortage of faculty
members in two fields, and accordingly opened three new full-time faculty
member positions (two positions in behavioral science and one position in
operations research). This year the department recruited one new faculty
member in the field of behavioral science (Hilla Peretz) and plans to recruit an
adjunct lecturer for a faculty member position once he obtains his doctoral
80
degree. Currently, the department has an opening for a full-time faculty member
in the field of operations research.
3.5.2
Technical and administrative staff
There are three administrative staff members in the IE&M Department:
Ms. Henya Ashkenazi – the department secretary provides administrative
services to the department head, faculty members, adjunct teachers and
students. The IE&M Department secretary also interfaces with other departments
and with the College administration.
Mr. Avi Shreiber – the department head assistant provides academic
administrative services to the department head, faculty members, adjunct
lecturers and students. The IE&M Department head assistant also interfaces with
other departments and with the College administration.
Mr. Moti Elnekave – Internship coordinator is responsible for evaluation and
approval of Internship proposals, and for assigning supervisors for Internships
and Final Projects. During the Internship, the coordinator visits the students at
their Internship facility and evaluates their work. At the end of the Internship/Final
Project, the coordinator is responsible for scheduling a time for the students’ final
presentation. The coordinator, together with the supervisors and the department
head, evaluates the final grade for the Internship/Final Project.
3.5.3 Summary
Strengths
• In the last five years the department has recruited three new faculty
members: two who had just received their Ph.D. degrees and one after
completing a post doctoral fellowship. In addition, two senior teachers
completed their doctoral studies and became lecturers.
• Together, the IE&M Department’s faculty members span a broad range
of knowledge and teaching capabilities that cover most of the required
courses in the study program.
• Having different faculty versed in the various aspects of the extensive
field of IE&M makes assigning teaching duties and scheduling courses
in the study program a more flexible task.
• Internship – faculty members who serve as supervisors to students
complete an Internship are exposed to industry. This exposure keeps
them updated and their knowledge relevant.
• Some adjunct lecturers hold very senior positions in industry. Their
knowledge and skills are very important for maintaining the
department’s high standards.
• Existence of internal systems and procedures (e.g. departmental
academic activities in Table 3.1.1) encourages synergy of the
academic staff.
81
Weaknesses
• The IE&M Department does not have graduate students. It is difficult to
build a strong research program relying only on undergraduate
students.
• The faculty members’ heavy teaching load (12 hrs/week) and many
collegial and departmental academic activities (Table 3.1.1) make it
difficult for them to conduct research at a sufficient pace and volume.
3.6
Infrastructure
3.6.1 Administration
An OBC campus map is presented in Appendix P.
3.6.1.1 The physical location of the IE&M department
The Industrial Engineering and Management Department is located in Building M
– The Herzog Science Building. The building plan is presented in Appendix P.
The IE&M Department shares all campus facilities with the other OBC
departments, including classrooms, computer labs and other laboratories that are
allocated to the IE&M study program each semester, as needed.
3.6.1.2 Location of the IE&M Department secretariat and administration
The IE&M Department secretariat and administration are located in Building M –
The Herzog Science Building.
3.6.1.3 Rooms of the academic and administrative staff
Faculty members occupy six office rooms. Most of these (four rooms) are located
in Building M. There is one room in Building EF and one room in Building D. As a
result, generally, two faculty members share an office. Three additional offices
are allocated to administrative staff. Standard office equipment includes: a desk,
bookshelves, a telephone, a personal computer, and a printer. Most adjunct
lecturers do not have offices on the OBC campus; they use the teachers’ lounges
located in Buildings D and M. Each lounge is equipped with desks, a telephone,
personal computer, a printer and a scanner.
3.6.2 Classrooms and special purpose rooms used in the IE&M program
As noted earlier, all classes and other rooms are used by the different academic
departments on a need-to-use basis. This management scheme ensures
efficiency and flexibility in allocating resources. Allocation is done centrally by the
College administration. Table 3.6.1 summarizes the classrooms, auditoriums,
seminar and meeting rooms that serve the IE&M study program. These rooms
are located in Buildings M, D, L, EF, and P, and the Kramim building (Appendix
P). Section 3.6.3 lists the computer labs.
82
Classrooms
Very Large
Large
Medium
Small
Auditoriums
Large
Medium
Seminar/Meeting Rooms
Large
Small
Capacity
(Number of Seats)
Number of Rooms
80
50 - 60
40 - 49
≤39
2
24
28
10
414
182
1
1
60
20
1
2
Table 3.6.1: OBC classrooms by type
Classrooms and auditoriums listed in Table 3.6.1 are equipped with computer
projectors to which a personal laptop computer can be connected. All the
classrooms and the medium auditorium are also equipped with desktop
computers (with access to the Internet).
The IE&M Department can requisition any room mentioned in Table 3.6.1. These
rooms are used for teaching, seminars, Final Project and Internship
presentations, and departmental council meetings. The IE&M Department
reserves rooms at the beginning of each semester as required by the study
program.
3.6.3 Computerization
3.6.3.1 The computer layout
OBC’s computer layout consists of:
o Six internal networks
o One public, wireless network
o 28 computer labs and clusters, out of which 19 are open to IE&M students
(1 lab belongs to the IE&M Department). These labs are equipped with 17
projectors and 11 laser printers.
o 69 classrooms, auditoriums and meeting rooms, each equipped with a
computer (with access to the Internet) and a projector
o 10 transportable units consisting of a computer and a projector loaned as
needed to the teaching staff
o Some of 550 computers on campus are interconnected by the educational
network and have access to the Internet. These computers are spread out
in computer labs and clusters throughout the College campus.
o 100 additional computers that do not have access to the Internet
o 150 computers interconnected by the administrative network
o 34 server computers, all located in the server rooms.
