FAR - Results from the Graduate Programmes in Electrical and Computer Engineering

2017 IQAP Review of Electrical and Computer Engineering Programmes
Final Assessment Report and Implementation Plan

In accordance with the Royal Military College of Canada (RMCC) Institutional Quality Assurance Process (IQAP), this Final Assessment Report (FAR) provides a synthesis of the external evaluation and internal response and assessments of the graduate programmes in Electrical and Computer Engineering offered by the Faculty of Engineering. This report identifies the significant strengths of the programmes, together with opportunities for improvement and enhancement, and sets out and prioritizes the recommendations that have been selected for implementation.

This report includes an Implementation Plan that identifies:

  • Who will be responsible for approving the recommendations set out in the Final Assessment Report;
  • Who will be responsible for providing any resources entailed by those recommendations;
  • Any changes in organization, policy or governance that will be necessary to meet the recommendations and who will be responsible for acting on those recommendations;
  • Timelines for acting on and monitoring the implementation of those recommendations.

Overview of Programme Review Process:

The Programme Self-Study Report was completed in 2015. For the programmes under review - the MEng, MASc, and PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering - it contained the degree level expectations for these programmes, an analytical assessment of the programmes, course outlines, programme-related data, survey data from the Office of Quality Assurance and appendices with sample examinations and CVs of faculty members.

Two arm’s-length external reviewers (Dr. Jason Gu, Dalhousie University, and Dr. Jean‐Jacques Laurin, École Polytechnique de Montréal) were selected from a list of possible reviewers and approved by the Deans of Engineering and Graduate Studies. An internal reviewer, Dr. Ron Vincent of RMC’s Department of Physics, was also selected for participation on the ERC. They reviewed the self-study documentation and conducted a site visit to RMC on 23 and 24 February, 2016. During the site visit, the ERC met with the Vice-Principal, Academic, Dr. Phil Bates, the Vice-Principal, Research, Dr. Pat Heffernan, the Acting Dean of Engineering, Dr. Billy Allan, the Head of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Dr. Scott Knight, the Head Librarian, Ms. Sarah Toomey, the department’s Technical Officer, Mr. Pierre Adam, as well as several members of department faculty. The ERC also had the opportunity to meet with several students currently enrolled in the programmes. The ERC subsequently produced a Report based on the Self-Study and site visit. The report was circulated to department members and discussed at a departmental meeting.

The reviewers submitted their report in March, 2016. In their report, they indicated that programme requirements and learning outcomes were clearly identified. Programme admission standards are in line with provincial and national standards, and the Electrical and Computer Engineering graduate programme compares well in both the Canadian and North American contexts. Issues with online journal access as well as times to completion were noted by some students and relayed by the ERC as ongoing concerns.

Significant Strengths and Areas of Concern of the Programme:

The ERC identified a number of strengths of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Programmes:

  • The Department has strong working relationships with various military and government agencies in Ottawa that have national and international mandates and missions. Within the Canadian Forces, the Department has been recognized as a national centre of excellence for topic areas of special military significance, particularly cyber security and electronic warfare, a unique position for a Canadian university that strengthens graduate programme offerings.
  • Admission requirements are consistent with graduate programmes at other Ontario universities, and the academic expectations of students enrolled in the programmes are reasonable and well established. This is a partial reflection of recent changes implemented by Electrical and Computer Engineering faculty and leadership.
  • The department was also noted as having an advantageous position with respect to space, human resources, research equipment and facilities to serve its graduate students.
  • The average time to completion of the MASc and PhD degrees is excellent and well within the expectations used in civilian universities, and attrition rates are essentially zero. Student progress is well managed.

Overview of Programme Review Process:

The Programme Self-Study Report was completed in 2015. For the programmes under review - the MEng, MASc, and PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering - it contained the degree level expectations for these programmes, an analytical assessment of the programmes, course outlines, programme-related data, survey data from the Office of Quality Assurance and appendices with sample examinations and CVs of faculty members.

Two arm’s-length external reviewers (Dr. Jason Gu, Dalhousie University, and Dr. Jean‐Jacques Laurin, École Polytechnique de Montréal) were selected from a list of possible reviewers and approved by the Deans of Engineering and Graduate Studies. An internal reviewer, Dr. Ron Vincent of RMC’s Department of Physics, was also selected for participation on the ERC. They reviewed the self-study documentation and conducted a site visit to RMC on 23 and 24 February, 2016. During the site visit, the ERC met with the Vice-Principal, Academic, Dr. Phil Bates, the Vice-Principal, Research, Dr. Pat Heffernan, the Acting Dean of Engineering, Dr. Billy Allan, the Head of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Dr. Scott Knight, the Head Librarian, Ms. Sarah Toomey, the department’s Technical Officer, Mr. Pierre Adam, as well as several members of department faculty. The ERC also had the opportunity to meet with several students currently enrolled in the programmes. The ERC subsequently produced a Report based on the Self-Study and site visit. The report was circulated to department members and discussed at a departmental meeting.

The reviewers submitted their report in March, 2016. In their report, they indicated that programme requirements and learning outcomes were clearly identified. Programme admission standards are in line with provincial and national standards, and the Electrical and Computer Engineering graduate programme compares well in both the Canadian and North American contexts. Issues with online journal access as well as times to completion were noted by some students and relayed by the ERC as ongoing concerns.

