Memorandum submitted by The Institution
of Chemical Engineers, (IChemE)
BRIEF INTRODUCTION
TO THE
SUBMITTER
1. The Institution of Chemical Engineers
("IChemE") is the professional body for chemical and
process engineers. Originally founded in 1922, IChemE has grown
continuously to its current status as a leading engineering organisation
with an international membership of 27,000 across more than 80
countries.
2. As well as promoting the advancement
of chemical engineering science and practice within the profession,
IChemE aims to increase public recognition of chemical engineering,
both in terms of what chemical and process engineers do and the
benefits that their work brings to society. Central to this work
is the qualification of our professionals as Chartered Chemical
Engineers evaluated against the highest standards of academic
formation (Masters level) and of initial professional practice
(minimum four years in a role of responsibility).
3. IChemE is very active in developing and
raising standards in education, accrediting Masters and Bachelors
degree programmes at some 60 higher education institutions. Our
chemical engineering degree programme accreditations are highly
sought after by the education community worldwide. Within Europe
IChemE accredits programmes in Spain, Hungary, Netherlands, Eire
as well as across the UK university community. Elsewhere IChemE
has accredited programmes at leading education providers worldwide.
4. IChemE is licensed by both the Engineering
Council (ECUK) and the Science Council to qualify chemical engineers
as Chartered professionals, to register them and to conduct accreditation
of relevant university degrees.
FACTUAL INFORMATION
5. IChemE welcomes this opportunity to provide
input to help the Select Committee develop its report on "The
Bologna Process". The Bologna Process has substantive implications
for UK higher education chemical engineering provision, as indeed
it has across the broad professional engineering community. These
implications are described under eight below.
6. IChemE has a vital interest in the nature
of chemical engineering educational provision and in assuring
delivery of high standards of academic formation for those entering
the profession. IChemE pioneered the development of learning outcomes
based accreditation of degree programmes. The Select Committee
should note that the principle behind learning outcomes assessment
is that it is what engineering students have learnt to apply that
is fundamentally important and not how many hours they may have
taken on a module (credit counts) or even the duration of the
course. The latter two can only be considered to be indicators.
As well as being embraced by educators internationally this approach
of outputs-based assessment has been adopted by Engineering Council
UK and the QAA and is now used across the engineering professional
institutions (refer UK-SPEC Output Standards).
IChemE supports absolutely the view that a professional
engineer must have strong academic formation and that the threshold
for this be maintained at the Masters level. We point out, however,
that academic formation is only a necessary but not sufficient
condition for becoming a Chartered Chemical Engineer. Some other
European countries do not undertake such a rigorous approach to
professional recognition and do not have mechanisms for a review
or examination of professional practice as a prerequisite for
registration as a professional engineer, relying solely on academic
formation.
7. IChemE is committed to the highest standards
of professionalism. It has a vital interest, on behalf of its
broad membership, to ensure that the international recognition,
high status and respect for its Chartered Chemical Engineer qualification
is maintained as the benchmark standard for professional practice
worldwide. It is broadly characteristic that many chemical engineers
are employed by major internationals and that many will conduct
a variety of international assignments outside the UK. Such international
strength is clearly evident with one third of our members resident
outside the UK.
From a UK perspective chemical engineers are
found in great numbers in the Oil & Gas, Pharmaceutical (and
increasingly the Biotech industries) as well as the important
Design Contracting sectors. All these companies recruit from an
international pool and it is essential that the UK provides quality,
well-qualified engineers to feed their labour demands. The UK
can ill afford any real, or even perceptual, reduction in standards
of academic formation from its universities.
IChemE is generally supportive of the mobility
related aspirations inherent in the Bologna Declaration which
in principle should help ensure a diverse supply of quality professional
engineers to employers of chemical engineers. Likewise mobility
of UK educated engineers must be protected so that they can compete
on equal terms globally.
8. KEY ISSUES
FOR CONSIDERATION
8.1 Impact on the integrated MEng Engineering
Degree and Graduates thereof
Under Bologna there is a risk that the successful
UK-style integrated MEng is only regarded as an intermediate qualification
in the second cycle because it is "only" a four year
programme (versus the three year Bachelor plus two year Masters
Bologna model) and because it contains less than the minimum permissible
number of Masters level ECTS credits (60). This would mean that
UK graduates would not hold the minimum necessary academic formation
needed to practice as a professional engineer with consequential
negative impacts on both UK academic reputation and the international
recognition and mobility of UK engineers.
The UK-style MEng provides an efficient fast
track to achieving the academic formation requirements for registration
as a Chartered Chemical Engineer.