There are about 100 software packages that are installed on the computers and
are available to students.
83
The IE&M Department’s computer layout consists of:
o 16 computers located in the department’s computer lab (Section 3.6.3.2)
and connected to the OBC educational network with access to the Internet
o 15 computers and printers located in the teaching and administrative staff
offices connected to the campus network, with access to the Internet.
Each academic and administrative faculty member has a personal
computer and a printer.
o An additional three computers located in the administrative staff offices are
connected to the administrative network.
The computers in the department use the Windows XP or Vista operating
systems.
3.6.3.2 Computer labs serving the IE&M program
The students of the IE&M study program use the dedicated IE&M Department
computer lab. The IE&M Department computer lab is located in Building M in
room 216. This lab includes 16 computer workstations and a projector, and
serves the IE&M study program exclusively. The software systems installed on
the computers in this room are used by different IE&M laboratories as detailed in
Section 3.6.4.
In addition, the IE&M students have access to all other computer labs listed in
Table 3.6.2.
Number of
workstations
Number
of
Rooms
16 – 18
9-12
7
4
74
22
26
1
1
1
Total No. Total No.
of
of
Projectors Printers
General purpose
computer labs
Medium
Small
3
4
Computer clusters
Large
Small
Dormitories
4
2
Other computer
labs
UNIX labs
12 -18
2
1
CAD labs
19
2
2
Table 3.6.2: Computer labs serving the IE&M program
The computer labs mentioned in Table 3.6.2 are shared with the other OBC
departments. The large and small computer clusters are open daily from 7.30 to
22.00. The computer cluster located in the dormitories is open around the clock.
The general purpose and other computer labs are normally open daily from 7.30
to 20.00.
84
3.6.4 Laboratories
The IE&M study program makes use of its departmental labs and the labs of
other departments such as Physics, Electrical & Electronics Engineering, and
Mechanical Engineering.
The following sections describe the labs that serve the IE&M study program.
3.6.4.1 The work study lab
This lab mainly assists such courses as Work Methods Design and Advances in
Methods Engineering that deal with work study, time study and work sampling
methods. The lab is located in Building M, room 216. The software systems
available in the lab are listed in Table 3.6.3.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Software
Comments
Most for Windows 4.3
Work study (standard times)
software
MTM-Link V 9.03u
Time Data 1.02
Work study (time study) software
Computer Integrated Time Study
(CITS APR) Student version 1.6.8
WorkSamp 3.03
Work study (work sampling)
Computer Aided Work Sampling with software
Excel (CAWS/E) Version 2.2.2
Quetech Workstudy V 3.0
Work study software for PDA
Table 3.6.3: Work study software systems
3.6.4.2 The operations management lab
This lab assists the courses in the field of operations management, such as
Material Requirements and Resource Planning, Project Planning and
Management, Plant Layout and Handling, Inventory Systems, and Business
Process Management. The lab is located in Building M, room 216. The software
systems available in the lab are listed in Table 3.6.4.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Software
Priority 12
SAP
MS Project 2007
PowerChain Inventory 3.0.0.21
FlexCap 1.1.20
MIT Tactical Planning Model TPM1
1.0.0.2 Beta
Lindo 6.1
Extended Lingo 11.0.0.20
ARIS
Comments
ERP software
Project management software
Supply chain planning software
Inventory planning software
Operations and inventory planning
software
Deterministic optimization software
Optimization software
Business Process Management
Software
Table 3.6.4: Operations management software systems
85
3.6.4.3 The quality, simulation and statistics lab
This lab assists the courses in the fields of quality management and control,
statistics and simulation. Among such courses are Applied Statistics, Statistical
Quality Management, Discrete Event Simulation and Quality Engineering. The
lab is located in Building M, room 216. The software systems available in the lab
are listed in Table 3.6.5.
Software
1
2
3
4
5
6
Comments
Arena 12.0
Simulation software
SPSS 16
Applied statistics software
QI Analyst 3.5.2
Quality control software
Q-Soft 6-32
Application generator for quality
management
XL
Statistical quality control
JMP 8
Applied statistics software
Table 3.6.5: Quality, simulation and statistics software systems
3.6.4.4 The information systems and data mining lab
This lab assists the courses in the field of information technology and data
mining, and also the courses in basic computer skills. These courses include
Introduction to Computer Sciences, Introduction to Systems Programming, Data
Processing Laboratory, Engineering Data Management, and Data Mining. The
lab is located in Building M, rooms 205 and 216 (room 205 is shared with the
Software Engineering Department). The software systems available in the lab are
listed in Table 3.6.6.
Software
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Comments
MS Access
Database management system
CASE Studio 2
Database modeling software
MS Visual Studio 2008
Applications development
environment
WizWhy 3.01
Data Mining software
Clementine 12.0
Data Mining software
WEKA
Data Mining using JAVA
Windchill 9.0
PLM/PDM software
Table 3.6.6: Information technology and data mining software systems
3.6.4.5 Additional software systems
The IE&M computer lab is located in Building M room 216. The software systems
available in the lab are listed in Table 3.6.7.
