Graduate Council
Follow-up review
Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Mike Unsworth met with Ken Funk and Logen Logendran on Thursday, May 1, 2008 to discuss
changes that have occurred since the Graduate Council Program Review of the Department of
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (IME) in November 2005. Dr Funk was the interim
Department Chair at the time of the Review, and Dr. Logendran was the IME Graduate Program
Chair.
Overview of the current status
At the time of the Review in 2005, discussions were underway to merge the IME Department and
the Mechanical Engineering Department to form a School of Mechanical, Industrial and
Manufacturing Engineering (MIME). IME faculty and staff expressed some concerns at that time
concerning the impact such a merger might have on their Department's ability to recruit and retain
high quality faculty and graduate students. They were also concerned about the potential loss of
departmental identity and budgetary independence.
The merger has now been completed, although several aspects of School structure and operations
continue to develop. Dr. Funk is now MIME interim Associate Head, and Dr. Logendran retains
his responsibilities for the graduate program in the Industrial Engineering.
In general, IME faculty and staff have been satisfied with the progress since the merger. The
School Head, Dr Batten, has been sensitive to IME concerns and was described as a good “people
person”. Although IME no longer has departmental status, it is felt that, at present, the discipline
is sufficiently distinct when viewed by prospective applicants, particularly on the new website
structure. Important budgetary lines for GTA appointments in IME have been maintained
separately from Mechanical Engineering.
In the 2+ years since the review, a number of the recommendations of the Review Group have
been implemented, and these will be discussed in the following sections, which are structured
according to the main recommendations (italicized) of the 2005 review. For readability, some of
the recommendations have been re-numbered and grouped together.
2005 Recommendations and Recent Progress
1. At least one IME faculty position should be created over each of the next two years to restore
faculty numbers and permit growth of the graduate program.
2. IME should be allowed to hire faculty to replace those that have departed. This is critical to
meet the new Graduate School rules regarding graduate coursework and would be an
important show of support for the program.
An Assistant Professor in Information Systems Engineering was hired in 2005; a search for
an Assistant Professor in the areas of Statistical Process Control and Quality and Reliability
Engineering last year was unsuccessful, but this search is being reconstituted with a focus
more strongly on finding a person with leadership potential in the broader area of
Manufacturing Systems Engineering. In addition, an instructor in IME has been hired, and
her presence in teaching undergraduate classes has allowed IME faculty to find time for more
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graduate teaching. Progress towards meeting the Graduate School requirements in numbers
of strictly graduate-level (500-) classes is continuing.
3. There are risks that a prospective merger with the Mechanical Engineering Department
could adversely influence the Department’s ability to recruit and retain high quality IME
faculty and graduate students, but there are also potential benefits in a merger. We
recommend that, if a merger proceeds, steps be taken to ensure that IME can be identified as
a self-contained discipline with a clear graduate curriculum and faculty career path.
AND
4. In order to keep an identity for IME it should retain department or a similarly clearly defined
status. This will be critical for the continued recruitment of highly qualified faculty and
graduate students.
AND
5. Some budget lines of IME should be kept separate from Mechanical Engineering to avoid
erosion of the smaller program.
The structure of the School and the presentation of its areas of specialization have been done
in such a way as to maintain the distinct discipline of IME. Although the web-pages for the
School are still under development, it is clear from them that visitors to the web-pages will be
able to readily identify the IME faculty, graduate curriculum etc. Dr Funk has budgetary
responsibility for GTA appointments in IME, and the merger into the School has given him
some useful flexibility in the distribution of GTA funds.
6. The review committee acknowledges the increased recruitment efforts by the department and
recommends that they be continued.
At the time of the review in 2005, the department was concerned about a decline in graduate
applications, and was putting particular efforts into contacting regional University
departments from which students might be interested in coming to OSU to pursue graduate
degrees. These efforts turned out not to be particularly successful, recruiting only a small
number of students who were not academically or motivationally strong. The IME group has
therefore modified its strategy, and now aims to publicize its graduate programs more
through links with faculty and former graduate students on the national and international
scales. A Graduate Student Recruiting Event, jointly held annually by the School and the
College, also has attracted prospective students, both from OSU and outside of OSU. In
addition, IME have moved their treatment of graduate applications to be entirely electronic,
and have streamlined the faculty review process. This has allowed them to respond to
applicants much more quickly and to make early offers. The revised strategy seems to have
been successful, with around 60 applications so far, seeking admission in Fall 2008. GTA
offers have been made to the top 10 applicants for Fall 2008, with 9 of them accepting the
offers. The number of new graduate students in the program has also increased this year
(2007-08) to 15 from about 10-11 in years past. With a breakdown of 7 PhD and 8 MS, about
12 of these 15 students are supported through GTA and GRA positions.
7. To broaden the graduate curriculum, and alleviate some of the impact of faculty losses we
recommend that IME consider cross-listing courses with departments with common interests.
Opportunity would seem strongest with Statistics (operations research for Manufacturing
Systems majors) and Mechanical Engineering (material and materials processing for
Nano/Micro Fabrication majors) although other relationships might also be built with
Computer Science (Information Systems majors) and Exercise Science and Psychology
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(Human Systems majors). Developing these relationships would also satisfy the graduate
students’ desire for a broader range of courses.
8. IME should publish a list of courses that will be offered over a two-year horizon to enable
students to better plan their programs.
