TECHNICAL PAPERS
Jun 15, 2009

Claims on the Foundation: Professionalism and Its Liberal Base

Publication: Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 135, Issue 3

Abstract

Contemporary visions of engineering depict a deepening professionalism, a broadening sphere of competence with technology, and an enhanced social role. Professional societies have increasingly focused on the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for achievement of this vision, and have done so in terms of developmental outcomes. This paper relates specific technical and professional outcomes to their preprofessional foundation in liberal education. Strength and coherence in an expanding foundation, and a close coupling with the outcomes it supports, is necessary if visions of enhanced professional performance are to be fulfilled. Curricular experiments are encouraged.

Get full access to this article

View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.

Acknowledgments

The writers are grateful for many helpful discussions with T. Lenox, J. O’Brien, S. Walesh, R. Anderson, W. Kelly, M. Jha, and all of their colleagues who served on the BOK2 committee.

References

Angel, D. P., Hamilton, T., and Huber, M. T. (2007). “Global environmental standards for industry.” Ann. Rev. Environ. Res.,32, 295–316.
ASCE. (2007). “The vision for civil engineering in 2025.” Proc., Summit on the Future of Civil Engineering, Task Committee on the Future of the Civil Engineering Profession, S. G. Walesh, ed., Raston, Va.
ASCE. (2008). Civil engineering body of knowledge for the 21st century: Preparing the civil engineer for the future, 2nd Ed., Body of Knowledge Committee of the Committee on Academic Prerequisites for Professional Practice, Reston, Va.
Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU). (2002). Greater expectations: A new vision of learning as a nation goes to college, Washington, D.C.
Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU). (2005). “Liberal education outcomes.” A Preliminary Rep. on Student Achievement in College, Washington, D.C.
Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU). (2007). College learning for the new global century, National Leadership Council for Liberal Education and America’s Promise, Washington, D.C.
Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU). (2008). New leadership for student learning and accountability: A statement of principles, commitments to action, Council for Higher Education Accreditation, Washington, D.C.
Birkland, T. A. (2005). An introduction to the policy process—Theories, concepts, and models of public policy making, 2nd Ed., Sharpe, London.
Bush, V. (1945). “Science, the endless frontier.” Rep. to the President, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Bush, V. (1967). Science is not enough, William Morrow & Company, New York.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). (2008). ⟨http://www.csrwire.com/⟩ (Jan. 21, 2008).
Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education. An introduction to the philosophy of education, Macmillan, New York.
Donnelly, J. (2003). Universal human rights in theory and practice, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, N.Y.
Duderstadt, J. J. (2008). “Engineering for a changing world: A roadmap to the future of engineering practice, research and education.” The millennium project, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Dye, T. R. (1992). Understanding public policy, 7th Ed., Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
The ENO Transportation Foundation (ENO). (2005). National transportation organizations: Their roles in the policy development and implementation process, Washington, D.C.
Evans, J., and Lynch D., eds. (2008). “Foundational outcomes in the new civil engineering body of knowledge.” Proc., American Society of Engineering Education, Annual Conf., and Exhibition, American Society of Engineering Education, Pittsburgh.
Evans, J., Lynch, D., and Lange D., eds. (2007). “The role of humanities and social sciences in the civil engineering body of knowledge.” Proc., American Society of Engineering Education, Annual Conf., and Exhibition, American Society of Engineering Education, Honolulu.
Freidson, E. (2001). Professionalism: The third logic, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). (2008). ⟨http://www.globalreporting.org/Home⟩ (Feb. 17, 2008).
Graedel, T. E., and Allenby, B. R. (2002). Industrial ecology, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Grintner, L. E. (1955). “Report of the Committee on Evaluation of Engineering Education.” J. Eng. Educ., September, 25–60.
Harris, J. G., et al. (1994). “JEE round table: Reflections on the Grintner report.” J. Eng. Educ., 83(1), 69–94.
Hasselback, L. (2008). The engineering guide to LEED—New construction, McGraw-Hill (Green Source), New York.
Hutchins, R. M. (1943). Education for freedom, Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, La.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (2008). Climate change 2007: The physical science basis, Working Group I, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, New York (there are three additional volumes in this series, constituting the 4th Assessment Report, 2007).
International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS). (2002). The responsibility to project: The report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Ottawa, Ont., Canada.
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESR). (2008). ⟨http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/a_cescr.htm⟩;
“General comments on implementation.” ⟨http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cescr/comments.htm⟩ (Jan. 11, 2008).
International Organization for Standardization (ISO). (2008). ⟨http://www.iso.org/⟩ (Jan. 27, 2008).
Kaldor, M., Anheier H., and Glasius M., eds. (2007). Global civil society 2006/7 global civil society—Year books, Sage Publications Ltd., London.
Kaul, I., Conceicao, P., LeGoulven, K., and Mendoza, R. U. (2003). Providing global public goods: Managing globalization, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/Oxford University Press, New York.
Kaul, I., Grunberg, I., and Stern, M. A. (1999). Global public goods: International cooperation in the 21st century, UNDP/Oxford University Press, New York.
Kelly, W. E. (2006). “Engineering for sustainable development and the common good.” Current Issues in Catholic Higher Educ., 25(1), 43–64.
Kelly, W. E. (2008). “Standards in civil engineering design education.” J. Profl. Issues Eng. Educ. Pract., 134(1), 59–66.
Keohane, R. O., and Nye, J. S., Jr. (2000). Governance in a globalizing world, J. S. Nye and J. D. Donahue, eds., Brookings Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 1–14.
Kung, H. (1997). A global ethic for global politics and economics, Oxford University Press, New York.
Lauren, P. G. (2003). The evolution of international human rights: Visions seen, 2nd Ed., University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.
Lemos, M. C., and Agrawal, A. (2006). “Environmental governance.” Annu. Rev. Environ. Res., 31, 297–325.
Lynch, D. R. (2004). “A human rights challenge to the engineering profession: Ethical dimensions and leadership opportunities in professional formation.” Proc., American Society of Engineering Education, Annual Conf. and Exhibition, American Society of Engineering Education, Salt Lake City.
Lynch, D. R. (2008). “Sustainable natural resource engineering.” Proc., American Society of Engineering Education Annual Conf. and Exhibition, American Society of Engineering Education, Pittsburgh.
Lynch, D. R. (2009). Sustainable natural resource management for scientists and engineers, Cambridge University Press, New York.
Maritain, J. (1943). Education at the crossroads, Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn.
Millennium Development Goals (MDG). (2006). ⟨http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/⟩ (Feb. 8, 2008).
Musgrave, R. A., and Musgrave, P. B. (1989). Public finance in theory and practice, 5th Ed., McGraw-Hill, New York.
National Academy of Engineering (NAE). (2004). The engineer of 2020: Visions of engineering in the new century, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C.
National Academy of Engineering (NAE). (2005a). Educating the engineer of 2020: Adapting engineering education to the new century, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C.
National Academy of Engineering (NAE). (2005b). Engineering research and America’s future: Meeting the challenges of a global economy, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C.
National Academy of Engineering (NAE). (2006). Rising above the gathering storm: Energizing and employing America for a brighter economic future, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C.
Nef, J. U. (1943). The universities look for unity; An essay on the responsibilities of the mind to civilization in war and peace, Pantheon Books Inc., New York.
Newman, J. H. (1854). The idea of a university—1854, I. T. Ker, ed., Oxford University Press, New York.
Rhodes, F. T. (2006). “Sustainability: The ultimate liberal art.” The Chronic Rev., Chronicle of Higher Educ., 53(9), B24.
Right to Protect (R2P). (2008). ⟨http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/⟩ (Feb. 2, 2008).
Rover, D. (2006). “Policymaking and engineers.” J. Eng. Educ., 95(1), 93–95.
Sachs, J. (2005). The end of poverty: Economic possibilities for our time, Penguin Press, New York.
Salman, S., and McInerney-Lankford, S. (2004). The human right to water: Legal and policy dimensions, World Bank Publications, Washington, D.C.
Sen, A. (2000). Development as freedom, Anchor.
Social Accountability International (SAI). (2008). ⟨http://www.sa-intl.org/⟩ (Jan. 7, 2008).
Stackhouse, M. L., McCann, D. P., Roels, S. J., and Williams, P. (1995). On moral business: Classical and contemporary resources for ethics in economic life, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Steiner, H. J., and Alston, P. (2000). International human rights in context: Law, politics, morals, Oxford University Press, New York.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). (1948). “Universal declaration of human rights.” ⟨http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html ⟩ (Feb. 1, 2008).
U.S. Department of Education (USDOE). (2006). “A test leadership: Charting the future of U.S. higher education.” Commission on the Future of Higher Education, C. Miller, Chair, Washington, D.C.
Vest, C. (2006). “Educating engineers for 2020 and beyond.” National Academy of Engineering (NAE), 36(2), 164–165.
Wallace, B. (2005). Becoming part of the solution: The engineer’s guide to sustainable development, American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), Washington, D.C.
Waltzer, M., ed. (1995). Toward a global civil society, Berghahn Books, New York.
Weiss, T. G., and Hubert, D. (2002). The responsibility to protect, IDRC Books, Ottawa, Ont. Canada.
Wells, W. G., Jr. (1992). Working with congress, 2nd ed., American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, D.C.
Whitehead, A. N. (1929). The aims of education and other essays, Macmillan, New York.

