Finalversion, 04/14/05
April 4, 2005
TO:
Robert Mrtek, Chair
Senate Committee on Educational Policy
FROM:
Roger Nelson
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
I am submitting for review and action by the Senate Committee on Educational Policy the
attached proposal for the Wireless Communications Technology Campus Certificate.
Offered since Fall 2003, this certificate program is being sent to you for approval under the new
guidelines for certificate programs. Requiring 12 hours, this post-baccalaureate certificate should
be classified as a campus certificate. Please note that because this is an existing certificate
program, only line 1 of the table “Total Resource Requirements for the New Unit” has been
completed.
The certificate was approved by the College of Engineering on February 17, 2005. The
certificate program is also currently being reviewed by the Graduate College. I will report the
recommendation of the Graduate College as soon as it is available.
RN:
Attachment
Cc:
C. Hulse
R. Betts
P. Banerjee
P. Uselengi
K. Gupta
C. Williams
1
Finalversion, 04/14/05
REQUEST FOR A NEW UNIT OF INSTRUCTION: Certificate
BACKGROUND
1. Name of Institution:
Department and/or College Sponsor:
List unit approvals with dates:
University of Illinois at Chicago
College of Engineering
Educational Policy Committee,
College of Engineering, February 17, 2005
2. Title of Proposed Certificate: Wireless Communications Technology Campus Certificate
3. Contact Person:
Piergiorgio L. E. Uslenghi, Associate Dean
3.1. Telephone
312-996-6059
3.2. E-mail
uslenghi@uic.edu
3.3. Fax
312-996-8664
4. Level of Proposed Certificate
__ Undergraduate Certificate (1-2 years)
__ Undergraduate Certificate (2-4 years)
__ First Professional Certificate
X Post-Baccalaureate Certificate
__ Post-Master’s Certificate
5. Requested CIP Code (6-digits) _________ (to be supplied by the Office of Academic
Programs)
6. Proposed Date for Implementation: Currently active; formalize program for Summer 2005
7. Location Offered: On-Campus ___
Off-Campus ___: Region Number(s)______ or Statewide___
Online: X_
8. MISSION, OBJECTIVES AND PRIORITIES
This certificate program has been offered by the College of Engineering since Fall 2003.
It consists of a cluster of three courses that are also routinely offered online to students in the
Master of Engineering degree program. Concepts taught in the program relate to current and
emerging topics such as radio technology fundamentals, wireless mobile communication
fundamentals, cellular/PCS wireless mobile network standards, 2nd generation wireless mobile
data/voice network, 3rd generation broadband wireless mobile multimedia networks, multimedia
systems, asynchronous transfer mode, Internet, evolution of TDMA based 2G-3G cellular
systems, and Wireless Local Loop.
Wireless Communications Technology Certificate is targeted to people who have
obtained a Bachelor’s degree in engineering or a closely related discipline (such as chemistry,
computer science, mathematics, or physics) and desire some additional training in wireless
communications, without committing to an advanced degree program. The typical student is a
professional engineer who has no easy access to live, on-campus courses because of work
requirements or geographical location. In the year since the program’s inception, no certificates
have yet been awarded. It is expected that the first few certificates will be awarded in Fall 2005.
This certificate program is of interest to engineers employed in the telecommunication
industry that is especially strong in the Chicago metropolitan area. For example, over the years
2
Finalversion, 04/14/05
Motorola has hired more than six hundred UIC graduates, primarily from electrical and computer
engineering curricula. Engineers who have been out of school for a few years would benefit
greatly from the technical upgrading provided by this certificate program in this very rapidly
changing field; without periodic technical upgrading, the knowledge of such professionals would
become obsolete in less than five years.
A second reason for this certificate program is that it allows engineers who would like to
pursue a professional degree such as the Master of Engineering, but are afraid to commit to the
full degree program, the opportunity of testing their ability to undertake successfully such an
endeavor. If successful in the certificate program, the student can subsequently transfer the
certificate courses for credit toward the Master of Engineering program.
