CSE Self-Study: Computer Engineering
ABET SELF-STUDY
QUESTIONNAIRE
Computer Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
2011–2012 Review Cycle
ENGINEERING ACCREDITATION COMMISSION
ABET, Inc.
111 Market Place, Suite 1050
Baltimore, MD 21202-4012
Phone: 410-347-7000
Fax: 410-625-2238
Email: eac@abet.org
Website: http://www.abet.org
March 7, 2016
CSE Self-Study: Computer Engineering
March 7, 2016
Table of Contents
Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 3
Requirements and Preparation ............................................................................................ 3
Preparing a Self-Study Report for a Joint Commission Review............................. 4
Supplemental Materials ...................................................................................................... 4
Submission and Distribution of Self-Study Report ............................................................ 4
Confidentiality .................................................................................................................... 5
Template ............................................................................................................................. 5
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ....................................................................... 7
CRITERION 1. STUDENTS ............................................................................... 11
CRITERION 2. PROGRAM EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES ......................... 17
CRITERION 3. STUDENT OUTCOMES .......................................................... 25
CRITERION 4. CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT ........................................... 27
CRITERION 5. CURRICULUM......................................................................... 40
CRITERION 6. FACULTY .................................................................................. 55
CRITERION 7. FACILITIES .............................................................................. 70
CRITERION 8. INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT .................................................. 82
PROGRAM CRITERIA ....................................................................................... 86
Appendix A – Course Syllabi ............................................................................... 89
Appendix B – Faculty Vitae ................................................................................. 90
Appendix C – Equipment...................................................................................... 91
Appendix D – Institutional Summary ................................................................... 92
Signature Attesting to Compliance ................................................................................... 96
Introduction
The Self-Study Report is expected to be a quantitative and qualitative assessment of the
strengths and limitations of the program being submitted for review.
The Self-Study Report will provide information critical to a thorough on-site review of
the program. Therefore, the Report will address the extent to which the program meets
applicable ABET Criteria and policies. In so doing, it is necessary that the Report
address all methods of instructional delivery used for the program, all possible paths that
students may take to completion of the degree, and all remote offerings available to
students in the program.
Each Commission of ABET provides a Self-Study Questionnaire to assist the program in
completing the Self-Study Report.
Requirements and Preparation
The program name used on the cover of the Self-Study Report must be identical to that
used in the institutional publications, on the ABET Request for Evaluation (RFE), and on
the transcripts of graduates. This will insure that the program is correctly identified in
ABET records and that graduates can be correctly identified as graduating from an
accredited program.
Normally, each program requires a Self-Study Report.
While the Questionnaire focuses primarily on accreditation criteria, it also includes
questions related to certain sections of the ABET Accreditation Policy and Procedure
Manual (APPM).
While it is important that the overall structure in the Questionnaire be retained, it is not
necessary to preserve notes or pages of instructions about preparing the Self-Study
Report.
A program may use terminology different from that used in the Questionnaire. If
different terminology is used, it is important that the Self-Study Report provide notes of
explanation to clearly link the terminology in the Report to terminology used in the
Questionnaire.
Tables in the Questionnaire may be modified in format to more clearly present the
information for the program. When this is done, it is suggested that a brief explanatory
footnote be included about why the table was modified. Rows may be added to or
deleted from tables to better accommodate program information.
The educational unit is the administrative unit having academic responsibility for the
program(s) being reviewed by a given Commission of ABET. For example, if a single
program is being reviewed, the educational unit may be the department. If more than one
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program is being reviewed, the educational unit is the administrative unit responsible for
the collective group of programs being reviewed by that Commission.
Preparing a Self-Study Report for a Joint Commission Review
A joint commission review occurs when a single program is reviewed for
accreditation by more than one Commission of ABET. The program must meet
all applicable Criteria and policies for every commission involved.
The following Criteria are interpreted and applied similarly by all Commissions
and the Self-Study Report for a joint review of a given program does not require
separate responses for each Commission.
Criterion 1: Students
Criterion 2: Program Educational Objectives
Criterion 4: Continuous Improvement
Criterion 7: Facilities
Criterion 8: Institutional Support
The following Criteria differ for each of the four Commissions and the Self-Study
Report for a joint review of a given program will require Commission-specific
responses.
Criterion 3: Student Outcomes
Criterion 5: Curriculum
Criterion 6: Faculty
Supplemental Materials
The following materials are to be supplied in addition to the Self-Study Report:
 The general institution catalog covering course details and other institutional
information applicable at the time of the review.
 Promotional brochures or literature describing program offerings of the
institution.
 Official transcripts of recent graduates. The team chair will request a specific
sampling of transcripts for each program and will provide a timeframe in which
they should be provided to program evaluators. Each transcript is to be
accompanied by the program requirements for the graduate and accompanied by
worksheets that the program uses to show how the graduate has fulfilled program
requirements.
Submission and Distribution of Self-Study Report

To ABET Headquarters by July 1 of the calendar year of the review:
o Submit one Self-Study Report including all appendices for each program
o Submit one set of the supplemental materials (minus the transcripts) to:
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Engineering Accreditation Commission
ABET, Inc.
111 Market Place, Suite 1050
Baltimore, MD 21202-4012
NOTE: The Self-Study Report and Supplemental Material may be
submitted on paper or pdf read-only files on CD, DVD, or data stick.
Each Self-Study Report and Supplement Material must be selfcontained in the medium submitted and must not include “hot” links.
The submission cannot be a combination of hard copy and electronic
file. No email submission permitted.

To Team Chair by July 1 of the calendar year of the review:
o Submit one Self-Study Report including all appendices for each program
o Submit one set of the supplemental material, and
o Submit the requested transcripts for each program.
NOTE: Please confirm the submission method and address preference
with the team chair prior to submission.
The team chair will provide instructions and addresses for the institution to provide the
Self-Study Report and Supplemental Material directly to each program evaluator and
approved observer.
When new or updated material becomes available between the submission of the SelfStudy Report and the date of the on-site review, the program should provide it to the team
members as far in advance as possible or upon the team’s arrival for the on-site review.
All such materials should also be sent to ABET Headquarters.
Confidentiality
All information supplied is for the confidential use of ABET and its authorized agents. It
will not be disclosed without authorization of the institution concerned, except for
summary data not identifiable to a specific institution or documents in the public domain.
Template
The template for the Self-Study Report begins on the next page.
5
ABET
Self-Study Report
for
Computer Engineering
at
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, NE
July 1, 2011
CONFIDENTIAL
The information supplied in this Self-Study Report is for the confidential use of ABET and its
authorized agents, and will not be disclosed without authorization of the institution concerned,
except for summary data not identifiable to a specific institution.
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION
0.1 Contact Information
Stephen D. Scott, Associate Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Computer Science and
Engineering, 256 Avery Hall, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0115.
Phone: 402-472-6994. Email: sscott@cse.unl.edu
0.2 Program History
Degree program: Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering
Year implemented: The Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering program first
appeared in the Undergraduate Bulletin in the 1991–1992 academic year.
Date of last general review: November 6–9, 2005
Major program changes since last general review: Recent major program changes include
expanding the set of CS 1 courses from CSCE 155 to CSCE 155A (formerly 155, in Java),
CSCE 155E (CS 1 with systems engineering focus, in C), CSCE 155N (CS 1 with
engineering and science focus, in Matlab and Fortran), and CSCE 155T (CS 1 with
informatics focus, in Perl). Another major change is the addition of the following courses as
requirements: CSCE 236 (Introduction to Embedded Systems), CSCE 335 (Digital Logic
Design), CSCE 361 (Software Engineering) and CSCE 462 (Communication Networks).
CSCE 488 (Computer Engineering Professional Development) was increased from one credit
hour to two, and CSCE 430 (Computer Architecture) was removed as a degree requirement.
We also removed the following Electrical Engineering courses as requirements: ELEC 121
(Introduction to Electrical Engineering 1), ELEC 361/307 (Advanced Electronics &
Circuits/Lab), ELEC 370 (Digital Logic Design), and ELEC 475 (Digital Systems Design).
ELEC 305 (Probability Theory) replaced STAT 380. Further, the lab ELEC 233 was
renumbered to ELEC 235 and the lab ELEC 234 was renumbered to ELEC 236. The labs’
contents were unchanged.
Science requirements changed slightly: Now, students do not need PHYS 222, which is the
lab for PHYS 212 (Electricity). Further, students can now substitute PHYS 213/233
(Relatively and Quantum Mechanics/Lab) for CHEM 109 and its lab.
Students now must take both JGEN 200 and 300 (Technical Writing I and II) rather than
choosing just one. ENGR 010 (Freshman Engineering Seminar) and ENGR 400
(Professional Ethics) are no longer required.
Another significant change includes the required distribution of technical elective courses. In
2005–2006, students were required to select their four technical electives (12 credit hours)
distributed over at least three of the following five areas: system-level architecture, software
systems, design implementation, communication and distributed systems, and computer
engineering applications. In the 2011 bulletin, students may choose as their technical
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electives any five courses (15 credit hours) from a list of approved courses, with no regard
for area classification. However, if a student elects to concentrate these courses in a single
area, then that student will be recognized as having a focus in that area.
Outside of the CSE Department, UNL changed the general education requirements, moving
from the Essential Studies/Integrative Studies model to the Achievement-Centered Education
(ACE) model.
0.3 Options
0.3.1 Focus Areas
A Computer Engineering major has the option of declaring a Focus in one of the areas listed
below. Students who, in addition to completing all computer engineering required courses,
receive a grade of C or better in each of the five technical elective courses from one declared
focus area below, will receive a notice from the Department of Computer Science and
Engineering stating that they received the degree bachelor of science in computer
engineering with a Focus in their chosen area. The Focus areas are:
 Embedded Systems and Robotics: CSCE 430, CSCE 436, CSCE 438, ELEC 416, MECH
453.
 VLSI Design: CSCE 430, ELEC 417, ELEC 421, CSCE 434 or ELEC 470, CSCE 475 or
ELEC 416. Students choosing this focus area must take PHYS 213/PHYS 223 as science
requirement.
 Signal Processing: ELEC 462, ELEC 463, ELEC 465, and two of the following three
courses: CSCE 472, CSCE 473, ELEC 464.
 High-Performance Computing: CSCE 430, CSCE 432, CSCE 437, CSCE 455, CSCE
435 or CSCE 456.
A Focus is in addition to required core courses. Thus no required course can be applied to a
Focus. Customized Focus Areas also are possible. The department chair, in consultation with
relevant faculty members and the undergraduate adviser, may approve a customized Focus
Area proposed by a student.
Some offerings of CSCE 496 Special Topics may be substituted in an appropriate area. In
addition, up to three hours of CSCE 498 Computer Problems (undergraduate research) or
three hours of CSCE 491 (internships) can be used in any focus area, pending approval from
an academic adviser.
0.3.2 Raikes School
Computer Engineering students in the Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and
Management substitute a set of equivalent honors courses for some of the core CSCE
courses. Specifically, RAIK 183H substitutes for CSCE 155, RAIK 184H substitutes for
CSCE 156, RAIK 284H substitutes for CSCE 230/230L, RAIK 283H substitutes for CSCE
235 and CSCE 310, RAIK 383H substitutes for CSCE 361, RAIK 381H and 382H
substitutes for CSCE 488, and RAIK 402H substitutes for CSCE 489. Further, RAIK 301H,
302H, and 401H (Design Studio) count as technical electives, RAIK 182H and 282H count
towards some Achievement-Centered General Education (ACE) requirements, and RAIK
287H, 288H, 187H, and 188H count towards the technical writing requirements, substituting
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for JGEN 200 and 300. Also, students must take either CSCE 378: Human-Computer
Interaction or CSCE 376H (planned number): Artificial Intelligence Applications, both of
which count as a technical elective.
Computer Engineering students who are not in the Raikes School may, if invited to take the
Raikes Design Studio sequence, substitute RAIK 402H for CSCE 489, so long as the project
is approved by a committee of CSE faculty. These students must still take CSCE 488. These
students may also substitute RAIK 401H for a technical elective.
Students double majoring in Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering may
substitute ELEC 494 and 495 (EE Senior Design) for CSCE 488 and 489.
0.4 Organizational Structure
The Computer Engineering program is administered through the Department of Computer
Science and Engineering (CSE). The Department of Electrical Engineering delivers certain
core courses of the Computer Engineering program, and is consulted on curricular changes,
but all final decisions on curricular matters reside with CSE. CSE is in the College of
Engineering and in the College of Arts & Sciences, but the Computer Engineering program
lies exclusively in the College of Engineering, and all curricular changes that are exclusive to
that program are reviewed only by that college. Curricular changes that affect both the
Computer Engineering and Computer Science programs (e.g., changes to courses) are
reviewed by both colleges.
Both the College of Engineering and the College of Arts & Sciences are administered by the
Senior Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs (SVCAA), who answers to the UNL
Chancellor. UNL is one of four campuses in the University of Nebraska system, along with
the University of Nebraska at Omaha, the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and the
University of Nebraska Medical Center. These four campuses are managed by Central
Administration, which is headed by the University of Nebraska’s President. The Board of
Regents governs the university system. It consists of eight voting members, each elected to
six-year terms.
0.5 Program Delivery Modes
All CSCE courses are delivered in the traditional lecture/laboratory format, during days and
evenings Monday through Friday. Exceptions include CSCE 101 (not required for the
Computer Engineering degree), which is delivered both as traditional lecture/laboratory and
on the web, and CSCE 251 (required for the Computer Engineering degree), which is
exclusively web-based.
0.6 Program Locations
Lincoln, NE
0.7 Deficiencies, Weaknesses or Concerns from Previous Evaluation(s) and the Actions
Taken to Address Them
In the 2005 general review, ABET CAC listed one concern:
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Criterion 1: Students. The advising process currently in place provides
opportunities for confusion and the possibility that students do not
complete the curriculum as defined. Completion of prerequisite courses is
not verified by the institution's enrollment process and there is only a
single faculty member charged with advising the CSE students. This
results in long queues at the beginning of each semester to see the advisor,
which is aggravated by the juggling of schedules when prerequisite
courses are identified that have not been completed. Faculty give
proficiency tests to students since they cannot be sure all have completed
the prerequisites and some students have had to drop courses as late as
several weeks into the semester.
Regarding prerequisite checking, CSE now has a system in place in which at the start
of each semester, a representative from the department requests from Registration and
Records a list of students enrolled in each of the following core courses: CSCE 156,
230, 230L, 235, 310, 322, 340, 351, 361, 430, 462, 486, 487, 488, and 489. CSE then
requests the academic record of each student in course X, comparing that record
against X's CSCE prerequisites. If a student has not received a passing grade in one of
X's prerequisites, the instructor of X is notified and will counsel the student on the best
choice of action. In addition, students in each version of CSCE 155 (155A, 155E,
155N, 155T) take the CSE placement test during the first week of classes. Students
who score high on this test are counseled to determine if they should instead take
CSCE 156. Students who score low are counseled to determine if they should instead
start with CSCE 101.
Computer Engineering majors in the Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science
and Management substitute certain Raikes courses for core courses in the Computer
Engineering program (see “Options” in the background section as well as Section 5).
Prerequisite checking in these courses is unnecessary since the Raikes program
carefully monitors its students and controls who is allowed to register in their courses.
Regarding advising issues, while advising duties still mostly reside with the Chief
Undergraduate Advisor, multiple backup advisors now fill in during peak times,
including New Student Enrollment each summer. Further, CSE takes into careful
consideration the Chief Undergraduate Advisor's workload when making teaching
assignments, in attempts to maximize his available time for advising. This includes
teaching reductions, when practicable.
0.8 Joint Accreditation
The Computer Engineering program seeks accreditation only from EAC. The Computer
Science program, also in CSE, seeks accreditation from CAC.
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GENERAL CRITERIA
CRITERION 1. STUDENTS
1.1 Student Admissions
All incoming freshman to UNL's College of Engineering must satisfy the following
requirements, which are also described at
http://admissions.unl.edu/requirements/freshman.aspx:






Four units of English, all of which must include intensive reading and writing
experiences.
Four units of Mathematics, including algebra, algebra II, a full unit of geometry, and
pre-calculus and trigonometry.
Three units of Social Sciences, including one unit drawn from American and/or world
history; one additional unit drawn from history, American government and/or
geography; and a third unit drawn from any social science discipline.
Three units of Natural Sciences, including chemistry and physics, and at least one
more from biology, chemistry, physics, and earth sciences. One unit must include
laboratory instruction.
Two units of Foreign Language, both in the same language. (Students who are unable
to take two years of foreign language in high school may still qualify for admission.)
Have an ACT composite score of 24 or higher, or an SAT combined score of 1110 or
higher.
Prospective students apply to UNL Admissions, indicating their preferred college. UNL
Admissions is the first to review the application, to confirm whether UNL admission
requirements are met. When approved, the application is then forwarded to the CoE Dean’s
office, which reviews that CoE requirements are met. CoE makes the final decision on
admission; the departments are not involved.
Prospective students are encouraged to visit the campus, which is coordinated by UNL
Admissions. Visiting students are given an opportunity to talk with the Chief Undergraduate
Advisor and tour departmental facilities. The University also sponsors “Red Letter Days”
during which various activities inform high school students about university programs.
The formal advising and monitoring process begins with New Student Enrollment (NSE),
which is handled by the College of Engineering. The college uses its own information plus
materials updated annually by the CSE Department Chief Undergraduate Advisor. The
University and College evaluate high school transcripts and make admission decisions. When
in doubt about technical courses, the CSE Department Chief Undergraduate Advisor
evaluates the course in question.
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1.2 Evaluating Student Performance
The primary tools for evaluating student performance are course grades. The university uses
a standard A+ through F grading scale, with A+=4.00, A = 4.00, A– = 3.67, B+ = 3.33, B =
3.00, B– = 2.67, …, and F = 0. A Pass/No-Pass option is available for the 12 credit hours of
Achievement-Centered General Education (ACE) courses in Areas 5 (Humanities/History), 6
(Social Sciences), 7 (Fine Arts), and 9 (Human Diversity). However, all other courses
counted toward the degree must be graded. Individual grades and the cumulative Grade Point
Average (GPA) are used for a variety of purposes, including formal admission to the
Computer Engineering degree program, assignment to restricted status or academic
probation, triggering advising actions, and during the “Senior Check” process.
Regarding prerequisite checking, CSE now has a system in place in which at the start
of each semester, a representative from the department requests from Registration and
Records a list of students enrolled in each of the following core courses: CSCE 156,
230, 230L, 235, 310, 322, 340, 351, 361, 430, 462, 486, 487, 488, and 489. CSE then
requests the academic record of each student in course X, comparing that record
against X's CSCE prerequisites. If a student has not received a passing grade in one of
X's prerequisites, the instructor of X is notified and will counsel the student on the best
choice of action. In addition, students in each version of CSCE 155 (155A, 155E,
155N, 155T) take the CSE placement test during the first week of classes. Students
who score high on this test are counseled to determine if they should instead take
CSCE 156. Students who score low are counseled to determine if they should instead
start with CSCE 101.
Computer Engineering majors in the Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science
and Management substitute certain Raikes courses for core courses in the Computer
Engineering program (see “Options” in the background section as well as Section 5).
Prerequisite checking in these courses is unnecessary since the Raikes program
carefully monitors its students and controls who is allowed to register in their courses.
1.3 Transfer Students and Transfer Courses
UNL Admissions collects all transcripts from the transfer applicant and files them in UNL’s
Webnow system, which allows access to all authorized personnel. UNL Admissions
maintains a database of mappings from non-UNL courses to UNL courses, which facilitates
automatic processing of transcripts. Courses not in the database are analyzed by the relevant
program’s Chief Transfer Advisor (in CSE, this is the same as the Chief Undergraduate
Advisor), who then approves a Transfer Course Equivalency form (Appendix E-1), with
copies sent to the Registrar, the Office of the Dean, and the specific student’s advisor.
Transfer credits for required courses are allowed only if the appropriate department confirms
that the transfer course is equivalent to a course at UNL. For courses in the CSE Department
and the EE Department, the Chief Undergraduate Advisor scrutinizes the content of the
transfer course with the aid of a professor directly involved in teaching the relevant UNL
course. They review the course syllabus, textbook, and other materials used in the course
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proposed for transfer credit. Transfer credit for a CSE or EE course is allowed only if there is
substantial duplication of the equivalent UNL course.
The College of Engineering does not accept courses for transfer in which a D grade was
received. However, grades of D from the University Of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK), Lincoln
(UNL), and Omaha (UNO) may be transferred to fulfill requirements. Students are strongly
encouraged to repeat those courses.
In general, transfer courses from other universities do not count as part of the UNL GPA.
Credits can be transferred, but grades are not. In addition, of the final 36 hours applied to the
degree, only 6 may be transfer credits.
1.4 Advising and Career Guidance
The CSE Department’s Chief Undergraduate Advisor, assisted by the Undergraduate
Advising Committee (UAC), has primary responsibility for monitoring and advising. This
section describes the mechanisms and procedures for monitoring and advising, beginning
with pre-enrollment advising and proceeding in a roughly chronological manner through the
Senior Check.
1.4.1 Intercampus Registration
The University of Nebraska attempts to facilitate student access to the total educational
opportunities of a multi-campus university. A student enrolled at UNL, UNMC, UNO, or
UNK may register as a visiting student on another campus within the University of Nebraska
system via Intercampus Registration.
The CSE Department maintains a list of equivalent courses with the corresponding
departments at our sister institutions, the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), the
University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK), and the University of Nebraska Medical Center
(UNMC). The Intercampus Registration Program allows grades from UNO, UNK, and
UNMC to be applied to the UNL GPA under specified restrictions.
Intercampus Registration allows a student to register for courses at any of the four campuses
and count the grades received toward the home campus GPA. To qualify, a student must first
fill out an Intercampus Registration Form, which verifies eligibility to continue study on the
home campus. The student also must satisfy the course prerequisites of the host campus.
The home campus is responsible for maintaining the academic record of all course work of
an intercampus student. Student transcripts identify the campus where the credit was earned
and include the credit hours and grade for each course taken within the system. All grades
received for courses taken within the system are used in computing a student’s GPA.
1.4.2 Formal Admission to the Degree Program
In the College of Engineering (CoE), freshmen may declare an intended major, but formal
admission to a degree program requires a formal application for admission to that program.
This application typically is submitted midway through the sophomore year. A copy of the
form for formal admission is included in Appendix E-2. In the CSE Department, the Chief
13
Undergraduate Advisor does this for the students. The Chief Undergraduate Advisor
identifies students who have taken at least 43 total hours, including at least 12 at UNL and
who have not yet been formally admitted. Of those students who also meet the other formal
admission requirements, the Chief Undergraduate Advisor submits the form on their behalf
to the CSE Chair for approval, and then on to CoE Dean. Those who have least 43 total
hours, including at least 12 at UNL, but do not meet the other criteria are reviewed carefully
by the Chief Undergraduate Advisor, and counseled if they are at risk of not progressing
towards the degree.
The CSE Department imposes the following admission requirements, which are also
described at http://cse.unl.edu/ugrad/resources/ce_requirements.php.
1) Have accumulated 43 university credit hours (including transfer credits), including at least 12
hours at UNL,
2) Have submitted an Application for Admission to the Computer Engineering Program,
3) Have satisfied all College of Engineering requirements for admission,
4) Have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5, and
5) Have a term GPA of at least 2.5 for the latest term completed at UNL,
6) Have completed with a grade of “C+” or better, all core courses listed below (or their
equivalents for transfer students). Testing out of a course via a placement test is equivalent to
earning a “C+” or better. If a course was taken more than once, then the highest grade on the
student’s transcript applies.

