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"Designed for working professionals, the fully online Master of Engineering Management degree program allows students to combine course experiences with workplace challenges to acquire effective administration and management skills. The program is designed to prepare students for career advancement and has earned the #14 spot in SuperScholar.org's Smart Choice ranking of the top 25 schools for online engineering management degree programs. The non-thesis graduate degree is designed for individuals who have at least one degree in engineering or significant engineering practice and a degree in a related field." Billie Strand, Recruiter & Program Consultant, UNL. Where is it: Lincoln, NE Format: Online & On-campus Degree you get: Master of Engineering Size of the Program: 50 Students Number of credit hours: 36 credit hours And that will take how long? ~3 years When does it run: Start of Any Term Fees: $15,000 - $41,000 Minimum Admission Requirements:
Not Required
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The University of Nebraska – Lincoln (UNL) has offered their Masters of Engineering Management (MEM) program via distance learning for over three decades. Over this time, the format has gone from mailing VHS tapes to interactive television to Internet-based delivery.
ENGINEERING.com caught up with Jeffrey C. Woldstad who heads up UNL's Masters in Engineering Management faculty, and Recruiter & Program Consultant, Billie Strand.
Jeffrey C. Woldstad, Ph.D., P.E, Faculty member in charge of the MEM program.
When programs are offered both online and on-campus, it is important to keep a comparable high quality in both streams. To that point, Wolstad says that, "the quality is the same online as on-campus. With the same material and same level of depth, students should get the same out of it. There are advantages to both. For online students, it's of course that they can be anywhere in the country. However, the students on-campus do benefit from the personal contact with other students and their instructors."
"Most every student would prefer to be on-campus, but it is not an option for working adults," added Strand. "UNL looks at the success of on-campus programs and if there is a market that isn't being met, which is adults that can't get to a campus, then UNL considers offering an online version of the program. This convenience is the draw for working adults."
"UNL prides itself in that the curriculum is the same for on-campus programs and online programs. The programs and courses go through graduate committee review and Regent's approval. Which would be the same online or on-campus. Same quality and rigor. The same degree, UNL transcripts don't mention online," said Strand.
Campus facilities for the MEM program.
"UNL is looking to take Jr. Engineers and provide them with more management knowledge to work effectively with people. We are typically talking about people who have 4-5 years of work experience: however 2 years is the minimum. We want to turn effective engineers into effective managers," said Woldstad.
All of the courses online are term coordinated, run at 4 different times in the year, and last 10 weeks. "Students tend to like the accelerated completion of each course. But when starting the program it is best to take one course at a time due to this speed," advises Strand. "You can always take on more courses in the next term, but you don't want to have issues reaching deadlines at work, or at UNL. Research shows that self-paced courses have low completion rate compared to term based offerings. We therefore structure our programs so that you must finish the courses on time."
Woldstad adds that the term coordination goes hand in hand with the interactivity of the course with respect to projects and discussion boards. However, he reassures that if there is a reasonable issue, an incomplete can be issued and other arrangements made.
As for the workplace, students are encouraged to use their work experience and company issues to complete their assignments. This encourages applications of the course knowledge in the workplace as soon as possible. It also ensures that every assignment will be fundamentally different.
UNL is proud of the strong course connections between their MEM program and MBA program. Currently, the MBA program is ranked 6th by USNews and the MEM program was ranked 41st in its first year of contention.
About a quarter of the classes offered for MEM are delivered by the College of Business Administration at UNL. Students completing an MEM must complete at least 3 MBA courses. However, students can choose up to half of their 12 courses from this MBA pool. Unfortunately, if you are looking to get both an MBA and MEM concurrently, you are out of luck. UNL does not allow a course to count towards two degrees.
For online students, course material, discussion boards, and other classroom management will be posted through the Blackboard platform. "The discussion boards are rather active. However, I do run an Adobe Connect discussion once a week to answer any questions online students may have. Students must also complete assignments on a continual basis and some classes will have group projects where students can choose their method of interaction," clarified Woldstad.
Both the online and on-campus programs have committed to certain best practices that are reviewed each term. "UNL has been in the distance education business for almost 100 years. UNL has an office dedicated to the proper guidance and support of online practices. We also understand that some students will need extra assistance to complete their courses. If a student has an issue on-campus or online, they are encouraged to speak to the Office of Services with Disabilities to get services and equipment to advance their education," said Strand.
