Reaching out to industry

One of the longstanding goals of ASEE and the Conference for Industry and Education Collaboration (CIEC) has been to "increase industry involvement." While no one disagrees with that goal, it has been a challenge for the ASEE Corporate Member Council (CMC) to develop programs that attract and retain industrial participation. Despite direct calls by the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology and the National Science Foundation for more industry input to engineering education, corporate ASEE memberships are few, and industrial participation in conferences remains sparse.

In exploratory discussions with ASEE board members, CIEC officers, and ASEE staff members at the CIEC 2000 Conference in Orlando, several promising strategies have been suggested:

1. The ASEE CMC should organize and propose plenary and mini-plenary events with industrial participants of national stature for ASEE and CIEC conferences. The CMC should also organize corollary events, including luncheons and topical sessions, to attract and involve industrial participants before and after the plenaries.

2. The CMC should create opportunities for organizations with an interest in engineering education like IUGREEE (industry-University-Government Roundtable for Enhancing Engineering Education) to present their views and reports to the ASEE and the CIEC.

3. The CMC should develop criteria and solicit funding for national and regional awards from its member firms and from other organizations.

4. Organizationally the CMC should partner with the College-Industry Partnership division to organize and implement these and other programs. The CMC should employ the full range of communications technologies for planning and program-development activities throughout the year.

5. ASEE Board and staff members should maintain flexible membership policies to attract and involve industrial partners in CMC activities.

To stir up interest around events like the CMC-sponsored mini-plenary on "Intellectual Assets and Technology Transfer" at ASEE 2000 in St. Louis, the CMC is sending a series of invitations to deans, campus attorneys, and the attorneys of Corporate Member organizations. Similar plans are being developed to boost industrial attendance at CIEC 2001.

ASEE Board and staff members have agreed to offer no-fee one-year corporate memberships to any TUGREEE organization that hasn't been a member of ASEE in the past five years. ASEE has also agreed to extend Corporate Membership status to all firms that fund any combination of sponsorships, exhibits, and advertising in excess of 55,000 per year.

Tom Sigafoos is manager of university relations at Structural Dynamics Research Corporation and 1999-2000 chair of the Corporate Member Council.

Copyright American Society for Engineering Education May/Jun 2000
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