CSCE 155 (any variety) Introduction to Computer Science I, CSCE 156: Introduction
to Computer Science II, CSCE 230: Computer Organization, CSCE 230L: Computer
Organization Laboratory, CSCE 235: Introduction to Discrete Structures,

ELEC 215: Electronics and Circuits I, ELEC 235: Introductory Electrical Laboratory
I,

MATH 106: Analytic Geometry and Calculus I, MATH 107: Analytic Geometry and
Calculus II, MATH 208: Analytic Geometry and Calculus III, and

PHYS 211: General Physics I, PHYS 212: General Physics II.
In the event that a student’s application for admission is denied, that student may file a
written appeal letter with the Chief Undergraduate Advisor, requesting reconsideration
and/or waiver of requirements. The appeal letter should include specific statements
explaining why this case is unique, and providing details of the mitigating circumstances that
would justify reconsideration and/or a waiver. The appeal is reviewed and voted upon by the
entire Undergraduate Advising Committee. If the committee reaches a tie vote and cannot
resolve the impasse, then the CSE Department Chair makes the final decision. An individual
student may submit only one application per academic semester. Also, only one appeal may
be filed per application.
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1.4.3 Career Advising
CSE staff and the Chief Undergraduate Advisor regularly forward announcements of jobs
and internships to students. These announcements come directly from local and regional
employers as well as from UNL Career Services. In one-on-one meetings and via email,
students are repeatedly encouraged to attend career fairs. The Chief Undergraduate Advisor
also attends these career fairs, and passes important information on to students. Finally,
students are repeatedly advised by the Chief Undergraduate Advisor, CSE staff and CSE
faculty to do internships (with or without academic credit). Finally, the CoE Dean’s office
also distributes to students information on internships and co-ops.
1.5 Work in Lieu of Courses
Advanced Placement credit is handled by UNL Admissions. The courses are treated as
transfer courses.
Up to 3 credit hours of CSCE 491 can count as a technical elective. This requires
coordination with a CSE faculty member.
Students can take 12 hours of ENGR 250 in one semester for a co-op to maintain full-time
status. ENGR 250 does not count towards the BS in Computer Engineering.
If a student, after taking the CSE placement test, is counseled to take CSCE 156 without first
taking CSCE 155 and gets a “C” grade or above on the first attempt only, then the student
gets retroactive credit for CSCE 155 (see the paperwork in Appendix E-3).
UNL also offers credit by examination. To receive credit by examination, the student first
applies to take an exam in lieu of the course (see the application form in Appendix E-4). If
the application is approved by the department chair, then the student takes a faculty-written
exam. If the student passes the exam, then the student gets credit for the course without
taking it.
1.6 Graduation Requirements
Degree name: Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering
Requirements: The computer engineering degree requires 126 hours of course work. There is
a set of required core courses in computer science and engineering (41 credit hours),
electrical engineering (17 credit hours), mathematics (20 credit hours), physics and chemistry
(12–13 credit hours), and other general education requirements (18 credit hours). In addition,
students select 3 credit hours of open elective and 15 credit hours of technical electives.
Senior checks: The chief procedure for ensuring graduating seniors meet all degree
requirements is the “Senior Check” process, which provides timely verification and
enforcement in meeting the graduation requirements. Every student must complete and sign a
Senior Check Form sometime during the senior year, typically after they have registered for
their final semester’s courses (e.g., in November for students who plan to graduate in spring
semester). This check establishes a contract with the student that satisfactory completion of a
15
specified set of courses will result in the degree. This form lists all the required courses and
has space for all the technical electives. A sample copy of this Senior Check form appears in
Appendix E-5. The completed form goes through four levels of checks, beginning when the
student verifies it with the Chief Undergraduate Advisor.
1. Once the Senior Check form is completed with the student’s entire program course list and
signed by the student, it is given to the Chief Undergraduate Advisor, who checks it for
accuracy and verifies that it meets all the requirements for graduation.
2. After any necessary corrections are made, the form is sent to the CSE Department Chair to
verify that the student has met all program requirements. If it is unsatisfactory, a letter is sent
to the student, with a copy to the Chief Undergraduate Advisor, detailing what needs to be
done in order to meet all the requirements.
3. The form is sent to the Dean’s office for double-checking by the Associate Dean for
Students. If found to be incorrect, it is returned to the CSE Department Chair for correction.
Once the Senior Check is approved, any proposed changes in the student’s program of study
must be entered on a Substitution form, which goes through the same channels for approval.
4. The approved Senior Check and any approved Substitution forms are sent to the Project
Assistant in the Office of Registration and Records, to verify that all courses listed have been
taken by the time of graduation. Upon application for the degree, the senior check is verified
once again against the current record. Any discrepancies are made known to the student and
the advisor.
This system of checks and rechecks is a formal, documented procedure to assure that all
students meet all Department, College, and University requirements.
1.7 Transcripts of Recent Graduates
Transcripts of recent graduates will be supplied when requested by the team chair.
16
CRITERION 2. PROGRAM EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES
2.1 Mission Statement
The Role of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, chartered by the Legislature in 1869, is that part of the
University of Nebraska system which serves as both the land-grant and the comprehensive
public University for the State of Nebraska. Those responsible for its origins recognized the
value of combining the breadth of a comprehensive University with the professional and
outreach orientation of the land-grant University, thus establishing a campus which has
evolved to become the flagship campus of the University of Nebraska. UNL works
cooperatively with the other three campuses and Central Administration to provide for its
student body and all Nebraskans the widest array of disciplines, areas of expertise, and
specialized facilities of any institution within the state.
Through its three primary missions of teaching, research, and service, UNL is the state's
primary intellectual center, providing leadership throughout the state through quality
education and the generation of new knowledge. UNL's graduates and its faculty and staff are
major contributors to the economic and cultural development of the state. UNL attracts a
high percentage of the most academically talented Nebraskans, and the graduates of the
University form a significant portion of the business, cultural, and professional resources of
the State. The quality of primary, secondary, and other post-secondary educational programs
in the state depends in part on the resources of UNL for curricular development, teacher
training, professional advancement, and enrichment activities involving the University's
faculty, museums, galleries, libraries, and other facilities. UNL provides for the people of the
state unique opportunities to fulfill their highest ambitions and aspirations, thereby helping
the state retain its most talented youth, attract talented young people from elsewhere, and
address the educational needs of the nontraditional learner.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has been recognized by the Legislature as the primary
research and doctoral degree granting institution in the state for fields outside the health
professions. Through its service and outreach efforts, the University extends its educational
responsibilities directly to the people of Nebraska on a state-wide basis. Many of UNL's
teaching, research and service activities have an international dimension in order to provide
its students and the state a significant global perspective.
The Missions of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
The role of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as the primary intellectual and cultural
resource for the State is fulfilled through the three missions of the University: teaching,
research, and service. UNL pursues its missions through the Colleges of Architecture, Arts
and Sciences, Business Administration, Engineering, Hixson-Lied College of Fine and
Performing Arts, Education and Human Sciences, Journalism and Mass Communications,
Law, the university-wide Graduate Studies, and the Institute of Agriculture and Natural
17
Resources which includes the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, the
Agricultural Research Division, the Cooperative Extension Division, and the Conservation
and Survey Division. Special units with distinct missions include the University Libraries,
Extended Education and Outreach, International Affairs, the Lied Center for Performing
Arts, the Bureau of Business Research, the Nebraska Educational Television System, the
Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, the University of Nebraska State Museum, the University
Press, the Water Center, the Nebraska Forest Service, the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum,
and Intercollegiate Athletics.
To capitalize on the breadth of programs and the multidisciplinary resources available at
UNL, a number of Centers exist to marshal faculty from a variety of disciplines to focus
teaching and research on specific societal issues and to provide technical assistance for
business and industry in order to enhance their ability to compete in world markets.
Additionally, interdisciplinary programs promote integration of new perspectives and
insights into the instructional research and service activities.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln promotes respect for and understanding of cultural
diversity in all aspects of society. It strives for a culturally diverse student body, faculty, and
staff reflecting the multicultural nature of Nebraska and the nation. UNL brings international
and multicultural dimensions to its programs through the involvement of its faculty in
international activities, a student body that includes students from throughout the world,
exchange agreements with other universities abroad involving both students and faculty, and
the incorporation of international components in a variety of courses and curricula.
Teaching, research, and service take on a distinctive character at the University of NebraskaLincoln because of its status as a comprehensive land-grant university. These traits provide
opportunities for the integration of multiple disciplines permitting students more complete
and sophisticated programs of study. Its land-grant tradition ensures a commitment to the
special character of the State and its people.
The faculty is responsible for the curricular content of the various programs, and pursues new
knowledge and truths within a structure that assures academic freedom in its intellectual
endeavors. The curricula are designed to foster critical thinking, the re-examination of
accepted truths, a respect for different perspectives including an appreciation of the
multiethnic character of the nation, and a curiosity that leads to life-long learning.
Additionally, an environment exists whereby students can develop aesthetic values and
human relationships including tolerance for differing viewpoints.
Teaching
The people of Nebraska created UNL to provide its citizens with the highest quality of post
secondary education. Therefore, a fundamental mission of the University of NebraskaLincoln is teaching. The distinctiveness of the teaching mission at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln lies in its range of undergraduate majors, the character and quality of the
faculty, and the extracurricular environment. The University provides students with a wide
choice of courses and career options, which often expands the scope of their dreams and
ambitions. The size and diversity of the University permits students to mature and to develop
18
their own sense of self-confidence and individual responsibility. The coursework is enriched
by a faculty that is engaged in active research and creative activity and whose frame of
reference is the national and international community of scholars.
Having created the first graduate college west of the Mississippi River, the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln has historically recognized graduate education to be a central and unique
component of its mission. Thus, UNL has primary responsibility in the State for graduate
education, especially at the doctoral and professional levels. UNL is unique in possessing the
scope of programs necessary for multidisciplinary instruction at the graduate level, a faculty
involved in research necessary to support graduate education, and the libraries, laboratories,
computer facilities, museums, galleries, and other ancillary resources required for graduate
instruction.
Research
Basic and applied research and creative activity represent a major component of UNL's
mission, a component that is recognized in Nebraska legislative statutes, and in its status as a
land-grant research university. The quest for new knowledge is an essential part of a research
university; it helps define and attract the type of faculty necessary to provide a university
education; it distinguishes the quality of the undergraduate students' classroom experience;
and it is the necessary component of graduate instruction.
As part of its research mission, UNL is dedicated to the pursuit of an active research agenda
producing both direct and indirect benefits to the State. The special importance of
agriculture, environment, and natural resources is addressed in its research priorities. In
addition, UNL conducts a high level of research and creative activities that address in
specific ways the issues and problems that confront Nebraska. Through their research and
creative activities, faculty at UNL interact with colleagues around the world and are part of
the network of knowledge and information that so influences our society. As a consequence,
the University serves as the gateway through which Nebraska participates in and shares the
gains from technological and cultural developments.
Service
The land-grant tradition creates for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln a special statewide
responsibility to serve the needs of Nebraska and its citizens. In addition, many of its service
aspects extend to regional, national, and international clientele. Special units such as
Extended Education and Outreach, and the Cooperative Extension Division have specific
responsibilities to bring the teaching and research resources of the University to a wider
clientele. Through Cooperative Extension's partnership with federal, state, and county
agencies, UNL has an outreach program in each county in the state. Moreover, all units of the
University have a service and outreach mission. To help accomplish this mission, UNL
delivers educational services through diverse ways including telecommunications methods
and as a participant in the development of regional educational centers especially in those
areas where it has statewide responsibilities. The University recognizes its obligation to
extend the resources of the University beyond the campus and throughout the State. Serving
the needs of Nebraska requires more than responding to the felt needs of the time. UNL must
19
be visionary in its planning and must help the citizens of the state prepare for the future as
well as deal with the present.
Approved by the Board of Regents May 10, 1991. College names modified February 2004;
updated August 2005 to reflect changes in units and unit names.
20
2.2 Program Educational Objectives
The Computer Engineering baccalaureate degree program at the University of NebraskaLincoln is designed to prepare graduates for professional practice in commerce, industry, and
government and for post-graduate education to enter careers in research and academia.
The focus of the program is integrated hardware/software system design. Increasingly,
diverse systems, products, and processes depend on computers for design, control, data
acquisition and other functions. The computer engineer is the one person with the range of
expertise to view a computer-based system as a complete, integrated system and to make the
necessary global design decisions. To prepare our graduates to take their place in this
environment, and consistent with this focus, the following educational objectives have been
established for the Computer Engineering baccalaureate program. (Parenthesized text
indicates which Student Outcomes implement each objective.) These objectives are available
on-line at http://cse.unl.edu/ugrad
1. A graduate must be able to view computer systems as an integrated continuum of
technologies and to engage in integrated system-level design.
Therefore, the program educates students in mathematical foundations (Outcome 1.a),
programming and software design (Outcome 2.a), system components and design (Outcome
2.b), digital logic and technologies (Outcome 2.c), application of theory (Outcome 3.a),
experimentation (Outcome 3.b), design tools and techniques (Outcome 3.c), and
documentation and maintenance (Outcome 3.d).
2. A graduate must be able to work with professionals in related fields over the spectrum of
system design.
Therefore, the program educates students in natural sciences (Outcome 1.b),
electricity/electronics (Outcome 1.c), and programming and software design (Outcome 2.a).
3. A graduate must be able to quickly adapt to new work environments, assimilate new
information, and solve new problems.
Therefore, the program educates students in application of theory (Outcome 3.a),
experimentation (Outcome 3.b), design tools and techniques (Outcome 3.c), documentation
and maintenance (Outcome 3.d), and technical communications (Outcome 4).
4. A graduate must have the background and perspective necessary to pursue post-graduate
education.
Therefore, the program educates students in application of theory (Outcome 3.a),
experimentation (Outcome 3.b), and life-long learning/professional development (Outcome
5.d).
5. A graduate must work in conformance with societal needs and expectations.
21
Therefore, the program educates students in liberal arts (Outcome 5.a) and ethical/social
issues (Outcome 5.b).
6. A graduate must be integrated into the world of practicing professionals for collaborations,
mutual support, and representing the profession to government and society.
Therefore, the program educates students in teamwork (Outcome 5.c) and life-long
learning/professional development (Outcome 5.d), plus students are provided multiple
opportunities for involvement in organizations such as ACM, UPE, IEEE; undergraduate
research; and service to the department and community.
2.3 Consistency of the Program Educational Objectives with the Mission of the Institution
The CSE Department embraces its unique role in the land-grant mission of the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). The Department shares in UNL’s three missions of teaching,
research, and service; mirrors its comprehensiveness in spanning both computer science and
computer engineering and in offering BS, MS, and PhD degrees; focuses its commitment to
the pursuit of new, basic and applied knowledge; and contributes to the dissemination of
knowledge throughout the state and beyond.
In the baccalaureate degree programs, our mission is to educate our graduates with the skill,
knowledge, creativity, and vision to be nationally competitive for professional practice in the
commercial, industrial, and governmental sectors and for post-graduate education, leading to
careers in research and academia. In our Computer Engineering program, this mission
manifests itself in the Program Educational Objectives, asking our students to not only
achieve mastery of the fundamentals of their field, but also to obtain exposure to
interdisciplinary work, social and ethical issues, critical thinking, and life-long learning, all
of which are explicitly listed in UNL’s mission statement.
2.4 Program Constituencies
The Computer Engineering program serves three main constituencies: students,
industry/government, and academia.
2.4.1 Students
Our primary constituents are our programs’ students, including current and prospective
students. As a state-funded institution, we have a special duty to residents of Nebraska. It is
our duty to ensure that our graduates are nationally competitive for rewarding and productive
careers in the computer engineering profession and are prepared to be responsible, educated
citizens of society. Achievement of our Program Educational Objectives by our students
gives them the necessary background in computer engineering and related fields to prepare
them for fulfilling careers and to make them educated citizens. Current students and alumni
voice their opinions related to our program via several means, including non-voting student
representatives to faculty meetings and committees, course evaluations, senior exit surveys,
alumni surveys, and the Student Advisory Panel (see Section 4.1).
2.4.2 Industry/Government
As the primary employers of our graduates, commercial, industrial and governmental entities
have a major stake in the quality and content of our program. It is our duty to serve this
constituency at both the national level and the local level. Our Program Educational
22
Objectives give our students’ employers the confidence that their employees have mastered
the fundamentals of the field and that they possess the ability to learn new technologies and
methodologies as they become available. Employers can also count on our students to work
in an ethical manner, to understand societal needs and expectations, and to work well in
teams and be proficient in communication. The CSE Department’s Industry Advisory Panel
(IAP), recruiters, and corporate and government partners are the primary means for soliciting
input from this constituency. These groups play an important role in representing external
constituents (including commercial, governmental, and other organizations) in CSE’s
assessment and planning (see Section 4.1).
2.4.3 Academia
The baccalaureate degree is the foundation for post-graduate education. The CSE Department
is therefore mindful of its duty to provide graduates with the background, skills, and
perspective to pursue a career in research and education. By achieving our Program
Educational Objectives, our students are prepared in terms of background, adaptability, and
communications skills to pursue an advanced degree. The CSE Department Graduate
Committee gives input on our undergraduate programs regarding the required knowledge
base and abilities of our graduates. Also contributing input on our undergraduate programs
are the faculty supervisors (at UNL and elsewhere) of our alumni who are pursuing graduate
degrees.
2.5 Process for Revision of the Program Educational Objectives
Program Educational Objectives are assessed periodically using the Student Advisory Panel,
Industry Advisory Panel, Alumni and Supervisors Objectives Survey, and ad hoc
assessments. These assessment methods are described in more detail in Section 4.1. In
short, current students provide their input on Program Educational Objectives primarily via
the Student Advisory Panel, former students via the Alumni and Supervisors Objectives
Survey, industry/government via the Industry Advisory Panel and the Alumni and
Supervisors Objectives Survey, and academia via the Alumni and Supervisors Objectives
Survey. Copies of these surveys will be made available at the time of the visit.
The results, conclusions, and recommendations of all assessment activities of Program
Objectives will be summarized in a triennial Objectives Assessment Report. Every second
iteration of this cycle will coincide with the submission of the ABET Self-Study. The report
will be submitted to the faculty, who are welcome to raise any issues they wish to the faculty
as a whole or to Department administration. After release, the CSE Chair, CSE Vice Chair,
CSE Chief Undergraduate Advisor, and the CSE Curriculum Chair will meet to discuss any
action items for the department to address. Work to address these items is done by the
appropriate committee (e.g. the CSE Curriculum Committee if it is a curriculum issue, the
CSE Assessment Committee if it is an assessment issue). Further, the release of results from
individual assessment instruments enables CSE faculty and administration to rapidly
recognize and respond to issues that are revealed out of the triennial formal cycle of
objectives assessment.
23
Since the previous general review, the Program Educational Objectives for the Computer
Engineering program were found by the CSE Assessment Committee and CSE Curriculum
Committee to require changes to be more detailed, to better parallel the objectives of the
Computer Science program, and to contain explicit mapping to the Student Outcomes that
implement them. Further, consultation with IAP representatives and other industry
representatives, as well as discussions with graduating students and ad hoc assessments by
the Chief Undergraduate Advisor revealed that many Computer Engineering majors were
getting jobs as software developers. Thus, programming and software design, documentation
and maintenance, and design tools and techniques were added as concepts to some
Objectives. Further, consultation with the Graduate Committee revealed to us that our
students needed formal exposure to application of theory and experimentation. Thus these
elements were also added to our Objectives. These changes were made in Spring 2011.
24
CRITERION 3. STUDENT OUTCOMES
3.1 Student Outcomes
These outcomes are available on-line at http://cse.unl.edu/ugrad
1. Graduates will demonstrate mastery of the mathematical foundations and familiarity with
the scientific foundations of Computer Engineering. These include:
a. Mathematical Foundations: Mastery of discrete mathematics, differential and integral
calculus, differential equations, probability/statistics, linear algebra, and numerical
analysis;
b. Natural Sciences: Familiarity with the fundamentals of classical and modern physics,
including electricity, magnetism, electromagnetic theory, optics, and solid-state
semiconductor physics; and
c. Electricity/Electronics: Familiarity with electrical circuits, electronic circuits, and solidstate electronic devices.
2. Graduates will demonstrate a depth of knowledge in topics critical to system-level design,
including both hardware and software design and hardware/software tradeoffs. These
include:
a. Programming and Software Design: Mastery of computer programming, including data
structures and algorithms using representative programming languages; and
b. Systems Components and Design: Mastery of the topics necessary to design combined
hardware/software systems, including computer organization and architecture, systems
level programming, operating system kernels, communication networks, and the
interdependencies among these topics.
c. Digital Logic and Technologies: Mastery of digital logic design, including logic
families and contemporary digital technology;
3. Graduates will demonstrate the ability to envision, analyze, design, and implement
maintainable, practicable, integrated hardware/software solutions within realistic constraints
to advanced computer engineering problems, which involves:
a. Application of Theory: Application of theoretical knowledge,
b. Experimentation: Design and execution of experiments with analysis and interpretation
of data,
c. Design Tools and Techniques: Use of current design tools and techniques, and
d. Documentation and Maintenance: Generation of documentation and means for system
maintenance.
4. Graduates will demonstrate proficiency at communicating their technical knowledge and
accomplishments in both written and oral forms to a range of audiences and in styles
consistent with industry norms.
25
5. Graduates will demonstrate an understanding of contemporary social, political, cultural,
organizational and ethical issues and the implications for a computer engineer over his/her
professional lifetime. These include:
a. Liberal Arts: A broad education in the humanities, fine arts, and social sciences;
b. Ethical/Social Issues: A focused education of the range of ethical, legal, environmental,
security, and safety issues relevant to computer engineering;
c. Teamwork: The ability to work with others, including interdisciplinary teams; and
d. Life-Long Learning/Professional Development: An understanding of the importance of
and opportunities to engage in life-long learning and professional development, as
demonstrated through involvement in professional organizations, extra-curricular and
elective activities.
3.2 Relationship of Student Outcomes to Program Educational Objectives
Table 3-1 summarizes the relationships between the Student Outcomes, the Program
Educational Objectives, ABET EAC Criteria, and the courses in the curriculum. Text on
Raikes remapping!
Table 3-1: Relationships between Outcomes, Objectives, ABET Criteria, and Curriculum.
Student
Outcome
Program
Educational
Objective(s)
ABET
EAC
Criteria
5.a,
Program
Criterion
1
5.a
5.b
5.b
5.b
5.b
3.a, 3.e
3.b, 3.e
3.e, 3.k
3.c, 3.e,
5.b
1.a
1.b
1.c
2.a
2.b
2.c
3.a
3.b
3.c
1
2
2
1, 2
1
1
1, 3, 4
1, 3, 4
1, 3
3.d
1, 3
4.
3
5.a
5.b
5.c
5
5
6
3.g
3.h, 3.j,
5.c
3.f
3.d
5.d
4, 6
3.i
Courses and Activities Contributing to the Outcome
MATH 106, 107, 208, 221, 314; ELEC 304, 305; CSCE
235, 340
PHYS 211, 212; PHYS 213/223 or CHEM 109
PHYS 212; ELEC 215/235, 216/236, 316
CSCE 155, 156, 310, 361
CSCE 230/230L, 236, 351, 462
CSCE 230/230L, 335
CSCE 488, 489
PHYS 213/223 or CHEM 109; CSCE 310, 488;
CSCE 230L, 236, 335, 361, 488, 489
CSCE 155, 156, 361, 488, 489
CSCE 230, 361, 488, 489; JGEN 200, 300
Humanities and Social Sciences Requirements (12 hrs)
CSCE 230, 361, 488
CSCE 230L, 361, 488, 489
CSCE 488, CSE departmental research colloquiums,
Undergraduate research experiences through UNL’s
UCARE (Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research
Experiences) program, ACM/IEEE membership, Annual
ACM Programming Contests, and research competitions.
26
CRITERION 4. CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
The CSE Department’s Systematic Program Assessment and Revision (SPAR) process
defines the steps for
 Defining the constituencies, objectives and outcomes of our Computer Engineering and
Computer Science baccalaureate degree programs,
 Assessing various indicators of the quality of the program offered, relative to the needs of
our constituencies,
 Evaluating the results produced by the assessment process in order to identify strengths, as
well as problem areas in need of improvement,
 Feeding back the results of evaluation to the appropriate personnel so that appropriate
program revisions may be identified and implemented, and
 Reviewing the effectiveness of the SPAR process itself, to ensure that it is serving its
purposes.
The SPAR program was formally adopted by the CSE Department faculty in the spring 1999
semester, with most of the SPAR activities predating the formal adoption and the later
revisions made in Spring 2005 and Spring 2011. While full implementation began in the
1999–2000 academic year, it has not been without disruption due to changes in faculty,
changes in Department leadership, changes in facilities, and necessary shifts in
administrative focus to respond to a changing budget climate. Nevertheless, the main
structure and principles of the SPAR program have remained intact and have guided the
Department through all these changes.


