Student retention is an ongoing problem and has been for some time now specially in engineering technology education programs. It is a well-established fact that the quality of interaction between a student and a concerned individual on campus, often through academic advising, is a key contributor to college retention. Professional Academic advisors has developed very significant retention strategies that faculty can learn. It is important that faculty and academic advisors partner to explore effective strategies for student retention. This paper examines effective strategies used by four professional academic advisors in engineering technology programs. A questionnaire was developed and completed by advisors to understand best practices that results in better students’ retention and persistence to graduation.

After the earthquake on April 25, 2015, in Midwestern Nepal, thousands of residential and commercial buildings were damaged. Subsequently, building owners started repairing and reconstructing their damaged buildings. Most of the reconstructed buildings in the cities are reinforced concrete frame structure, but such traditional construction technique is time-consuming and can be costly. Thus, owners and construction companies adapted modular construction as a suitable alternative. While there are benefits of the modular construction, there are challenges that could hinder the wider adaptation of the technique. This study identified and ranked the opportunities and challenges associated with the modular construction technique in developing countries like Nepal. The opportunities and challenges were first identified based on literature review, and a questionnaire survey was developed to rank them based on the perspectives from contractors, architectures, engineers, and manufacturers/distributors that have direct or indirect experience and/or knowledge about modular construction in Nepal. Forty-two validated response were analyzed for this study. The top opportunities identified from this study include a reduction in the construction time; improved productivity; and reduced rework. The top challenges include the competition with the traditional construction techniques; the lack of information about modular construction in the society; and the lack of skilled workers. The findings are expected to aid the modular construction stakeholders in better understanding the opportunities and challenges that they can investigate. Such investigation can further lead to the identification of the solutions to the challenges and hence wider adaptation for the modular construction in developing countries like Nepal where the concept of modular construction is still new.

Classroom management refers to those activities of instructors that create a positive classroom environment within which effective teaching and learning can occur. As our classrooms get more and more diverse, traditional classroom management techniques seem less effective. It must be noted that diversity and inclusion is very important in a classroom regardless of the makeup and demographics of the students enrolled. Diversity lacking classroom management strategies may have negative effects on students' learning. Students may perceive that they do not "belong" in the classroom which can lead to decreased participation, feelings of inadequacy, and other distractions. Instructors may make flawed assumptions of students' capabilities or assume a uniform standard of a particular group of students based on their race, ethnicity, religion, etc. Instructors may themselves feel out of place based on their own inscriptive traits (i.e. differences based on class, privilege, etc.). Identifying and acknowledging these notions of difference and how they affect the classroom allow both students and instructors to see the classroom as an inclusive place. This study focuses on identifying effective classroom management strategies highlighting diversity and inclusion. The authors utilized survey, interviews and a meta-analysis of literature and identified five classroom management strategies: 1) creating a supportive physical environment, 2) establishing clear expectations of behavior, 3) communicating students in a culturally responsive ways, 4) creating a caring and inclusive classroom and 5) managing problematic behaviors - that can maximize inclusiveness in a classroom and enhance learning environment.

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The process of tenure and promotion which can be a harrowing experience for faculty in higher education is discussed. A tenured faculty member is one whose job, with a few exceptions, is secured for life. These exceptions typically include the closure of the department, gross negligence and sexual harassment. The paper addresses tactics, strategies and approaches that were utilized by the author to overcome the tenure and promotion process.

According to LeButte (1994), the fields of engineering and engineering technology both reported a decline in enrollment at almost all levels in the fall of 1993. Because of this low number of incoming freshman, it is extremely vital that every effort is made to retain those students who are enrolling in engineering and engineering technology. Retention is a group effort. It requires support and participation from everyone associated with the university from the president to the custodians, and includes secretaries and other students. It is the mission of The Freshmen Experience to plant the seed that will enable freshmen to achieve their highest level of success. To assist in these efforts, the Department of Engineering Technology at East Tennessee State University, in Johnson City, TN developed a freshman orientation course (The Freshman Experience) in the fall of 1994. The course's primary purpose is to decrease the attrition rate of engineering technology students at ETSU, while improving their success within the department. The goals of the course include: 1) engaging students in activities that will better introduce them to the university and the engineering technology department, 2) fostering relationships between students and faculty/staff by promoting activities of socialization outside of the classroom, and 3) providing students with a department mentor. It is the mission of the Freshman Experience to plant the seed.

