Determining the Effectiveness of the Graduate Engineering Management Program in Preparing Civil Engineering Officers

摘要

The thesis was undertaken to determine how well the Air Force Institute of Technology's (AFIT) Graduate Engineering Management (GEM) program accomplishes its task of preparing civil engineering officers to become effective engineering managers. The primary purpose of this research project was to determine if there was any discernible differences in performance between GEM graduates and non-GEM graduates (civil engineering officers who have received their masters degree by any method other than the GEM program). The secondary objective was to determine if completing the thesis prepares GEM graduates to be better problem solvers. The data was collected by mailing separate surveys to three groups of active duty Air Force civil engineering officers: 1) those who supervise both a GEM and non-GEM graduate; 2) those who have completed the GEM program; and 3) those who have completed their masters degree by any method other than the GEM program. The responses to the survey questions were rated on the seven-point Likert scale. Areas of significant difference between the group ratings were examined using the t-test. (KR)