The SPAR process consists of two separate and concurrent SPAR cycles (loops). As
implemented in this program, the two loops illustrated in Figure 4-1 have the following
properties:
The left-hand loop represents a three-year cycle focusing on assessment and revision of the
high-level Program Educational Objectives. The goal of this loop is to determine whether the
objectives are relevant, appropriate, and serve the needs of our constituencies, as well as to
determine how well the current objectives are being achieved.
The right-hand loop represents a two-year cycle of activities focusing on assessment and
revision of the Student Outcomes and Curriculum to improve the manner in which the
program achieves the Program Educational Objectives.
27
Figure 4-1: Two loop assessment process
Several distinct and diverse assessment instruments are used to assess and evaluate Program
Objectives, Program Outcomes, and the curriculum. There are three classes of reports to be
filed:
1. Reports on the results of individual assessment instruments. Each of the reports is described
in Section 4.1.
2. A biennial Outcomes Assessment Report, which is a combination of assessment reports
submitted to the Deans of the Colleges of Engineering and Arts & Sciences. This report is
prepared by the CSE Department Vice Chair, and addresses how well the program meets the
Student Outcomes.
3. A triennial Objectives Assessment Report, which every other cycle will be embedded in the
ABET Self-Study. This report is prepared by the CSE Department Vice Chair, and addresses
how well the Program Educational Objectives are being met and how well these objectives
serve the needs of our constituencies.
Table 4-1 contains a listing of all reports, along with the responsible parties and deadlines.
This table also indicates whether a particular report is relevant to the assessment of
28
objectives, outcomes, or both. Since some assessment methodologies are used to assess both
Program Educational Objectives and Student Outcomes, we present them all together.
Table 4-1: Assessment Report Responsibilities and Deadlines
Outcomes
Objectives
Relevant
Sections
Progress Assessment Test (PAT)
Report (embedded in Outcomes
Assessment Report)
Exit Surveys Summary (standalone
reports and summarized in the
Outcomes Assessment Report)
Student Advisory Panel Summary
(standalone informal summaries to
faculty; main reports embedded in
Outcomes Assessment and Objectives
Assessment Reports)
Industry Advisory Panel Summary
(embedded in Outcomes Assessment
and Objectives Assessment Reports)
Alumni and Supervisors Objectives
Survey Summary (embedded in
Objectives Assessment Report)
Ad hoc assessments
4.1.1
X
Vice Chair
4.1.2
X
Vice Chair
4.1.3
X
X
Vice Chair
Semi-Annual Data
Collection,
Biennial/Triennial
Reports
4.1.4
X
X
Chair
Biennial/Triennial
X
Vice Chair
Triennial
4.1.6
X
X
Misc
Misc
ABET Review Team Report
N/A
X
X
ABET
Sexennial
Outcomes Assessment Report (Union
of assessment reports sent to Deans
of both colleges)
Objectives Assessment Report
4.2
X
Vice Chair
Biennial
Vice Chair
Triennial
Report Title
4.1.5
4.3
X
Originator
Frequency
Semi-Annual Data
Collection,
Biennial Report
Semi-annual
4.1 Individual Assessment Reports
4.1.1 Progress Assessment Tests (PATs)
Progress Assessment Tests (PATs) are given at the end of selected CSCE courses. Each
PAT assesses how well students learned the material of that course. PATs are intended to
assess how well core CSCE courses are delivering their content, and to identify weaknesses
and omissions in the sequence of topics across the entire curriculum. The PATs assess both
learning and retention of core material.
The PATs that assess learning shall be administered in each relevant course at the end of the
semester. The PATs that assess retention shall be administered during the senior design
sequence, throughout the semester. In both cases, on-line delivery is used for the test(s).
29
Each PAT must affect students’ grades, either as participation-based or directly by each
student’s score on the test. How each PAT affects grades is at the discretion of the
instructor.
PATs that assess learning are required in the following courses: CSCE 155 (all variants),
156, 230, 235, and 310, and RAIK 183H, 184H, 283H, and 284H. There is a single PAT for
each such course. PATs that assess retention are required in the following courses: CSCE
486 and 488, and RAIK 402H. Students in each of these courses take a series of PATs,
covering the sequence of tests from each core course.
All PATs are delivered on-line, in multiple-choice format to facilitate automatic grading.
Each test consists of approximately 30 questions, each expected to require at most one
minute.
The CSE Vice Chair oversees the development and administration of the PATs, as well as
the compilation of the results. These results are presented in the biennial Outcomes
Assessment Report.
Copies of PATs will be made available at the time of the visit.

4.1.2 Exit Surveys
The CSE Department’s Exit Surveys solicit feedback from students regarding their
experiences and opinions of the CSE Department, including:
Job search experiences, employment status, placement satisfaction, and future plans;

The relevance of the curriculum, student outcomes, and extra-curricular activities, and
preparation for the workplace and life-long professional practice;

