Engineering (Bachelor of Science) Program Objectives and Student Outcomes

The Engineering (Bachelor of Science) program at Augustana aims to combine the technical education of a traditional engineering program with the broad-based learning of a liberal arts college. Engineering is an interdisciplinary field that demands not only technical expertise, but the ability to work independently, cooperate as team members, and communicate with a wide variety of audiences, and the liberal arts environment of Augustana provides an excellent opportunity to train students as interdisciplinary, practical engineers.

The program has been developed to meet the accreditation requirements of the Engineering Accreditation Committee of ABET. The program can begin the accreditation process only after the program has graduated its first students, which will happen in May 2025. If granted, the accreditation will apply retroactively to all degrees granted by the program.  As currently planned, Augustana will receive a decision about accreditation from ABET in the summer of 2026. Please feel free to contact Mike Augspurger if you have questions about this process.

Listed here are the Augustana Engineering Program Educational Objectives (PEO) and Student Learning Outcomes (SLO), which are statements of the long-term and short-term aims of the program. The PEOs describe the program’s ambitions for its graduates in the first years of their careers, while the SLOs state the skills that a student should have when then graduate from the college.

Consistent with ABET requirements, the PEOs and SLOs have been developed in consultation with faculty, alumni, and prospective employers, particularly in the form of the Augustana Engineering Advisory Board. Also consistent with ABET, the program has also established a rigorous assessment process to help the program improve and achieve these objectives and outcomes.

Program Educational Objectives

Within five years of graduation, Augustana engineers will be:

1. Using their broad liberal arts education to flourish as practicing engineers: independent but effective in collaboration and communication; reliable but willing to take initiative and innovate.
2. Producing imaginative engineering solutions that contribute to the health of their organizations.
3. Assuming mentoring and leadership roles in their workplace and/or communities.
4. Incorporating professional standards, diverse perspectives, and an awareness of the broader impacts of their work into their decision-making processes.
5. Engaging in continued professional development.

Student Learning Outcomes

When they graduate from the Bachelor of Science in Engineering at Augustana, students will have acquired:

1. an ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics
2. an ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors
3. an ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences
4. an ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts
5. an ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives
6. an ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions
7. an ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.