The Value Of Graduate Certificate Programs In Engineering Education: A Strategic Assessment

There has been a significant increase in the popularity of non-degree graduate certificates throughout the past decade. This increase has raised questions about the value of engineering graduate certificate programs from students, alumni, and employers. Do engineering certificate programs provide real world skills and knowledge? Do they serve as effective recruiting tools for universities? Do they provide opportunities for students to meet their professional goals in terms of salary increase and promotions? This study explores these questions. Eighty-three current and former engineering certificate students, as well as forty professionals from industry, were surveyed about their value perception of graduate certificate programs. Guidance for engineering educators and other professionals concerned with development and marketing of engineering graduate certificate programs is also presented.

Picturing Electron Capture to the Continuum in the Transfer Ionization of Intermediate-Energy He²⁺ Collisions with Argon

Electron emission occurring in transfer ionization for He2+ collisions with argon has been investigated using cold target recoil ion momentum spectroscopy. The double differential cross sections for electron capture to the continuum of the projectile (cusp-shaped electrons) are presented for collision energies from 17.5 to 75 keV/u. For an energy of 30 keV/u, we find a maximum in the experimental ratio of the cusp-shaped electron yield to the total electron yield. This result is explained in terms of the velocity matching between the projectile ion and the electron initially bound to the target. One of the important issues for double electron transitions is the role of electron-electron correlation. If this correlation is weak, then the transfer-ionization process can be viewed as two separate sequential processes. If this correlation is strong, then the transfer-ionization process would happen simultaneously and not sequentially. Our experimental and theoretical results indicate that correlation is weak and that the first step is target ionization followed by charge capture

The marketing value of graduate certificate programs in higher education: A strategic assessment

The last five years have seen a significant increase in the popularity of non degree graduate certificates. This increase has raised questions about the value of graduate certificate programs from the perspective of students, alumni and industry employers. Do certificate programs provide real world skills and knowledge valuable to industry? Do they serve as effective recruiting tools for the university? Do they provide opportunities for students to meet their professional goals in terms of salary increase, promotions, and the like? The present research is specifically aimed at answering these questions. Surveys that assess perceptions of value of graduate certificates to key stakeholders (students, alumni, and industry) are developed. The results were analyzed from the perspective of current graduate certificate students, alumni and industry employers of the Engineering Management and Systems Engineering (EMSE) department at Missouri University of Science and Technology. Results provide guidance to engineering managers, engineering educators and other engineering professionals on the value added to the workforce by engineering graduate certificate programs. The important results from this study show that students and alumni of the graduate certificate program perceive and agree on the value of the programs, while industry participant disagree. The graduate certificate programs are effective recruiting agents for the Missouri University of Science and Technology. The industry survey reveals a significant point that 45% of the participants are not aware of graduate certificate programs. Sixty five percent of the industry survey participants agree that the students of EMSE at Missouri S&T possess skills necessary to work in real world, however over 95% believe that various skills including soft skills are most essential for a student to succeed in industry --Abstract, page iii

Strategic Assessment of Value-Added Engineering Graduate Certificate Programs in the Student-to-Industry Life Cycle

The Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) offers more than 65 degree programs in engineering, science, computing and technology, business, management systems, the humanities and the liberal arts. Students interested in graduate study may pursue their interest either through graduate certificate programs or through full-fledged Masters and PhD degree programs. In the last five years, non-degree graduate certificates have become increasingly popular. This has raised questions about the value of graduate certificate program from the perspective of the student, the university and industry. Do certificate programs provide real world skills and knowledge valuable to industry? Do they serve as effective recruiting tools for the university? Do they provide opportunities for students to meet their professional goals in terms of salary increase, promotions, and the like? This research is specifically aimed at answering these questions. Surveys were developed that assess perceptions of value of graduate certificates to key stakeholders (students, university, and industry). The focus of this paper is from the perspective of current graduate certificate students of the Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Department of Missouri S&T. Results provide guidance to engineering managers, engineering educators, and engineering professionals of the value added to workforce by engineering graduate certificate programs