Program-specific issues, including the quality of instruction, teaching assistants, facilities,
advising and administration.
At the end of their final semester in our undergraduate program, each graduating student is
requested to sit for a personal interview with a staff representative of the CSE Department.
At the interview, the student is asked questions on his or her opinion on various facets of the
program (including how well the student achieved the outcomes), how well we prepare
graduates for graduate education and industrial work, our curricula, the quality of our
teaching assistants, faculty, and advisors, and their participation in non-academic programs
such as ACM. After all interviews are complete in that semester, the CSE Department Vice
Chair takes the anonymized results from the staff member and prepares a summary report.
This report is made available to the faculty electronically. The results are also summarized
in the biennial Outcomes Assessment Report.
Copies of the exit survey will be made available at the time of the visit.
4.1.3 Student Advisory Panel (SAP)
The Student Advisory Panel (SAP) is the primary means for soliciting undergraduate input
on all elements related to our undergraduate programs. The SAP normally meets once or
30
twice per academic year. Attendance to all SAP meetings is open to all undergraduate
students from both Computer Science and Computer Engineering, but CSE Department
administration also recruits students in a targeted way to maximize diversity across gender,
year in school, major, and membership/non-membership in the Raikes Program.
At each SAP meeting, attendees are provided with copies of the CSE Department’s Program
Educational Objectives and Student Outcomes for both the Computer Science and Computer
Engineering programs. The students are then asked for feedback on (1) the validity and
relevance of the Student Outcomes, (2) how well the Student Outcomes achieve the
Program Educational Objectives, (3) how well the curriculum achieves the Student
Outcomes, and (4) recommendations for improving the Student Outcomes. Further, general
feedback on any facet of either program is solicited from the attendees.
Representatives from the CSE Department include department staff, advisors, faculty, and
administration. At each meeting, notes are taken, and these notes are used by the Vice Chair
for assessment of objectives and outcomes. Outcomes assessments are reported in the
biennial Outcomes Assessment Report. Objectives assessments are reported in the triennial
Objectives Assessment Report. In addition, both the outcomes assessments and objectives
assessments are briefly summarized to the faculty after each panel meeting.
4.1.4 Industry Advisory Panel (IAP)
The Industry Advisory Panel (IAP), recruiters, and corporate and government partners are
the primary means for soliciting input from the employers of our alumni. Formal
membership in the IAP is by invitation. The CSE Department Chair consults with the
faculty to develop a list of invited participants. The IAP includes members from both large
and small organizations, and members from both inside and outside Nebraska. The IAP
formally meets triennially with goals to help assess the CSE Department’s teaching,
research, and service programs. The IAP, recruiters, and corporate partners serve as a
sounding board in the Department’s planning processes, and provide a front-line perspective
on industrial applications of computer science and engineering. At each formal meeting,
IAP members are briefed on the state of the CSE Department, tour the departmental
facilities, receive special briefings related to the meeting foci, engage in discussions, offer
advice, describe their own work and organization, and have informal interactions with
faculty and students.
In addition to the formal panel, each year the CSE Department Chair meets with recruiters
that hire our graduates and engineers that work with them once they are hired. The Chair
asks how prepared our graduates are, and how they are performing. The Chair also asks for
suggestions they might have in how we might better prepare our graduates for their
particular needs. The Chair also reviews proposed changes to our curriculum to get their
feedback.
Rather than submitting a report for each informal meeting, the CSE Department Chair
forwards critiques of our program and recommended program changes to the Curriculum
Chair and other relevant department administrators. Every two years, the CSE Department
Chair submits to the CSE Department Vice Chair a summary statement of the formal and
31
informal feedback from the IAP and other constituent representatives. As it pertains to
outcomes assessment, this statement is included in the biennial Outcomes Assessment
Report. As it pertains to Objectives assessment, it is reported in the triennial Objectives
Assessment Report.
4.1.5 Alumni and Supervisors Objectives Survey
To assess the relevance and achievement of our Program Educational Objectives, a link to
an annual survey is sent to alumni (both currently in graduate school and in
industry/government) of our programs. This brief survey asks each alumnus/alumna what
year he or she graduated from the Department, and from which program. Based on the
answer to this question, the graduate is then shown a list of that program’s educational
objectives, and is asked to rate how well he or she has achieved each one since graduation.
The survey closes with an opportunity to provide comments, which can include an
assessment of the relevance of the Program Educational Objectives.
In the email to each alumnus/alumna, there is also a link to a similar survey intended to be
completed by the graduate’s academic or industry supervisor. The former student is asked
to forward this link to the appropriate person.
After the surveys close each year, the CSE Department Vice Chair will email a brief
summary to the faculty. Three years’ worth of data will be compiled and summarized by
the CSE Department Vice Chair in the triennial Objectives Assessment Report.
Copies of these surveys will be made available at the time of the visit.
4.1.6 Ad Hoc Assessments
In order to be maximally responsive to the needs of our constituencies, often CSE
Department faculty, staff, advisors, and administrators engage in brief ad hoc assessments
of aspects of the programs. E.g., the Chief Undergraduate Advisor performs regular
tracking of enrollment patterns in CSE courses. These numbers influence the frequency of
offering of courses and the quantity of faculty and teaching assistant resources allocated to
them.
Another example of ad hoc assessment is the CSE Department’s feedback form, with which
students can give anonymous feedback to Department administrators on any aspect of the
Department. Similarly, the CSE Department Chair forwards to the Curriculum Chair
critiques of our program and recommended program changes received from informal
meetings with recruiters and other industrial or government constituents.
4.2 Outcomes Assessment Report
The results, conclusions, and recommendations of all assessment activities of Program
Outcomes will be summarized in a biennial Outcomes Assessment Report. This report is a
combination of the one submitted to the Dean of the College of Engineering and the one
submitted to the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. The report will be submitted to
the faculty, who are welcome to raise any issues they wish to the faculty as a whole or to
Department administration. After release, the CSE Chair, CSE Vice Chair, CSE Chief
32
Undergraduate Advisor, and the CSE Curriculum Chair will meet to discuss any action
items for the department to address.
4.3 Objectives Assessment Report
The results, conclusions, and recommendations of all assessment activities of Program
Objectives will be summarized in a triennial Objectives Assessment Report. Every second
iteration of this cycle will coincide with the submission of the ABET Self-Study. The report
will be submitted to the faculty, who are welcome to raise any issues they wish to the
faculty as a whole or to Department administration. After release, the CSE Chair, CSE Vice
Chair, CSE Chief Undergraduate Advisor, and the CSE Curriculum Chair will meet to
discuss any action items for the department to address.
4.4 Use of Assessment Results
After the release of each biennial Outcomes Assessment Report and each triennial
Objectives Assessment Report, the CSE Chair, CSE Vice Chair, CSE Chief Undergraduate
Advisor, and the CSE Curriculum Chair will meet to discuss any action items for the
department to address. Work to address these items is done by the appropriate committee
(e.g. the CSE Curriculum Committee if it is a curriculum issue, the CSE Assessment
Committee if it is an assessment issue). Further, the release of results from individual
assessment instruments enables CSE faculty and administration to rapidly recognize and
respond to issues that are revealed out of the biennial and triennial formal cycles of
outcomes and objectives assessment.
4.4.1 Use of Results for Updating Program Educational Objectives
4.4.1.1 Student Advisory Panel (SAP)
In the SAP meetings of the 2010–2011 academic year, students were shown the educational
objectives for each program. The consensus in the Spring 2011 panels was that the
objectives were appropriate, and no one said anything about students not being able to
achieve them. A similar consensus was reached in the Fall 2010 panel, save for comments
on teamwork. Specifically, students did not feel that they were taught how to work in
teams.
4.4.1.2 Industry Advisory Panel (IAP)
The last formal meeting of an Industry Advisory Panel to address CSE Educational
Objectives convened on October 16, 2009. As is customary, the panel was given an
overview of the CSE department and CE and CS programs, tours of facilities, and specific
topics of student recruitment, retention and placement were addressed. The panel was
impressed with 100% job placement of seniors, which has been consistent throughout the
Great Recession, and with the fact that approximately 67% of all CSE students complete
internships before graduating. CSE students are highly sought as potential employees due to
their strong educational foundation and applied experiences.
IAP recommended restructuring CSCE 155 and 156 to improve retention and possibly
recruitment from other majors by putting in place concepts being evaluated through the CSE
Renaissance Computing Initiative. They supported a plan to make all of the CSCE 150
33
courses CS1 courses that prepare students for CS2. These changes changed the educational
objectives of the CS1 and CS2 courses, with some CS1 educational objectives moving to
CS2. We are in the process of effectuating these changes, and AY 2011-12 the first full
year in which the CS1 and CS2 course changes are in place. Continuous monitoring and
adjustment of educational objectives and outcomes will be required.
4.4.1.3 Alumni and Supervisors Objectives Survey
On May 11, 2011, CSE worked with the UNL alumni association to forward an email to
program alumni asking them and their (academic and work) supervisors to fill out a brief
on-line survey on how well our Program Educational Objectives are met by alumni of both
our programs. From May 11 through May 31, we received fifty responses from our
graduates (Computer Science and Computer Engineering combined) and seven responses
from their supervisors.
In each alumni survey, participants were asked when they graduated and from what
program. Based on their answer to the latter question, they were then directed to a page
listing that program’s current Program Educational Objectives, and were asked how well
they feel that they currently meet each objective. Possible responses included “Very Well”,
“Well”, “Adequately”, “Poorly”, and “N/A”. The supervisor surveys are similar, except that
supervisors are asked how many alumni they supervise, from which program (Computer
Science/Computer Engineering/Don’t Know). Based on their answer, they go to the
objectives of the appropriate program (if “Don’t Know” is selected, then they are directed to
the CS objectives) and are asked how well overall their supervisees meet them.
4.4.1.3.1 Alumni
Nineteen Computer Engineering alumni responded to the alumni survey, with years of
graduation ranging from 1983 through 2010. Two had graduated between 2006 and 2008 (a
3–5 year window since graduation). Every “Very Well” response was 4 points, “Well” was
3, “Adequately” was 2, and “Poorly” was 1. “N/A” responses were not averaged. Below,
for each objective, we report the average scores for all responses and for those between
2006 and 2008.
1.
The ability to view computer systems as an integrated continuum of technologies and to
engage in integrated system-level design. Full: 3.41, 3–5 years: 4
2.
The ability to work with professionals in related fields over the spectrum of system design.
Full: 3.5, 3–5 years: 4
3.
The ability to quickly adapt to new work environments, assimilate new information, and
solve new problems. Full: 3.68, 3–5 years: 3.5
4.
The background and perspective necessary to pursue post-graduate education. Full: 3.53,
3–5 years: 3.5
5.
The ability to work in conformance with societal needs and expectations. Full: 3.21, 3–5
years: 4
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6.
Integration into the world of practicing professionals for collaborations, mutual support, and
representing the profession to government and society. Full: 3.21, 3–5 years: 4
Comments:
I marked Computer Engineering instead of Computer Science as my degree was from
the College of Engineering and Technology. I know that there was not the same
Computer Engineering degree as there is today. But I consider myself a computer
engineer and not a pure computer scientist.
I work in the aerospace industry writing real-time and embedded control software for
rockets and ballistic missiles. The advance operating systems course, CS451, prepared
me for work in this arena. In addition, the core courses from assembly to algorithms as 3
as the technical electives in the CSE and EE departments have provided me the
background information that I have used through out my career.
Would have greatly benefitted from more of a software engineering lifecycle approach.
I feel that I have met these points in my career through working, not through my degree
program. The question should be structured as 'how has your degree program prepared
you to achieve the following points...'
The program needs things to be more applicable for Software Engineering. Not as a
scientific discipline, but as a practice in the profession.
So many people know how to code, or theoretically understand how a good software
system works. Very few people can do both.
4.4.1.3.2 Supervisors
There were seven responses to the supervisor survey. Two said that they supervise
Computer Engineering alumni, four Computer Science, and one “Don’t Know”. Thus there
were two responses to the Computer Engineering supervisor survey, and five to the
Computer Science supervisor survey. Because some supervisors supervise multiple alumni,
we do not filter results by year of graduation.
1. The ability to view computer systems as an integrated continuum of technologies and to
engage in integrated system-level design. 4
2. The ability to work with professionals in related fields over the spectrum of system design.
3.5
3. The ability to quickly adapt to new work environments, assimilate new information, and
solve new problems. 3.5
4. The background and perspective necessary to pursue post-graduate education. 4
5. The ability to work in conformance with societal needs and expectations. 4
35
6. Integration into the world of practicing professionals for collaborations, mutual support, and
representing the profession to government and society. 3
4.4.1.3.3 Conclusions
Since all scores (both for overall and the 3–5 year window) are above “Well”, we consider
all Program Educational Objectives as being met well. These results will be used as a
baseline for comparison in future years. From the comments, we see that most refer to
software engineering principles. Since we have already updated our Program Educational
Objectives, Student Outcomes, and curriculum to address this issue, we consider no action
necessary at this time.
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4.4.1.4 Ad Hoc Assessments
From 2009–2010, the CSE Chair met with the following people (and usually with others
from their company as well):
Byron Blunk, Microsoft (Redmond, WA)
Tracy Thelen, Cerner Software (Kansas City, MO)
Raedawn Ruffner, Garmin (Kansas City, MO)
Renae Feikema, Sandhills Publishing (Lincoln, NE)
Tom Duden, Data Design (Lincoln, NE)
Sid Dhingra, Oracle (Reston, VA)
David Hemsath, IBM (Austin, TX)
Jared Pehrson, IBM (Rochester, MN)
Kevin Prine, Tradebot (Kansas City, MO)
Most of the above people are repeats from prior years, since they are our primary contact
person for that company. The Chair traveled to Garmin, Cerner, and Design Data. He met
with representatives from Garmin, Microsoft, Cerner, Sandhills, IBM, and Tradebot when
they were at the UNL Career Fair. He met with the other representatives in meetings
throughout the year.
The primary feedback was that they really like the students we graduate, and they would all
hire more, if we graduated more. For each of the past 3 years, 100% of our graduates
seeking jobs were employed before graduation. All companies supported our efforts to
recruit more students and our Renaissance Computing Initiative. Some wanted technologyspecific courses that would reduce their training costs. This is a common request from
industry, but it is not something we will generally do. For example, Cerner wanted us to
integrate more health-care specific technology into our curriculum. That, however, would
limit employment opportunities for our graduates. Instead, we focus on a strong foundation
based on fundamentals and the ability to learn new concepts, languages, and tools. All
employers agreed that we succeed in doing that. Further, informal consultation with IAP
representatives and other industry representatives, as well as discussions with graduating
students, revealed that many Computer Engineering majors were often getting jobs as
software developers. Thus, programming and software design and documentation and
maintenance were added as concepts to some Program Educational Objectives.
Another relevant ad hoc assessment result is the observation that the CSE Chief
Undergraduate Advisor made on what kinds of jobs our Computer Engineering graduates
36
were engaging in. Specifically, he noted that a majority were working in software instead of
hardware. Thus we added software as an explicit component of our Program Educational
Objectives.
4.4.2 Use of Results for Updating Student Outcomes
4.4.2.1 Progress Assessment Tests
Past three semesters have had us updating content and policies of tests and gathering
baseline data. Will briefly summarize results here. Mention that in May meeting, we
agreed to discuss in August.
4.4.2.2 Exit Surveys
Since Spring 2011 was the first semester with our new Student Outcomes, so we only have
one semester’s worth of data on graduating students assessing their achievement of these
outcomes. The survey indicates that the only Student Outcomes for which some students
disagreed that they achieved were 2.c (Mastery of digital logic design) at 8%, 3.a
(Application of theoretical knowledge) at 8%, 3.c (Use of design tools and techniques) at
23%, 5.a (Broad education in the humanities) at 8%, and 5.b (Focused education in ethical,
legal, environmental and security issues) at 15%. The most glaring of these is use of design
tools and techniques. Taken with the respondents’ comments, this seems to relate with the
oft-raised complaint that our program is not teaching the same technologies that are used in
industry. In a meeting on May 26, 2011 with the CSE Department Chair, CSE Department
Vice Chair, CSE Curriculum Chair, and CSE Chief Undergraduate Advisor, it was decided
that a quick way to respond to this is to remind students in CSCE 488/489 that they can and
should use the Senior Design course sequence as an opportunity to learn some of these
technologies on their own, building on the foundation that our program provides for them.
Related to this issue, we have already started broadening the scope of projects in CSCE
488/489, requiring the use of new technologies such as mobile devices and sensor networks.
Other issues raised in the Exit Surveys that occur regularly include timeliness and accuracy
of grading by GTAs, how well GTAs communicate, and how well GTAs coordinate with
faculty. In the May 26 meeting, it was decided that a new instructor hire for Fall 2011 will
work with GTAs and faculty to train them to better coordinate and to help GTAs work on
grading and communication issues.
4.4.2.3 Student Advisory Panel
In the SAP meetings of the 2010–2011 academic year, students were shown the Student
Outcomes for each program. The consensus in the Spring 2011 panels was that the
outcomes were appropriate, and no one said anything about students not being able to
achieve them. A similar consensus was reached in the Fall 2010 panel, save for comments
on teamwork. Specifically, students did not feel that they were taught how to work in
teams.
Other selected issues raised in the Student Advisory Panel meetings include: (1) is MATH
314 (Linear Algebra) relevant to our majors?; (2) is it appropriate to allow students to
substitute Raikes Design Studio courses for technical electives?; and (3) is the on-line
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version of CSCE 251 being taught well? In a meeting on May 26, 2011 with the CSE
Department Chair, CSE Department Vice Chair, CSE Curriculum Chair, and CSE Chief
Undergraduate Advisor, these items and others were discussed. For (1), we agreed to
contact the Math Department to see if a less theoretical course (e.g. “Applied Linear
Algebra”) is feasible for our (and perhaps other) majors. We decided that (2) had already
been addressed in a faculty vote in Spring 2011 (taking effect in Fall 2012) to limit the
number of hours of Raikes Design Studio that can apply as technical electives. For (3) we
agreed to examine the evaluations of CSCE 251 and consider possible improvements,
revisiting this issue later after the course has been offered on-line for a longer time.
In earlier Student Advisory Panel meetings, students asked if we could somehow mandate
that they fill out course evaluations at the end of each semester. At subsequent faculty
meetings, this was discussed. The conclusion was that the on-line nature of the evaluations
makes participation difficult to mandate, but students can be incentivized by offering the
entire class bonus points that are scaled by the fraction of the class that fills out the
evaluations. This strategy has since been successfully used in some courses.
4.4.2.4 Industry Advisory Panel
Section 4.4.1.2 summarizes our most recent results in consulting the Industry Advisory
Panel. Our students’ employers’ satisfaction with the performance of our graduates implies
that they are achieving the outcomes of our program. Further, the recognition that our
Computer Engineering majors require more background in software development prompted
us to add “Documentation and Maintenance” as Student Outcome 3.d.
4.4.2.5 Ad Hoc Assessments
Section 4.4.1.4 summarizes our most recent results from ad hoc assessments. Our students’
employers’ satisfaction with the performance of our graduates implies that they are
achieving the outcomes of our program. The primary feedback was that they really like the
students we graduate, and they would all hire more, if we graduated more. For each of the
past 3 years, 100% of our graduates seeking jobs were employed before graduation.
An ad hoc survey done by the College of Engineering showed that Computer Engineering
majors felt that Computer Networking was an important topic, but that they were not getting
sufficient exposure to it. This prompted discussion in the CSE Curriculum Committee and
CSE Faculty, leading to the addition of communication networks as part of Student
Outcome 2.b and the addition of CSCE 462: Communication Networks as a required course
in the Computer Engineering program.
4.5 Continuous Improvement
Section 4.4 summarized changes to Program Educational Objectives, Student Outcomes,
curriculum, and departmental procedures in response to assessment results. Due to recent
significant changes to objectives, outcomes, and curriculum, no major changes are currently
planned. However, we plan to investigate alternatives to MATH 314 and look into how
CSCE 251 is taught on-line, per the discussion of Section 4.4.2.3. As we acquire new data
38
from the Progress Assessment Tests and the Alumni and Supervisors Objectives Survey, we
will be able to make more precise assessments based on these data.
4.6 Additional Information
Copies of all assessment materials discussed in Section 4 will be made available at the time
of the visit.
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CRITERION 5. CURRICULUM
5.1 Plan of Study
Table 5-1a (at the end of this chapter) presents a sample 4-year schedule, semester by
semester, for students who are not in the Raikes School, to attain the BS in Computer
Engineering. Table 5-1b (also at the end of this chapter) presents the same schedule for
students in the Raikes School, substituting RAIK courses for CSCE where appropriate.
Enrollment figures are not presented for ACE and general electives since so many courses
count as these electives. As described in “Options” under the Background section (Section
0.3), students may concentrate their technical electives in specific areas to achieve a Focus
in that area. Further, non-Raikes students may substitute RAIK 402H for CSCE 489 and
use RAIK 401H as a technical elective.
5.2 Alignment with Program Educational Objectives
Table 5-2 summarizes how the curriculum aligns with the Program Educational Objectives.
This information is also embedded in Table 3-1. Text on Raikes mapping
Table 5-2: Alignment of Curriculum with Program Educational Objectives
Program
Educational
Objective
1
2
3
4
5
6
Courses and Activities Aligned with Objective
MATH 106, 107, 208, 221, 314; ELEC 304, 305; CSCE
155, 156, 230/230L, 235, 236, 310, 335, 340, 351, 361, 462,
488, 489; PHYS 213/223 or CHEM 109
PHYS 211, 212; PHYS 213/223 or CHEM 109; ELEC
215/235, 216/236, 316; CSCE 155, 156, 310, 361
CSCE 155, 156, 230/230L, 236, 310, 335, 361, 488, 489;
PHYS 213/223 or CHEM 109; JGEN 200, 300
PHYS 213/223 or CHEM 109; CSCE 310, 488, 489; CSE
departmental research colloquiums, Undergraduate research
experiences through UNL’s UCARE (Undergraduate
Creative Activities and Research Experiences) program,
ACM/IEEE membership, Annual ACM Programming
Contests, and research competitions.
CSCE 230, 361, 488; Humanities and Social Sciences
Requirements (12 hrs)
CSCE 230L, 361, 488, 489; CSE departmental research
colloquiums, Undergraduate research experiences through
UNL’s UCARE (Undergraduate Creative Activities and
Research Experiences) program, ACM/IEEE membership,
Annual ACM Programming Contests, and research
competitions.
40
5.3 Support of Attainment of Student Outcomes
Table 5-3 summarizes how the curriculum supports the attainment of Student Outcomes.
This information is also embedded in Table 3-1. Text on Raikes mapping
Table 5-3: Curriculum Support of Student Outcomes
Student
Outcome
1.a
1.b
1.c
2.a
2.b
2.c
3.a
3.b
3.c
3.d
4
5.a
5.b
5.c
5.d
Courses and Activities Contributing to the Outcome
MATH 106, 107, 208, 221, 314; ELEC 304, 305; CSCE
235, 340
PHYS 211, 212; PHYS 213/223 or CHEM 109
PHYS 212; ELEC 215/235, 216/236, 316
CSCE 155, 156, 310, 361
CSCE 230/230L, 236, 351, 462
CSCE 230/230L, 335
CSCE 488, 489
PHYS 213/223 or CHEM 109; CSCE 310, 488;
CSCE 230L, 236, 335, 361, 488, 489
CSCE 155, 156, 361, 488, 489
CSCE 230, 361, 488, 489; JGEN 200, 300
Humanities and Social Sciences Requirements (12 hrs)
CSCE 230, 361, 488
CSCE 230L, 361, 488, 489
CSCE 488, CSE departmental research colloquiums,
Undergraduate research experiences through UNL’s
UCARE (Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research
Experiences) program, ACM/IEEE membership, Annual
ACM Programming Contests, and research competitions.
5.4 Prerequisite Structure
Figures 5-1 and 5-2 describe the prerequisite structure of courses for the Computer
Engineering program. Figure 1 describes the prerequisites for CSCE and MATH courses,
and Figure 2 does the same for ELEC courses. Computer Engineering majors in the Raikes
School follow a similar prerequisite structure, substituting RAIK 183H for CSCE 155,
RAIK 184H for CSCE 156, RAIK 283H for a combination of CSCE 235 and 310 (so RAIK
184H is a prerequisite for RAIK 283H, and RAIK 283H serves as a prerequisite for most
400-level CSCE courses, just like CSCE 310 does in Figure 5-1), RAIK 284H for CSCE
230/230L, and RAIK 383H for CSCE 361. The Design Studio sequence begins with RAIK
301H, which has prerequisites RAIK 282H (a business course) and RAIK 284H. Students
in the Raikes School move through in a regimented fashion, ensuring that all prerequisites
are met. Computer Engineering majors who are not in the Raikes School are allowed to
take the Design Studio sequence by invitation.
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Figure 5-1: Prerequisite structure for CSCE and MATH courses.
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Figure 5-2: Prerequisite structure for ELEC courses.
5.5 Specific Requirements
5.5.1 Math and Basic Sciences
Computer Engineering majors are required to take 26 credit hours of Mathematics, including
14 credit hours of integral and differential calculus, 3 credit hours of differential equations, 3
credit hours of linear algebra and matrix theory, 3 credit hours of probability theory, and 3
credit hours of discrete mathematics. Students also must have at least 8 credit hours of
physics (classical mechanics followed by electricity and magnetism), as well as either 4
credit hours of general chemistry with its lab or 5 credit hours of relativistic physics and
quantum mechanics and its lab. Thus, Computer Engineering majors end up with at least 38
credit hours of math and basic sciences. (In the Raikes version of Table 5-1b, the 3 credit
hours of CSCE 235 are spread out between RAIK 184H and 283H.)
5.5.2 Engineering Topics
Each Computer Engineering major takes 38 credit hours of required computer
engineering/computer science courses (not counting CSCE 235: Discrete Structures), 14
credit hours of required Electrical Engineering courses (not counting ELEC 305: Probability
Theory), and 15 credit hours of technical electives from Computer Engineering and Electrical
Engineering. This yields a total of 67 credit hours (63 for Raikes since CSCE 488 is replaced
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by RAIK 381 and RAIK 382, CSCE 155 is replaced by RAIK 183H, and 3 credit hours of
RAIK 184H and 283H are in Mathematics) in engineering topics.
5.5.3 General Education
A new general education program based on student learning outcomes was adopted at UNL
in December 2007 and implemented in Fall 2009. The innovative program, AchievementCentered Education (ACE), reflects what faculty believes 21st century graduates of this
institution ought to know. All UNL graduates must have learning experiences that meet all
10 Student Learning Objectives (SLO). The Computer Engineering program follows those
guidelines and requires a total of 12 credit hours of humanities and social sciences under the
ACE designation for degree completion. All other ACE requirements are met within the
major. Specific guidelines can be found in the Undergraduate Bulletin. Briefly, the ACE
areas are as follows (adapted from http://ace.unl.edu/).
Develop intellectual and practical skills, including proficiency in written, oral,
and visual communication; inquiry techniques; critical and creative thinking;
quantitative applications; information assessment; teamwork; and problemsolving.
ACE 1. Write texts, in various forms, with an identified purpose, that respond to
specific audience needs, incorporate research or existing knowledge, and use
applicable documentation and appropriate conventions of format and structure.
ACE 2. Demonstrate communication competence in one or more of the
following ways: (a) by making oral presentations with supporting materials, (b)
by leading and participating in problem-solving teams, (c) by employing a
repertoire of communication skills for developing and maintaining professional
and personal relationships, or (d) by creating and interpreting visual
information.
ACE 3. Use mathematical, computational, statistical, or formal reasoning
(including reasoning based on principles of logic) to solve problems, draw
inferences, and determine reasonableness.
Build knowledge of diverse peoples and cultures and of the natural and physical
world through the study of mathematics, sciences and technologies, histories,
humanities, arts, social sciences, and human diversity.
ACE 4. Use scientific methods and knowledge of the natural and physical world
to address problems through inquiry, interpretation, analysis, and the making of
inferences from data, to determine whether conclusions or solutions are
reasonable.
ACE 5. Use knowledge, historical perspectives, analysis, interpretation, critical
evaluation, and the standards of evidence appropriate to the humanities to
address problems and issues.
44
ACE 6. Use knowledge, theories, methods, and historical perspectives
appropriate to the social sciences to understand and evaluate human behavior.
ACE 7. Use knowledge, theories, or methods appropriate to the arts to
understand their context and significance.
Exercise individual and social responsibilities through the study of ethical
principles and reasoning, application of civic knowledge, interaction with
diverse cultures, and engagement with global issues.
ACE 8. Explain ethical principles, civics, and stewardship, and their importance
to society.
ACE 9. Exhibit global awareness or knowledge of human diversity through
analysis of an issue.
Integrate these abilities and capacities, adapting them to new settings,
questions, and responsibilities.
ACE 10. Generate a creative or scholarly product that requires broad
knowledge, appropriate technical proficiency, information collection, synthesis,
interpretation, presentation, and reflection.
5.5.4 Other
A total of 126 credit hours is required for the Computer Engineering degree. To reach this
total, Computer Engineering majors who are not double-majors in Electrical Engineering and
who are not in the Raikes School need one 3-credit hour open elective. Students in the
Raikes School take multiple courses in the "Other" category as Raikes-specific courses.
Finally, all Computer Engineering majors take ENGR 020: Sophomore Engineering Seminar.
5.5.5 Program Criteria
Section 9 (Program Criteria) details how the curriculum meets the Program Criteria for the
Computer Engineering degree.
5.6 Design Experience
Hardware and software design experiences begin early in the curriculum and grow in scope
and complexity as the courses become more advanced. Lower-level courses lay the
foundations of mathematics, the sciences, design theory, problem-solving techniques, and
documentation methods. Several required and elective upper-level courses build on this
foundation, providing hands-on design experiences that take into account the constraints that
professional designers encounter in real life. The sequence of design experiences culminates
in the capstone design two-course sequence CSCE 488/489.
45
5.6.1 Software Design Experience
In the area of software design, several required courses emphasize the structure and style of a
program and its component routines in the context of top-down design methodology, objectoriented programming, and testing. These courses include CSCE 155 (any variety):
Introduction to Computer Science I, CSCE 156: Introduction to Computer Science II, CSCE
310: Data Structures & Algorithms, CSCE 361: Software Engineering, and CSCE 351:
Operating System Kernels. In these preparatory courses, students learn the essential
fundamentals in software problem solving, data abstraction and algorithms, software design
and testing, and architectural and systems programming issues involved in system-level
design.
In CSCE 155 and CSCE 156, students use Java to do programming assignments involving
fundamental problem solving skills, algorithmic design, object oriented programming and
debugging, documentation, maintenance, and basic data structures. Both courses have
substantial laboratory components, which give students significant exposure to and hands-on
experiences with basic software design. In CSCE 351, students use assembly languages, OS
(e.g., Linux and Windows) primitives and system calls to do assignments that design and
implement operating system kernels. These OS kernels cover fundamental OS concepts such
as user space management, concurrency management, processes and threads control, I/O
management, hardware and software interfacing. Students implement their design in real
systems or simulated environment. In CSCE 361, students learn techniques in specifying,
designing, implementation, testing, and maintaining software systems.
A closely related course, although not required, is CSCE 451: Operating Systems Principles,
a technical elective. In this course, students use Unix primitives to do assignments on
concurrent processing and inter-processor communication. Algorithmic correctness and
deadlock avoidance are tricky issues in concurrent processes that must be dealt with in doing
these assignments. Assignments deal with processor scheduling and memory management.
Students implement their designs in a simulated operating system. Each assignment requires
modifying or adding less than 100 lines of code. The real challenge lies in determining how
to modify the existing 5,000 lines of code, which they did not write, such that their changes
do not affect the correctness of the rest of the system. These assignments are done in teams to
help students experience the problems of communication and coordination they would
encounter as professionals.
A variety of other meaningful software design experiences, representing the breadth of the
field, are available in the following elective courses: CSCE 322: Programming Language
Concepts, CSCE 378: Human-Computer Interaction, CSCE 425: Compiler Construction,
CSCE 436: Advanced Embedded Systems, CSCE 438: Sensor Networks, CSCE 456: Parallel
Programming, CSCE 472: Digital Image Processing, CSCE 473: Computer Vision, and
CSCE 475: Multiagent Systems. Common themes running through these courses include
iterative refinement through design, test, and evaluate to meet the design objectives;
consideration of reliability and human factors issues; making informed decisions about the
choice of design and alternatives based on principles learned in the class; implementing
solutions on off-the-shelf systems; testing solutions in real-life scenarios; and striking a
46
balance among competing demands of elegance, ease of programming, ease of access, cost of
storage, and cost of access.
5.6.2 Hardware Design Experience
Several courses involve hardware design and require students to design circuits, logic, and
systems of increasing complexity. These courses include CSCE 230L: Computer
Organization Lab, CSCE 335: Digital Logic Design, ELEC 215/235: Electronics & Circuits
I/Lab, ELEC 216/234: Electronics & Circuits II/Lab, and ELEC 316: Electronics & Circuits
III.
One of the first meaningful hardware design experiences for students occurs in CSCE 230L:
Computer Organization Laboratory. In this lab course, students conduct experiments
involving the following three essential aspects of computer hardware design: (1) Arithmetic
and Logic Level Implementation: Basic logic design of combinational and sequential logic,
schematic capture, implementation of a control-datapath design using the register-transferlevel (RTL) notation; (2) Assembler Language Programming: assembling, loading, & linking
in one assembler language, with simplified applications involving flow of control, arrays,
loops, procedure calls, parameter passing, and floating point arithmetic; and (3) Introduction
to teamwork and written & oral communication, in the context of the design, implementation,
and verification of a single-cycle RISC processor realizing a substantial subset of the
instruction set.
The hardware design experience is further reinforced in the following required courses:
ELEC 215/235: Electronics & Circuits I/Lab, ELEC 216/236: Electronics & Circuits II/Lab,
ELEC 316: Electronics & Circuits III, and CSCE 335: Digital Logic Design. Together, these
courses cover topics such as (1) Combinational and sequential logic circuits, (2)
programmable logic devices, (3) CAD tools, (4) introduction to electrical engineering circuit
theory, (5) Kirchhoff's laws and circuit analysis theorems, (6) fundamentals of semiconductor
theory and their application to p-n junction devices, (7) frequency response of filters and
amplifiers, (8) basic power amplifier types, and (9) advanced operational amplifier circuits.
5.6.3 Integrated Design Experience
CSCE 236: Embedded Systems prepares students for industrial practice through hands-on
experience in designing integrated computer systems. A typical Computer Engineering major
takes this course in the sophomore year. The focus of this course is on building simple
embedded systems by applying basic hardware and software concepts of microprocessors
and interfacing with other hardware components. Students learn these concepts in CSCE 230:
Computer Organization, the prerequisite of this course. The application component of this
course also requires students to customize existing real-time operating systems and develop
software components and applications to run on their systems.
The curriculum culminates in CSCE 488/489: Computer Engineering Professional
Development/Computer Engineering Senior Design Project, which provides a significant
design experience. This two-course sequence must be taken in two consecutive semesters,
during which students work on a detailed senior design project. For this project, students are
organized into teams to undertake a substantial design project supervised by the instructor.
47
All teams undertake a broadly defined design problem containing aspects of both software
and hardware design. To ensure that the student has achieved a sufficient level of background
knowledge, the prerequisites to the course are JGEN 300: Technical Communication II,
CSCE 236: Embedded Systems, and CSCE 351: Operating Systems Kernels.
CSCE 488/489 projects are of sufficient complexity as to require team members to partition
and coordinate their efforts for successful completion. Each team is treated as a separate
company, which is in competition with the other teams (companies). The instructor plays the
role of Project Manager. As such, s/he is not directly involved in the design or
implementation of the project. Rather, his/her role is purely managerial and advisory. Other
faculty members may be asked to play the roles of customer representatives at one or more
points during the semester. Written technical reports and oral presentations are essential parts
of this course.
In the first semester (CSCE 488), students are exposed to professional design, development,
and presentation principles. The project teams are formed and a broad project topic is
determined by each team. A sufficiently complex part of the overall project is completed as a
mini-project at the end of this first course. CSCE 488 emphasizes the discussion of industry
standards: including availability, applicability, and accessibility; ethical and legal issues of
intellectual property, including patents and copyrights; benefits of membership in
professional societies (IEEE, and/or ACM); and opportunities for post-graduate and
continuing education. Students perform individual and team work on topics including
technical research, technical presentation, written and oral critique of technical work, and
professional ethics. The design project topics are determined and a mini-project is performed.
In the second semester (CSCE 489), students continue to work on the senior design project in
more depth. Team progress is monitored by the Project Manager through weekly meetings
and milestones. Each team must produce three written reports during the semester, in a
writing style consistent with IEEE journals. Each written report is accompanied by an oral
presentation in which all team members must participate. The reports and presentations can
include videos that illustrate the design experience, and describe the product and
demonstrations.
1. The first report is a Project Proposal, presented to the Project Manager (instructor) and the
rest of the class. In this proposal, the team must show a clear understanding of the problem,
perform a literature search to list related products and their shortcomings, describe their
general approach, discuss specific design issues and solution options, and describe the
projected end product.
2. The second report is a Progress Report, also presented to the project manager, the Customer
Representatives, and the rest of the class. It describes progress to date, options selected,
deviations from the original proposal, and plans for completing and testing the project.
3. The third report is a Final Proposal presented to the Project Manager, the Customer
Representatives, and the rest of the class. This report details the design, testing, cost, and
performance of the project. A demonstration normally also is required.
5.7 Cooperative Experience
48
Students can take 12 hours of ENGR 250 in one semester for a co-op to maintain full-time
status. ENGR 250 does not count towards the BS in Computer Engineering.
Up to 3 credit hours of CSCE 491 can count as a technical elective. This requires
coordination with a CSE faculty member. The technical elective credit helps satisfy the
Program Criterion requiring breadth and depth across the range of topics implied by the
program’s title.
5.8 Course Materials
At their visit in Fall 2011, review teams will have access to the following materials, collected
over the previous 1–2 years of offerings of each course: textbooks, syllabi and other course
handouts, samples of student work (at the A, B, and C levels, when available) on homework,
quizzes, exams, project reports, etc., and videos of student presentations in CSCE 489. With
sufficient advance notice, other types of materials might be made available upon request by
the review team chair.
5.9 Course Syllabi
Appendix A gives specifications or syllabi for all required courses and most support courses.
Add explanatory text, if needed.
49
Table 5-1a Curriculum for Students not in Raikes School
Computer Engineering
Course
(Department, Number, Title)
List all courses in the program by term starting with first term of first year and ending
with the last term of the final year.
Year 1, Semester 1
CSCE 155 (A, E, N, or T): Computer Science I
Lab
MATH 106: Analytic Geometry and Calculus I
Recitation
CHEM 109: General Chemistry I
Lab
Recitation
ACE Elective 5
Year 1, Semester 2
CSCE 156: Computer Science II
Lab
CSCE 235: Introduction to Discrete Structures
Recitation
CSCE 251: UNIX Programming Environment
MATH 107: Analytic Geometry and Calculus II
Recitation
PHYS 211: General Physics I
Recitation
Year 2, Semester 1
Indicate Whether
Course is
Required,
Elective or a
Selected Elective
by an R, an E or
an SE.2
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
SE
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
Curricular Area (Credit Hours)
Math &
Basic
Sciences
Engineering
Topics
Check if
Contains
Significant General
Design (√) Education
3 (√)
5
4
3
4 (√)
3
1( )
5
4
Other
Average
Last Two Terms
Section
the Course was
Enrollment
Offered:
for the Last
Year and,
Two Terms the
Semester, or
Course was
Quarter
Offered1
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
56
21
108
25
166
21
37
Various
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
52
25
52
35
69
79
22
128
28
50
3 (√)
CSCE 230: Computer Organization
Recitation
CSCE 230L: Computer Organization Laboratory
MATH 208: Analytic Geometry and Calculus III
PHYS 212: General Physics II
Recitation
ELEC 215: Electronics and Circuits I
ELEC 235: Introductory Electrical Laboratory I
ENGR 020: Sophomore Engineering Seminar
Year 2, Semester 2
CSCE 236: Embedded Systems
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
3 (√)
CSCE 310: Data Structures and Algorithms
Recitation
MATH 221: Differential Equations
ELEC 216: Electronics and Circuits II
ELEC 236: Introductory Electrical Laboratory II
JGEN 200: Technical Communication I
Year 3, Semester 1
CSCE 351: Operating System Kernels
R
R
R
R
R
R
3 (√)
R
3 (√)
CSCE 361: Software Engineering
ELEC 304: Signals and Systems I
ELEC 316: Electronics and Circuits III
ACE 6 Elective
Open Elective
Year 3, Semester 2
CSCE 335: Digital Logic Design
CSCE 462: Communication Networks
MATH 314: Applied Linear Algebra
ELEC 305: Probability Theory and Introduction to Random Processes
ELEC 361: Advanced Electronics and Circuits
R
R
R
SE
E
3 (√)
3( )
3 (√)
R
R
R
R
R
3 (√)
3( )
1 (√)
4
4
3 (√)
1 (√)
0
3
3 (√)
1 (√)
3
3
3
3
3
3 (√)
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Spr 10, Fall 10
32
32
15
34
112
26
50
27
77
Spr 12
(planned)
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
N/A
Fall 09, Fall
10
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
58
38
31
29
Various
Various
Fall 10, Spr 11
Spr 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Spr 10, Spr 11
23
32
32
29
36
51
29
29
33
38
21
20
Year 4, Semester 1
CSCE 340: Numerical Analysis I
3( )
CSCE/ELEC Technical Elective
CSCE 488: Computer Engineering Professional Development
JGEN 300: Technical Communication II
ACE 7 Elective
Year 4, Semester 2
CSCE 489: Computer Engineering Senior Design Project
CSCE/ELEC Technical Elective
CSCE/ELEC Technical Elective
CSCE/ELEC Technical Elective
ACE 9 Elective
Technical Elective Courses (Hours Not Totaled Below)
CSCE 322: Programming Language Concepts
SE
R
R
SE
3( )
2 (√)
R
SE
SE
SE
SE
3 (√)
3( )
3( )
3( )
SE
3( )
CSCE 378: Human-Computer Interaction
CSCE 399H: Honors Thesis
RAIK 401H: RAIK Design Studio III
SE
SE
SE
3( )
3 (√)
3 (√)
RAIK 402H: RAIK Design Studio IV
CSCE 410: Information Retrieval Systems
CSCE 413: Database Systems
SE
SE
SE
3 (√)
3( )
3( )
CSCE 421: Foundations of Constraint Processing
CSCE 425: Compiler Construction
SE
SE
3( )
3 (√)
CSCE 430: Computer Architecture
CSCE 432: High-Performance Processor Architectures
SE
SE
3 (√)
3 (√)
CSCE 434: VLSI Design
SE
3 (√)
3
3
Fall 09, Fall
10
See Below
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
See Below
6
16
Various
3
Fall 10, Spr 11
See Below
See Below
See Below
Fall 10, Spr 11
6
See Below
See Below
See Below
Various
Fall 09, Fall
10
Spr 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 09, Fall
10
Spr 10, Spr 11
Spr 06, Spr 08
Fall 08, Sum
11
Spr 09, Spr 11
Fall 07, Fall
09
Spr 10, Spr 11
Fall 07, Fall
09
Fall 07, Fall
10
43
52
21
26
2
22
23
7
13
15
17
26
8
10
CSCE 435: Cluster and Grid Computing
SE
3 (√)
CSCE 436: Advanced Embedded Systems
CSCE 437: File and Storage Systems
CSCE 438: Sensor Networks
SE
SE
SE
3 (√)
3 (√)
3 (√)
CSCE 451: Operating Systems Principles
CSCE 455: Distributed Operating Systems
CSCE 456: Parallel Programming
SE
SE
SE
3( )
3( )
3 (√)
CSCE 457: Systems Administration
SE
3( )
CSCE 464: Internet Programming
CSCE 467: Software Quality
CSCE 470: Computer Graphics
CSCE 471: Introduction to Bioinformatics
CSCE 472: Digital Image Processing
SE
SE
SE
SE
SE
3(
3(
3(
3(
3(
CSCE 473: Computer Vision
CSCE 474: Introduction to Data Mining
SE
SE
3( )
3( )
CSCE 475: Multiagent Systems
SE
3( )
CSCE 476: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
CSCE 477: Cryptography and Computer Security
SE
SE
3( )
3( )
CSCE 478: Introduction to Machine Learning
SE
3( )
CSCE 479: Introduction to Neural Networks
CSCE 491: Internship in Computing Practice
CSCE 496: Special Topics (Various Courses)
CSCE 498: Computer Problems
SE
SE
SE
SE
3( )
3 (√)
3( )
3( )
)
)
)
)
)
Fall 06, Fall
09
Spr 10, Spr 11
Fall 03
Fall 09, Fall
10
Spr 09, Spr 10
Fall 08, Spr 11
Fall 08, Fall
10
Fall 08, Fall
10
Spr 07, Spr 08
Not Offered
Spr 07, Spr 08
Spr 08, Spr 11
Fall 08, Fall
09
Spr 08, Spr 11
Fall 05, Fall
07
Fall 07, Fall
09
Spr 09, Spr 10
Sum 10, Sum
11
Fall 08, Fall
10
Not Offered
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
53
21
15
14
15
28
14
19
18
14
N/A
9
8
12
24
18
16
13
8
22
N/A
6
Various
1
ELEC 416: Materials and Devices for Computer Memory, Logic, and
Display
ELEC 417: Semiconductor Fundamentals II
ELEC 421: Principles of Semiconductor Materials and Devices I
SE
3( )
Fall 01, Spr 03
14
SE
SE
3( )
3( )
6
14
ELEC 462: Communication Systems
SE
3( )
ELEC 463: Digital Signal Processing
SE
3( )
ELEC 464: Digital Communication Systems
ELEC 465: Introduction to Data Compression
ELEC 470: Digital and Analog VLSI Design
ELEC 475: Digital Systems
MECH 453: Robotics: Kinematics and Design
SE
SE
SE
SE
SE
3( )
3( )
3 (√)
3 (√)
3 (√)
Spr 10, Spr 11
Fall 09, Fall
10
Fall 09, Fall
10
Fall 09, Fall
10
Spr 10, Spr 11
Spr 09, Spr 11
Spr 10, Spr 11
Spr 10, Spr 11
Fall 08, Spr 10
TOTALS-ABET BASIC-LEVEL REQUIREMENTS
OVERALL TOTAL CREDIT HOURS FOR THE DEGREE
PERCENT OF TOTAL
Total must satisfy either Minimum Semester Credit Hours
credit hours or
Minimum Percentage
percentage
38
67
18
3
30%
53%
12%
5%
32 Hours
48 Hours
25%
37.5 %
1.
For courses that include multiple elements (lecture, laboratory, recitation, etc.), indicate the average enrollment in each element.
2.
Required courses are required of all students in the program, elective courses are optional for students, and selected
electives are courses where students must take one or more courses from a specified group.
Instructional materials and student work verifying compliance with ABET criteria for the categories indicated above will be required during the campus visit.
54
18
23
13
12
16
28
29
Table 5-1b Curriculum for Students in the Raikes School
Computer Engineering
Course
(Department, Number, Title)
List all courses in the program by term starting with first term of first year and ending
with the last term of the final year.
Indicate Whether
Course is
Required,
Elective or a
Selected Elective
by an R, an E or
an SE.2
Curricular Area (Credit Hours)
Math &
Basic
Sciences
Engineering
Topics
Check if
Contains
Significant General
Design (√) Education
Other
Average
Last Two Terms
Section
the Course was
Enrollment
Offered:
for the Last
Year and,
Two Terms the
Semester, or
Course was
Quarter
Offered1
Year 1, Semester 1
RAIK 181H: Honors: Foundations of Business I
R
3
MATH 106: Analytic Geometry and Calculus I
Recitation
RAIK 183H: Honors: Computer Problem Solving Essentials
R
R
R
RAIK 185H: Honors: Foundations of Leadership I
R
RAIK 187H: Honors: Introductory Communication Seminar I
R
1
Honors 189H: University Honors Seminar (ACE Elective 5, 7, or 9)
SE
3
Year 1, Semester 2
RAIK 182H: Honors: Foundations of Business II
RAIK 184H: Honors: Software Development Essentials
RAIK 186H: Honors: Foundations of Leadership II
RAIK 188H: Honors: Introductory Communication Seminar II
CSCE 251: UNIX Programming Environment
MATH 107: Analytic Geometry and Calculus II
R
R
R
R
R
R
5
4 (√)
1
3
2
2 (√)
1
2
1( )
5
Fall 09, Fall
10
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 09, Fall
10
Fall 09, Fall
10
Fall 09, Fall
10
Fall 09, Fall
10
Spr 10, Spr 11
Spr 10, Spr 11
Spr 10, Spr 11
Spr 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
55
35
108
25
35
35
35
Various
33
33
33
33
69
79
Recitation
Year 1, Summer
PHYS 211: General Physics I
Recitation
ACE Elective 5, 7, or 9
Year 2, Semester 1
RAIK 281H: Honors: Business Systems and Operations I
R
R
R
SE
22
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
128
28
Various
Fall 09, Fall
10
Fall 09, Fall
10
Fall 09, Fall
10
Fall 09, Fall
10
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Spr 10, Fall 10
31
34
112
26
77
Spr 10, Spr 11
Spr 10, Spr 11
Spr 10, Spr 11
Spr 10, Spr 11
Spr 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
30
23
30
30
30
33
3
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
32
Various
3
Fall 09, Fall
10
Fall 09, Fall
4
3
R
RAIK 283H: Honors: Foundations of Computer Science
R
RAIK 285H: Honors: Applications of Leadership I
R
RAIK 287H: Honors: Applied Communication Seminar I
R
MATH 208: Analytic Geometry and Calculus III
PHYS 212: General Physics II
Recitation
ENGR 020: Sophomore Engineering Seminar
Year 2, Semester 2
RAIK 282H: Honors: Business Systems and Operations II
RAIK 284H: Honors: Foundations of Computer Systems
RAIK 286H: Honors: Applications of Leadership II
RAIK 288H: Honors: Applied Communication Seminar II
RAIK 383H: Honors: Fundamentals of Software Engineering
MATH 221: Differential Equations
Year 2, Summer
MATH 314: Applied Linear Algebra
ACE Elective 5, 7, or 9
Year 3, Semester 1
RAIK 301H: Honors: RAIK Design Studio I
R
R
R
R
RAIK 381H: Honors: Advanced Topics in Business I
Fall 10, Spr 11
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
SE
R
R
3
1
2 (√)
1
1
4
4
0
3
4 (√)
0
2
3 (√)
3
3
3 (√)
56
31
31
31
26
26
CSCE 351: Operating System Kernels
R
3 (√)
ELEC 215: Electronics and Circuits I
ELEC 235: Introductory Electrical Laboratory I
CSCE/ELEC Technical Elective
R
R
SE
3 (√)
1 (√)
3( )
Year 3, Semester 2
RAIK 302H: Honors: RAIK Design Studio II
ELEC 216: Electronics and Circuits II
ELEC 236: Introductory Electrical Laboratory II
CSCE 236: Embedded Systems
R
R
R
R
3 (√)
3 (√)
1 (√)
3 (√)
CSCE 378H: Honors: Human-Computer Interaction OR CSCE 376H
(planned number): Artificial Intelligence and Applications
R
3( )
CHEM 109: General Chemistry I
Lab
Recitation
Year 4, Semester 1
CSCE 340: Numerical Analysis I
R
R
R
RAIK 401H: Honors: RAIK Design Studio III
R
3 (√)
CSCE 335: Digital Logic Design
ELEC 304: Signals and Systems I
RAIK 382H: Honors: Advanced Topics in Business II
R
R
R
3 (√)
3( )
Year 4, Semester 2
RAIK 402H: Honors: RAIK Design Studio IV
MRKT 341H: Honors: Marketing
CSCE 462: Communication Networks
RR
R
R
33(√(√) )
10
Fall 09, Fall
58
10
Fall 10, Spr 11
50
Fall 10, Spr 11
27
See Table 5-1a See Table 51a
Spr 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Spr 12
(planned)
Spr 10, Spr 11
OR Fall 08,
Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
4
3( )
3
3
3( )
26
38
21
N/A
26 OR 12
166
21
37
Fall 09, Fall
10
Fall 09, Fall
10
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 09, Fall
10
21
Fall
Spr10,
10,Spr
Spr11
11
Spr 10, Spr 11
Spr 10, Spr 11
6
24
30
32
57
22
23
31
22
ELEC 305: Probability Theory and Introduction to Random Processes
ELEC 316: Electronics and Circuits III
TOTALS-ABET BASIC-LEVEL REQUIREMENTS
OVERALL TOTAL CREDIT HOURS FOR THE DEGREE
PERCENT OF TOTAL
Total must satisfy either Minimum Semester Credit Hours
credit hours or
Minimum Percentage
percentage
R
R
3
Fall 10, Spr 11
Fall 10, Spr 11
3 (√)
38
63
27
12
27%
45%
19%
9%
32 Hours
48 Hours
25%
37.5 %