She adds that, "professors have access to instructional design technology specialists (IDTS) to discuss pedagogy methods and technology for online learning. Education online, just as it is on-campus, should be interactive. The process starts with the learning outcome the faculty want the student to have. And the IDTS can advise and guide the faculty member on how to achieve the learning outcome."
As UNL is a class 1 research institution, almost every faculty member has a research component to their position. Therefore, the professors are not just teaching content they have learned - they are teaching content they fundamentally know and study. "Our research is related to what we teach," stated Woldstad. "We have faculty that research topics related to engineering management including: Operations research, human factors, manufacturing, engineering and transportation management, and construction management."
Why wouldn't you get an MEM from U of Nebraska - Lincoln:
- Your work load is large and you may not have the time to complete a course before term's end
- You wish to complete both an MBA and an MEM without retaking courses
Required Courses - 18 credits
- Engineering Management I
- Engineering Economy II (Decision and Risk Analysis )
- Engineering Management II
Elective Course Topics
- MSE 805: Analysis of Engineering Management
- IMSE 806: Decision and Risk Analysis
- IMSE 807: Project Management
- IMSE 810: Ergonomics
- IMSE 812: Occupational Safety - A Systems Analysis
- IMSE 815: Cognitive Ergonomics
- IMSE 816: Physical Ergonomics
- IMSE 817: Occupational Safety Hygiene Engineering
- IMSE 821: Applied Statistics and Quality Control
- IMSE 822: Industrial Quality Control
- IMSE 823: Reliability Engineering
- IMSE 828: Stochastic Operations Research Models
- IMSE 831: Stochastic Processes
- IMSE 832: Scheduling
- IMSE 840: Discrete Event Simulation Modeling
- IMSE 860: Packaging Engineering
- IMSE 861: Radio Frequency Identification
- IMSE 870: Theory and Practice of Materials Processing
- IMSE 871: Tool and Die Design
- IMSE 875: Manufacturing Systems I
- IMSE 876: Manufacturing Information Systems
- IMSE 877: Robotics
- IMSE 881: Supply Chain Optimization
- IMSE 882: Material Planning in Logistic Systems
- IMSE 883: Logistics in the Supply Chain
- IMSE 898: Laboratory Investigation
- IMSE 899: Master's Thesis
- IMSE 901: Total Quality Management Using Six Sigma Techniques
- IMSE 905: Analysis of Engineering Management II
- IMSE 906: Financial Engineering
- IMSE 914: Physiological Aspects of Ergonomics
- IMSE 915: Biomechanics
- IMSE 916: Biotechnology
- IMSE 919: Determinants of Occupational Performance
- IMSE 922: Quality Engineering: Use of Experimental Design and Other Techniques
- IMSE 923: Manufacturing and Dynamic Systems Modeling
- IMSE 970: Advanced Manufacturing Processes
- IMSE 975: Manufacturing Systems II
- IMSE 984: Advanced Simulation Modeling
- IMSE 991: Seminar
- IMSE 996: Advanced Topics in Industrial Engineering
- IMSE 998: Advanced Laboratory Investigation
- IMSE 999: Doctoral Dissertation
Elective Business/Management Course Topics (partial list) - 9 credit hours
- GRBA 851: Business Analytics
- ECON 822: International Finance
- AECN 856: Environmental Law
- GRBA 809: Financial Accounting
- GRBA 812: Managerial Economics
- GRBA 813: Managerial Marketing
- GRBA 814: Applied Organizational Behavior
- MNGT 828: Leadership in a Global Context
- MRKT 850: Strategic Database Marketing
- SCMS 832: Planning and Controlling Supply Chain Systems
- GRBA 811: Managerial Finance
- GRBA 815: Supply Chain Management Strategies
- GRBA 816: Human Resource Development
- GRBA 853: Strategic Management and Business Policy
- FINA 863: Portfolio Management
- ECON 996: Single Market to Single Currency
- MNGT 853: Data Mining Applications
- MRKT 830: Issues in Marketing Communication
- SCMS 834: Topics in Lean Supply Chain Management
- FINA 850: Multinational Financial Analysis
- GRBA 810: Managerial Accounting
- MRKT 826: Services Marketing
- GRBA 808: Introduction to Business Strategy
- ECON 817: Introductory Econometrics
- FINA 855: Capital Markets and Financial Institutions
- MRKT 855: Marketing and Globalization
- SCMS 844: Managing Logistics in the Supply Chain
- MNGT 859: Global Information Systems