Illinois Administrative Code › Title 68 - PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS › Part 1380 - THE PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING PRACTICE ACT OF 1989 › Section 1380.210 - Approved Engineering Program

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a)
			 The Department of Financial and Professional Regulation-Division of
			 Professional Regulation (Division) shall, upon the recommendation of the State
			 Board of Professional Engineers (the Board), approve an engineering program as
			 reputable and in good standing if it meets the following minimum criteria:
1) The educational institution is legally
			 recognized and authorized by the jurisdiction in which it is located to confer
			 a baccalaureate degree in engineering.
2) Faculty
A) The faculty shall have a sufficient number
			 of full-time, or full-time equivalent, instructors to make certain that the
			 educational obligations to the student are fulfilled. A program at the basic
			 level shall have no fewer than 3 full-time faculty members whose primary
			 commitment is to that program. If an institution relies on part-time faculty
			 members, it shall demonstrate that, in addition to the commitment of at least 3
			 full-time equivalent faculty members, effective mechanisms are in place to
			 provide adequate levels of student advising and faculty interaction, and
			 faculty control over the curriculum.
B) The faculty shall have demonstrated
			 competence in their area of teaching as evidenced by appropriate degrees from
			 professional colleges or institutions. Other evidence of faculty capability
			 includes non-academic engineering experience, experience in teaching, ability
			 to communicate effectively, participation in professional, scientific and other
			 learned societies, licensure as a professional engineer and an interest in
			 students' curricular activities.
C)
			 Teaching loads shall allow time for research and professional development
			 activities. Stimulation of students' minds requires faculty involvement in
			 scientific and technological development and in instructional
			 innovation.
3)
			 Curriculum
A) The curriculum shall include at
			 least 4 academic years leading to the awarding of the baccalaureate degree
			 while providing integration of the educational experience with the ability to
			 apply the knowledge gained to the identification and solution of practical
			 problems.
B) The overall curriculum
			 shall include a minimum of 120 semester hours or their equivalent (e.g., 180
			 quarter hours) and shall include at least the following subjects:
i) Mathematics - 15 hours.
Mathematics shall be beyond trigonometry and emphasize
				mathematical concepts and principles rather than computations. Coursework in
				calculus (differential and integral) and differential equations at the
				baccalaureate level are required. Remaining coursework may include, but is not
				limited to, linear algebra, numerical analysis, matrix theory, probability,
				statistics, and advanced calculus. Courses in computer usage and/or programming
				shall not be used to satisfy the mathematics requirement.
ii) Basic Sciences - 15 hours.
Basic sciences must include general chemistry and general
				calculus-based physics. Chemistry courses shall make up no less than 5 semester
				credit hours with at least 1 hour of laboratory experience and physics shall
				make up no less than 8 semester hours. Remaining basic science courses may
				include, but are not limited to, general biological sciences, earth sciences,
				advanced chemistry, advanced physics, and advanced biology.
iii) Engineering Sciences - 30 hours.
Courses must be taught within the college/faculty of
				engineering (unless specifically taught by other faculty and the course
				substantially meets the standards as required by engineering faculty), have
				their roots in mathematics and basic sciences, and carry knowledge further
				toward creative application of engineering principles. Approved engineering
				courses include, but are not limited to, mechanics, thermodynamics, heat
				transfer electrical and electronic circuits, material science, transport
				phenomena engineering economics, and computer science (other than computer
				programming skills).
iv)
			 Engineering Design - 15 hours.
Coursework involves the conversion of resources to
				predetermined objectives. Courses must stress the establishment of objectives
				and criteria, synthesis, analysis, construction, testing, and evaluation to
				develop student creativity through open-ended problems and consideration of
				alternative solutions. The inclusion of realistic constraints, such as economic
				factors, safety, aesthetics, ethics, and social impact is appropriate. Examples
				of these subjects include design of: circuits, machines, power networks,
				process equipment and systems, and water treatment.
v) Humanities/Social Sciences - 15 hours.
Coursework includes subjects in philosophy, history,
				literature, fine arts, religion, sociology, psychology, political science,
				economics, and foreign language (other than student's native language).
				Non-traditional courses may include social responsibility and professional
				ethics. Subjects such as accounting and management may only satisfy engineering
				electives and cannot be used to fulfill this course objective.
C) Laboratory
			 experience is essential to an engineering education at both theoretical and
			 practical levels.
D) Computer-based
			 experience shall be included in the program of each student. The program shall
			 include technical computations, problem solving, data acquisition and usage,
			 process control and computer-assisted design. The student shall have access to
			 computational facilities in order to integrate these techniques into the
			 program.
E) The program shall
			 require that the student demonstrate competency in both written and oral
			 communication. Curriculum will include composition courses exploring
			 fundamentals of expository writing.
F) An understanding of ethical, social,
			 economic and safety considerations shall be included in the engineering
			 program.
G) For those institutions
			 that elect to prepare a student to enter the profession at the advanced level,
			 the curriculum shall satisfy the criteria set forth in this Section at the
			 basic level, and shall include at least one year of additional study. That year
			 shall include at least 2/3 of a year of advanced mathematics, basic sciences,
			 engineering sciences and engineering design. Of this component, at least 1/3 of
			 a year shall be devoted to engineering design. The program shall be designed
			 toward a meaningful individual course of study and include thesis, research
			 and/or special projects.
4) Facilities
A) The laboratory facilities shall reflect
			 the requirements of the offered educational program. The laboratory should
			 provide for individual project work by the students and the faculty. The
			 facilities shall be equipped with instruments and scientific equipment of a
			 kind and quality to ensure the effective functioning of the
			 laboratory.
B) The libraries in
			 support of the engineering program shall be both technical and nontechnical, to
			 include books, journals and other reference material for collateral reading in
			 connection with the instructional and research programs and professional work.
			 The library collection shall reflect the existence of an active acquisition
			 policy; this policy shall include specific acquisitions on the request and
			 recommendation of the faculty of the engineering program. There shall be
			 computer-accessible information centers and inter-library loan services for
			 both books and journals. The library collections, whether centralized or
			 decentralized, shall be readily available for use with the assistance of
			 trained library staff, or through an open-stack arrangement, or both.
C) There shall be computer facilities
			 accessible to the engineering students and faculty.
5) The institution shall maintain permanent
			 student records that summarize the credentials for admission, attendance,
			 grades and other records of performance.