For courses that include multiple elements (lecture, laboratory, recitation, etc.), indicate the average enrollment in each element.
3.
Required courses are required of all students in the program, elective courses are optional for students, and selected
electives are courses where students must take one or more courses from a specified group.
Instructional materials and student work verifying compliance with ABET criteria for the categories indicated above will be required during the campus visit.
58
29
29
CRITERION 6. FACULTY
6.1 Faculty Qualifications
As detailed in Table 6-1, the faculty quality and commitment to undergraduate education is a
major strength of the computer engineering program. Consistent with UNL’s mission as a
land-grant, research university, the CSE and EE Departments are engaged in undergraduate
and graduate education, research, and service outreach. The faculty regards undergraduate
education as the centerpiece of this mission.
The faculty’s strong commitment to the undergraduate program is evidenced by the fact that
the vast majority of the core courses, from the introductory level to advanced classes, are
taught by tenure-line faculty.
The CSE Department faculty cover computer science theory and algorithms; software design,
programming, and testing; computer organization and architecture; operating systems;
computer communications, networking, and distributed systems; computer applications; and
system-level design. The CSE faculty is broadly competent in these areas, so that almost
every faculty member can teach almost every required course. Faculty members have
individual interests that make them especially qualified in specific areas.

Computer science theory and algorithms — Choueiry, Cohen, Deogun, Dwyer, Riedesel,
Scott, and Variyam

Software design, programming, and testing — Cohen, Dwyer, Elbaum, Goddard, Rothermel,
and Sarma

Operating systems — Daniel, Goddard, Lu, Samal, and Srisa-An

Computer communications, networking, and distributed systems — Detweiler, Goddard,
Jiang, Lu, Ramamurthy, Vuran, and Xu

System-level design and implementation — Detweiler, Jiang, Lu, Seth, and Srisa-An

Computer organization and architecture — Jiang, Riedesel, Seth, and Srisa-An

Computer applications —Choueiry, Reichenbach, Revesz, Samal, Scott, Sincovec, Soh, and
Swanson
For the computer engineering baccalaureate program, the EE Department faculty cover
electrical engineering theory and design including electrical and electronic circuits, signals
and systems; semiconductor devices and waves; digital electronics and systems; and
communications systems and signal processing. The EE faculty is broadly competent in
these areas and every faculty can teach all the required courses in the program. Areas of
faculty special expertise are listed below.