86
1
2
3
4
5
Software
Freehand 9
Photoshop 7.0ME
AutoCad 2009
Palisade
Comments
Computer aided drawing and
drafting software
Risk and decision analysis
software
Hashavshevet 2006a SP4IL
Accounting software
Table 3.6.7: Additional software systems
3.6.4.6 The CIM and robotics lab
The CIM and Robotics lab is designated for the courses in the field of computer
integrated manufacturing such as Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM)
Laboratory and Advanced Computer Aided Manufacturing Systems. The typical
capacity of the lab is 15 students. Lab equipment includes:
• A computer integrated manufacturing (OpenCIM) system that consists of:
o A CNC turning center: CNC turning machine EMCO PC TURN 50 with
tool changer, a loading/unloading 5-axes robot SCORBOT-ER 5plus
o A CNC milling center: CNC milling machine EMCO VMC-100 with tool
changer, a loading/unloading 5-axes robot SCORBOT-ER 5plus
o An automated assembly station: 4-axes robot SCORA-ER 14, holding
and loading devices.
o A quality control center: Loading/unloading 5-axes robot SCORBOTER 5plus and computer vision system.
o An automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS)
o A circular pallet conveyor system with pallet ID readers
• Two standalone 5-axes robots SCORBOT-ER 5plus
• A 5-axes robot SCORBOT-ER 4u
• I/O experiment tables including touch and proximity sensors
• Siemens S7-200 PLC controllers with appropriate software
• Digital cameras for computer vision systems
• Training boards for HMI and PLC labs
• HMI WIZCON software
• MasterCAM software
• Computer Vision VeiwFlex software
• OpenCIM simulation software
3.6.4.7 Mechanical Engineering Department CAD computer labs used by the
IE&M study program
The two CAD computer labs are located in Building D in rooms 105 and 107.
Each lab has 19 computer workstations. These labs are used by the IE&M
program mainly for the Engineering Graphics course. The main software systems
in these labs are:
• CAD:
o Pro/Engineer WildFire 3.0
o SolidWorks 2006
o MasterCAM X
87
•
•
•
Finite Element Analysis:
o MSC Nastran- Patran 2006
Pro/Mechanica (part of the Pro/engineer package)
Cosmos (part of the SolidWorks package)
3.6.4.8 Mechanical Engineering Department strength and materials lab used
by the IE&M study program
This lab is used by the IE&M students taking the Materials and Mechanical
Processes IE course. The lab is located in Building D, room 108. The capacity of
this lab is 16 students. Currently, it is set up to run nine different experiments.
Lab equipment includes:
• A universal tension–compression machine
• A coordinate measuring machine
• Two ovens
• A microscope
• Grinding and polishing equipment
• A hardness tester
• Beams for bending, and other loading experiments
• Strain gage instrumentation
• Various handheld measuring tools/instruments
• CMM for 3D measurements
• A comparator
3.6.4.9 Physics unit labs used by the IE&M program
The Physics Unit labs are located in Building P. Each lab typically has room for
18 students. The labs are set up to run six tests, and 10 different tests per course
per semester. The labs are used by the IE&M students in the courses Physics
IE1, Physics IE2 and Physics IE3. Typical lab equipment includes apparatus to
measure:
• Viscosity
• Motion in circle
• Harmonic motion
• Potential energy
• Pendulum motion
• Waves in a uniform rod
• Conservation of momentum
• DC measurement instrumentation
• Resistors
• Electrical potential measurement instrumentation
• Electrons in an electrical field measurement instrumentation
• Capacitors
• Magnetic field measurement instrumentation
• Motion of electrons in magnetic + electrical fields measurement
instrumentation
• Complex electrical systems (coil + capacitor + resistor)
88
3.6.4.10 Electrical & Electronics Engineering Department labs used by the
IE&M study program
The relevant Electrical & Electronics Department labs are located in Building D,
rooms 101 through 104. The typical capacity of each lab is 18 students. The labs
are used by the IE&M students in the course Introduction to Electrical
Engineering. Typical lab equipment includes:
• 9 oscilloscopes
• 9 signal generators
• 9 multi-measurers
• 9 power supplies
• 9 PCs
3.6.5 Library and Information Technology
There is one central library at OBC that serves the entire College.
3.6.5.1 Description of OBC's library
OBC’s library is part of the academic libraries association of Israel. It is
administered by the Aleph 500 computer system, under the national framework
linking all academic libraries. This consortium expands the capacities of all Israeli
university and college libraries and integrates them into the world of information
of university academic libraries. Through the Aleph 500 system, users can link up
to the catalogues of all the academic libraries that are members of the Aleph 500.
The library can access study material in other academic libraries by inter-library
borrowing. Users can connect to the library’s information system from any
computer on campus as well as through the Internet using off-campus
computers. The system provides users with a direct link from the catalogue
listings to the Internet, which facilitates referring students to other information
when engaged in conventional and distance learning.
OBC’s central library serves all academic units. The library is located in the heart
of the campus, with easy access by the College community.
• The library has two floors, spread over an area of 800 sq. meters, with
open and closed spaces for individual and group study.
• The library’s collection contains over 70,000 items. Of these, about 56,000
are text and study books, about 14,500 are bound journals, and 1,200
CDs, not including the hundreds of CDs that now come standard with
books.
• The library’s collection has about 3,000 slides, approximately 500 scanned
exams, regulations, maps and about 2,100 volumes of reading material.
• The library’s collection has about 700 periodicals. It currently subscribes to
about 150, and by accessing the databases available through the library,
users have access to 15,000 more full text digital journals.
Table 3.6.8 provides general quantitative details of the library’s collection.
The library usually purchases required reading textbooks at a ratio of one copy
for every six students in a course, plus an additional one for the lecturer. One or
89
two copies of recommended reading textbooks are purchased, according to
departmental recommendation. The library has a reserved section to ensure that
the books in the section are available in the library at any time.
