Structuring a Systems Engineering Program at UALR

摘要

By all measures, we have founded arnsuccessful Systems Engineering program inrnresponse to industrial and state requirements.rnBeing a new program, however, the faculty andrnadministration have both learned from thernexperience over the three years since thernprogram was instituted. Given the dearth ofrnsystems engineering programs, a majorrnchallenge is to recruit formally trained systemsrnengineering graduates. Another is to reach arnconsensus on the goals and content of ourrnprogram. This paper reports this learningrnprocess.rnThe University of Arkansas at Little Rockrn(UALR) is a regional university servingrnprimarily the people of Arkansas. One half ofrnthe population in the state of Arkansas livesrnwithin 100 miles of Little Rock. The LittlernRock metropolitan has a population of overrn500,000. UALR is a member of the Universityrnof Arkansas system, which consists of eightrncampuses. UALR has approximately 11,500rnundergraduate students and 1,500 graduaternstudents. UALR offers bachelor’s degrees inrnEngineering, Science, Education, Arts, andrnHumanities. It offers master’s degrees in severalrnareas, and doctoral degrees in Applied Sciencernand Education. UALR is one of the fastestrngrowing urban universities in the country. As arnCarnegie doctoral intensive institution, it is onernof several metropolitan universities in therncountry serving the industrial, commercial, andrneducational needs of the client population,rnincluding minority students (currently UALR’srnAfrican American population is about 25% ofrnthe student body). The mission of the Universityrnis to provide the necessary support and access torna quality education for all citizens of Arkansasrnregardless of background.