The earthquake on April 25, 2015, in Nepal damaged thousands of houses; thereby leaving millions of people homeless. Most of the damaged buildings were mud and brick or stone bonded load-bearing structure. After the earthquake, there has been a lot of building reconstruction and renovation works going on in Nepal. During this phase, homeowners have faced many challenges such as inaccessibility to the construction site, scarcity of materials and equipment, and workforce shortage. Although few studies have explored the challenges during reconstruction in general, a thorough understanding of factors contributing to the obstacles is lacking. The objective of this paper is to present a detailed analysis of the factors contributing to building reconstruction and renovation challenges. A thorough literature review and interviews were conducted which helped to identify critical factors contributing to building reconstruction and renovation challenges. This study identified the top significant factors among reconstruction challenges in Nepal after the Gorkha earthquake. The top five significant factors are: a) dispute among family members on property, b) vested interest and corruption, c) lack of skilled laborer, d) lack of adopting and updating building codes, and e) lack of proper training on how to use new tools and techniques. The study also ranked the building materials and typology that suffered most damage during the Gorkha earthquake. Unreinforced mud or adobe building, unreinforced brick masonry building with mud mortar and timber floor, and stone masonry building with mud mortar were critical in each case. The findings can be used by construction professionals to improve their management strategies during pre-construction and be aware of top contributing factors during reconstruction and renovation process. The results will also help project managers, field engineers, and contractors in the understanding of building materials and typology that are vulnerable to earthquake.

The Department of Engineering Engineering Technology and Surveying at East Tennessee State University offers a graduate program-MS in Engineering Technology. The program has two concentrations-Engineering Technology and Entrepreneurial Leadership. The Engineering Technology concentration is for students who plan to become, or are now, involved in supervising or coordinating workers, materials, and equipment in a production system or who are resolving technical problems in the workplace. Individuals completing the program should be qualified to deal with tooling, methods, planning, quality control and reliability, safety and management aspects of production in manufacturing and other industries. The Entrepreneurial Leadership concentration was formed to provide students with skills that will help them thrive in the global economy of the twenty first century. The purpose of the Entrepreneurial Leadership concentration is to respond to the ever-increasing need for entrepreneurial leadership skills in the commercialization of innovative technology, and to respond to the broader application of entrepreneurial thinking in existing technology-based businesses, health care and higher education. This program is designed to provide the innovative, prudent risk-taker with a practical approach for commercializing innovative technology and for creating wealth by finding implementation methods for transforming creative ideas into value producing technology-based business models. Recently the program has gone through an academic review which is mandated by Tennessee higher education commission. This academic review is conducted every seven years and it is designed to improve the quality of the program and implement recommended changes in a systematic manner. The academic review consists of creating a self-study report and a site visit. The self-study focuses on learning outcomes, curriculum, student experience, faculty, learning resources and administrative support. A two-day long site visit was conducted by a panel of two external and two internal peer reviewers. This paper presents planning, preparation and lessons learned from this recent academic review of the program. Some of the highlighted lessons learned are plan early, develop and implement a continuous improvement plan, secure faculty and administrative support to drive success in a graduate program.

The application of ergonomics in the industry has become significantly important nowadays, especially for designing a workstation. The purpose of ergonomics application in industry is to make the workplace best fit for the workers to ensure their comfort and safety. It impacts the workers' satisfaction, reduces the number of injuries and production rate. To maximize the safety and productivity of a working environment, an ergonomic approach must evaluate every aspect of the workplace and appropriately implement rules, guidelines, and plans. This paper addressed an injury risk in the manufacturing industry and proposed multiple solutions to resolve injury and musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) risk. The injury risks include bare skin exposure to sparks while grinding, poor back posture, and hand injury while performing the operation. Keeping the worker in mind and the need for precision and specific tolerances, the difficulties are significant. The proposed design modification of the polishing/grinding machine was challenging because of the type of job performed here and the space limitations. The improvement of the workstation was made by incorporating an economic and ergonomic design approach. The result was verified by the ergonomic risk factor assessment tool Rapid Upper Limp Assessment (RULA) before and after the design modification.

Thesis (M. Sustainability and Technology Policy)--Murdoch University, 2007. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Arts. Bibliography: leaves 179-190.