FACULTY REWARD SYSTEM REFORM FOR ADVANCEMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION FOR INNOVATION: LOOKING AT REPRESENTATIVE CRITERIA FOR MERIT PROMOTION IN ADVANCED ENGINEERING PRACTICE IN INDUSTRY

摘要

This is the second of three invited papers prepared for a special panel session of the National Collaborative Task Force on Engineering Graduate Education Reform that is focusing on the criteria for merit promotion of engineers in practice in industry to set the stage for designing a new faculty reward system for faculty participating in the graduate level instruction of practicing engineers. This is complementary to the traditional research-oriented faculty reward system for advancement of professional engineering education. Using professional attainment guidelines in engineering practice for industry, government service, NSPE, and ASCE this paper sets the foundation for rethinking new unit criteria for professionally-oriented faculty at the nation's colleges of engineering and technology. This paper describes how almost all engineers in industry now move ahead solely by merit pay increases and merit promotions by progressively increasing their abilities. It describes how engineers progress within a grade level, or from one grade level to another when capability is demonstrated, and not by seniority, or by cost-of-living increases. As such, the paper provides information for making a knowledgeable recommendation for a new unit criteria for faculty who teach, perform professional scholarship, and engagement oriented toward the creative practice of engineering, that should pattern and correlate closely with professional achievement criteria as put forth by the practicing engineering profession as a complement to unit criteria for research-oriented faculty.