Subject
Mathematics
Physics
Chemistry
Industrial engineering and
management
Software Engineering
Electrical & Electronic
Engineering
Bio-mechanical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Printed periodicals
# of
Titles
2,200
820
980
11,500
Titles in
English
1,763
520
620
6,000
# of Copies
8,800
6,500
5,600
2,900
14,500
10,500
2,170
3,000
150
1,100
1,920
3,000
1,800
1,800
12,500
6,200
7,200
There is an ongoing
subscription for full text
digital format of approx.
15,000 journals
Computer workstations in
34
Of these, 26 are for
the library
students’ use. The library
information systems are
accessible from all the
campus workstations and
through the internet.
Table 3.6.8: OBC library collections
The library subscribes to a variety of the databases (with an annual budget of 1
million NIS) such as Web of Science+JSR, Compendex- Engineering Village II,
INSPEC, ScienceDirect, Emerald, EBSCO, Wiley InterScience, PROQUEST /
ABI/INFORM, and etc. See Appendix Q for the full list.
The library is open throughout the academic year Sundays–Thursdays from
08.00–22.00 and on Fridays from 08.00–12.00.
The library has seating for 200 students, both in closed rooms for group learning
and in open reading areas. It has 26 computer workstations for use by students
and eight for use by librarians. It also has three photocopying machines for
students to use, two public laser printers and a scanner. The library staff
comprises nine positions, as follows:
• 3 librarians, each with an M.Lc. degree
• 1 librarian with an M.Sc. degree
• 1 certified librarian
• 4 licensed librarians
• 2 technical assistants
• 2 student workers
90
First year students receive comprehensive instruction about the use of the library:
location of collections, cataloging methods, search options, library procedures
etc. Nonetheless, librarians are always there to assist them and help them find
the materials they need. The library has a help desk with regular hours for
students.
As they advance more in their studies, students get further instruction in the use
of databases.
Lectures and students are given access to databases from home through a user
name and password for the proxy server, through the services of the OBC’s
Computer Department and information system. Students can also watch the
lectures of the courses of all OBC departments from home (Section 3.3.3.3).
The library is in continual contact with the department heads and the lecturers. It
distributes to them catalogs of books, journals and other learning material both in
print and digital formats, in order to receive their purchase requisitions. In
parallel, academic departments will recommend books etc. to the library.
Purchases take into consideration the scope of each department’s library budget
and are made with the permission of the department involved.
Special budgets are allocated for support of new subject/area developments.
These budgets are used for initiating new core collections, serving as the basis
for continuing purchases. The library’s annual budget is about 1.6 million NIS.
Students are exposed to library materials on the shelves displaying journals and
new books and through the library’s Internet site. The continual instruction and
open help desk focuses students on the areas of subjects and interest they need.
The library materials are accessible around the clock from hundreds of
computers throughout the campus, including in the student dorms.
3.6.5.2 Steps taken to enable convenient access of special needs students
to the study material and the different facilities
OBC takes the following steps in order to enable convenient access of special
needs students to the study material and the different facilities. In the main
building, Building M, there are two elevators. Building D also has two elevators
(one of them is in the newly built D1 wing). All elevators are suitable for
wheelchairs. Most OBC campus buildings have special access paths (suitable for
wheelchairs) connecting the buildings with the parking lots; however, there are
still several places (e.g. the EF building) without convenient access for special
needs students.
3.6.5.3 Strengths and weaknesses of the physical infrastructure
Strengths
• A compact sized campus situated in a scenic location
• Well equipped study rooms of variable sizes
• A large number of labs, all equipped with state-of-the-art systems
91
•
•
•
•
•
•
A large number of computer labs with new computers and LCD
screens
A variety of software systems from different areas
A large library with a wide variety of textbooks and handbooks, on-line
engineering databases and journals
Integrated learning environment: most OBC software systems,
databases, electronic journals and other on-line library materials are
accessible 24/7 from hundreds of computers around the campus. This
enables students to perform complicated tasks with different
components such as a literature review, mathematic or simulation
modeling, design and analysis of experiments, etc.
Access from home to most on-line library materials
Convenient access for special needs students to the different facilities.
Weaknesses
• Over the last few years OBC has grown rapidly and significantly
enlarged its students and faculty populations. Despite the ongoing
building construction (Building L; D1 and D2 wings were built; OBC
plans to build a new building on an area of 3000 square meters), the
College still lacks classrooms and office rooms for academic staff. At
the moment two faculty members share an office; it would, however, be
desirable to provide each faculty member with their own office.
• Insufficient technical staff in the labs (e.g. CIM lab)
• Inconvenient positioning of computers in several classes.
Chapter 4 – Research
4.1 General Comments on Research at OBC
Since 2004 research activity has become a primary requirement (teaching and
academic administrative duties are the other two) of faculty members of the IE&M
Department at OBC.
4.1.1 Motivation for research
Although obvious, it is important to state explicitly why faculty members engage
in research activities:
Faculty members conduct research for professional and personal reasons.
Research, in all its aspects, has the potential for keeping the person who is
involved in it sharp and updated in the fields of his/her interest. Furthermore, in
most cases research can lead to the development of academic partnerships and
ties with other professionals in the field. Research that leads to publication of
professional papers is a form of expression and communication with the scientific
community.
Research and involvement in related activities also assures that the person who
carries out research keeps on top of new developments in the field. Being
92
updated in current developments in the field gives the researcher more validity
and better academic credentials as a lecturer.