Although until now the courses have been offered on line and therefore have been
available to students worldwide, it is envisioned that additional live sections will be offered on
campus in the evenings and weekends. These live offerings should be especially attractive to
engineers who work in the Chicago metropolitan area, which houses several large and small
industries devoted to wireless communications.
9.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Catalog description
The campus certificate in Wireless Communications Technology provides training in
wireless communication systems, such as cellular telephone systems for voice, video and data
transmission; mobile communications; and satellite communications.
The certificate program consists of the following three courses for a total of twelve
semester credit hours:
--- ECE 435 – Wireless Communication Networks (4 hrs.)
--- ECE 535 – Advanced Wireless Communication Networks(4 hrs.)
--- Either: ECE 434 – Multimedia Communication Networks(4 hrs.),
or:
Engr 410 – Wireless Data (4 hrs.).
Admission requirements
Applicants must have received a Bachelor’s degree in engineering or in a closely related
discipline, such as chemistry, computer science, mathematics, or physics from an accredited
institution of higher education, and a solid undergraduate background in communication theory.
No minimum grade point average is required for admission. Applicants from non-Englishspeaking countries must have a minimum TOEFL score of 550 (paper-based) or 213 (computerbased).
Transfer of credits
No transfer of credits is allowed into the Certificate Program.
Graduation requirements
Students must complete the three required courses within three semesters (summers
excluded) from admission into the program. A leave of absence of up to one year may be granted
once, upon petition and for a reason acceptable to the Director of the Master of Engineering
degree program. A grade-point-average of at least B is required for graduation. No credit is given
for courses in which a grade below C is received. If a grade lower than a C is earned, a course
3
Finalversion, 04/14/05
may be repeated once, in which case only the higher of the two grades is considered as meeting
the requirement of a C or better in each course.
.
Course descriptions
ECE 435 – Wireless Communication Networks. 4 hours.
Radio technology fundamentals; channel and propagation models; channel multiple access
technologies; wireless mobile communication fundamentals; generic wireless mobile network;
cellular/PCS wireless mobile network standards. Prerequisites: ECE 432 and ECE 333.
ECE 535 – Advanced Wireless Communication Networks. 4 hours.
2nd generation: IS-95-based wireless mobile network; 2nd generation: GSM-based wireless mobile
network; 2.5 generation: wireless mobile data/voice network; 3rd generation: broadband wireless
mobile multimedia network. Prerequisite: ECE 435.
ECE 434 – Multimedia Communication Networks. 4 hours.
Extensive computer use required. Multimedia systems; compression standards; asynchronous
transfer mode; Internet; wireless networks; television; videoconferencing; telephony;
applications. Prerequisite: ECE 333.
Engr 410 – Wireless Data. 4 hours.
Data communications; existing Wireless Data Networks; planning, topology, performance and
operation; 3G standard activities; evolution of TDMA based 2G-3G cellular systems; 3G
European and North-American systems; CDMA networks; WAP, Bluetooth and WLAN-IEEE
802.11 and HIPERLAN2; and Wireless Local Loop. Prerequisites: A course in Digital
Communications and an introductory course in Wireless Communications.
Learning objectives
Recipients of this certificate program will be technically up to date in the vast and very rapidly
changing field of wireless communications. They will be able to work with minimal or no
additional training in industries dedicated to the design, development, production and service of
wireless systems such as, for example, cellular telephones or wireless computers.
Strategies and assessment
Students are monitored and evaluated in a manner consistent with all graduate courses.
They are assigned homework, midterm and final examinations. Reliable monitors are secured at
all off-campus locations where examinations occur, in order to verify student identity and
preclude cheating.
Feedback on the quality of the program is obtained from student evaluations of course
content and instructor at the end of each term.
Students who at the end of the certificate program wish to continue their studies toward
the Master of Engineering degree are allowed to transfer to that degree those certificate courses in
which they received a grade of at least B.
10.
