Executive Summary
A pathway has been developed with the University of Windsor, in partnership with St. Clair College, in which a bridging agreement for Engineering Technology Advanced Diploma graduates from any Ontario College are able to continue their studies into a related University of Windsor Degree program through a single transition semester, versus transition through course-by-course credit transfer. The University of Windsor and St. Clair College of Applied Arts and Technology both agree that the development of a better pathway for engineering programs is critical for our community which has been built on innovation in manufacturing and technology.
The main focus of this final project is between St. Clair College’s Mechanical Engineering Technology – Automotive Product Design program and the University of Windsor’s Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc.) – Mechanical Engineering program, however, the methodology is currently being implemented towards Civil and Electrical Engineering programs, as well.
A previous transfer agreement, which has been quite popular, existed between St. Clair College’s Mechanical Engineering Technology – Automotive Product Design program and the University of Windsor’s B.A.Sc. Mechanical Engineering program which was based on a course-by-course credit transfer agreement. While considering the previous transfer students’ high success rate during their studies at the University of Windsor, developing a stronger pathway will not only be more appealing for the engineering technology graduates, it will also be plausible. This course-by-course credit transfer agreement was unique to all transfer students and was based on their performance during their studies at St. Clair College. While the latter is still necessary to ensure that the students transferring into the University of Windsor are equipped with necessary skillset to successfully complete their B.A.Sc., a pathway that is equal to each transfer student has been developed. The course-by-course credit transfer system has created scheduling barriers for the transfer students as well as the institution’s program coordinators. Furthermore, the course-by-course credit transfer agreement required the students to study at the University of Windsor for the duration of three years before obtaining their B.A.Sc. The new pathway not only eliminates the unique scheduling for each transfer student, it also decreases their study duration from three to two years.
A summer transition semester, as well as a few minor modifications to existing semesters was made to ensure that the gaps between the two neighbouring institutions’ programs are eliminated. The two gaps that need to be addressed when mapping courses for an accredited engineering program in Canada are: program learning outcomes as well as Accreditation Units (AU) required by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB). The program learning outcomes are necessary to address to ensure that the students entering the University of Windsor are equipped with the necessary skills required to successfully complete their B.A.Sc. The Accreditation Units are necessary to address to ensure that, upon completion of their B.A.Sc., the transfer students are designated with a degree that is accredited by the CEAB; which is necessary for them to obtain their Professional Engineering status in Canada. A methodology has been designed to ensure that the two gaps stated above are thoroughly addressed.
In the initial stages of the analysis, a comparison between the program learning outcomes for St. Clair College’s Engineering Technologies and the University of Windsor’s B.A.Sc. programs has been made.
Due to the very different learning outcomes between the two institutions, further analysis was necessary to address the learning outcomes: direct-course-comparison. For direct-course-comparison, a thorough analysis of course matching between the University of Windsor’s Mechanical Engineering courses, which have some relevant topics to courses offered in St. Clair College’s Mechanical Engineering Technology program, has been completed. This analysis is essential for addressing any topics that are neglected in similar courses; these neglected topics are then projected to bridge program, if necessary. Not all learning outcomes need to be addressed for each student, thus, when selecting the learning outcomes and topics for bridge semester, it is important to consider the topics necessary for the students to successfully complete their B.A.Sc.
The Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board requires that all students graduating from an accredited engineering program are exposed to a certain amount of Accreditation Unit (AU) hours in the following subsections: Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Complementary Studies, Engineering Science and Engineering Design. Unlike the learning outcomes, the AU hours must be met by all students. To convert the hours from their studies at St. Clair College, a College Unit (CU) has been developed for the same subsections required for the AU hours. To convert the CU hours to AU hours, a multiplication factor, referred to as the J factor, has been developed. The J factors range from 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1 and are unique to every St Clair College course. The selection of the J factors for each course was obtained via relative difficulty and thorough reviews of the course outlines. Once the J factor was obtained for each college course, it was multiplied by that course’s CU hours to obtain the AU hours. After the AU hours were obtained, they were summed up according to their subsections. After the summation, the following subsections needed to be addressed: Mathematics, Natural Science and Complementary Studies; with large gaps existing in Natural Science and Complementary Studies. When developing the bridge semester, both the necessary AU hours as well as learning outcomes were considered.
The summer bridge semester consists of six designed-specific courses as well as five existing courses. Of the six designed-specific courses, two of them are taken over the span of a twelve week semester and the remaining four are taken over the span of six weeks. Furthermore, the previous transfer agreement consisted of two third-year, first-semester courses which also exist in the new transfer agreement. The two twelve-week semester courses are taken in the summer semester along with one existing engineering course and two existing math courses which are normally offered during summer semesters. The four six-week courses are grouped in pairs and selected to replace the time slots associated with the two third-year courses existing in the transfer agreement; which are taken in the fall semester. The two remaining existing courses, which exist in the Physics and Chemistry departments, are required to be completed in the winter semester, when they are normally offered, between the two conventional third- year semesters. The presence of the five existing courses, as well as the six design-specific courses, ensures that the required AU hours, as well as the necessary learning outcomes, are met. The first trial of this bridge agreement will begin in the summer of 2019.