In addition, promotion of staff members to senior positions, i.e. Senior Lecturer,
Associate Professor and Full Professor, is contingent on publishing and gaining
professional recognition by the scientific and academic community.
4.1.2 Research funding
Seed money for various research projects at OBC is granted by the College’s
Research Committee. This funding typically ranges from 5-20 thousand NIS per
research proposal. In addition, the “Reduction of Teaching Loads” research grant
(up to 4 hrs/week) is used to support faculty members’ research activities. OBC
also encourages and finances participation in international conferences and
workshops, as well as membership in professional societies in Israel and abroad.
The Excellent Faculty Member Award (Section 3.3.2.2) can be used to finance
participation in international conferences.
Some OBC faculty members cooperate in research activities with members of
other academic institutions and thus their research activities are funded through
these partnerships. In some cases OBC members also apply for grants in Israel
and abroad independently or in partnership with industry and faculty members
from other academic institutions.
The overall research and learning improvement budget is presented in Table
4.1.1.
Item
2005
107
Budget in KNIS
2006
2007
150
239
2008
410
Research –Total
Participation in
142
153
198
293
Conferences – Abroad
Participation in
32
28
30
28
Conferences – Israel
Professional Memberships
16
15
15
17
Sabbaticals
243
90
343
260
Learning improvement
24
35
19
70
Active Learning – Internet
40
80
80
125
– Research
Conferences – Organizing
23
237
200
144
Miscellaneous
14
49
250
Total
627
801
1,171
1597
Table 4.1.1: The OBC research budget
4.1.3 Research students
To-date, OBC has no graduate study programs. Thus, there are no graduate
students to carry out research in any of the College’s departments. Most
93
research work that is carried out in the College is performed by faculty members
only.
4.2 Research in the IE&M Department at OBC
Despite the high teaching loads, all IE&M Department faculty members
(lecturers) are involved in research activities that lead to yield scientific
publications and collaborations with other academic institutes.
4.2.1 The main areas of IE&M Department faculty members’ research
• Prof. Yohanan Arzi: Operations management, methods engineering,
performance measurement and technology innovation
• Dr. Emil Bashkansky: Quality evaluation and control on an ordinal scale
basis, the role of mediation in transfer problems
• Dr. Shuki Dror: Strategy deployment, quality engineering, design of
experiments, simulation
• Doron Faran (adjunct teacher): Organizational learning, emphasis on the
epistemology of top managers
• Dr. Tamar Gadrich: Sequential occupancy problems, statistical quality
control (SQC) for ordinal quality data, service systems modeling and
analysis through design of experiments
• Dr. Maya Kaner: Service engineering, business process modeling, project
knowledge management
• Prof. Arie Maharshak: Market orientation, combining the marketing
concept with information technology
• Dr. Hilla Peretz: Human resource management, cross culture
management, organizational behavior
• Dr. Rachel Ravid: Coupon probability problems, quality classification,
quality in health services
• Dr. Boris Shnits: Design, operations and real time control of flexible
computer-integrated manufacturing systems, dynamic and static
scheduling, assembly line balancing
• Dr. Natalia Zaitsev: Environmental economics
4.2.2 Selected publications of IE&M faculty members – last five years
The list of selected publications is given in Appendix R. The full lists of
publications can be found in the faculty members’ CVs (Appendix M).
Despite their heavy teaching loads, over the last five years faculty members have
published 35 articles in refereed journals and presented their research in about
100 international and national conferences. We believe that reducing teaching
loads and opening new graduate programs will support further development of
the research of IE&M faculty members.
94
4.2.3
Grants, scholarships, awards and honors – last five years
Hila Peretz
2008: Dexter Award nominee, Academy of Management
2009: ORT Braude College, research grant
2008: Society of Human Resource Management ($57,500)
2007: Society of Human Resource Management ($35,000)
2007: Post doctoral scholarship
2006: Academy of Management, International Management Division–Best
paper award
Maya Kaner
2008: ORT Braude College, research grant
2008: ORT Braude College, Excellent Faculty Member Award
2007: ORT Braude College, Excellent Faculty Member Award
Boris Shnits
2005: The Miriam and Aaron Gutwirth Scholarship Award for Outstanding Ph.D.
Students, Technion, 2005
2008: Ort Braude College, Excellent Faculty Member Award
Tamar Gadrich
2009: ORT Braude College, Excellent Faculty Member Award
Emil Baskansky
2009: ORT Braude College, Excellent Faculty Member Award
Ilan Hefter
2009: ORT Braude College, Excellent Faculty Member Award
2008: ORT Braude College, Excellent Faculty Member Award
Doron Faran (with A. Hauptman, Y. Raban):
2006: The Watermill Model: A Practical Framework for Diagnosing and
Analyzing Knowledge Management Issues. Knowledge Board
(http://www.knowledgeboard.com/) (Paper of the Year, 2006)
4.2.4 Organizing conferences, workshops, seminars
Conferences
*
The 1st, 3rd, and 4th WSEAS / IASME International Conference on
Engineering Education — Prof. Arie Maharshak, member of the Scientific
Committee, 2005-2007
*
Research in Industrial Engineering and Management Conferences — Prof.
Yohanan Arzi, member of the Organizing Committee, 2005, Dr. Shuki Dror,
member of the Organizing Committee, 2009
95
*
13th, 14th, and 15th Conferences in Industrial Engineering and Management
— Prof. Yohanan Arzi, member of the Organizing/Program Committee, 2004,
2006, 2008.
