An Evolving Model for Delivering Engineering Education to a Distant Location

A unique approach has evolved for providing ABET accredited undergraduate engineering education for the residents of the Greater Antelope Valley and adjacent regions in the high desert of California.Industries in the high desert have expressed a strong desire to train engineers locally.This desire stems from the unique attributes of the high desert which make attracting and retaining new graduates from other areas difficult.The model that is evolving provides only upper division instruction from the degree granting institution.Upper division instruction is provided through the use of interactive live-broadcast lectures and classes that combine students from the distant and main campus locations.A regional university center hosts the laboratories required for upper division students and is centrally located with respect to the population distribution.This approach requires the development of partnerships with the region's community colleges to provide the explicit lower division curriculum that students require to meet their degree objectives.This paper will describe the model in its current state of evolution and report on its effectiveness for providing undergraduate engineering education to a distant location.The characteristics of the industry being serviced and the demographics of the region will be discussed as will the history that has driven this model's evolution.The necessity for the partnerships that have been formed to support this effort will be described.This paper will also report on current events that are likely to impact the model's continuing development.