Developing a Course-based Master of Environmental Engineering Degree

After completing the requirements for a civil engineering Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree, students may be looking for additional training in sub-discipline specific topics to prepare them for entering the workforce at a more specialized level than they could otherwise. Many employers are looking to hire students with that additional training. Following the ASCE Raise the Bar initiative to increase the minimum education standards for practicing civil engineers, requiring a Master of Environmental Engineering degree or equivalent 30 credits may be instituted by state law to attain licensure in the future. To obtain this higher level of education, students may not necessarily require the traditional thesis-based Master of Science (M.S.) degree training since they are planning to spend their careers as consulting engineers and are not considering future research-based work. Additionally, such students want to complete their education in a shorter time frame than is typically required for a traditional research-based M.S. degree. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is developing an environmental engineering course-based Master of Environmental Engineering program to meet these needs. The course-based master’s program being developed would allow students to develop additional skills and to provide deeper and broader exposure to environmental engineering challenges all within a one-year timeframe. The intent of this program is to enhance students’ knowledge and experiences in environmental engineering to match practitioners’ desires to hire students better equipped for their specific field. As we develop a Master of Environmental Engineering program, we look to survey existing master’s programs to determine what coursework is typically included in course-based as well as traditional environmental engineering master’s programs. This survey provides us insight into the collection of courses expected for an environmental engineering master’s degree. For additional insight, we are surveying our Board of Advisors, composed primarily of practicing civil and environmental engineers, and other practicing environmental engineers about what knowledge and skills are needed and expected of an environmental engineering master’s program graduate. This work is informing the goals of the program and aiding in identifying what coursework should be included in the program. The results from our study may serve as a good reference to other institutions considering the options available for master’s programs, particularly those interested in alternatives to the traditional research-based master’s programs. Introduction When looking to obtain a higher level of education beyond a civil engineering Bachelor of Science (B.S) degree, students may desire a course-based program in a shorter time frame than a traditional thesis-based program. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is developing a Master of Environmental Engineering program to meet the needs of students pursuing a career in industry or consulting through a course-based, practicum-oriented program. The program will include laboratory components and industry-related collaborations to provide students with experiential learning and professional skill development. P ge 26484.2 Within civil engineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, there is precedence of a discipline-specific, one-year course-based Master of Environmental Engineering program. Such a program was recently developed and launched for structural engineering1. The program consists of a year of course-work and a practicum that must be completed in the summer prior to the academic year of the master’s program. The summer practicum is acknowledged as a course, where students are required to submit routine deliverables that address professional and business skills through reflection on the student’s work experience or discussion with a supervising engineer on his/her work experience. Methods As we develop a Master in Environmental Engineering program, we surveyed existing master’s programs to determine what coursework is typically included in course-based as well as traditional environmental engineering master’s degree programs. This survey provided insight into the collection of courses expected for an environmental engineering master’s degree. For additional insight, we surveyed our board of advisors, composed primarily of practicing civil and environmental engineers, as well as other practicing environmental engineers, about what knowledge and skills are needed and expected of an environmental engineering master’s program graduate. This work informed the goals of the program and aided in identifying what coursework should be included in the program. We intend the results of our study to serve as a good reference to other institutions considering the options available for master’s programs, particularly those interested in alternatives to the traditional research-based master’s programs. Survey of Existing M.S. Programs The universities selected for our survey of existing master’s program were based on the U.S. News and World Report Ranking of Universities in the U.S in 2015 category of the Top 10 Best Graduate Programs in Environmental Engineering2 (Table 1). The Top 10 Best Graduate Programs in Environmental Engineering category was chosen to gain insight from the best programs in the U.S. which are specifically ranked because of their environmental engineering graduate program.