*
1st Conference of Israeli ENBIS (the European Network of Business and
Industrial Statistics) “Selected Topics on Data Mining” — Dr. Shuki Dror,
member of the Organizing Committee, 2008
*
2nd Annual ORT Braude College Interdisciplinary Research Conference —
Prof. Yohanan Arzi, Chair of the Organizing Committee, 2006
*
4th Annual ORT Braude College Interdisciplinary Research Conference — Dr.
Boris Shnits, member of the Organizing/Program Committee, 2008
*
Galilee Conference “Developing the Galilee as a National Goal”, — Prof. Arie
Maharshak, Chair, 2005
*
First Galilee Quality Conference “Quality – Theory and Practice” — Dr. Emil
Bashkansky, Chair, 2008
*
Second Galilee Quality Conference “Quality – Theory and Practice” — Dr.
Emil Bashkansky, Chair, 2009
Workshops:
*
“Stochastic Models: Theory and Application” — Prof. Arie Maharshak in
corporation with SE Department, 2006
*
“Extracting Information from Databases” — Dr.Shuki Dror, Tutor, 2008
*
“Environmental Quality Technologies and Management” — Dr. Natalia
Zaitsev, Dr. Asam Sabakh, Tutors, 2008
“Industrial Engineering and Management: Present and Future” — Dr. Maya
Kaner), Tutor, March 9, 2009
In addition, each semester 6-8 departmental seminars take place. The list of the
seminar programs over the last five years appears in Appendix S.
*
4.2.5 Staff members who serve on editorial boards of scientific journals
Prof. Yohanan Arzi
• Member, Editorial Board of International Journal of Information &
Decision Science (IJIDS), since 2008
• Member, Editorial Board of IIE Transactions on Operations
Engineering, Since 1996.
• Scientific Editor, Industry and Management (Hebrew language
journal), 1994-2005
4.2.6 Staff members who serve as scientific journal reviewers
Prof. Yohanan Arzi
• IIE Transactions
• European Journal of Operational Research
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•
•
•
•
•
•
Journal of Manufacturing Systems
International Journal of Production Research
International Journal of Production Economics
International Journal of Flexible Manufacturing Systems
Production Planning and Control
International Journal of Computer Integrating Manufacturing
International Journal of Information and Decision Science
Dr. Shuki Dror
• International Journal of Operational Research
Dr. Hila Peretz
• Leadership Quarterly
• Human Resource Management Journal
Dr. Maya Kaner
• Software Process Improvement and Practice
• International Journal of Business Process Integration and
Management
4.2.7
Research student supervision/examination
The IE&M Department at OBC does not currently have a graduate studies
program. However, department faculty members supervise and examine
graduate students from other institutes as well as oversee individual research
projects carried out by OBC undergraduate excellent students (Section 3.4.4).
Several recent examples are listed below:
Supervision – graduate students
Prof. Arzi
•
M. Eklin, “Rough Cut Cost Estimation in a Capacitated Stochastic
Environment” (supervised by Prof. Yohanan Arzi with Prof.
Avraham Shtub), Ph.D., Faculty of Industrial Engineering and
Management, Technion, Israel, 2008
Examination – graduate students
Prof. Arzi
•
Y. Peri-Paz, “Applicative Model for Efficient Implementation of
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System in a Large
Organization by Analyzing the Implementation Process of ERP
system in “Clalit Health Services” (supervised by Dr. David Zinreich
and Prof. Reuven Karni), Ph.D proposal, Faculty of Industrial
Engineering and Management, Technion, Israel, 2007
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Dr. Emil Bashkansky
•
•
•
Meshkov L., “Binomial Approach to Truncated Sequential Test
Design”, M.Sc. thesis (supervisor: Dr. Haim Michlin, Technion),
2007
Dayan Y., “Sequential Test Design for Desirable Ratio of Failure
Rates”, M.Sc. thesis (supervisor: Dr. Haim Michlin, Technion), 2008
Kaplunov V., “Development of Planning Methodology for
Comparison Sequential Testing for Reliability at Unequal
Probabilities of I and II-type Error”, M.Sc. thesis (supervisor: Dr.
Haim Michlin, Technion), 2009
Dr. Maya Kaner
•
Ghattas, J., “Business Processes in Virtual Organizations: An
Ontology-based Conceptual Model”, M.A. thesis (supervisor: Dr.
Pnina Soffer, University of Haifa), 2007
4.2.8 Membership in professional organizations
IIE/USA – Institute of Industrial Engineering (Prof. Yohanan Arzi, senior member)
INFORMS/USA – Institute for Operations Research and the Management
Sciences (Prof. Yohanan Arzi, Prof. Arie Maharshak)
ITWA – The Israeli Tele-Working Association (Prof. Arie Maharshak)
SCC – Supply Chain Council (Dr. Maya Kaner)
RESER – European Association for REsearch on SERvices (Dr. Maya Kaner)
Academy of Management (Dr. Hila Peretz)
ENBIS – The European Network for Business and Industrial Statistics (Dr.Shuki
Dror)
ISA – Israel Statistical Association (Dr.Tamar Gadrich)
ISPA – Israeli Psychometric Association (Dr.Tamar Gadrich)
ISQ – Israel Society for Quality (Dr. Emil Bashkansky)
IMS – Israel Metrological Society (Dr. Emil Bashkansky)
Chapter 5 – The Self-evaluation Process — Summary
and Conclusions
5.1 Internal Self-evaluation
At OBC, the Quality Management Committee handles all issues regarding quality
assurance and management. The committee consists of representatives of the
academic staff, the administrative units, and the students. The committee’s major
tasks are as follows:
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Elevating the quality and excellence of organizational culture
Overseeing the self-evaluation processes of the study programs, initiated
by the Council for Higher Education
Promoting and encouraging excellence throughout OBC
Developing assessment and evaluation tools for academic and
administrative operations
Periodic assessment of OBC’s process performances
Supervising evaluation processes regarding administrative and academic
staff
Initiating and handling various surveys regarding internal and external
interested parties
Initiating and supervising improvement teams
Initiating and supervising correction operations
Developing and documenting OBC procedures
Initiating annual conferences and workshops on quality and service
aspects
Developing and maintaining OBC’s quality website, including the
applications system
Distributing information regarding quality issues
In 2009 the College won the Yitzhak Rabin “Quality and Excellence in Education”
Prize (Appendix Y).
