Session 2647

How Are The Engineering Technology Graduates Doing? A Rochester 25 Year Survey

John Stratton

Rochester Institute of Technology

Abstract: A study of the long term progress of the baccalaureate engineering technology (ET) graduates from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) was undertaken during 1997. Approximately 550 of RIT’s 3,000 graduates and 250 of their direct supervisors replied to the survey. The results and analysis show that RIT’s ET alumni are performing effectively in a wide variety of career paths, using salary, position, and satisfaction data and comments.

Introduction: The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), in Rochester, NY, is an independent university of approximately 13,300 students. Within the College of Applied Science and Technology, the engineering technology (ET) programs are administered by three departments: Civil, Electrical/Computer/Telecommunications, and Manufacturing/ Technology. The programs have a (headcount) enrollment of approximately 1,250 students, or almost 10% of the RIT enrollment.

RIT’s ET baccalaureate programs were started in 1970 for transfer students only, and the first class graduated in 1973. The original programs used the Bachelor of Technology designation, with the programs changing to in 1990. First and second year students were included starting in 1988. The ET programs are offered co-op for day students and most programs are scheduled evenings for the employed part time students.

RIT’s ET accreditation was initially granted in 1975 by what has become the Technology Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (TAC of ABET). Initial programs were in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Technology, with Civil Engineering Technology (1971), Manufacturing Engineering Technology (1980), Computer Engineering Technology (1985), Telecommunications Engineering Technology (1991) and Electrical/Mechanical Engineering Technology (1992) being added at the dates listed.

In preparation for the Fall 1998 TAC of ABET visit, it was determined that a survey of the graduates of the past 25 years, and their immediate supervisors, was in order. Over 3,000 surveys were mailed to the alumni with known addresses. 550 of the alumni responded and Page 3.311.1 250 of their immediate supervisors responded to this survey. Most of the surveys were complete, but a few of them were returned without a name, without part of the salary data, or with some other data missing. This report summarizes the findings of this survey. Page 3.311.2

2 The Survey Form: The survey form is one that has been slightly modified from a form used by Robert L. Mott in his 1992 paper (1). Prof. Mott’s study and one done by W. D. Stanley and A. K. Verma in 1996 (2), have established the benchmarks for the data to be gathered for graduate professional recognition and satisfaction. A copy of the RIT graduate and immediate supervisor form is available upon request. (Please refer to the end of this paper for request information.)

Are the Responses Representative of RIT ET Graduates? The responses are representative of the RIT ET graduates for the following reasons: • The response rate was almost 20 %. • RIT maintains a very good data base for alumni addresses. • The alumni were not pre-selected. • A cursory look at those who responded show a wide range of ability and motivation while they were at RIT. • The number of responses from Civil, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Technology (the early RIT programs) are large enough to be significant. The number of responses from the newer programs are significant only when placed in the context of the total response.

Salary Study: Graduate salaries should be compared in a number of ways. For a sample size of 550 graduates, a year by year comparison of RIT ET graduates, and as a comparison group the national Engineering Workforce Commission study of all engineering graduates (3), is included in Graph #1. This is a study of current median salary of all RIT ET graduates (or of the national engineering graduate salaries) vs. years since graduation. The data is based on salaries reported as of early 1997, reflecting 1996 salaries.

Graph #1, Salary of Graduates in Thousands of Dollars Comparison of RIT ET Graduates and National Engineering Salaries Page 3.311.3

3 Salary Median Years

$80,000.00

$70,000.00 RIT ET GRADUATES

$60,000.00 EWC ENGINEERING GRADUATES $50,000.00

$40,000.00

$30,000.00

$20,000.00 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

YEARS SINCE GRADUATION

Is the comparison with the Engineering Workforce Commission summary of median salaries of all engineers fair? Since almost a quarter of RIT ET graduates have a master’s degree, perhaps a small amount should be added to the EWC numbers for fairness. Even with this change, the RIT ET graduates are being compensated at about the same rate as the national survey of engineers.

Another comparison of importance is the comparison of the median salaries of graduates of the various ET programs. Table #1 list salaries by program for four time periods:

Table #1, 1996 Salary of Graduates in Thousands of Dollars Comparison of Salaries by RIT ET Program

Years of 1973-79 1980-84 1985-89 1990-96 Graduation

Civil ET 70 64 48 36 Computer ET 75 48 Electrical ET 60 65 54 43 Energy ET 52 Manu. ET 63 40 Mechanical ET 65 67 54 47

(Telecommunication ET and Electrical/Mechanical ET have too small a sample to be significant.) Page 3.311.4

4 Job Titles and Descriptions: One of the most frequently asked questions is what job titles do the RIT ET graduates have in their current professional assignment. Table #2 is a summary of the self reported job titles of RIT ET programs.

