CRITERION 2. PROGRAM EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES As pointed out on the Institute of Industrial Engineers website1, industrial engineering differs from other engineering discipline in that practitioners need to be able to apply skills in a wide variety of situations. Recent graduates of our program have begun their professional careers as a packaging engineer, operations capital coordinator, marketing and distribution operations, industrial sales engineer, quality engineer, military OR analyst, and operations management training in such varied venues as private industry, military operations and research, aerospace, information technology, regional technical consulting, and food production. Additionally, some of our graduates have gone on to seek higher degrees in industrial engineering, business, medicine and applied mathematics. It is clear that our students have a very wide range of abilities, interests, and intentions. The challenge is to provide them with a basic set of skills and knowledge that will serve them well, regardless of which career they decide to pursue. The faculty of the Industrial Engineering Department strives to meet this need through a variety of formal and informal processes. As with any continuous improvement initiative, there are two key aspects: 1. What is quality from the perspective of the customer? 2. What substituted characteristics of the process can we measure in order to monitor the process and assure the quality of the product? For the first point, the industrial engineering department employs a number of formal and informal processes. We communicate with representatives of industry, graduates of our program, professional organizations, and our students to see what our graduates would be expected to do with the skills and knowledge they acquire in our program. It is the nature of industrial engineering that this is an ever-changing expectation and for that reason we need to continually keep asking the question, “What do our graduates need to be able to do?” The second question is both simpler and more complex. In the setting of an undergraduate program, it begs three sub-questions. 1. Once we know what it is our students need to do, we have to ask, "of those things, what can they best learn in our program and what should be left to them to learn on the job?" Some things are learned better in one setting than the other. Additionally, we cannot possibly provide every skill and knowledge that would be needed by every one of our graduates, given the very large variety of careers they pursue. 2. Once we have identified that knowledge and skills we wish to develop in our students, the next question is, “how do we do that?” 3. After question 2, comes the question, “how can we be sure that what we are doing is having the desired effect?” 4. The final question arises, as it would in any quality management setting, ”if we are not doing what we want to do, how do we fix?” Each and every member of the industrial engineering faculty is involved in some aspect of asking and attempting to answer these questions. At times, individual faculty members pursue these tasks in their own specialized areas, but when it comes to the curriculum all faculty work 1 http://www.iienet2.org/Details.aspx?id=716 together towards the common goals. To this end, The Department of Industrial Engineering determines, evaluates, and updates its Program Educational Objectives in conjunction with published University and Engineering College objectives, as well as through periodic involvement with its constituencies. A. Mission Statement Provide the institutional mission statement. As New Mexico’s land-grant university, the mission of New Mexico State University (NMSU) is to serve the educational needs of New Mexico’s diverse population through comprehensive programs of education, research, extension education, and public service. The College of Engineering supports this mission in its undergraduate programs by focusing on the following goals: 1. To be nationally and internationally recognized for academic & research programs in Engineering & Engineering Technology. 2. To provide world-class engineers & engineering technologists for industrial, government, and academic constituents of the College of Engineering 3. To be the “University of Choice” for undergraduate engineering & engineering technology education in the region 4. To serve as an engine for economic development in New Mexico through the advancement of engineering and technology Furthermore, that engineering graduates receiving baccalaureate degrees will demonstrate: an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering; an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data; an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs; an ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams; an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems; an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility; an ability to communicate effectively; the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context; a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning; a knowledge of contemporary issues; and an ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice. B. Program Educational Objectives List the program educational objectives and state where these can be found by the general public. The Industrial Engineering educational objectives are stated in Figure 2-1 and may be found in both the print and online versions of the Undergraduate Catalog2. 2 NMSU Undergraduate Catalog 2017-2018. https://catalogs.nmsu.edu/nmsu/engineering/industrial-engineering/ The program educational objectives were reviewed by a subcommittee of the Dean’s Advisory Council (that included members of the department’s Industrial Advisory Committee) as part of an overall undergraduate program review in 2017. This review was conducted to evaluate the program’s potential for growth and the necessary resources. The review was brought on by concern from the Dean’s Advisory Council over dropping undergraduate enrollment. A next periodic review of program educational objectives by the Industrial Advisory Committee is scheduled for the summer of 2020. DEGREE: Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering Industrial engineers design, develop, install and improve integrated systems of people, equipment, information, financial resources, software, materials, and energy. Industrial engineers work in a variety of manufacturing, health care, utility, retail, government and research settings, therefore the tools and methods of the industrial engineer are both varied and broad. They use knowledge and skills in engineering, mathematics, and physical and social sciences along with the principles and methods of engineering analysis and design to monitor and improve such systems. New Mexico State University’s undergraduate degree program in Industrial Engineering prepares students to join the work force or pursue graduate education while setting the foundation for life-long learning. Specifically, graduates of the program will be: able to apply various industrial engineering techniques in an integrated fashion to solve real world problems in process design and/or improvement; able to obtain meaningful employment or enroll in a graduate program; and prepared for a long-term, successful career sustained by life-long learning experiences. In addition, the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, Inc. criteria in conjunction with the Institute of Industrial Engineers, requires that: baccalaureate degree graduates will be able to demonstrate the ability to design, develop, implement and improve integrated systems that include people, materials, information, equipment and energy; industrial engineering curriculums include in-depth instruction allowing students to accomplish the integration of systems using appropriate analytical, computational and experimental practices; and that faculty teaching in industrial engineering departments show evidence of understanding professional practice and maintain currency in their respective professional areas. Program faculty must have responsibility and sufficient authority to define, revise, implement, and achieve program objectives. Figure 2-1. Industrial Engineering Educational Objectives We interpret these objectives to mean that our graduates should be able to: Analyze a situation and define the issues, Plan an improvement/new process and organize to accomplish that improvement or new process. This includes ability to schedule and manage finances. Work with others who will carry out the improvement or new process. This includes people of all levels and backgrounds. Assess data appropriately Conduce appropriate analyses, and Make management recommendations. C. Consistency of the Program Educational Objectives with the Mission of the Institution Describe how the program educational objectives are consistent with the mission of the institution. Program Educational Objectives for the Department of Industrial Engineering map closely to both the College of Engineering Educational Objectives and the University's Educational Objectives. They seek to serve the educational needs of New Mexico’s diverse population through comprehensive programs of education, research, extension education, and public service. As the state’s land grant university, it is the responsibility of educational