Cross-listing has not been implemented, because it is felt that current opportunities for
students to take classes in other departments serve the curriculum well. For example, some
IME graduate students are required to take courses from the School of Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science, and in Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering, in
addition to the required and elective courses taught in IME. Likewise, students from other
disciplines take Nano/Micro Fabrication courses taught in IME to meet their program
requirements. Similar situations exist with the courses taught in the Human Systems
Engineering focus area and those taught in the Exercise Science and Psychology departments.
In addition, progress is being made in scheduling classes in the new School to avoid conflicts
between Mechanical Engineering, and IME classes. The aim is to produce a sustainable 2year curriculum plan, for example, with specialist courses taught by faculty on an alternate
year schedule. This plan will be published on the web for graduate student use.
9. We recommend the development of a graduate seminar series. It may be useful to create this
as a course for credit, and require graduate students to attend. Such a series could include
speakers from OSU, both from in IME and elsewhere, as well as speakers from industry.
Academic speakers who require compensation for expenses could come from other
universities in the region to minimize expenses, while those from farther away may be invited
based on fiscal considerations. Possible sponsorship of the series by industry should also be
investigated.
AND
10. The Department should consider mechanisms to avoid isolation of those working at ONAMI.
These may involve improving transportation between ONAMI and campus, creating a student
seminar series, and encouraging regular faculty interaction both professionally and socially
A successful seminar series has been established within the School, with typically eight to
nine seminars per term. Graduate students are normally expected to attend at least 4-5
seminars per term from this series. It was observed that the regular occurrence of seminars
has helped students based at the ONAMI facility on the HP campus to become more
integrated socially and academically with the campus-based group. ONAMI students also
routinely visit the campus for classes, so it is not felt that the physical isolation of the
ONAMI facility has outweighed its many research advantages.
11. The Department, in association with College administration, should develop a flexible plan
that matches graduate student numbers and teaching commitments to the number of faculty
available.
With the new faculty and instructor appointments, the ratio of graduate faculty to graduate
students is now about one to two.
12. The Department should look into areas of research collaboration, which might be led by IME
faculty or otherwise, that could take advantage of the excellent infrastructure in IME and
lead to more research involving cross-disciplinary integration.
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The formation of the School has somewhat increased collaboration, but it is felt that it is still
too early to realize the full benefits. It has not been possible to collocate all faculty in the
new School in one building, and the general policy is to allow individual IME faculty to
decide whether a physical move to join ME faculty in Rogers or Dearborn Halls is desirable
for their research interests. One faculty member has moved to Rogers Hall to strengthen
collaboration and Dr Funk has also moved his office to Rogers to be closer to the Head of
School. Because the three buildings occupied by the School are close to each other, it is not
felt that these moves are likely to weaken the cohesiveness of the IME discipline, but clearly
it is desirable for the School eventually to become more physically contiguous.
It is becoming clear that the strong research presence offered by ONAMI is increasing
possibilities for collaboration on research between faculty from different Departments and
Schools and with industry.
13. The Department should keep records of the quality of students applying and being accepted
into the program, and should endeavor to compare intake quality with that of comparator
departments.
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14. The Department should introduce an on-going plan to keep track of former students and their
career progression.
The new electronic processing of graduate applications has improved record keeping and
made searching the continuing applicant data base possible to explore trends. Comparisons
of the quality of applicants and graduate intake with other peer universities, and with some
top 10 engineering schools, generally show that OSU applicants and intake compare
favorably in terms of factors such as GRE and TOEFL scores.
The merger to the School structure has placed additional burdens on staff responsible for
administering applications and maintaining databases; these staff also have to share the
varying overall workload of the School. There is some concern about this workload.
15. The Department should investigate further the possible causes of the decline in graduate
applications in recent years. For example is this a national trend, or are there special
factors at OSU that need to be remedied?
It is generally felt that the decline was part of a national problem brought about by post 9/11
visa restrictions and administrative delays on foreign applicants, and by the perception that
other countries were more welcoming to foreign graduate students. This decline may have
been halted, at least based on 2007-2008 applications. The faster response to IME
applications as a result of the electronic treatment and streamlined review of files seems to
have increased success rates.
16. The Department should consider developing a graduate internship program in collaboration
with industry.
Faculty perceive strengths and weaknesses of internship programs. In particular, the effort in
identifying internship opportunities, supervising working arrangements, and the risk of losing
interns to permanent jobs were mentioned. Industry Fellowships are a preferred way of
placing graduate students in industry while encouraging more substantial research
collaboration and these opportunities are being successfully pursued, albeit on a small scale at
this time.
17. The Department should keep track of national rankings of graduate programs in IME
departments and endeavor to use this knowledge to improve the ranking of IME at OSU.
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AND
18. Given the climate nationally (and particularly in Oregon) for the funding of higher education,
it may be necessary to increase development efforts as noted in the self-study report. This is
not a short-term process and requires proper cultivation of alumni and corporations. Efforts
should be made to put together a strategic plan of how to accomplish this. Other than
scholarship and assistantships, IME may also wish to consider an endowed seminar series
and professorships to attract top faculty or support current faculty.
Making progress to improve the ranking of OSU Engineering nationally is a goal of the entire
College of Engineering and underlies the recent reorganization and restructuring. A new
position of Associate Head for Graduate Programs and Research in the School is about to be
filled, and this person will undertake strategic planning for development of all three graduate
programs in the School, including likely global collaborations.
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