Table #2: Professional Job Title, RIT ET Graduates (By Percent)

Category Technician Engineer Management ET Other Engr. Gen. Senior Related

Civil ET 6 54 13 12 9 6 1 Comp. ET 0 52 10 6 13 20 0 Energy ET 11 33 56 0 0 0 0 Elec.ET 6 50 17 10 7 7 3 E/M ET 0 25 0 50 25 0 0 Mech. ET 1 42 23 11 7 13 3 Manu. ET 2 62 18 4 2 11 0 Tele. ET 0 100 0 0 0 0 0 Total ET 4 50 17 10 7 9 2

Definitions: Technician: Includes Senior Technician. No Technologist reported. Engineer: Engineer in title, but no manager title. Engr. Mgt.: Manager of engineering, project or design functions. General Mgt.: Other functions related to industrial management. Senior Mgt.: President, Owner, Principal, or other high ranking official. ET Related: Did not contain engineer in title, clearly uses ET education. Other: Does not appear to require ET education. Page 3.311.5

5 Another way of looking at the professional responsibilities of ET graduates is by their self- identified job descriptions. Table #3 is a summary of such descriptions. A graduate was able to chose any number of descriptions which apply to their current position, so the percentages add to more than 100%.

Table #3: Job Descriptions of RIT ET Graduates

Job Description

General Management 7% Systems Design 7% Engineering Management 20% Product Evaluation & Testing 5% Sales and Marketing Management 4% Hardware/Software Development 9% Health Care Management 0% Controls Engineering 4% Service Industries Management 0% Manufacturing Engineering 9% Manufacturing / Operations Man, 5% Process Design 4% Plant Engineering Management 1% Plant Engineering 3% Maintenance Management 3% Methods/Standards Engineering 2% Management of other functions 1% Quality Assurance 6% Sales and Marketing 4% Production Planning & Control 2% Purchasing 1% Plant Layout 2% Technical Services 7% Research & Development 4% Field/Applications Engineering 8% Education 2% Product Planning 2% Product Design 6% Environmental Engineering 3% Engineering Design 16% Construction 8% Other Non-Technical 2% Other Technical 8%

Graduate Education: Are baccalaureate ET degrees terminal? Many remember statements of the AAS degree as being “terminal”, and the same question is sometimes raised about the BS degrees in engineering technology. Table #4 summarizes the graduate education resources. Page 3.311.6

6 Table #4: Graduate Education, RIT ET BT & BS Graduates By Percent

Category Some MBA MS All Ph.D. Graduate Any MS Any Work Field Field

Civil ET 20 5 8 13 0 Comp. ET 43 3 26 29 0 Elec. ET 41 14 14 28 0.2 Mech. ET 41 9 13 22 0.2 Manu. ET 41 22 10 32 0 Other ETToo Small A Sample All ET/Yr. 73-79 38 15 12 27 1 80-84 43 17 13 30 0 85-89 38 11 17 28 0.5 90-96 26 3 8 11 0 All ET 36 11 13 24 0.4

In table #4, one of the PhD’s was in Mechanical Engineering, the other one did not report a field. Of the MS degrees, most were in engineering, engineering management, or a specialized technology. There were a few MS degrees in fields not directly related to ET or management. This data clearly shows that the BSET degree is not terminal.

Licenses or Certifications: Are ET graduates licensed as professional engineers or certified in some other way to practice in an engineering or related profession? The first question is related to the PE license, which is allowed for ET graduates in and many surrounding states. The second question is a difficult one to define. Rather than limit the responses, the graduates were allowed to list their particular certifications. The responses are included in Table #5.

Table #5: Licenses or Certifications of RIT ET Graduates, By Percent

Program: EIT (Not Yet PE) PE Certifications Civil ET 30% 24% 24% Computer ET 0% 0% 39% Electrical ET 0% 2% 35% Elec./Mech. ET 0% 0% 56% Energy ET 0% 0% 100% Manufacturing ET 0% 0% 63% Mechanical ET 0% 0% 49% (Telecommunications ET: sample size not significant.) Total ET 14% 9% 58% Page 3.311.7

7 With 8 programs and a wide variety of professional positions, an even wider variety of certifications were listed by students. The most commonly listed certifications were: CMfgE, CMfgT, CQE, CQA, NICET, OSHA and LS.

Graduate Satisfaction: Graduates were asked to rate their satisfaction with their RIT education in three ways. The first was the general satisfaction with the RIT ET program, the second was the academic preparation for a professional career in their ET field, and the third was with their career mobility as a result of their RIT ET degree. Table #6 summarizes the graduate satisfaction responses.

Table #6: Graduate Satisfaction, Scale 5-Excellent to 1-Poor

Civil Comp. E/M Elec. Energy Mech. Manu. Tele. ET ET ET ET ET ET ET ET ET Overall Note Note Note

RIT ET 4.06 4.27 3.78 4.04 4.00 3.87 3.88 4.50 4.01 Satisfaction Career 3.95 4.39 3.44 3.98 4.40 3.84 3.92 4.00 3.96 Preparation Career 3.75 4.24 3.78 3.61 4.00 3.65 4.02 4.00 3.74 Mobility Note: E/M, Energy and Tele. had very few responses.

A couple of comments are in order. Earlier dates of graduation showed a worse perception of career mobility, which may reflect the change from a Bachelor of Technology to a Bachelor of Science in the 1990’s. Also, the perception of career mobility of the civil, electrical and mechanical ET programs being worse may reflect both the Bachelor of Technology degree and the particular field of endeavor. Page 3.311.8

8 Employer Satisfaction: Employers were asked to provide information about their satisfaction with their RIT graduate and with the preparation which was provided by RIT. This was not broken down by program. Table #7 summarizes employer responses.

Table #7: Employer Satisfaction.

Highly 54321Not Satisfied Satisfied

Academic 103 137 30 1 1 preparation

Performance 133 116 20 1 2

The averages were 4.25 and 4.39, showing a high degree of satisfaction. Several employers did express a desire for better communications, presentation skills and interpersonal skills. There were several detailed technical recommendations. The change of degree title for previous graduates to the Bachelor of Science in ET (from Bachelor of Technology) was underway, but the respondents were not aware of it at the time of the survey.

Membership in a Professional Society: The self-reported memberships in professional societies are summarized in table #8.

Table #8, Membership in a Professional Society, by Percent

Program Civil Comp. E/M Elec. Energy Mech. Manu. Tele. ET Overall Percent 46% 36% 56% 36% 100% 48% 56% 0% 44%

If professional membership is part of being a professional and is a part of continuing education, then the RIT faculty have at least partially succeeded in their mission.

What Did The Comments Say? About half of the graduates and a third of the employers used the opportunity to provide a written comment. Comments were divided into those who (1)said “job well done”, (2)had specific suggestions for program revision, and (3)a few who had specific complaints about their programs. The following is a very short summary of the main points of suggestions for programmatic change:

• There were suggestions for computer programming languages, CAD platforms, and suggestions specific to a particular program. • RIT’s initial offering was a Bachelor of Technology in ET degree. About 1990, RIT changed to a Bachelor of Science in ET degree. Many students felt that the BT degree was not well understood by employers. Since the time of the survey, RIT obtained permission from the New York State Education Department to change the BT’s to BS’s if they met Page 3.311.9 NYSED general education requirements. Over half of the graduates have made the request

9 for the change and over 98% of the requesters met the NYSED requirement and now have BS degrees. • Communicate! Communicate! Communications and human relations are as much a part of their jobs as the technical education. • Co-op was a very valuable experience for all graduates. Page 3.311.10

10 Conclusions: • The graduates of RIT ET programs are doing very well and value their RIT ET education. • Employers are very satisfied with RIT ET graduates. • Salaries of RIT ET graduates are approximately the same as the national average for engineers with the same length of service. • Job titles and job descriptions show RIT ET graduates working in the more applied end of the engineering job spectrum. Very few titles or descriptions reflect what would appropriately be called a technician, but rather they reflect the work of an engineer or an engineering technologist. Not a single use of the word technologist was found. • RIT ET graduates do seek graduate degrees in significant numbers. For those who graduated prior to 1990, almost 30% of them have received a master’s degree. Half of the masters are in the management field and half are in technical fields or engineering. • A PE license is only sought in significant numbers by the Civil Engineering Technology graduates. With 24% of the civil graduates having PE licenses, they are succeeding. • Other (than PE) forms of certification are common for RIT ET graduates. • Graduates indicated that career mobility with the BS degree is better than with the BT degree in the same engineering technology discipline. • A significant number of RIT graduates are active members of a professional society.

References:

1. MOTT, ROBERT L. “Twenty-five Years of Success with the Baccalaureate Degree in Engineering Technology”. Journal of Engineering Technology, Vol. 9 , DC: The American Society for Engineering Education, 1992.

2. STANLEY, WILLIAM D. and VERMA, ALOK K. “Long-Term Performance of Old Dominion University Engineering Technology Graduates”. 1996 Annual Conference Proceedings, Washington, DC, The American Society for Engineering Education.

3. ENGINEERING MANPOWER COMMISSION. “Compensation 1996, Finally, Real Improvements in Pay.” Engineers, July 1996, Washington DC, Engineering Manpower Commission.

To obtain a copy of the ET Survey Graduate form and the ET Survey Employer form please contact John Stratton at RIT/CAST, 15 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester NY 14623-5603 or by e-mail, [email protected]. Page 3.311.11

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