BUILDING A COMMUNITY - HOW TO ENRICH AN ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM WITH AN IDENTITY, PRESENCE AND PRIDE

Potential students and their parents are looking at schools differently than in the past: an out cropping of the new generation of parents and students. Academics are still the prime concern but more frequently than in past years families are concerned about the organization. Does the program have an identity that will assist in getting jobs? Is there a presence within the community? Do the faculty and students take pride in what is being accomplished and are graduates proud of their education and their school? The best way to answer these questions is to allow the families a chance to interact with students, see their products, read the posters of their work and show where graduates work. This paper will discuss the process needed to cultivate an engineering or engineering technology program into one with an identity, presence and ultimately pride. The paper will describe leadership steps that can be taken to generate pride and distinctiveness, first to the faculty, and then to the student body. Resulting in a close nit and enviable community where education can flourish, and the students' academic related clubs are active and involved on campus. Where alumni look forward to visiting and helping with student projects. Where they take pride in their alma mater and often seek new hires from the program. Where faculty members win teaching awards and enjoy their time in the classroom and advising students. A case study will be presented and, detailed examples will be cited demonstrating how the students "caught on" and took pride to a new level based on the successful implementation at a university. It will show that leadership lessons learned by students while in school, continued to be used after they graduated. The case study will further demonstrate why everyone associated with the program feels that the engineering technology program is a great place to learn and work.