Because of the shift from the B.Tech. degree to the B.Sc. degree, professional
committees appointed by the Council for Higher Education have, in recent years,
evaluated all OBC study programs extensively. Therefore, no comprehensive
internal self-evaluation of the study programs has been performed. Starting in
2010 OBC’s Academic Council will evaluate study programs once every three
years.
Several internal evaluation processes are continually being run, as follows:
•
Faculty members’ self-evaluation: Once a year, every faculty member
prepares a structured comprehensive report of his/her activities, in
teaching, research, and other professional contributions, over the last
three years (Appendix F). Following this, the department head and each
faculty member discuss the report and note points for improvement. The
report is quantified systematically into a grade, on a 0 to 100 scale. The
results are used for initiating development policy for the academic staff as
well as for prizes for excellence and for improvement programs.
•
Students feedback – Once a semester students fill out a feedback
questionnaire for each course and each lecturer or instructor. The
questionnaires are summarized and quantified on a 1 to 5 scale. The
results constitute one input element for the abovementioned faculty
member evaluation process. The results of the student feedback are used
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as the basis for awarding appreciation letters and prizes for excellence in
teaching and for improvement programs for lecturers who need to improve
their teaching. A lecturer who gets low grades for several semesters is
invited for a hearing and may be dismissed.
Administrative staff evaluation: All the administrative staff is evaluated
once a year (Appendix T). The evaluation process is based on the
following input:
a) Superior’s evaluation: For several years now OBC has been
conducting a systematic evaluation of administrative staff by their
superiors (Appendix T).
b) Lecturers' evaluation of administrative services: Once a year the
lecturers are asked to fill out a questionnaire regarding administrative
services.
c) Students' survey of administrative services: Once a year, a sample of
students fills out a questionnaire regarding administrative services.
d) Special contributions: This factor is based upon appreciation letters
written by members of the College management to commend the
special contribution of an administrative employee or a team of
employees, during the year.
e) Official complaint letters regarding a failure of an administrative
employee.
The results of the evaluation are used for initiating corrective measures,
establishment of improvement teams, shaping administrative workforce
development policy and awarding prizes to excellent employees and teams.
•
5.2 Self-evaluation Appointments
Dr. Tamar Gadrich is the chair of the College’s Quality Management Committee
and is responsible for overseeing and supporting the self-evaluation process at
OBC. Dr. Gadrich is also a senior lecturer in the IE&M Department. Her
professional expertise is in probability and statistics. Dr. Gadrich was responsible
for preparation of the B.Sc. final report when the program shifted from a B.Tech.
to a B.Sc. and participated in preparation of OBC’s institutional ethics code. As
the chair of the Quality Management Committee, Dr. Gadrich supports
professionally and administratively the self-evaluation process, advising and
guiding the self-evaluation teams in handling the process.
Dr. Maya Kaner was appointed the coordinator of the self-evaluation process of
the IE&M study program. Dr. Kaner is a senior lecturer in the IE&M Department.
She is also the fourth year academic advisor, a member of the department’s
Curriculum Committee, OBC’s Academic Affairs Committee and the Excellence
Program Committee. She also supervises Internships and Final Projects. Dr.
Kaner’s expertise assists in better coordination of the self-evaluation process.
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5.3 How the Self-evaluation Process was Conducted
The self-evaluation process was planned, managed and implemented as a
project. Dr. Dror, the department head, and Dr. Kaner, the process coordinator,
developed the schedule and allocated responsibilities to faculty members as
detailed in Table 5.1:
Faculty Member in
Charge
Prof. Arie Maharshak
and Doron Faran
(adjunct teacher)
Dr. Tamar Gadrich
Mr. Ilan Hefter
Dr. Hilla Peretz
Dr. Boris Shnits
Dr. Emil Bashkansky
Dr. Maya Kaner
Dr. Shuki Dror (dept.
head)
Dr. Natalia Zaitzev
Section/Chapter/Activity
The goals, contents and structure of the study
program (Sections 3.1, 3.2)
Teaching and learning (Section 3.3)
Students (Section 3.4)
Human resources (Section 3.5)
Infrastructure (Section 3.6)
Research (Section 4)
Coordination and Integration; The institution (Chapter
1), Summary (Chapter 5); Planning the workshop:
“Industrial Engineering and Management: Present
and Future”
Self-evaluation process approval
Organizing the workshop: “Industrial Engineering and
Management: Present and Future”
Dr. Rachel Ravid
Syllabi, CVs, and appendices
Mr. Guy Almog
Tables “The study program” (Section 3.1), “Teaching
staff” (Section 3.5)
Prof. Yohanan Arzi
Final report reading; inviting experts from academy
(President)
and industry to the workshop
Table 5.1: Faculty members involved in the self-evaluation process
The administrative staff was also involved in the process. Ms. Henya Ashkenazi
(secretary) provided logistic support to the staff members; Mr. Avi Shreiber
(department head assistant) provided course and staff data required by the
faculty members.