Significant Strengths and Areas of Concern of the Programme:

The ERC identified a number of strengths of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Programmes:

  • The Department has strong working relationships with various military and government agencies in Ottawa that have national and international mandates and missions. Within the Canadian Forces, the Department has been recognized as a national centre of excellence for topic areas of special military significance, particularly cyber security and electronic warfare, a unique position for a Canadian university that strengthens graduate programme offerings.
  • Admission requirements are consistent with graduate programmes at other Ontario universities, and the academic expectations of students enrolled in the programmes are reasonable and well established. This is a partial reflection of recent changes implemented by Electrical and Computer Engineering faculty and leadership.
  • The department was also noted as having an advantageous position with respect to space, human resources, research equipment and facilities to serve its graduate students.
  • The average time to completion of the MASc and PhD degrees is excellent and well within the expectations used in civilian universities, and attrition rates are essentially zero. Student progress is well managed.

The ERC identified a number of areas of concern for the Electrical and Computer Engineering Programmes, and suggestion for program enhancements:

  • It is not possible for students to apply directly to an MEng programme;
  • Some faculty members felt that procurement, contracting and travel approval processes can be cumbersome at times, and can detract from research productivity and student progress;
  • There should be an online system for graduate progress report submission and approval;
  • There should be an online system for graduate application submission and processing;
  • The time required to obtain security clearances for international students can be excessive, and has led to some strong students going to other universities.

The Programme Chair, after consultation with faculty and staff in the programmes, submitted a response to the Reviewers’ Report in November, 2016. The Dean of Graduate Studies, in consultation with the Dean of Engineering, prepared this Final Assessment Report in August, 2018. Specific recommendations are discussed, and follow-up actions and timelines provided.

Summary of the Reviewers’ Recommendations with Dean’s Responses

The ERC identified a number of areas of concern or issues that require attention. These issues are discussed in the order that they appear in the ERC Report:

  1. MEng program. The department only accepts MASc students for direct admission. A student can request to transfer to MEng after they have started the programme. The department should also accept MEng student for direct admission to increase the flexibility of the applications and attract more applicants.

    Agreed. The Department will review its current policy of only accepting MASc students and consider the implications of accepting students directly into a project-based MEng stream, including the resource implications and quality of education impacts. There will also be Department governance issues with respect to the supervision and funding of these students.
     
  2. Online student progress system. There should be an online system for graduate progress report submission and approval.

    The Dean of Graduate Studies (DGS) has implemented a student progress system since the IQAP visit, and will continue to monitor its effectiveness in reviewing graduate student progress. The DGS will investigate the possibilities of bringing the system online (a natural progression).
     
  3. Online application system. There should be an online system for graduate application submission and processing.

    Agreed. The Department will work with the Office of the DGS to investigate, scope the requirements for, and to implement a College wide online admission system.
     
  4. Streamlining Processes. It is clear that every effort should be made to streamline procurement, contracting and travel approval processes. Far too many levels of approval are required to process relatively small claims.

    Approval processes are held to the highest level under Treasury Board (TB) and Department of National Defence (DND) policies which can result in long lead times and uninformed oversight to approvals. To address this challenge, RMC worked with DND to change the policy on conference travel, the result being that conference approval is no longer required, and only the travel approval is required, significantly reducing the time and effort associated with attending a conference. For procurement and contracting,researchers need to plan purchases with reasonable lead times to ensure their programmes are not affected. This challenge is well understood by the university.
     
  5. Reduce the time needed to obtain security clearance. The time required to obtain security clearances for international students can be excessive, and has led to some strong students going to other universities.

    The Department and College have made significant progress in the processing of security clearance applications for international students since the IQAP visit. The Department provided a faculty member to act as the Academic Wing Security Advisor on behalf of the College in general. The Security Advisor has made good progress in streamlining the process, making it much more efficient, and educating the Academic Wing on how to use the new process. The issue is important, and the Dean of Graduate Studies will continue to monitor it.

Implementation Plan

Recommendation Proposed Follow-up Responsibility for Leading Follow-up Timeline for Addressing Recommendation
1. MEng program Review feasibility and desirability of direct application to MEng programs. Department Head Complete. The Department has reviewed and concluded that direct entry to the MEng is not appropriate at this time.
2. Streamlining Processes Efforts are underway to shorten the approvals process at the top end through greater delegations. Principal Completed.
3. Online student progress system Implement a robust student progress reporting process across the Graduate School. Dean of Graduate Studies, Department Head Ongoing. DGS has implemented a uniform progress reporting process across all programmes. Implementation of an online process is continuing. (Dec 2018).
4. Online application system Implement an online application process for Graduate School. Dean of Graduate Studies Completed.
5. Reduce time needed to obtain security clearance Streamline the process to make it more efficient. Dean of Graduate Studies Completed. Will required ongoing monitoring and adjustment.

Conclusion:

The ERC Report provided positive feedback on the outcomes of the various graduate programmes in Electrical and Computer Engineering. It confirmed that the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering is delivering an academically rigorous program to its students and that its standards meet those of similar programmes in Ontario. However, the ERC identified areas that had room for improvement, and RMC is taking, or has already taken steps to address the issues that were raised, including the monitoring of student progress and reducing the time needed to obtain security clearances for international student. RMC will continue to work towards more streamlined administrative approval processes for the programmes. The Dean of Graduate Studies, in consultation with Dean of Engineering and the Head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is responsible for monitoring the Implementation Plan.

Date modified: