Continuing Education Department in an Engineering University, Business Plan Example

Introduction

Programs for continuing education are often established to create a better option for individuals who have already finished their courses to further improve their skills and make themselves more competent in the actual world. Unlike regular courses, continuing education programs are most likely focused on giving the students a much clearer vision of the actual situations they are to face at work; hence, the subjects are most often than not connected to actual application of theories learned from lectures in earlier years of studying in consideration with the work process being mastered. In the field of engineering, establishing a continuing education program to be fully apart from the overall engineering course curriculum is an important aspect of furthering the learning process of the young professionals. This will probably open them to different possibilities of understanding their responsibilities even deeper and more extensive especially in terms of dealing with crucial situations that are related to their field of expertise.

Presented in this document are some of the key factors that ought to be considered especially in creating a new course offering that would entail students to follow through a continuing curriculum. This presentation shall give a more defined indication on how a separate continuing education department in an engineering university could be considered valuable and necessary for students for them to embrace what the said course has to offer.

Background

Engineering courses often range from five to six years of studying depending on the pace of the student. Within these years, a surmountable amount of money is already used for the completion of the said curriculum. The whole course of Engineering is already a demanding journey for most students in mental, physical, emotional and financial aspects of consideration in relation to professional growth. This is why when students graduate from such course, most of them dedicate their time to finding the right job to retrieve whatever they may have spent in college through earning from actual work.

However, given the seriousness of the work case of engineers, not all graduates are able to immediately land in a good job. The fact is, only 30% of engineering graduates are able to land in a remarkable desirable job that fits their qualification. The other 32% gets a job that may not be fully connected to the course they have taken but is enough to get them by as they look for other positions that are more related to their course. The rest of the students coming from this field are having almost an impossible chance to get any job at all. The competition in the industries is rigid. The truth is, the capacity of the students to face real-life situations related to their profession is lacking among most graduate students from the Engineering courses. The five years they have spent in classrooms doing lectures and at times class-based practicums seem to be rather impractical for application especially for those organizations aiming to hire highly competent engineers.

While it is true that the last semesters that engineering students have to go through are often dedicated to field practicums, business owners or engineering firm operators often find those options of practice rather incapable of proving that the students are already capable of handling crucial tasks in the field.

Given the changing face of the industrial foundation of industrial operations at present, organizational owners and developers dedicated to improving engineering feats are often in search of those who are aggressive and experienced enough in the field. Business firms providing engineering support are often in search of the experts. They view their hiring process as a huge point of investment that could either secure them of good profits in the future or could lose them a lot of money if they do not hire the right individual for the right position. While this is true; there are some companies that view hiring as part of a risk that could win them high comprehensive results later on. So to establish the importance of taking such a risk, they tend to offer training positions that would give the newly graduates an incentive to learn while they earn; however, at the end of such condition of working process, only a few among those who were trained get the actual job and those who are let go have to go into another job hunting journey. This is often a source of frustration among young professionals who are simply that eager to apply what they have learned from class in actual conditions of work assignments. Without the necessary experience, some of these young hopefuls are rendered hopeless, often depressed and helpless as they go on one failed job search towards another.

This is where the need for a continuing education department comes into the picture. Special offer continuing course for engineers that hope to improve their skills, increase their competence and reestablish their capacity to work; thus developing their capacity to provide a better service which will look good in their resumes as they present themselves to prospective employers would specifically give these new engineers the boost of morale that they need to get the job that the need and the respect that they deserve. True to its sense, equipping a person to be more fit to find a job that he pleases to complete is one aspect of engineering that becomes a source of competence and confidence among young graduates; the fact that they are more experienced after living their universities, they would be more capable of finding the jobs that defines their profession properly.

Offering this course would however seem to be an added burden to the students who have already spent so much on their five year course. To some, it might seem rather impractical as they already want to work after studying for a longer time. This is where allied support from companies and educational institutions as well as administrational allowances would come into good entrance. It could be understood that somehow, the capacity of the internal and external alliances of the university to show students that they would be supported in their quest for better and higher form of competent education shall reestablish the foundation of this particular program for continuing education.

Internal support from administrators could come in form of continuing education loans which would allow students to gain financing support from the administration in form of study-now-pay-later scheme. Another possibility would involve the creation of scholarship programs that would help hopeful students to attain their goal through retaining an average rate of grades throughout the course.

As for the external alliances that the university has, particular government scholarships for continuing students could be explored and thus tied up to the program. A more considerable option would be getting an alliance with established companies. It could be assumed that as engineers face a more consistent process of refurnishing, companies would become more interested in them. Getting the attention and agreement of these companies to support the continuing education of particular students who they want to hire later on would specifically fit the portfolio.

Considering that the students targeted to take on this course would love to be able to work already, a program for self-supporting students could also be launched. Such program could include particular discounts and scheduling options especially as they are hoped to attend school and work at the same time. The crucial situations should also be expected as some of the students may already have families they have to support; this should also be given specific attention to, thus allowing these students to still reach their goals amidst the many hindrances they may have to deal with in their current situations.

Mission

It is the hope of this program to provide a more extensive source of experience for newly graduate engineering students who are seeking for distinct jobs that they could use to support themselves and their families accordingly. Providing then with a larger platform for growth in a more immediate approach that would include considering the professional goals of each student would make them more confident in facing future employers.