The following work methods were used in the self-evaluation process:
• First and second meetings: For each section mentioned in the table
above, two initial meetings took place with participation of Dr. Dror, Dr.
Kaner and the faculty member responsible for the section. The aims of
these meetings were: understanding the self-evaluation guidelines;
determining how the data required will be collected and indentifying the
main points that should be discussed and approved by the department
council comprising all faculty members.
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•
Additional meetings/correspondence: If it was required, additional
meetings/correspondence took place during the process. These meetings/
correspondence were initiated by Dr. Kaner who oversaw and integrated
the different elements of the process or by a faculty member raising
questions that required resolution by the department council.
•
Department council discussion and conclusions: The department meetings
took place once a month. The data and the discussion points were
distributed to the faculty members in advance of each meeting. The
department decisions and conclusions were incorporated in the selfevaluation report.
•
“Industrial Engineering and Management: Present and Future” – a full day
workshop that took place at the Carlton Hotel in Nahariya on March 9,
2009 (Appendix D). During this workshop, experts from academia and
industry presented different points of view regarding the study program’s
future development. Alumni and students indicated the strengths and
weaknesses of the department’s study program, teaching and learning.
The workshop outcomes were incorporated into different sections of the
self-evaluation report.
•
First draft preparation, corrections, and successive drafts: Each section
was prepared through several drafts. Each draft was corrected, extended
and improved with respect to different opinions of faculty members.
•
Integration: The integration took place throughout the course of the selfevaluation process.
•
Department council approval: The self-evaluation conclusions that appear
in the report were approved by the department council at the end of the
process.
Alumni, adjunct teachers, students and dropouts also contributed to the selfevaluation process as follows:
Alumni:
• Some graduates were invited to the workshop “Industrial Engineering and
Management: Present and Future,” where the strengths and weaknesses
of the IE&M study program were discussed.
•
An alumni survey (Appendix U) was carried out; for results, see Section
3.4.8.
Adjunct teachers:
• All adjunct teachers were invited to the workshop “Industrial Engineering
and Management: Present and Future”.
•
The department head also met with most of the adjunct teachers.
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Students:
• Some students were also invited to the workshop “Industrial Engineering
and Management: Present and Future”.
•
The department head and the coordinator of the self-evaluation process
met with representatives from each cohort of the study program.
Dropouts
• A dropout survey (Appendix V) was carried out; for results, see Section
3.4.3.
The results of the activities are summarized in the different chapters of this
report.
Members of the IE&M Department accept this self-evaluation process as a model
for future similar self-evaluation steps with the objective of continual
improvement.
5.4 Final Approval
The self-evaluation report has been presented to the College Academic Council.
The department head is responsible for implementing the various
recommendations and corrective actions. The OBC President and Vice President
for Academic Affairs are responsible for following up the decisions of the College
Academic Council. The Vice President for Academic Affairs will keep the
Academic Council and the Quality Management Committee informed about the
progress being made in implementing corrective actions. OBC intends to adopt
and implement all results of the self-evaluation process.
5.5 Future Treatment of Problematic Issues
Several conclusions that were drawn from this fruitful self-evaluation process
have already been implemented in the IE&M Department. Several other
important conclusions will be implemented within two years, with the objective
being to further enhance and improve the IE&M study program. Table 5.2
comprises the summary of the main issues requiring improvement actions.
One other important feature of the self-evaluation process is that it gave the
department a reference point – embodied by this report – that will serve the
department in measuring its future progress.
5.6 Publicizing the Self-evaluation
The results of the self-evaluation are accessible to academic and administrative
staff and to students. The self-evaluation report has been distributed to all the
members of the IE&M department, the OBC Academic Council and the College
management.
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Issue
Improvement action
Status and schedule
Responsible
Study program
Expanding IE&M core
topics (supply chains,
project management,
service systems,
information
management) in the
existing required and
elective course list;
Starting the
organizational behavior
course earlier in the
program
The proposed solutions are
planned to be discussed in
academic year 2009-2010
Department head,
curriculum
committee, faculty
members
Excellent
students
Tracking achievements
of excellent students,
special counseling
Department head,
academic advisors
Study termination
policy
Making the study
termination policy and
appealing procedures
shorter and stricter
Admission
criteria: 4-point
math grade
Graduate
relocation from
the north
Reconsideration with
respect to the CHE’s
new requirement
Providing support to
graduates who stay in
the north
The counseling program is
scheduled to be developed
and implemented within next
two years
The department head has
already accepted the strict
study termination policy. The
identification and tracking of
such students is almost
immediate
-
Department head,
ORT Braude
College
management
Plans for future
staff recruitment
Recruiting new faculty
members
Rooms for
academic staff
Faculty members
should have their own
offices and not have to
share office space
Research
Further encouragement
of research by reducing
teaching loads and by
opening new graduate
programs
We will continue to
strengthen our connections
with employers (especially
our graduates) from the
north in order to be able to
promote graduates’
employment
The department head is
negotiating with several
candidates
The management is aware of
this problem. Ongoing
construction should resolve
the problem within a few
years
• The number of “Reduction
of Teaching Load”
research grants will grow in
2009-2010.
• Two graduate programs
are under review by CHE
Department head,
Ort Braude College
management
Council for Higher
Education
Department head
ORT Braude
College
management
• ORT Braude
College
management
Table 5.2: Main issues and improvement action items
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• Department
head