Core Values

Professionalism

All engineering seniors are required to take the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination and have historically had pass rates well above state and national averages, in part due to a healthy emphasis on common engineering fundamentals and practical design skills in engineering courses.

A significant percentage of our graduates go on to take and pass the Principles of Engineering (PE) examination and become licensed professional engineers a few years after graduation after they have satisfied the prerequisite experience criteria.

Most engineering employers consider having passed the FE and subsequent professional engineering registration a major plus in hiring and promotion decisions. The college's emphasis on professionalism is also enhanced through active student branches of engineering professional societies such as ASCE, ASME, IEEE, NSBE, and SME and participation of student teams in competitive events.

Continuation of Learning

We have always been committed to graduate education for appropriately qualified and interested student. Numerous engineering graduates have gone on to obtain master and doctoral degrees. Our engineering faculty members have actively mentored many students with the goal of graduate education and have provided many with undergraduate research, scholarship, and other professional opportunities.

All reports have been that A-State engineering graduates have performed exceedingly well in both the classroom and research laboratories of other institutions' graduate programs. As we rapidly expands its slate of graduate programs, including doctoral programs such as the current multidisciplinary Ph.D. in Environmental Science (in which some engineering faculty and graduate students are already active), the College of Engineering & Computer Science has added the Master of Engineering Management and will be proposing other master degree programs in the future, as a supplement to our mission of excellent undergraduate education.

Qualified Faculty

The engineering faculty members have a variety of backgrounds, experience, and expertise. Faculty members hold Ph.D. degrees from some of the nation’s most prestigious engineering universities, and over 80% are registered professional engineers. The faculty have been active in a wide variety of basic and applied research areas including risk assessment and hazardous wastes, structural analysis and design, hydrology and water resources, transportation and geotechnical, electrical and power systems, semiconductor and optoelectronic materials and devices, analog and digital electronics, computational mechanics in fluids and aerodynamics, and vibrations and sensors of all types.

Most have been externally funded through state and federal agencies or industry.

Research

The emphasis on research and scholarship is increasing as the university itself is in the process of enhancing its research mission and capabilities. The College has always supported the research, scholarship, professional consulting, and professional development of its faculty and their synergism with instructional and programmatic goals.

We have particularly encouraged the active involvement of undergraduate research assistants. Many of these have also served as presenters and coauthors on presentations and/or publications, have been awarded student research grants and fellowships, and gone on to graduate school.

Learning Environment

The college actively strives to maintain an environment highly conducive to excellence in instruction and learning. There is a firm commitment to manageable class sizes and direct interaction between faculty and students, both inside and outside of the classroom. Two-way class discussions, grading of homework, working of problems in class, generous faculty office hours, and afternoon help sessions are just some of the ways in which this pleasant, effective learning environment is fostered. All faculty members get to know most students in all of the engineering programs on a first name basis.

There is also a strong multidisciplinary flavor to the program in that all students have to take a common core of engineering courses and are exposed to different perspectives from professors in the different programs. On the other hand, the College also recognizes that there are significant differences, as well as broad commonalities, among the different programs and supports considerable autonomy and self-definition by the respective program directors and their faculty and students

The Welfare of All Constituents

The College is also firmly committed to the welfare of all of its constituents including students, staff, graduates, faculty, and all of their families. The faculty believes strongly in the cherished university tenets of academic freedom, shared governance, consensus-building, fully earned tenure and promotions, and responsible, competitive compensation and benefits. Faculty members are actively involved in the decision-making process through both committee and individual input, and students and staff also are given opportunity for input in appropriate cases.

The College recognizes that diversity in background, capabilities, and personal and professional objectives of its faculty, staff, and students is a strength and not a weakness, just as the university does through its diversity program. Thus, the College does not attempt to mold everyone to the same pattern and advocates strong flexibility in each faculty member charting his or her own course. As stated explicitly in promotion and tenure criteria overseen by senior faculty, the College recognizes that different faculty will excel in different areas among the set of teaching, research, and service and should be allowed to emphasize the area(s) in which they excel. It also recognizes that as faculty transition between different stages in their life and academic career, goals and emphases may change.