ASSESSMENT OF DIVERSITY OF OFFERINGS IN UNDERGRADUATE INDUSTRIAL AND SYSTEMS ENGINEERING DEGREE PROGRAMS.

In the digital age, technology is evolving exponentially. What is useful and needed, quickly becomes obsolete. Industrial and systems engineering education continues to evolve in an effort to adapt to challenges and meet system needs, now and in the future. As demand for this path of study increases, these degree programs will be more critically assessed as prospective students and recruiters filter through available supply. Given that the methods, tools, and techniques are rapidly advancing, competency in personnel management and soft skills must also evolve. Universities programs must develop those most demanded by employers, such as critical and analytical skills, systems thinking, stakeholder communication, information and knowledge management, project management, and agile development, as well as a total lifecycle emphasis to support system evolution and sustainment. Our study will examine the diversity of courses and topics offered in an undergraduate industrial and systems engineering (ISE) degree programs and evaluate similarities, differences, and gaps using the listings in available curricula and descriptions of requirements. We will conclude with recommendations for new programs and those seeking to enhance their curricula to provide more value to students, to more effectively address the challenge of providing the supply of curricula and ISE graduates, to meet the demands of its current and future students’ competencies, and to be of value to government and industry seeking to employ individuals with ISE degrees and competencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]