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 135Issue 3July 2009
Pages: 109 - 116

History

Received: May 2, 2008
Accepted: Jul 23, 2008
Published online: Jun 15, 2009
Published in print: Jul 2009

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Authors

Affiliations

Daniel R. Lynch [email protected]
MacLean Professor of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755. E-mail: [email protected]
Jeffrey S. Russell [email protected]
Professor and Chair, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, 2205 Engineering Hall, 1415 Engineering Dr., Madison, WI 53706. E-mail: [email protected]
John M. Mason Jr. [email protected]
Associate Provost and Vice President for Research, Auburn Univ., 202 Samford Hall, Auburn, AL 36849; formerly, Professor and Associate Dean of Engineering and Director, The Pennsylvania Transportation Institute, The Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA 16802. E-mail: [email protected]
Jeffrey C. Evans [email protected]
Professor and Chair, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Bucknell Univ., Lewisburg, PA 17837. E-mail: [email protected]

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Download citation

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

Cited by

View Options

Get Access

Access content

Please select your options to get access

Log in/Register Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members: Please log in to see member pricing

Purchase

Save for later Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.

Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
ASCE Library Card (5 downloads)
$105.00
Add to cart
ASCE Library Card (20 downloads)
$280.00
Add to cart
Buy Single Article
$35.00
Add to cart

Get Access

Access content

Please select your options to get access

Log in/Register Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members: Please log in to see member pricing

Purchase

Save for later Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.

Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
ASCE Library Card (5 downloads)
$105.00
Add to cart
ASCE Library Card (20 downloads)
$280.00
Add to cart
Buy Single Article
$35.00
Add to cart

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

Share

Share

Copy the content Link

Share with email

Email a colleague

Share