The creation of such a continuing process of learning is not to burden the students, but to lessen the frustrations that most students feel especially when it comes to determining the path that they are to take especially in hunting for good jobs that fit their qualifications and their expectations of pay. Taking an engineering course and finishing one are two different things, and for sure, looking for a job that would justify such a course choice is not easy either. Relatively, it could be understood that the condition of development that each student takes into account is one specific presentation of how a person takes learning into a more serious level of defining himself in accordance with the profession he has chosen to master.

Since engineering is not an easy course, each student who has embraced the challenge of undergoing such a tough process of learning ought to be rewarded a good chance at landing a good job or a good and reputable position in the industry. This program is aiming to just that. Increasing the capacity of the students to get that all to elusive dream job or dream position could only be met through increasing the trust level of each engineering student. Noticeably, this program shall strengthen the portfolio of each student, thus directly making a difference on how they intend to face the challenge of job hunting.

To make such an adjustment on the identity and classification of the students graduating from an engineering course, this program shall open opportunities for the students to see what is actually happening in the real world. Giving them options of experiencing the real challenges of engineering projects shall help them become more competent in problems solving; a key characteristic of any successful engineer. Exposing them to crucial situations would be vital for the valuation of this program. It is the aim of this procedure to make sure that students finishing the course are out into the actual industry of engineering with a much prepared spirit, allowing them to embrace developments fully and accordingly without faltering on challenges in the field. Helping them face problems even before they actually have the positions they intend to land in gives them a better source of competence, giving them the nerve to face even the toughest conditions in the actual field of engineering operations.

Vision

The creation of stronger and much competent students is a key to a much sturdier community. Individuals spurring out from such programs are expected to endure more fully even when challenges in the field arise. Relatively, the capacity of the institution to support the goals of the students not only while they are enrolled in a regular curriculum is one proof that the university cares for those who it imparts education to. In accordance to this, it is then the vision of the administration that the implementation of the program would help students value the importance of experience and properly defined portfolio that would prove their competence in the profession that they have mastered for many years.

It is also the vision of the administration that this program would help individuals engage better in creating a condition of self-improvement among students; a culture that they could hopefully carry on towards the time when they are to embrace a new sense of their professional progress. A constant desire to improve is one that fuels the capacity of a person to grow, to explore and to develop his contribution to the field he hopes to master in. For engineers, this is a vital characteristic as it improves the capacity of a person to innovate and to resolve problems that is within their reach to be given solution to.

Producing more competent individuals spur from highly defined and practically competent ideals of learning programs. It could be understood that when it comes to this situation, the choice of being productive comes from the students themselves; nevertheless, the motivation could come from the institution Hence, in support to this though, properly motivated students are expected to function fully in class and are more likely to stick to their goals amidst the hard challenges that the course or the actual practicum offers. Empowering young professionals to desire for the best for themselves and for those whom they are to serve in the community later would not only improve the field of engineering, but would better the lives of the people in a rather general manner.

Values

Establishing a culture that defines the desire for personal growth and improvement; this is one of the primary values that the program hopes to establish among its students. Giving them a chance to see a better sense of who they are pays well especially in making an attempt to helping them learn how to apply the theories they have learned in class into the outside world. Giving them a chance to realize the importance of what they learn in class in consideration to actual situations in the field shall help them value more of what they have placed their time, effort and money for while they were still studying.

Another value that the course hopes to define is connected to the consideration over the determination of good contribution of professional mastery in the field of engineering. The desire to make good in everything that one does is one good foundation for this continuing education program. As the students try to embrace the condition by which they are to make good ought of what they have accomplished and make sure that such goodness is passed on to others; therefore benefiting their point of professional growth, the program shall feed their capacity to extend themselves to others through their work. This is an essential aspect of program competence that basically increases the determination of students to become the best of whatever they can be in the field of engineering.

Objectives

This program shall be based in specific objectives that could be noted as follows:

1. To produce competent students, able to present good portfolios of their own work for the prospective employers to use as part of their qualification proofs.
2. To create a sense of eagerness among newly graduates to become more than what is expected of them through meeting standards of experience requirements that can only be taken from practical options of learning [usually being exposed to the real system of engineering]
3. To increase and improve the learning capacity of the students especially as they intend to embrace a new sense of professional identity as they take on and finish the continuing education program
4. To establish a centralized operation that would be focused on helping young students and newly graduates who aim to further their studies and add more into their qualifications and competence level.

These objectives are designed to make it easier for the students to decide on whether or not they are to take the continuing education program. Part of the plan of making this particular department functional is the process of campaigning for the course that the department offers. Helping graduate students and other working individuals who hope to take on the course to see the importance of what the learning process offers, will better establish the full value of the program itself.

The financial support programs [mentioned earlier] shall make this program even much easier to engage in for students who hope to improve their portfolio. These arrangements shall provide a more workable system for graduate students to land in a job that they do not just need, but they want and deserve at the same time.

Conclusion

What makes continuing education in engineering necessary is that of the changing face of employment in the field. Even when a newly graduate from the course desires to stand alone, he needs to have a strong portfolio to show clients that he deserves their trust. With the current competition going on in the industry, it is essential that every student be given the edge to compete. Giving every fresh graduate to jump into such point of competition would only be fruitful if the continuing education program would be set to provide experience and practice for the young professionals. This way, the educational options itself would be practical and necessary for most hopeful engineers. The options of financing opened to those who are interested in the program would help well especially when students are aiming to create a more productive background that they could use at work to serve others expecting their service.