Defense acquisition university and Stevens Institute of Technology form strategic partnership

Program Manager, Nov-Dec, 2002

Continuing its goal of advancing educational opportunities, DAU and the Stevens Institute of Technology (SIT) established an educational strategic partnership by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the Pentagon, Oct. 15, 2002. Signatories of the MOU were Frank Anderson Jr., President, DAU; Harold J. Raveche, President, Stevens Institute of Technology; Louis A. Kratz, Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Logistics Plans and Programs), Office of the Secretary of Defense; and Donna S. Richbourg, Principal Deputy Director, Defense Acquisition and Procurement Policy

The establishment of this strategic partnership is to offer enhanced opportunities for members of the DoD Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L) workforce to participate in the Graduate Certificate Programs in Systems and Supportability Engineering and the Master's Degree in Systems Engineering under the System Design and Operational Effectiveness (SDOE) Program.

The opportunities identified in the memorandum include but are not limited to the following terms and conditions:

SIT will utilize the education, training, and experiences of the members of the Defense AT&L workforce received in pursuit of DAU-level certification in at least one of the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWI.A) career fields in conjunction with a Graduate Certificate in Systems and Supportability Engineering and the Masters Degree in Systems Engineering under the SDOE Program offered by SIT.

* SIT will provide administrative support services, including counseling and assisting students desiring to enter the program.

* SIT will promote and advertise the programs throughout the Defense AT&L workforce.

* SIT will provide DAU with information, as required, for planning, conducting, and reporting of DAU operations.

* SIT will provide qualified and experienced instructors to conduct the courses.

* DAU will assist with outreach and communications in promoting the certificate and degree programs; advise students; and provide SIT with suggestions for adjusting content of academic courses to meet the changing needs of the programs and Defense AT&L workforce educational requirements.

* DAU will provide copies of student transcripts for DAU courses.

DAU is consistently involved with upgrading the Acquisition Logistics curriculum and program structure to address the evolving educational requirements of the DoD workforce while also establishing DAU as a formative lean enterprise institution. SIT developed the SDOE Program to respond to DoD and Defense industry's requirements for graduate education in systems and supportability engineering. Through this common purpose and objectives, DAU and the SDOE Program at SIT will actively collaborate on curriculum development in the form of case studies, lessons learned, best practices, and metrics and measures for system supportability and logistics. DAU and the SDOE Program at SIT will also develop research topics and projects in the area of Acquisition Logistics.

For more information about this partnership, contact Wayne Glass, Director for Strategic Partnerships, Strategic Planning, Action Group, at Wayne.Glass@dau.mil.