Development of Undergraduate Students’ Professional Skills
Publication: Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 135, Issue 3
Abstract
The development of engineering students’ professional skills has gained considerable national attention from Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, the National Academy of Engineering, ASCE, and other constituents. There is little debate that these professional skills are necessary. Engineering programs have tried many approaches to develop these skills in the undergraduate programs. Colorado State University (CSU) has developed a new approach modeled on the type of professional development that occurs in the professional environment. This new Professional Learning Institute (PLI) provides students with a broad array of workshops, presentations, and experiential opportunities addressing the areas of cross cultural communication and teamwork, innovation, leadership, ethics, and public service. This program introduces students to the concept of professional development through required extracurricular activities, includes minimum requirements along with requirements to earn certificates in specialty areas for motivated students. The majority of offerings in the PLI are presented by leaders from the engineering profession who have teamed with CSU to provide high quality programs for our students.
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Acknowledgments
The writers would to thank the IBM Corporation, specifically Rene Ure VP, IBM Integrated Supply Chain, for their generous support of Alma Rosales as a visiting executive at CSU for . The implementation of this project benefited greatly from this support. Also, the writers owe many thanks to the many professional volunteers who continue to contribute their time and expertise to the PLI. Finally, the writers would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions and recommendations.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 135 • Issue 3 • July 2009
Pages: 102 - 108
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Feb 19, 2008
Accepted: Aug 11, 2008
Published online: Jun 15, 2009
Published in print: Jul 2009
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