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Strategic Vision | Michigan Engineering

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Education

INNOVATING IN EDUCATION

In an increasingly competitive career landscape, engineering graduates are finding that it takes more than just meeting the standard curriculum requirements to prepare for the future.

College leaders aim to ensure the preeminence of a Michigan Engineering education by empowering faculty to innovate teaching methods and tools, online and professional education, and experiential learning – and by helping students navigate the beyond-the-classroom experiences that are already available at Michigan.

“We want all students to find ways to become immersed in experiential learning,” said Joanna Millunchick, associate dean for undergraduate education, an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and a professor of materials science and engineering who is co-lead of the College’s Education Pillar. “But rather than falling into something serendipitously, we want them to be intentional as they practice their purpose – and to be able to articulate the story of their accomplishments to potential employers.”

As part of an initiative called Immersed, the process will make it easier for students to navigate the myriad options, and for faculty to bolster experiential learning as part of for-credit classes.

Another area of innovation includes new funding opportunities for faculty to propose novel approaches to teaching that could have broad impact across the College. Millunchick believes faculty could introduce ideas beyond the current imagination if given the support.

Technology is getting so advanced that it’s not feasible for any one person to be an expert on everything. We want this to be a fertile ground so people with ideas can innovate more quickly.

Joanna Millunchick

Associate dean for undergraduate education

Grants for innovation in online graduate education are also available through the College, and have already funded new ideas, such as a MasterTrack Certificate in Construction Management and Engineering developed by civil and environmental engineering faculty. This type of innovation is what the College will expand upon through Nexus, a College-wide unit for online and professional education, newly formed to enable faculty innovation and serve a diverse, global community of students. Nexus is set to launch two new educational initiatives for the College in 2020: a 400-hour Cybersecurity Bootcamp and an online University-wide Mobility certificate, in collaboration with several units across campus such as the Ford School of Public Policy, the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, and the Law School.

“We aim to support faculty innovation,” explained Mary-Ann Mycek, associate dean for graduate and professional education, a professor of biomedical engineering and co-lead of the Education Pillar. “Nexus will be ‘always on’ – on campus, online, and on location – and will provide faculty with instructional design support to develop new online programs and provide platforms for lifelong learning.”

With more than 65 graduate degree programs, including five online Master’s degree programs and 16 graduate certificates, the College of Engineering offers extensive top-ranked graduate educational opportunities. Recent interdisciplinary curricular innovations include a new Data Science Master’s degree program and Computational Neuroscience certificate program, among others. Courses that integrate digital technologies, such as augmented and virtual reality, will further enhance the learning experience.

We will build on what Michigan Engineering currently offers by opening the door wider for people around the world to benefit from the depth and breadth of the educational resources available.

Mary-Ann Mycek

Associate dean for graduate and professional education

The Education Pillar has also launched an initiative focused on enhancing the student experience. Engineering graduate students with financial need in pursuit of professional development experiences are now able to apply to the Graduate Student Co-curricular Experiences Fund. 

To Alec D. Gallimore, the Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering, the Education Pillar is beginning to achieve results that will set the course of the College for years to come. But it is only the beginning. For example, the possibilities for delivery of the Michigan Engineering education around the globe are limitless.

“Michigan Engineering 2020 is just the start,” said Gallimore, who is also Richard F. and Eleanor A. Towner Professor of Engineering and an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor. “We’re already beginning to consider, ‘What will happen in the five years after that?’”

Our students are driven by a commitment to serve the common good through solutions that push the bounds of what is possible. Immersed, a collection of carefully designed experiential learning opportunities, serves to reinforce this commitment based on the belief that innovation is born out of exploration. 

Grounded on a bedrock of academic excellence, our immersive learning opportunities combine critical and creative thinking to provide meaningful environments for intellectual curiosity and daring innovation. Unique in our ability to reinforce core academic theory with calculated risk taking, extraordinary successes and noble failures, Immersed experiences provide a path for our students to become the engineers who can step into the future with the confidence, collaborative spirit, and socially conscious minds needed to change the world.

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Experiential Learning

Nexus is the hub, center, first connection, and front door to online and professional education at Michigan Engineering for learners and faculty alike. It provides professional education certificates; support for the design and delivery of online credit courses and degrees; and custom programs that are practical, grounded in research, and taught by instructors from throughout the College and beyond. By offering multiple entry paths and delivery options — online, on campus, on location, and hybrid — learners engage with renowned U-M faculty in a way that best fits their needs, priorities, and preferences.

The College of Engineering has been at the forefront of distance and professional education for over 80 years. Moving forward, Nexus will build on that legacy by developing innovative educational models, enhanced learner experiences, strategic initiatives, and partnerships that further extend Michigan Engineering’s reach and impact.

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http://nexus.engin.umich.edu/

The Michigan Engineering C.A.R.E. Center (Consultation, Assistance, and Resources in Engineering) helps engineering students successfully transition through a variety of challenging circumstances, both inside and outside of the classroom. 

https://care.engin.umich.edu/

Research

Taking on the world’s biggest, most pressing problems through collaborative and innovative research.

Education

Educating the best engineers, who are capable of leading in a diverse, global community.

Culture

Foster a community based on our core values and rewards creativity and daring.

Education
Pillar
Timeline

Sept 2017

Committee launches

ME2020 Education Pillar Strategic Planning Committee launches

Fall 2017

Grants for innovation

Innovation in Online Graduate Education launches 

Jan 2018

Launch of committees continues

Additional ME2020 Education Pillar Strategic Planning committees 

May 2018

Committee results

Committee submits recommendations

May 2018

ENGR110: Design Your Engineering Experience

Selected as part of first cohort of CRLT’s Foundational Course Initiative. Develops leading models for teaching and learning at scale

Fall 2018

MasterTrack™ Certificate 

Certificate in Construction Engineering & Management opens for enrollment

Fall 2018

Experiential learning funding 

New opportunities for first-generation and middle income undergraduate students with financial need

Fall 2018

Graduate student funding

Graduate Student Co-curricular Funding applications open

Sept 2018

Diversity in academia

First NextProf Nexus Workshop

Winter 2019

Experiential learning Framework

Faculty survey, interviews and round tables with students, faculty and staff about an undergraduate experiential learning framework

Jan 2019

Website planning

Plans for Immersed experiential learning website announced to faculty/staff

April 2019

Nexus launch

New College-wide online and professional education unit launches

April 2019

Educational grants

First educational innovation accelerator grants awarded

April 2019

XR in education grants

First Augmented, Mixed and Virtual Reality Clinic grants awarded

Aug 2019

Experiential learning website

Immersed website launched to students

Jan 2020

C.A.R.E. launch

C.A.R.E. (Consultation, Assistance, and Resources in Engineering) Center launches 

Spring 2020

New Cybersecurity Bootcamp

Bootcamp for professionals in southeastern Michigan to launch

Summer 2020

Mobility credential

First online, multidisciplinary Michigan Mobility Credential with potential application towards university credits to launch

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