Electrical and electronic circuits — Boye and Balkir

Signals and systems —Asgarpoor and Varner

Semiconductor devices and waves — Bahar, Ianno, Lu, Snyder, Soukup, Williams, and
Woollam

Digital electronics and systems — Nelson and Vakilzadian

Communications systems and signal processing — Hoffman, Perez, Sayood, and Varner
Many faculty members have backgrounds that include working in industry, working with
industry, and/or starting their own companies. A majority of the CSE faculty have worked in
government and/or industry.
Some of the organizations working with CSE faculty are the Applied Information
Management (AIM) Institute, Dell, The Gallup Organization, Microsoft, Intel, Garner
Industries, Boeing, Northrup Grumman, Valmont Industries, Tradebot Ventures, Cerner,
Nebraska Global,VM Innovations, Nanonation, Sprint, City of Lincoln, General Dynamics,
Honeywell, Internet Nebraska, GC Images, JD Edwards, Kawasaki, the Lincoln Public
Schools, Nebraska Educational Telecommunications, Apple Computer, Altera, Raytheon,
Sandhills Publishing, Flextel S.p.A., Design Data, Union Pacific, and Zoex. The cooperative
education program (http://www.nuengr.unl.edu/cet/students/Parents/career.html) and
internship program (http://www.unl.edu/careers/seic/) at UNL afford students opportunities
to work in an industry setting during their education.
6.2 Faculty Workload
Table 6-2 details the workload for all full-time and part-time faculty who taught for CSE in
the 2010–2011 academic year. The standard teaching load for tenured and tenure-track
faculty is 3 courses per year, at 15% total effort per course (the 15% per course figure
includes graduate advising; non-tenure-line faculty who do not advise students use 10% per
course). This load can be adjusted for many reasons, including new faculty start-up, course
buyouts, and additional service commitments.
6.3 Faculty Size
The CSE Department summary includes currently 23 tenure-line faculty (eleven full
professors, eight associate professors, and four assistant professors, with a 24th member
joining the tenure-line faculty in the fall of 2011, one Assistant Professor of Practice, one
full-time lecturer, two part-time lecturers, and one research faculty who has occasional parttime teaching assignments. The EE Department summary includes nineteen tenure-line
faculty in the EE Department (ten full professors, eight associate professors, and one
assistant professor) and three non-tenure-line faculty.
The CSE faculty has authority over both of its undergraduate programs. Changes to Program
Educational Objectives, Student Outcomes, and curriculum are researched, discussed, and
voted on in faculty committees, and then the recommendations are brought to the entire CSE
faculty for final departmental approval.
The CSE Department Chief Undergraduate Advisor is a faculty member with primary
responsibility for the execution of all advising plans and policies. The Chief Undergraduate
Advisor is usually the first point of contact for Computer Engineering students needing
advice or assistance. The Chief Undergraduate Advisor serves as the advisor for many
students and assists other faculty in advising students on academic rules and requirements.
For non-academic problems, the University provides counseling and psychological services
at the University Health Center.
The faculty and staff are involved with and interact with students in various activities outside
classes. Faculty advise students on career options, graduate school options, and courses to
take.
In addition, the CSE Student Resource Center (SRC)
(http://www.cse.unl.edu/src/index.shtml) provides UNL Computer Science and Computer
Engineering students with a collection of resources and activities to help them to be
successful as students. The Center helps assimilate new students to college life and
encourages new and existing students to continue their study of Computer Science and
Computer Engineering. The Center also provides intern and career information to help
students successfully launch their professional careers.
The Student Resource Center provides a casual environment for the SRC Staff to interact
with students. SRC staff are trained to understand the pressures facing students and to
provide technical support to students, assist with course work and assignments, offer
encouragement, advice and a sympathetic ear, and provide support to students by sharing
their enthusiasm for science and technology.
The structure of the Resource Center is intended to be flexible to allow it to evolve based on
the needs of the students and the availability of the staff.
Faculty members sponsor organized student activities at UNL, including student chapters of
the

Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) (http://acm.unl.edu/),

Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) (http://www.engr.unl.edu/~ieee/),

Association of Women in Computing (AWC) (http://www.awc.unl.edu/),

Society of Women Engineers (SWE) (http://swe.unl.edu/).
There is also a UNL student chapter of the engineering honor society, Tau Beta Pi
(http://www.engr.unl.edu/~tbp).
The ACM student chapter is active, including helping the CSE Department to host the largest
satellite site of the ACM North Central Regional Programming Contest on an annual basis
and playing an important role in the success of this annual event. It also helps organize the
annual UNL CSE Day for high-school students from all over the State of Nebraska. In
addition, it hosts a variety of social events for students, faculty and staff.
CSE faculty frequently work with undergraduate students in research, often in the
Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research Experiences (UCARE) program
(http://www.unl.edu/ucare/), which pays a stipend to students for working with faculty on
original research projects.
6.4 Professional Development
There are a number of organized professional development resources for faculty. The CSE
Department and EE Department offer colloquia, featuring innovative researchers and
educators (http://cse.unl.edu/colloquium/). There also are campus-wide colloquia, including
a speaker series focusing on math and science education, sponsored by the UNL Center for
Science, Mathematics, and Computer Education (http://www.unl.edu/scimath/) and the
Mathematics, Science, and Computing Education area-of-excellence project funded by the
College of Arts and Sciences.
The UNL faculty development leave policy provides faculty with a valuable opportunity for
paid leave to undertake activities that enrich their teaching and/or research
(http://ascweb.unl.edu/dean/resources/fellowship_policy.html). The leave is for one year at
half salary or one-half year at full salary. Six full years of service must elapse between
development leaves.
The UNL Office of Research provides grant writing courses and other support.
6.5 Authority and Responsibility of Faculty
The CSE Assessment Committee (made up of CSE faculty) makes recommendations to the
CSE faculty regarding changes to program objectives, outcomes, and assessment practices.
Such changes are formally adopted by the CSE Department by way of a faculty vote.
The CSE Curriculum Committee (made up of CSE faculty) coordinates with the EE
Department and makes recommendations to the faculty regarding curricular changes. Such
changes are approved at the department level by way of a faculty vote, after which they are
forwarded to staff in the College of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Office. This person reviews the
changes and forwards them to the College of Engineering’s Dean’s Office. The College of
Engineering’s Curriculum Committee then votes on the changes, and if approved, reveals
them to the College of Engineering faculty. The faculty then have ten days to object to the
approved change. If no objection is raised, then the change is approved and goes to the
College of Arts & Sciences Curriculum Committee for a vote. When approved by this
committee, the changes are forwarded to the University Curriculum Committee. Finally,
UCC-approved curriculum changes go to University Publications for inclusion in the
Undergraduate Bulletin. At this step, only editorial changes are made.
Disapproval of curricular changes at any level result in the return of said changes to the
department for revision and reapproval at the department level. A curriculum action’s
progress through the system can be tracked on-line using UNL’s CREQ system.
Table 6-1. Faculty Qualifications
Computer Engineering
Govt./Ind. Practice
Teaching
This Institution
Professional Registration/
Certification
Chandra, Usha
PhD, CS, 1986
I
NTT
FT
2
19
3
none
M
M
M
Choueiry, Berthe
PhD, CS, 1994
ASC
T
FT
13
25
12
none
H
H
L
Cohen, Myra
PhD, CS, 2004
ASC
T
FT
8
13
7
none
H
H
L
Conger, Kirk
MS, CS, 1987
I
NTT
PT
24
4
4
none
none
none
M
Costello, Don
MS, Math, 1959
I
NTT
PT
17
31
31
none
H
M
H
Cottingham, Ian
MS, CS, 2009
I
NTT
PT
11
3
8
none
M
H
H
Daniel, Charles
MS, CS, 1995
I
NTT
PT
11.5
15
15
none
L
none
none
Detweiler, Carrick
PhD, EECS, 2010
AST
TT
FT
0
2
2
none
H
H
M
Deogun, Jitender
PhD, IE, 1979
P
T
FT
3
31
31
none
M
H
none
Dwyer, Matthew
PhD, CS, 1995
P
T
FT
6
16
7
none
H
H
M
Consulting/summer
work in industry
Professional
Development
H, M, or L
Professional
Organizations
Rank 1
Faculty Name
Highest Degree
Earned- Field and
Year
T, TT, NTT 4
FT or PT
Level of Activity
Type of Academic
Appointment2
Years of
Experience
Elbaum, Sebastian
PhD, CS, 1999
P
T
FT
0
12
12
none
M
H
M
Goddard, Steve
PhD, CS, 1998
P
T
FT
13
13
13
none
H
H
M
Holt, Jodi
BS, Psych, 1996
I
NTT
PT
0
4
4
none
none
H
none
Jiang, Hong
PhD, CS, 1991
P
T
FT
0.5
20
20
none
M
H
H
Lu, Ying
PhD, CS, 2005
ASC
T
FT
0
6
6
none
H
H
M
Ramamurthy, Byrav
PhD, CS, 1998
P
T
FT
.25
13
13
none
H
H
M
Ramsay, Steve (Faculty in English Dept;
taught CSCE 155T as CSCE 196 in Spring
2011)
Reichenbach, Stephen
PhD, English, 2003
ASC
T
PT
0
9
5
none
M
H
M
PhD, CS, 1989
P
T
FT
17
29
21
none
H
H
H
Revesz, Peter
PhD, CS, 1991
P
T
FT
0
19
19
none
H
H
none
Riedesel, Chuck
PhD, CS, 1996
AST
NTT
FT
0
26
16
none
M
L
L
Rothermel, Gregg
PhD, CS, 1996
P
T
FT
5
16
7
none
H
H
M
Samal, Ashok
PhD, CS, 1988
P
T
FT
1
23
23
none
M
H
none
Sarma, Anita
PhD, CS, 2008
AST
TT
FT
0
2
2
none
H
H
M
Scott, Stephen
PhD, CS, 1998
ASC
T
FT
0
13
13
none
L
H
none
Seth, Sharad
PhD, EE, 1970
P
T
FT
1
41
39
none
M
H
M
Sincovec, Richard
PhD, Math, 1968
P
T
FT
15
35
11
none
M
L
M
Soh, Leen-Kiat
PhD, EE, 1998
ASC
T
FT
0
13
10
none
H
H
M
Srisa-an, Witawas
PhD, CS, 2002
ASC
T
FT
2
12
9
none
M
H
H
Suing, Jeremy
MS, CS, 2002
I
NTT
FT
8
6
6
none
L
M
M
Swanson, David
I
NTT
PT
3
16
13
none
none
H
M
Variyam, Vinod
PhD, Chemistry,
1995
PhD, CS, 1999
ASC
T
FT
1
12
10
none
none
H
M
Vuran, Mehmet Can
PhD, ECE, 2007
AST
TT
FT
0
4
4
none
H
H
M
Xu, Lisong
PhD, CS, 2002
ASC
T
FT
0
9
7
none
M
H
M
Instructions: Complete table for each member of the faculty in the program. Add additional rows or use additional sheets if
necessary. Updated information is to be provided at the time of the visit.
1. Code: P = Professor
ASC = Associate Professor AST = Assistant Professor I = Instructor A = Adjunct O = Other
2. Code: TT = Tenure Track
T = Tenured
NTT = Non Tenure Track
3. The level of activity, high, medium or low, should reflect an average over the year prior to the visit plus the two previous years.
4. At the institution
Table 6-2. Faculty Workload Summary
Computer Engineering
Program Activity Distribution3
Faculty Member
(name)
Chandra, Usha
PT or
FT1
FT
Classes Taught (Course No./Credit Hrs.)
Term and Year2
CSCE 155N (3 cr.), Fall 2010
Other
Teaching
Research or
Scholarship
% of Time
Devoted
to the
Program5
60%
0%
40%
100%
45%
45%
10%
100%
30%
60%
10%
100%
4
CSCE 155N (3 cr.), Spring 2011
CSCE 156 (4 cr.), Fall 2010
CSCE 156 (4 cr.), Spring 2011
Choueiry, Berthe
FT
CSCE 235 (3cr.), Fall 2010
CSCE 235 (3cr.) Spring 2011
CSCE 421/821 (3 cr.), Spring 2011
Cohen, Myra
FT
CSCE 361 (3 cr.), Fall 2010
CSCE 361 (3 cr.), Spring 2011
Conger, Kirk
PT
CSCE 155E (3 cr.), Fall 2010
10%
0%
90%
10%
Costello, Don
PT
CSCE 477/877 (3 cr.), Summer 2010
100%
0%
0%
100%
Cottingham, Ian
PT
RAIK 383H (3 cr.), Spring 2011
10%
0%
90%
10%
Detweiler,
Carrick
FT
CSCE 990 (3 cr.), Fall 2010
30%
60%
10%
100%
CSCE 436/836 (3 cr.), Spring 2011
Deogun, Jitender
FT
CSCE 496/896 (3 cr.), Fall 2010
60%
30%
10%
100%
30%
60%
10%
100%
15%
75%
10%
100%
CSCE 923 (3 cr.), Fall 2010
CSCE 155 N (3 cr.) Spring 2011
CSCE 423/823 (3 cr.), Spring 2011
Dwyer, Matthew
FT
CSCE 486 (2 cr.), Fall 2010
CSCE 487 (3 cr.), Spring 2011
Elbaum,
Sebastian
Goddard, Steve
FT
CSCE 322 (3 cr.), Fall 2010
Holt, Jodi
PT
CSCE 155T (3 cr.), Fall 2010
10%
0%
90%
100%
Jiang, Hong
FT
CSCE 489 (3 cr.), Fall 2010
45%
45%
10%
100%
60%
30%
10%
100%
45%
45%
10%
100%
FT
100%
CSCE 930 (3 cr.), Fall 2010
CSCE 430/830 (3 cr.), Spring 2011
Lu, Ying
FT
CSCE 310 (3 cr.), Fall 2010
CSCE 351, (3 cr.), Fall 2010
CSCE 455/855 (3 cr.), Spring 2011
CSCE 496/896 (3 cr.), Spring 2011
Ramamurthy,
Byrav
FT
CSCE 155N (3 cr.), Fall 2010
CSCE 953 (3 cr.), Fall 2010,
CSCE 310 (3 cr.), Spring 2011
CSCE 488 (2 cr.), Spring 2011
Ramsay, Steve
FT
CSCE 196 (3 cr.), Spring 2011
60%
30%
10%
10%
Reichenbach,
Stephen
FT
CSCE 101 (3 cr.), Fall 2010
45%
45%
10%
100%
Sab. Lve
100%
70%
(Advising)
100%
Sab. Lve
100%
CSCE 487 (3 cr.), Fall 2010
CSCE 486 (2 cr.), Spring 2011
Revesz, Peter
FT
Riedesel, Chuck
FT
Rothermel, Gregg
FT
Samal, Ashok
FT
CSCE 155E (3 cr.), Fall, 2010; CSCE 155E,
(3 cr.), Spring 2011 CSCE 230 (3 cr.), Spring
2011
CSCE 155A (155) (4 cr.), Fall 2010 (2
sections)
30%
0%
45%
45%
10%
100%
30%
60%
10%
100%
30%
35%
35%
100%
45%
45%
10%
100%
45%
45%
10%
100%
45%
45%
10%
100%
CSCE 473/873 (3 cr.), Spring 2011
Sarma, Anita
FT
CSCE 990 (3 cr.), Fall 2010
CSCE 378 (3 cr.), Spring 2011
Scott, Stephen
FT
CSCE 478/878 (3 cr.), Fall 2010
CSCE 471/871 (3 cr.), Spring 2011
Seth, Sharad
FT
CSCE 434/834 (3 cr.), Fall 2010
CSCE 990 (3 cr.), Spring 2011
CSCE 489 (3 cr.), Spring 2011
Sincovec,
Richard
FT
Soh,
Leen-Kiat
FT
CSCE 340/840, (3 cr.), Fall 2010
CSCE 155N (3 cr.), Spring 2011 (2 sections)
RAIK 155 (4 cr.), Fall 2010
CSCE 390 (3 cr.), Spring 2011
CSCE 990 (3 cr.), Spring 2011
Srisa-an, Witawas
FT
RAIK 284H (4 cr.), Spring 2011
15%
85%
Sab. Lve (fall
2010)
100%
Suing, Jeremy
FT
RAIK 301H (3 cr.), Fall 2010
75%
0%
25%
100%
RAIK 401H (3 cr.), Fall 2010
RAIK 302H (3 cr.), Spring 2011
RAIK 402H (3 cr.), Spring 2011
CSCE 155A, (4 cr.), Spring 2011
Swanson, David
PT
CSCE 456/856, (3 cr.), Fall 2010
15%
0%
85%
100%
Variyan, Vinod
FT
RAIK 283H, (3 cr.), Fall 2010
45%
45%
10%
100%
30%
60%
10%
100%
45%
45%
10%
100%
CSCE 101 (3 cr.), Spring 2011
CSCE 990 (3 cr.), Sprint 2011
Vuran, Mehmet
Can
FT
Xu, Lisong
FT
CSCE 230, (3 cr.), Fall 2010
CSCE 438/838, (3 cr.), Fall 2010
CSCE 428/828 (3 cr.), Fall 2010
CSCE 462/862, (3 cr.), Spring 2011
RAIK 184H (4 cr.), Spring 2011
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
FT = Full Time Faculty or PT = Part Time Faculty, at the institution
For the academic year for which the self-study is being prepared.
Program activity distribution should be in percent of effort in the program and should total 100%.
Indicate sabbatical leave, etc., under "Other."
Out of the total time employed at the institution.
CRITERION 7. FACILITIES
7.1 Offices, Classrooms and Laboratories
7.1.1 Auditoriums
The largest CSE courses are taught in Avery 115, an auditorium with the capacity for 148
students in upholstered seats with flip-up writing surfaces. The auditorium, like all other
classrooms in Avery Hall, contains state-of-the-art multimedia instructional equipment. In
Avery 115 there are two high-definition LCD projectors, which can be connected to a laptop
or an in-class computer that provides access to the Internet, an active directory-based course
material depository, and a USB drive. There is also a VCR/DVD combo allowing the display
of VHS or DVD-recorded materials, an amplified sound system, and a document-capturing
camera allowing hand-writing and documents to be displayed on the screens. A sophisticated
yet easy-to-use touch panel that allows easy transitions among the different devices controls
all the equipment. The auditorium is shared with the Mathematics Department.
7.1.2 Computing Classrooms
The CSE Department maintains two instructional computer labs, one in Avery 20 and one in
Avery 21. Each lab contains thirty PCs and occupies approximately 675 square feet of space.
A ceiling-mounted projector allows for either the instructor station or a laptop to be used for
on-screen demonstrations. The current generation of lab computers are quad core Intel i5
3.2GHz x86 systems with, 4GB of memory, 320GB hard drives, 21-inch LCD displays, and
connected to a 100Mb network. A dual boot environment allows students to use either
Windows 7 or SuSE 11.1. Third party software installed under windows includes packages
such as Microsoft Office, MATLAB, OpenOffice, and MySQL clients for general-purpose
use. Visual Studio, NetBeans, CodeBlocks, Eclipse, jEdit, and Jgrasp software development
environments; PCSpim, and Altera Quartus II circuit design and simulation software. In
Linux students have access to a full complement of Unix public domain software. Third party
software installed under SuSE Linux includes Allegro Common Lisp and Synopsys.
Scott Engineering Center (SEC) houses two classrooms, each equipped with twenty
Windows workstations. The classrooms are equipped with a teaching station, multimedia
projector, and document projector. SEC N16 is currently equipped with 2.66 GHz Core 2
Duo systems with 2GB RAM, 160 GB hard drives and 19-inch LCD displays. SEC N15 is
equipped with 3.16 GHz Core 2 Duo systems with 4GB RAM, 320 GB hard drives and 20inch LCD displays. Software available on these computers include Microsoft Office,
AutoCAD, Abaqus, Pspice, Maxwell, Pipe2010, Altium Designer, Visual Studio, MATLAB,
LabVIEW, Multisim, Bently MicroStation, SolidWorks, Pro/Engineer, On Screen Takeoff,
and Primavera. When these classrooms are not in use by a class, they are available for
general use.
7.1.3 Classrooms
The CSE Department schedules many of its smaller-enrollment courses in various rooms in
Avery Hall, with seating capacities ranging from 30 up to 88. CSE courses scheduled in these
rooms have access to the same set of multimedia equipment as described in Section 7.1.1 for
the auditorium (minus one LCD projector). CSE Department courses can also be scheduled
into nearby rooms when necessary, including standard classrooms in CBA and Hamilton
Hall. In addition, the CSE Department has three conference rooms, Avery 256C, 352 and
347, that are available for special events, such as the senior design project presentations and
team discussions. Each aforementioned conference room in Avery is equipped with either a
projector or a large LCD panel and laptop hookups. Avery 347 is also equipped with
document-capturing camera allowing paper documents to be displayed on the screens.
Classrooms utilized by the EE Department include Rooms 105 and 106 in Othmer Hall,
Rooms N129, 323 and 310 in the Walter Scott Engineering Center and Rooms W130, W131,
W183, W196 and W213 in Nebraska Hall. The aforementioned classroom utilized by EE are
equipped with a computer system, VCR/DVD and a overhead projector which can also be
connected to a laptop.
7.1.4 Distance Education Facilities
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln has licensed and deployed Adobe Connect as a service
called UNLConnect. Adobe Connect provides a feature-rich flash-based web
communication system for faculty, staff, and students. It supports streaming audio and video,
software simulations, and multi-point video conferencing for online meetings, presentations
and seminars. UNLconnect is designed such that faculty can easily setup and conduct their
own online meetings. To ensure success of UNLConnect, should faculty need assistance in
conducing an online meeting, the faculty can request a UNLConnect staff member be on
hand to assist with the online meeting. Various conference rooms in Avery hall and the
Schorr center are equipped with computers, echo canceling microphones and video cameras
to facilitate small group meeting, presentations, and seminars. In addition UNL also
maintains a few traditional distance-learning classrooms, which allows classrooms from
UNL, and other campuses to be interconnected through video conferencing allowing students
from other campuses to enroll in select UNL classes and vice versa.
7.1.5 Offices
The CSE Department has sufficient space to achieve all Student Outcomes. The CSE
Department occupies part of Avery Hall and all of the Schorr Center. In Avery Hall, there
are 25 offices designated for faculty (tenure/tenure-track, lecturers, visiting scholars,
emeritus professors, etc.), 15 offices/work spaces occupied by 58 graduate students and 16
undergraduate students, and 10 offices for staff (office administrative and system
administrative). In the Schorr Center, there are 11 offices designated for faculty, 12 work
spaces/labs occupied by 47 graduate students and 4 undergraduates, 3 offices for
postdocs/programmers, and 12 offices for administrative staff (office administrative and
system administrative).
Faculty are generally responsible for the purchase and upgrade of equipment in their offices
and in their graduate students’ offices from either startup funds or grant funds. The vast
majority of faculty have two computing devices at their disposal, either a Windows,
Macintosh, or Linux workstation or a laptop. If a faculty member, instructor, or GTA is
unable to procure their own equipment, the department provides the person with at least a
Windows workstation similar to the system in the general-purpose student computing
laboratory and in most cases a laptop as well. When new versions of the operating systems
are released, faculty are informed if their workstation or laptop is not suited to run the newer
version of the operating system. As such, in general most of the faculty computers are either
running Windows 7, MacOS 10.6 or SuSE Linux 11.3.
Some faculty choose to have personal printers in their offices. For faculty who do not have a
personal printer, the department provides a high capacity black-and-white printers within
close proximity to faculty offices; one on each floor with faculty offices in Avery and Schorr.
The CSE Department also provides color printers, dedicated for faculty use, one each in
Avery and Schorr.
7.2 Computing Resources
Students in the Computer Engineering program use many diverse computing systems. The
facilities include servers, supercomputers (large clusters), workstations, PCs, and specialized
electronic equipment, in a distributed environment, inter-connected by high-speed
networking. Students are expected to be aware of and adhere to ethical practices in using the
computing facilities. Before being issued accounts, students read and agree to the Guidelines
for the Use of Computing Resources at UNL
(http://www.unl.edu/unlpub/special/compuse/guidelines.shtml).
7.2.1 Networking
UNL is connected to the Internet via 3 ISPs (Windstream, Unite, and TimeWarner) and I2
Commodity Peering Service (CPS). The aggregate Internet connection bandwidth is 3Gbps.
There are plans to upgrade the aggregate bandwidth to 4.6Gbps this year.
UNL's connection to Internet2 is still through GPN but now it is via dark fiber & DWDM.
UNL has 10Gbps connection to GPN and GPN has 2–10Gbps connections to Internet2. GPN
and the CIC OmniPop in Chicago are connected with a 10Gbps connection as a mutual
backup path to Internet2.
The UNL campus network backbone utilizes 10Gb Ethernet. Various buildings on the UNL
campus network are segmented to isolate network traffic and avoid congestion. The campus
supports DHCP network roaming. Within the buildings most relevant to the computerengineering program — Avery Hall, Nebraska Hall, and the Scott Engineering Center —
most systems are inter-connected via Ethernet switches, with most servers connected via
1000Mb/100Mb ports and most workstations and PCs connected via 100Mb ports.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has developed an extensive wireless network on both
campuses. Avery Hall, where the Computer Science & Engineering department is now
housed, was recently renovated and reopened in the summer of 2004. UNL’s wireless
network consists of 802.11A, 802.11G and 802.11N devices, which operate at raw data rates
of 54 Mb/sec and 300 Mb/sec, respectively. Students can access this network from their
personal computers or PDA’s free of charge using their MyUNL account. This network is
available from the majority of buildings as well as outside green spaces on campus.
7.2.2 Central User Accounts and Support
All students who are CSCE majors and non-majors who are taking CSCE classes are granted
a single username and password. Through an in-house synchronization system, this login and
password grants the user access to all our Windows, Linux and Solaris workstations and
logon servers.
The Computer Science & Engineering Department utilizes a 3.6 TB central file server for all
users’ home directories. Incorporated with the single login system described above, users get
a single home directory regardless of platform or system the user logins into.
The Computer Science & Engineering Department maintains its own Student Resource
Center, which is staffed by undergraduate students who help other undergraduate students
with course work and technical issues. This 600 square foot room has a workstation for the
student staff and other workstations for students to use while being assisted. The center is
open from 9:00AM to 7:00PM Monday through Friday. Technical assistance can also be
obtained during normal business hours in the Systems Administration office in Avery Room
27 or via email at manager@cse.unl.edu.
7.2.3 Servers
7.2.3.1 General Use Logon Servers
A variety of different logon servers are available for students with CSCE accounts. These
servers are remotely accessible 24/7 thru the Internet using various clients.