RESOURCES
This certificate program is embedded into the Master of Engineering degree program, and
as such does not require any additional resources, with the exception of the trivial minor cost of
printing the certificate diplomas. Specifically, no additional faculty, staff, equipment, space, or
library resources are needed. Since the students take courses that are offered within the
4
Finalversion, 04/14/05
framework of the Master of Engineering program, and the related costs depend on the number of
courses offered but not on the number of students in each course, no instructional and monitoring
costs can be attributed exclusively to the certificate program.
The online tuition rate of $450 per credit hour, authorized by the Board of Trustees for all
courses in the Master of Engineering degree program, has been applied until now. That tuition
rate will increase to $535 per credit hour effective with the Summer 2005 term, though because
courses for the certificate program are not offered in summer, the tuition increase will go into
effect for the certificate students in fall 2005. Essentially, students in the certificate program are
currently considered as non-degree students in the Master of Engineering degree program.
This certificate program is not a contract program.
Since this is an existing certificate program, only line 1 of Table II, “Total Resource
Requirements”, has been completed. This line represents the resources required to advertise the
program and to support the faculty who teach the courses, the updating of the web instructional
material, the online delivery of the courses, administrative support for the program, and a small
operating budget for supplies and the printing of the certificates for the graduating students. The
figure on line 1 remains constant across all budget years, and is expected to be funded by the
eTuition generated by the program.
11.
EFFECT ON UIC UNITS
This certificate program has no effect on other UIC units, except for the Master of
Engineering degree program in which it is embedded.
12.
OFF-CAMPUS/ONLINE CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS ONLY
All courses in this certificate program are delivered online. At some future time, it is
possible that some sections of these courses will be delivered live, as part of an evening/weekend
on-campus program.
The instructors in the certificate program must have the credentials to be appointed as
Adjunct faculty members in the College of Engineering. Each appointment is recommended to
the Board of Trustees by the Director of the Master of Engineering program in consultation with
the Dean of Engineering. Periodic evaluations of the instructors are conducted via the
questionnaires that the students in the program are required to complete anonymously at the end
of each course.
The course material is contained in textbooks that all students in the course must acquire.
If additional instructional material is needed, it is posted on the web by the course instructor. All
students must have access to a personal computer with certain minimal hardware and software
requirements, as specified on the web for all students in the Master of Engineering program.
This certificate program was initiated in Fall 2003 at the suggestion of the UIC Office for
External Education. It has not been formally approved for either on-campus or off-campus
delivery.
5
Finalversion, 04/14/05
TABLE II
TOTAL RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE UNIT
1
Wireless Communications Technology Campus Certificate
AY ’03-04
AY ’042nd
3rd
05
(estimate)
Year
Year
Year
Year
Total Resource Requirements
$15,000
$15,000
$15,000 $15,000
2
Resources Available from Federal
Sources1
3
Resources Available from Other
Non-State Sources1 –
4
5
Existing State Resources2
Resources Available through
Internal Reallocation3
6
New State Resources Required4
7
Breakdown: New State
Resources Required
FTE Staff5
8
Personal Services
9
Equipment and Instructional
Needs
4th
Year
$15,000
10 Library
11 Other Support Services6
1
These lines reflect funds available (not incremental funds) from non-state sources in any given year
Existing state resources in each successive year are equal to the sum of the previous year’s existing state
resources (line 4); plus resources made available through internal reallocation (line 5); plus new state
resources (line 6). If state resources allocated to a program in any given year (line 4) exceed state resource
requirements needed to support the program in the following year, state resource requirements should be
reduced with a negative dollar adjustment on line 5. The sum of lines 2 through 6 will always equal line 1.
2
3
Numbers can be either positive (allocated to the program) or negative (allocated away from the program).
4
Reflects the level of state funding requested in the referenced year. Dollars reported are incremental.
5
Reflects the number of FTE staff to be supported with requested funds. Not a dollar entry.
6
Other dollars directly assigned to the program. Do not include allocated support services.
6