CSE – Our Central Linux login server. A 32-core AMD system with 64GB of memory. This
system is a Sun Microsystems SunFire x4600 and is used as a unix software development
environment, student email server, student MySQL server, and student web server

CSCE – is both the department’s glassfish server and also doubles as a redundant Linux login
server for students.

Crow – Solaris-based logon server. An 8 core Sparc system with 8GB of memory. This
system is used for users who need a Solaris environment.

CSNT-TS is a Windows 2008-R2 terminal server available to users from on and off campus.
This server is also used by Unix users to access a Windows desktop and Windows
applications. The system is an 8 core 2.83 GHz Intel Xeon server with 16 GB of memory.
7.2.3.2 Support and Development Servers
A variety of other servers are available for students and faculty for various support and
development purposes.

Cse-mail - departmental mail server, supporting POP, IMAP, and SMTP with SSL and TLS
authentication.

Cse-fs1 – departmental file server with 3.6GB storage on a Gateway array.

Cse-smb1 – Samba server which re-exports NFS home directories to windows clients.

Cse-print – departmental print server.

CSCE – departmental glassfish (Java servlet) server and redundant login server.

Cse-sunray – Supports the SunRay thin clients, which present server-hosted virtual desktops
for Windows and Unix users. SunRay clients are used by graduate teaching assistants and
clients are also made available in various student laboratories.

CSNT, CSNT2, cse-redirect, cse-srv2 – Windows Active Directory domain controllers for
login, print, profile and VPN services.

Ponca – Administrative MySQL and web server.
7.2.3.3 VLSI Design Server
The VLSI Design Server is dedicated to VLSI design instruction and projects. The system
supports Cadence for the design, layout, and simulation of logic circuits of any size. The
system is used, in particular, for CSCE 434/834: VLSI Design, CSCE 897: Masters Project,
and CSCE 899: Masters Thesis.
7.2.3.4 Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (Virtual Machine) Server
Oracle's Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is used to provide virtual machines (VMs) to
users. VDI is able to clone and recycle VMs almost instantly. Virtual Machines are being
utilized in the classroom by professors who need to provide students with a computing
environment that can be freely modified. Since VMs can be replicated or cloned easily,
students are able to modify the virtual environments at will, without the risk of timeconsuming system re-installs if something breaks. VMs are used for Network and Data
Security (CSCE 496) and Scheduling Theory (CSCE 925), and Introduction to Operating
Systems (CSCE 451) The VMs can be accessed from virtually anywhere by students using
client software which is available for Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Solaris.
7.2.3.5 Supercomputing Resources
Holland Computing Center (HCC) has two primary locations interconnected by 10 Gbps
fiber optic networking. The 1800 sq. ft. HCC machine room at the Peter Kiewit Institute
(PKI) in Omaha can provide up to 500 kVA in UPS and genset protected power, and 160 ton
cooling. Networking to Internet2 is in place at 10 Gbps. A 2200 sq. ft. second machine room
in the Schorr Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) can currently provide up
to 60 ton cooling with up to 400 kVA of power, and is already connected at 10 Gbps to
Internet2.
HCC’s resources at UNL have evolved to include three distinct offerings: PrairieFire, Red
and Merritt.
PrairieFire, a linux cluster, is dedicated to general campus usage, with 400 compute cores
interconnected by low-latency infiniband networking. The largest machine on the Lincoln
campus is Red, with over 2300 cores interconnected by less expensive, but also higherlatency, gigabit Ethernet. More importantly, Red serves up over 800 TB of storage using
HDFS (Hadoop Distributed File System), an open source version of the file system Google
uses. Red is integrated with the Open Science Grid (OSG), and serves as a major site for
storage and analysis in the international high energy physics project known as CMS
(Compact Muon Solenoid). Finally, Merritt, an Altix 3700 from SGI with 512 GB of shared
memory (RAM), has proven valuable for certain memory intensive applications, even though
its 64 cpu are considerably less than what is available from Red or PrairieFire.
In late May of 2009 the University was given Firefly, a 1151 node, primarily dual-core
Opteron cluster which became by far the largest resource in the University system. It is
connected by Cisco SDR Infiniband and supports 150 TB of Panasas storage. Capable of
21.5 TFlops, it is located at PKI.
These resources are detailed further below.

HCC at UNL:
PrairieFire
16 2-socket, single core systems
o 2 Opteron 248 (2.2GHz/64 bit) per node
o 4 GB PC2700 RAM per node
o 20 GB (or larger) HDD per node
16 2-socket, dual core systems
o 2 Opteron 275 (2.2GHz/64 bit) – 4 cores – per node
o 4 GB PC3200 RAM per node
o 80 GB HDD per node
48 2-socket, quad-core systems
o 2 Opteron 2354 (2.2GHz/64 bit) – 8 cores – per node
o 16 GB DDR2 (667) RAM per node
3 8-socket, dual core systems
o 8 Opteron 870 (2.0GHz/64 bit) – 16 cores – per node
o 32 GB PC3200 RAM per node
o 2.3-3.3 TB RAID storage per node
24 TB shared (NFS) storage
o 1 TB SCSI RAID (XFS over NFS)
o 6 TB SATA RAID (ReiserFS over NFS)
o 17 TB SATA RAID (ZFS over NFS)
Flextronics Infiniband (SDR) and Gigabit Ethernet (Foundry RX16) interconnects.




Merritt
64 1.3 GHz Itanium processors (Altix 3700)
512 GB RAM (shared memory)
20 TB Fiber-channel RAID
CRAY-LINK hypercube intereconnect

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
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Red
(USCMS Tier-2 resource, available opportunistically via the Open Science Grid)
60 Opteron 275 (2.2GHz/64 bit) (4 core per node)
53 Opteron 2216 (2.4GHz/64 bit) (4 core per node)
78 2-socket, quad-core systems
o 2 Opteron 2354 (2.2GHz/64 bit) – 8 cores – per node
o 16 GB DDR2 (667) RAM per node



800 TB HDFS storage
Gigabit Ethernet: Foundry RX16 core switch.
Condor Nodes
Bugeater
o 16 64-bit (primarily 2.2 GHz Opteron) nodes
o gigabit ethernet

Access Grid Nodes
2 locations on campus



Network Capacity
gigE on campus, 10 gigE possible
10 Gb/s to Abilene (Internet2) off-campus
Dynamic Circuit Network (DCN) available for quality assurance




HCC at PKI Resources:
FireFly
1152 PowerEdge SC1435 systems
o 8 GB RAM, 80 GB storage per node
o 872 nodes with 2 (2.8 GHz dual core Opteron 2220) – 4 cores – per nodes
o 280 nodes with 2(2.2 GHz quad core Opteron 2354) – 8 cores – per node
o 800 MB/sec Infiniband interconnect
o 150 TB Panasas storage
Gigabit Ethernet: Force10 e1200 and 10 S50V switches to cover 1152 nodes
Infiniband: 2 Cisco 7024 core switches, providing 2:1 blocking out to the nodes via 39 leaf
switches
Panasas storage (150 TB – gigabit Ethernet connected)
7.2.4 Laboratories
In addition to the laboratories described in this section, three classroom computer
laboratories, one in Avery 20, one in Avery 21, and one in Walter Scott 10N, all equipped
with individual PC workstations, are available for general-purpose access when not being
used for instruction (see Section 7.1.2 for a description of these facilities).
7.2.4.1 CSE General-Purpose Computing Laboratory
A general-purpose computer lab is available exclusively to Computer Science & Engineering
students. This facility, located in Avery Room 15, is approximately 1000 square feet and
contains thirty-four (34) workstations similar to those found in the instructional labs, as well
as four (4) SunRay terminals. The software configuration on these systems is identical to the
systems in the above-described instructional computing facilities. The room is locked at all
times, and is accessible to Computer Science & Engineering students via their student
identification card, which contains a proximity chip. The facility also contains a Hewlett
Packard LaserJet 9050dn laser printer, which prints up to 50 pages per minute. This printer
duplexes and staples all jobs by default in order to save paper and reduce clutter. Each
student is allotted 150 pages per CSCE class they are registered for each semester as part of
their lab fees; additional pages can be purchased and charged to their student account.
7.2.4.2 Circuit Analysis Laboratory
The Circuit Analysis Laboratory in Walter Scott 323 is used for the majority of Electrical
Engineering labs, including ELEC 231 (EE Lab), ELEC 235 (Intro Electrical Lab I), ELEC
236 (Intro Electrical Lab II), ELEC 307 (EE Lab I), ELEC 317 (EE Lab II). It is used both
for supervised instruction and labwork, and assignments completed outside of scheduled
class time by individuals, who gain access through a keypad security system. It has sixteen
workbench stations intended to serve two students each. Every station includes: Tektronix
TDS2012 color digital oscilloscope, Fluke 45 Multimeter, Fluke 37 Multimeter, LG-1301
Function Generator, Kepco MPS620 Triple Output Power Supply, Intronix LogicPort USB
Logic Analyzer, Heathkit Logic trainer, and a Windows 7 PC equipped with LabView,
Altium Designer, Matlab, and other engineering applications. Additional equipment
includes a networked printer, impedance analyzers, and a digital semiconductor curve tracer.
7.2.4.3 Computer Engineering Laboratory
The CSCE Computer Engineering Laboratory in Schorr 117 is available to Computer
Engineering majors for their work in a variety of courses, including CSCE 436: Embedded
Systems, CSCE 488/489: Senior Design, and other design-oriented courses. It is a highly
customizable environment with workbenches for students to work on a variety of different
types of projects. The lab has several netbooks, computers, breadboards, circuit building kits
and autonomous robot building kits. The computers are equipped with programmable FPGA
circuit boards and design tools to create, lay out, and simulate their designs and then use
these systems to download their designs to the FPGA chips. The Schorr Center is open
during normal business hours, and available 24/7 to students who have been granted card
access.
7.2.4.4. General Purpose Engineering Computer Laboratory
The general purpose Engineering Computer Laboratory is located in Nebraska hall W219.
The laboratory is currently equipped with 3GHz Core 2 Duo systems with 4GB Ram, 250
GB hard drives, 17-inch LCD displays, and run windows 7. Software available on these
systems include Microsoft Office, AutoCAD, Abaqus, Pspice, Maxwell, Pipe2010, Altium
Designer, Visual Studio, MATLAB, LabVIEW, Multisim, Bently MicroStation, Solidworks,
Pro/Engineer, On Screen Takeoff, and Primavera. The lab is available during regular
building hours and with card access after building hours.
7.2.4.5 EE Senior Design Laboratory
This EE Senior Design Laboratory in Walter Scott 310 is used by ELEC 494 and ELEC 495
students to design, build and test senior projects. It has six workbenches, equipped with:
Tektronix TDS2012 color digital oscilloscope, Fluke 45 Multimeter, Fluke 37 Multimeter,
B&K Precision 4040A Function Generator, Kepco MPS620 Triple Output Power Supply.
Additional equipment includes high-current power supplies, component testers, and device
programmers. Storage lockers for personal tools and materials are supplied. Students access
the lab on their own time by means of a digital keypad lock.
7.2.4.6 Digital Signal Processing Laboratory
The Digital Signal Processing Laboratory is used for ELEC 463/863. Eight stations include a
TMS320-based DSP development board, a Tektronix 2225 analog oscilloscope, LFG-1300
function generator, and Windows 7 PCs with Matlab, DSP development software, and other
relevant applications.
7.2.4.7 Embedded Computing Laboratory
The Embedded Computing Laboratory in Water Scott 320 hosts the Communications Lab
(ELEC 462), Embedded Computing Lab (ELEC 222), Analog Integrated Circuits Lab (ELEC
469), and LabView development lab (ELEC 460/860). It has three sets of workstations. The
Communications hardware includes Emona TIMS modular communications hardware,
Agilent 4395A Spectrum/Network Analyzer, Agilent 33120 Arbitrary Waveform Generator,
Agilent 54624A Digital Oscilloscope, and Windows 7 PCs with GPIB communications. The
Analog Circuits lab uses ten Sun workstations to run Mentor Graphics design software. The
Embedded Computing and Labview labs share 8 stations with Tektronix TDS220 digital
oscilloscopes, LFG-1300 function generators, Altera DE FPGA development systems,
National Instruments USB-6221 DAQs, and Windows 7 PCs hosting LabView and other
development software. Current embedded instruction is based on Arduino processing boards
purchased by students. Shared color and monochrome laser printers serve the lab. Students
access the lab on their own time by means of a digital keypad lock.
7.2.4.8 Other On-Campus Computing Facilities
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Information Services maintains fourteen different
computer labs throughout UNL’s two campuses. One machine in almost every one of these
labs has Photoshop. Some labs have SAS, SPSS, Final Cut Studio, the Adobe Creative Suite,
and other specialty applications installed. All lab computers have Microsoft Office installed.
In addition to those, Information Services has 53 remote user stations available in various
buildings for students to check email and access the Internet.
A total of 134 computers are available for students to check out for a period of 24 hours or
longer in some cases. 100 notebooks with wireless access are available for checkout from
the Nebraska Union on City Campus and another 34 notebooks are available in Henzlik Hall
on City Campus. 30 notebooks are available from the Nebraska East Campus Union.
A technical support help desk is available to all students, staff, and faculty. The Information
Services Computer Help Center can be reached by phone at 402-472-3970 or toll free at 866472-3970 as well as in person at the 501 Building on City Campus. The Help Center is open
from 7:30AM to 11:30PM, seven days per week.
7.3 Guidance
7.3.1 Student Resource Center
The CSE Student Resource Center is intended to provide UNL Computer Science and
Computer Engineering majors who are new to the program with a set of resources that will
help them assimilate to college life and encourage them to continue their study of Computer
Science and Computer Engineering.





The Center provides a casual environment where the Staff can:
Provide technical support to students, including password resetting,
Assist with course work and assignments,
Offer encouragement, advice and a sympathetic ear,
Provide support to students by sharing their enthusiasm for science and technology.
The structure of the Resource Center is intended to be flexible to allow it to evolve based on
the needs of the students and the availability of the staff.
7.3.2 System FAQs
On the CSE website, there are many resources available to students on the use of department
computing resources: http://cse.unl.edu/ugrad/resources/index.shtml. These include
information on the Student Code of Conduct, FAQs on how to complete various tasks on
CSE’s systems, and on-line resources for checking account status, print quota, and disk
quota. More detailed support questions can be submitted via email to manager@cse.unl.edu.
Students can seek additional support in-person from our support staff by walking into their
offices in Avery 27.
7.4 Maintenance and Upgrading of Facilities
The department implemented a fee structure to all Computer Engineering courses in 2006.
This fee structure has allowed for a predictable upgrade cycle for all computing equipment
used in support of instruction. In general all computing equipment are upgraded on a three to
four year cycle or as deemed necessary. Critical servers are purchased with extended support
for the expected life span of the equipment. Classroom and laboratory computers are
purchased with three-year on-site support. Support and subscription renewal contracts are
also maintained on all key pieces of software.
7.5 Library Services
The UNL Libraries supports the teaching, research, and service activities of the faculty, staff,
and students of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. The UNL Libraries
system serves this discipline from eight locations (http://www.unl.edu/libr/libs/). The main
library, Love Library (http://www.unl.edu/libr/libs/love/), contains resources for computer
science, humanities, and social sciences elective courses in the computer-engineering
curriculum. The Engineering Library (http://www.unl.edu/libr/libs/engr/ ) in Nebraska Hall
holds many resources related to engineering and technology. The Mathematics Library
(http://www.unl.edu/libr/libs/math/) in Avery Hall contains research materials in the fields of
mathematics, statistics, and computer science. The Architecture Library, Geology Library,
and Music Library all contain resource materials utilized by the computer science and
engineering discipline. The C.Y. Thompson Library, located on the UNL East Campus, holds
resources related to agriculture and natural resources.
Students and faculty have access to many online resources, including bibliographic
databases, full-text journal articles, and electronic books. For example, Computer Science
Index, Inspec, Compendex and Web of Science are bibliographic databases which support
research in the computer science and engineering fields. Springer Link and Knovel are
electronic book collections supporting science and engineering. In addition, UNL students
have free access to most of the IEEE, and ACM online publications, including important
journals and conference proceedings. The library’s online resources also provide access to
most professional and technical journals by other major publishers. Students and faculty also
have inter-library loan borrowing privileges, as well as access to UNL Libraries' microforms
and Special Collections.
7.6 Overall Comments on Facilities
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is its own Code Authority. UNL Facilities Management
and Planning provides a complete program of construction inspection, by certified inspectors,
as required by the State Building Act. In addition, the Nebraska State Fire Marshal's office
conducts Fire and Life Safety inspections before and after occupancy of the building. The
State Elevator Inspector and the State Electrical Inspector must also complete their
inspections as required by State law. The UNL Building Official coordinates and verifies all
of these inspections to determine overall building safety before allowing occupancy. Regular
monitoring and maintenance checks are performed on building systems and equipment by
UNL Facilities Management over the lifetime of the facility.
In addition, annual safety audits are conducted by Environmental Health and Safety on all
classrooms, offices, conference rooms, laboratories and shops. A wide array of safety checks
are conducted during these audits to ensure that all safety guidelines are being meet.
Guidelines applicable to our programs are published in the following documents.

Safety Audit Guidelines for Offices, Conference Rooms and Similar Locations:
http://ehs.unl.edu/sop/s-SAG_offices_confrooms_similar_loc.pdf

Disposal of office items: http://ehs.unl.edu/sop/s-ofcwaste.pdf
Safety Audit Guidelines for Shops: http://ehs.unl.edu/sop/s-SAG_shops.pdf
On May 12, 2011, Yoko Smith of UNL’s Environmental Health & Safety office inspected
offices and labs in Avery Hall. On May 18, she submitted the following report to Dr. Steve
Goddard, CSE Chair. The single safety issue reported has since been addressed.
Dr. Goddard,
A safety and compliance survey of Avery Hall was recently conducted and the
finding in rooms designated to your department is below.
Rooms visited:
13, 13A, 15, 20, 21, 27, 27A, 27B, 27C, 27D, 27E, 28A, 28B, 28C, 28D, 28E,
28F, 28G, 103, 103A, 103B, 103C, 103D, 103E, 103F, 104, 104A, 104C,
104D, 104E, 104F, 122, 122A, 122B, 122C, 122D, 122E, 122F, 123, 123A,
123B, 123C, 123D, 123E, 123F, 256.1, 256.2, 256C, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261,
262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 347, 352, 354, 355, 356, 357, 358,
359, 360, 361, 362, 363, 364, 365, 366, 367, 368
The following safety issues were found and need to be addressed as soon as
reasonably possible.
In room 27A, air duster cans are used to clean computers and
components. Those cans cannot be disposed into regular garbage
even when they are empty. There was no aerosol can collection
can available. EHS will contact the department and provide the
collection can.
If you have any questions, please contact me at 472-6512 or
ysmith2@unl.edu.
Thank you,
Yoko T. Smith, CHMM
Safety Specialist
Environmental, Health and Safety Department
University of Nebraska at Lincoln
(402)472-6512
ysmith2@unl.edu
CRITERION 8. INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT
8.1 Leadership
The Department Chair is the chief administrator. Since its inception, the Department
typically has had a chair recruited for that role rather than rotating the position among the
faculty, as is the policy in some departments. The Department has a Vice-Chair appointed to
assist in the performance of specific administrative duties. Most recently, the Vice-Chair,
Stephen Scott, was tasked with responsibilities for the ABET accreditation visit along with
assessment and course scheduling.
The Department maintains three standing committees related to this program: Curriculum
Committee, Undergraduate Advising Committee, and Academic Integrity and Grading
Appeals Committee. The Department Bylaws define the minimum size and composition of
these committees, though their actual size usually exceeds the minimum. These three
committees, working with the Department Chair and the CSE Faculty, are critical to ensuring
quality and continuity of the program.
The Curriculum Committee consists of at least four faculty members appointed by the
Department Chair. This committee makes recommendations to the faculty on matters
concerning the curriculum of the program. This includes periodically reviewing the
curriculum, recommending changes to the curriculum in response to reviews and feedback
from assessment reports, surveys, the IAP, the SAP, and PATs. The faculty then vote on
recommended changes before they are implemented.
The Undergraduate Advising Committee consists of at least two faculty members appointed
by the Department Chair, with the Chief Advisor serving as the chair of the committee. This
committee supervises the undergraduate advising for the department and makes advising
recommendations to the faculty. In its current form, the Undergraduate Advising Committee
provides the majority of direct undergraduate advising and reports possible curricular issues
to the Curriculum Committee for further investigation and evaluation.
The Academic Integrity and Grading Appeals Committee consists of at least two faculty
members and one student representative. This committee handles matters of academic
integrity and reviews all grade appeals.
All changes to the program originate in one of these committees. Once a committee
approves a recommended change, it is forwarded to the Curriculum Committee if necessary
for its approval, and then to the CSE Faculty. All changes to the program must gain a
majority of votes by the CSE Faculty before being implemented.
8.2 Program Budget and Financial Support
Increasing program enrollments combined with decreasing state budgets to UNL have
resulted in a reduction in non-essential courses being offered and increased lecture section
sizes. Nonetheless, in comparison with departments in other universities, the CSE
Department has fared relatively well. There is strong commitment from the institution,
though temporary funds have been critical to bridge gaps between needs and recurring
budgeted funds. The funding area that has been stressed the greatest has been Graduate
Teaching Assistants (GTAs). The program has seen a decrease of seven GTAs from 24 in
AY 2006-2007 to 17 in AY 2010-2011, with recurring budget for less than 16 GTAs each
year. To compensate, the CSE Department has increased its reliance on undergraduate
students to assist with grading and, in some cases, changed the way courses are delivered, so
that we can handle the increased number of students and decreased GTA support. So far, all
indications are that this level of funding and compensation tactics taken by the CSE
Department has been adequate for students in the program to attain the desired student
outcomes. The following subsections provide more details of the budget.
8.2.1 Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty Size
The CSE Department has 24 tenured/tenure-track faculty members. The College of Arts &
Sciences provides (recurring) state funding for 19.9 FTE positions, and the College of
Engineering provides (recurring) state funding for 4.1 FTE positions. The CSE Department
does not distinguish faculty or their duties based on tenure home. In fact, many faculty
members that teach traditional CE courses have tenure homes in the College of Arts &
Sciences. With approximately 380 undergraduate majors (CS and CE) currently in the
program, this yields a student to faculty ratio of approximately 16.
8.2.2 Lecturer Budget
The Department also receives (recurring) state funding, from the College of Arts & Sciences,
for 1.0 FTE Assistant Professor of Practice and 0.66 FTE for a Lecturer. The College of
Engineering provides (recurring) funds from course fees to support 1.0 FTE Lecturer. The
College of Arts & Sciences has provided approximately $34,000 in temporary instruction
funds, on average, for the past three years. These funds have been used primarily to
supplement the GTA budget. Both colleges have provided salary replacement funds to hire
temporary lectures when a CSE faculty member has taken a leave that results in a reduced
FTE appointment.
8.2.3 Graduate Teaching Assistants Budget
The College of Arts & Sciences currently provides recurring funding for approximately 16
GTAs each year. Based on current course offerings and manner of delivery, the actual need
is 20 GTAs per year. Temporary funds have been used to hire undergraduate teaching
assistants and one or two GTAs on a semester-to-semester basis. In an ideal budget scenario,
we would have recurring funding for at least 24 GTAs year.
8.2.4 System Administration Staff Support
The CSE Department has four full-time system administrators and one student assistant,
which is sufficient to meet program needs. The system administration group supports over
1200 students (majors and non majors) and 100 faculty and staff. They support
approximately 50 servers, over 300 workstations, 70 wireless devices, 30 printers, and a 45
node compute cluster. CSE Department servers consist of Solaris 9, 10, and 11 servers, SuSE
10 and 11 servers and Windows 2003 and 2008 servers. Workstations consist primarily of
Windows (7 and XP) with a growing number of Macintosh computers. The laptops are about
50% PCs and about 50% Macintosh laptops. They support a wide array of services,
applications, and various in-house developed software projects, which are primarily Web
based applications with database back-ends. The aforementioned users, equipment, operating
systems, services, applications, and software are currently housed in Avery Hall and Schorr
Center and all maintained by four full-time staff and one student assistant.
The College of Arts & Sciences provides approximately $110,000 of recurring support. The
College of Engineering and systems administration fees paid by research grants provide
approximately $122,000 of recurring support through course fees.
8.2.5 Office Administrative Staff Support
The CSE Department has seven full-time administrative and secretarial staff, who, along with
student assistants, support the undergraduate programs, graduate programs, business
operations, and other activities. One secretarial line is provided by the CoE, three lines are
provided by CAS (College of Arts and Sciences), two lines are supported through Program of
Excellence (PoE) funds from the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, and one line
is supported through research activity. This level of support is sufficient for the academic
program, though increased research activity in recent years has resulted in a need for
additional research grant support.
8.2.6 Operating Budget
The operating budget for the CSE Department has not changed in over 15 years. The
College of Arts & Sciences provides $43,300 and the College of Engineering provides
$29,642. This budget covers telecommunications and data port charges for most years. Other
sources of revenue are used (e.g., PoE) to cover other operating costs.
8.2.7 Equipment and infrastructure Budget
The CSE Department receives occasional funds from the College of Arts & Sciences for
major equipment or infrastructure upgrades. Engineering course fees and CSE course fees
provide $58,000 to $69,000 of recurring funds for equipment and infrastructure (e.g.,
replacing lab computers every three years, or course equipment and supplies).
8.2.8 Student Resource Center
The CSE Student Resource Center is funded from NU Foundation funds and College of
Engineering course fees.
8.3 Staffing
The CSE Department has four full-time system administrators and a student assistant, who,
with student assistants, maintain all of the CSE Department’s research and educational
computing facilities.
The facilities, described in Section 7, are very diverse and support complex and sophisticated
software. All system administration positions are supported by combined resources from the
Colleges and Department research grants.
System administrators are encouraged to maintain and enhance their technical skills
throughout the year. In particular, when resources are available, they are encouraged to
attend training workshops and/or conferences. The staff also cross-train to be sure that
adequate support is maintained, even when someone is on vacation or leaves the group. The
system administration group is also frequently asked to develop new tools to assist the office
staff or faculty, which provides new and different challenges for those interested in pursuing
such activities.
The CSE Department has seven full-time administrative and secretarial staff, who, along with
student assistants, support the undergraduate programs, graduate programs, business
operations, and other activities. One secretarial line is provided by the CoE, three lines are
provided by CAS (College of Arts and Sciences), two lines are supported through Program of
Excellence funds from the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, and one line is
supported through research activity.
The administrative support staff is encouraged to attend UNL training sessions on new tools
and processes when appropriate. Duties of the staff are also rotated on occasion to ensure
cross-training.
8.4 Faculty Hiring and Retention
All faculty hires are done in accordance with UNL policy. When the Dean approves a
faculty position, a search committee is formed, and a national search is launched, with print
and electronic ads in nationally circulated publications. All candidates must submit a CV,
Research Statement, Teaching Statement, and a list of references. A candidate list is formed
from the application pool, reference letters requested, and then phone interviews are
conducted with the top 10-15 candidates. A short list of 4-6 candidates that did well in the
phone interviews is invited to campus for two-day interviews. The candidate meets with
Deans in the College of Engineering and the College of Arts & Sciences, as well as other
administrators on campus. The candidate also meets individually with the CSE Faculty and
gives a talk. After all short-list candidates have interviewed on campus, the CSE Faculty
meet and decide which if any of the candidates they would like to hire. The Department
Chair then negotiates with the top candidate to hire that person.
Retention of current qualified faculty is an on-going process. It begins with an open-door
policy by the Department Chair. All faculty are encouraged to visit to discuss issues that
arise, especially before they become a crisis. Faculty Achievements are publicized via email
to UNL administrators and CSE Faculty and Web positing. Each spring, The CSE
Department holds an Awards Ceremony to recognized the achievements of faculty and
students. At that time, Outstanding Teaching is recognized at the departmental level. Highly
qualified faculty members that excel in the classroom are nominated for College Teaching
Awards, and nearly one-third of the CSE Faculty have received such awards. Outstanding
research is recognized by a course reduction in the faculty member’s teaching load, if so
desired, so that that faculty member can concentrate even more on their research. Faculty are
also encouraged to regularly teach a graduate-level or undergraduate/graduate-level course in
their research area, which helps build their research program. Finally, when necessary, the
Department Chair makes preemptive retention package offers when the situation is
warranted.
8.5 Support of Faculty Professional Development
There are a number of organized professional development resources for faculty. The CSE
Department and EE Department offer colloquia, featuring innovative researchers and
educators (http://cse.unl.edu/colloquium/). There also are campus-wide colloquia, including
a speaker series focusing on math and science education, sponsored by the UNL Center for
Science, Mathematics, and Computer Education (http://www.unl.edu/scimath/) and the
Mathematics, Science, and Computing Education area-of-excellence project funded by the
College of Arts and Sciences.
The UNL faculty development leave policy provides faculty with a valuable opportunity for
paid leave to undertake activities that enrich their teaching and/or research
(http://ascweb.unl.edu/dean/resources/fellowship_policy.html). The leave is for one year at
half salary or one-half year at full salary. Six full years of service must elapse between
development leaves.
The UNL Office of Research provides grant writing courses and other support. Faculty are
also encouraged to maintain a robust, funded, research program and to present their research
in top-tier conferences.
9 PROGRAM CRITERIA
The structure of the curriculum must provide both breadth and depth across the range of
engineering topics implied by the title of the program.
The Computer Engineering degree program covers the breadth and depth of topics relevant to
the degree. This is accomplished by combining the strengths and resources of existing
programs in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. As shown in Table 9-1, the
curriculum covers traditional computer science topics (algorithms, data structures, software
development, and programming), traditional electrical engineering topics (electronics and
hardware), and topics in hardware/software integration. The integration of hardware and
software in design and operation is presented throughout the curriculum and culminates in a
five-credit, two-course capstone sequence: CSCE 488/489.
The program achieves depth by requiring 15 credit hours of study in specified technical
electives. These electives must be selected from a list of eligible advanced courses from
Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. Further, a Computer Engineering major has
the option of declaring a Focus in one of multiple areas, simply by concentrating his or her
technical electives in that area. Details on the Focus option are in the Background section
under “Options”.
The Computer Engineering program draws on faculty expertise in both the CSE and EE
Departments to provide comprehensive coverage of relevant topics. Faculty expertise lies in
the computer science topics computer theory and algorithms, software engineering,
programming, and hardware/software integration. EE faculty expertise includes electronics
and hardware.
Table 9-1: Computer Engineering Topics, Breadth of Coverage
Software and Programming
Electronics and Hardware
Hardware/Software Integration
CSCE 155(A,E,N,T):
Intro. to Comp. Sci. I
CSCE 156: Intro. to Comp. Sci. II
CSCE 235: Discrete Structures
CSCE 335: Digital Logic Design
CSCE 310: Data Struct. & Algo.
CSCE 340: Numerical Analysis
ELEC 304: Signals & Systems
ELEC 316: Elec. & Ckts III
CSCE 230: Computer
Organization
CSCE 230L: Computer Org. Lab.
CSCE 236: Intro. to Embedded
Systems
CSCE 351: O.S. Kernels
CSCE 488: Computer Engineering
Professional Development
CSCE 489: Senior Design Project
CSCE 462: Communication
Networks
CSCE 361: Software Engineering
ELEC 215/235: Elec &. Ckts I/Lab
ELEC 216/236: Elec.& Ckts II/Lab
The curriculum must include probability and statistics, including applications appropriate to
the program name; mathematics through differential and integral calculus; sciences (defined
as biological, chemical, or physical science); and engineering topics (including computing
science) necessary to analyze and design complex electrical and electronic devices, software,
and systems containing hardware and software components.
The program provides the basic mathematical and scientific foundations by requiring 29
credit hours of mathematics (including differential and integral calculus, differential
equations, linear algebra, probability and statistics, discrete mathematics, and numerical
analysis), and either 13 credit hours of physics or 8 credit hours of physics plus 4 credit hours
of chemistry.
Mathematics and science are used extensively in required courses, for example in algorithm
analysis (e.g., CSCE 310: Algorithms and Data Structures), circuit analysis (e.g., ELEC 215,
216, and 316: Electronic & Circuits I, II, III and ELEC 361: Signals and Systems), digital
logic design (e.g., CSCE 335: Digital Logic Design), and systems analysis (e.g., CSCE 351
Operating System Kernels). Probability and statistics concepts are applied to engineering
problems in many classes, including CSCE 230 Computer Organization (e.g., yield
equations, performance metrics, and cache hit-ratios), CSCE 310 Data Structures and
Algorithms (e.g., algorithm performance), ELEC 316 Electronics & Circuits III (e.g., particle
distributions and quantum mechanics), and CSCE 351 Operating System Kernels (e.g., page
fault analysis and queuing models). CSCE340 Numerical Analysis I provides valuable
perspectives on mathematical computing.
The curriculum for programs containing the modifier "computer" in the title must include
discrete mathematics.
The program satisfies the program-specific Discrete Mathematics requirement CSCE 235:
Introduction to Discrete Structures. The concepts of discrete mathematics and structures are
applied in later courses such as CSCE 310: Data Structures and Algorithms. For students in
the Raikes School, discrete math concepts are taught and applied in RAIK 283H: Honors:
Foundations of Computer Science.
APPENDICES
Appendix A – Course Syllabi
Please use the following format for the course syllabi (2 pages maximum in Times New Roman
12 point font)
1. Course number and name
2. Credits and contact hours
3. Instructor’s or course coordinator’s name
4. Text book, title, author, and year
a. other supplemental materials
5. Specific course information
a. brief description of the content of the course (catalog description)
b. prerequisites or co-requisites
c. indicate whether a required, elective, or selected elective (as per Table 5-1) course
in the program
6. Specific goals for the course
a. specific outcomes of instruction, ex. The student will be able to explain the
significance of current research about a particular topic.
b. explicitly indicate which of the student outcomes listed in Criterion 3 or any other
outcomes are addressed by the course.
7. Brief list of topics to be covered
Appendix B – Faculty Vitae
Please use the following format for the faculty vitae (2 pages maximum in Times New Roman 12
point type)
1. Name
2. Education – degree, discipline, institution, year
3. Academic experience – institution, rank, title (chair, coordinator, etc. if appropriate),
when (ex. 1990-1995), full time or part time
4. Non-academic experience – company or entity, title, brief description of position, when
(ex. 1993-1999), full time or part time
5. Certifications or professional registrations
6. Current membership in professional organizations
7. Honors and awards
8. Service activities (within and outside of the institution)
9. Briefly list the most important publications and presentations from the past five years –
title, co-authors if any, where published and/or presented, date of publication or
presentation
10. Briefly list the most recent professional development activities
Appendix C – Equipment
A summary of computing equipment used in support of instruction in the CSE Department is in
the following table.
Make
Model
Role
Quantity
Sun Microsystems
V210
Server
4
Sun Microsystems
V240
Server
1
Sun Microsystems
T2000
Server
2
Sun Microsystems
X4150/X4140
Server
6
Sun Microsystems
X4500
Storage Array
1
Sun Microsystems
X4600
Server
1
Apple
Xserve
Server
1
Dell
Power Edge 2650
Server
2
Dell
Power Edge 2950
Serer
2
Gateway
E842R
Storage Array
1
Sun Microsystems
SunRay Thin Clients
GTA and Lab Clients
48
Intel
3.2 GHz Core 2 Duo x86 systems
Lab workstations
123
Apple Laptops
Various
Faculty use
12
Apple Desktops
Various
Student/Faculty use
21
Intel Laptops
Various
Faculty use
11
Intel Desktops
Various
Faculty use
9
HP
LaserJet 9050
Student/Faculty use
2
HP
Color LaserJet 5550
Student/Faculty use
2
Appendix D – Institutional Summary
Programs are requested to provide the following information.
1. The Institution
a. Name and address of the institution
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
201 Canfield Administration Building
Lincoln, NE 68588-0419
b. Name and title of the chief executive officer of the institution
Dr. Harvey Perlman, Chancellor
c. Name and title of the person submitting the self-study report.
Dr. Stephen D. Scott, Associate Professor and Vice Chair
d. Name the organizations by which the institution is now accredited and the dates of the
initial and most recent accreditation evaluations.
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
30 North LaSalle Street, Suite 2400; Chicago IL 60602-2504;
Phone: (312) 263-0456
Initial Date: 1913; Most Recent Date: 2007
2.
Type of Control
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is a Public Institution (a state and land-grant
university).
3. Educational Unit
The Computer Engineering program is managed by the Department of Computer Science
and Engineering, which resides in both the College of Arts & Sciences and the College of
Engineering, the latter of which has administrative authority over the Computer Engineering
program. The College of Engineering is a college unit that reports directly to the Office of
Academic Affairs. The chain of command is as follows:
Dr. Steve Goddard, Olsson Professor and Chair, Computer Science and Engineering
Dr. Timothy Wei, Dean, College of Engineering
Dr. Ellen Weissinger, Senior Vice Chancellor, Office of Academic Affairs
Dr. Harvey Perlman, Chancellor
4. Academic Support Units (Lincoln Campus)
Department of Mathematics, Dr. John Meakin, Milton Mohr Professor and Department
Chair
Department of Chemistry, Dr. James M. Takacs, Charles Bessey Professor and Department
Chair
Department of Physics, Dr. Dan Claes, Professor and Department Chair
5. Non-academic Support Units
Holland Computing Center, Dr. David R. Swanson, Director and Research Associate
Professor, Computer Science and Engineering
Library, Dr. Joan R. Giesecke, Dean of Libraries
6. Credit Unit
One semester hour of credit represents one class hour (50 minutes) or three laboratory hours
(150 minutes) per week. One academic year represents 30 weeks of classes, exclusive of
final examinations.
7. Tables
Table D-1. Program Enrollment and Degree Data and Table D-2. Personnel are presented on
the following pages.
Table D-1. Program Enrollment and Degree Data
Total
Undergrad
Total
Grad
Computer Engineering—Lincoln
160
107
2
4
6
24
0
30
0
141
4
86
4
-
13
8
9
20
25
30
120
88
-
17
18
7
0
0
1
3
4
3
FT
37
30
25
31
123
94
-
20
19
6
PT
FT
PT
0
51
1
0
24
1
0
21
2
6
47
5
6
143
9
2
101
5
-
32
18
17
Academic
Year
Current
Year
AY2011
1
AY2010
2
AY 2009
3
AY2008
4
AY2007
Enrollment Year
2nd
3rd
4th
33
37
33
FT
1st
57
PT
0
1
1
FT
PT
61
2
26
2
FT
45
PT
5th
Degrees Awarded
Associates
-
Bachelors
21
Masters
4+
Doctorates
0+
Give official fall term enrollment figures (head count) for the current and preceding four academic years and undergraduate
and graduate degrees conferred during each of those years. The "current" year means the academic year preceding the fall
visit.
FT--full time
PT--part time
Table D-2. Personnel
Computer Engineering—Lincoln
Year1: 2010
HEAD COUNT
FT
FTE2
PT
Administrative3
Faculty (tenure-track)
Other Faculty (excluding student
Assistants)
Student Teaching Assistants
Student Research Assistants
Technicians/Specialists
Office/Clerical Employees
Others4
Report data for the program being evaluated.
1
Data on this table should be for the fall term immediately preceding the visit.
Updated tables for the fall term when the ABET team is visiting are to be
prepared and presented to the team when they arrive.
2
For student teaching assistants, 1 FTE equals 20 hours per week of work (or
service). For undergraduate and graduate students, 1 FTE equals 15 semester
credit-hours (or 24 quarter credit-hours) per term of institutional course work,
meaning all courses — science, humanities and social sciences, etc. For faculty
members, 1 FTE equals what your institution defines as a full-time load.
3
Persons holding joint administrative/faculty positions or other combined
assignments should be allocated to each category according to the fraction of the
appointment assigned to that category.
4
Specify any other category considered appropriate, or leave blank.
Appendix E – Forms
E-1 Transfer Course Equivalency Form
E-2 Application for Admission to Engineering College
E-3 Retroactive Credit for CSCE 155
E-3 Retroactive Credit for CSCE 155 (cont’d)
E-4 Credit by Examination Form
APPLICATION FOR
_____________________ CREDIT BY EXAMINATION____________________
OFFICE OF REGISTRATION AND RECORDS
STEP 1: COURSE EXAMINATION
Complete a separate application for each course
to be examined
COURSE TO BE EXAMINED:
Department
Course Number
STEP 2: STUDENT INFORMATION
This address will be used to notify you of the
results of the examination.
Student Identification Number
Last Name
Middle
First
Residence Hall/Building
#
Room
Street
Apt. #
City
(
State
Email Address (required)
STEP 4: PERMISSION
Secure the written permission from the
Undergraduate Advising Office, CBA 138
STEP 5: FEE PAYMENT
Visit the Cashier at 121 Canfield Adm. Bldg.,
to make your fee payment before the
examination is to be given.
STEP 6: INSTRUCTOR VERIFICATION
Return this completed form to the instructor in
CBA 247, at least one week prior to the exam
date
Zip
)
Phone
STEP 3: ENROLLMENT VERIFICATION
Verify your Current enrollment and the course
to be examined at Registration and Records,
107 Canfield Adm. Bldg
Credit Hours
Student’s College
PRINT CLEARLY
FOR RECORDS
USE ONLY
FOR UNDERGRADUATE
ADVISING USE ONLY
FOR CASHIER’S
USE ONLY
______Examination passed
________Examination not passed.
Instructor’s Signature
Date
Department Address
Phone
INSTRUCTOR: Return this form to the Admissions Office, Alexander Building, 0417
E-5 Senior Check Form
E-5 Senior Check Form (cont’d)
Signature Attesting to Compliance
By signing below, I attest to the following:
That _______________________ (Name of the program(s)) has conducted an honest
assessment of compliance and has provided a complete and accurate disclosure of timely
information regarding compliance with ABET’s Criteria for Accrediting Engineering
Programs to include the General Criteria and any applicable Program Criteria, and the
ABET Accreditation Policy and Procedure Manual.
________________________________
Dean’s Name (As indicated on the RFE)
________________________________
Signature
_______________________
Date