The primary benefit of the integrated MEng programme
is that it is deliberately designed to prepare talented students
for professional practice and integrates all aspects of study
throughout the final two years (maths, science, design, engineering
practice, business contexts) largely through deeper study plus
extended individual research and group design projects. It must
be understood that the four year (five year in Scotland) integrated
MEng degree is a unique programme of study to that that would
be followed in a Bachelors degree plus a subsequent Masters programme.
The MEng educational experience is therefore fundamentally different
to studying a Bachelors programme followed by a Masters in a relatively
small area of focussed study.
The integrated MEng is a unique pathway to the
Masters level. It has been the key, predominant, high level feature
of UK engineering higher education for over 20 years.
It needs to be strongly emphasised that the
integrated MEng is proven, and is recognised by employers and
students as being effective and efficient.
An additional key benefit of the integrated
approach is the progression of well-qualified graduates to employment
one year earlier, with benefits to employers, graduates and society
alike. There is no doubt that the integrated MEng has a track
record in delivering high-quality graduates for major employers
operating in the international chemical engineering profession.
Students entering the MEng programmes hold high
standard entry qualifications, higher than those typically entering
BEng(Hons) degrees. Abler students may also subsequently transfer
to MEng courses during their studies based upon examined results.
This high quality of student cohort contributes in part towards
MEng level learning outcomes being efficiently met by those on
the programmes.
IChemE recognises the importance of flexibility
and welcomes all graduates with Masters level academic formation
including those from combined first and second cycle degrees such
as a Bachelors (Hons) chemical engineering degree plus separate
Masters degree route.
IChemE therefore strongly recommends that there
must be a vigorous and continuing defence of the four year UK
MEng based on the proven delivery of Masters-level outcomes in
an efficient way.
8.2 IMPACT
OF EUROPEAN
CREDIT TRANSFER
SCHEME ON
DEGREE CONTENT
AND DESIGN
The European Credit Transfer System would require
an integrated MEng degree to contain 270-300 ECTS credits with
a minimum 60 ECTS credits at the second cycle level. UK four year
MEng programmes do not comply with this criteria.
ECTS is the new basis for comparison of qualifications
across Member States. While of value it is reliant upon a system
of defining degrees by workload-based credit counts and has little
regard for assessment of learning outcomes.
IChemE has participated to the EC-funded EURACE
project on accreditation of (chemical) engineering degrees but
there is not yet a widespread acceptance of learning outcomes
assessment across Europe. Consequently, while the five year Scottish
chemical engineering MEng programmes accumulate the required ECTS
credits for a Masters programme as defined under Bologna those
elsewhere in the UK do not, despite the similarity of learning
outcome.
Some UK departments are considering inclusion
of an extra 30 ECTS credits to the final years of their MEng programmes
but this would still leave them open to criticism that the programmes
are at the "low end" of the credit range defined under
Bergen (270-300 ECTS) and therefore still at risk of being perceived
to be "deficient" or "weak" within the international
education market place. It is not clear whether such inclusion
of credits (workload) is actually feasible.
IChemE advises that this prescriptive approach
to credit counting is inconsistent with an outcomes-based approach.
Outcomes assessment is accepted by ECUK , Universities and QAA
alike as current best practice. It should also be noted that the
QAA Framework for Higher Education Qualifications clearly places
the integrated MEng degree programmes at Masters Level.
8.3 IMPACT
ON UNIVERSITIES
In the absence of sufficient clarity from Government
about UK's part in the Bologna Process with respect to engineering
we, like our partners Engineering Council UK, have not been able
to yet provide clear guidance to universities regarding the future
of MEng programmes.
Generally, there is a mix of awareness and understanding
of the Bologna Process amongst the university community. This
is itself an issue given the immediacy of the declared Bologna
implementation date. A consistency of approach is required within
the community.
The IChemE also observes that it is unclear,
should there be a move to attempt to integrate extra credits into
programmes, how any increased credit loading on universities would
be funded. It is not at all clear how credit inclusion could adequately
be achieved on a practical basis within the already full engineering
curriculum.
The potential impact of increased teaching on
chemical engineering research activity is also unknown.
The IChemE maintains that it is essential that
our engineering departments can operate on equal terms with their
counterparts within Europe and elsewhere and must not be open
to criticism regarding the quality of their engineering degree
provision.
8.4 IMPACT
ON ATTRACTING
THE ENGINEERING
TALENT OF
THE FUTURE
Chemical engineering is a profession that requires
highly numerate graduates. Such are the educational demands for
the chemical engineering degree programme that only applicants
with strong STEM secondary education results are likely to succeed.
While successful initiatives like the IChemE's www.whynotchemeng.com
campaign have helped turnaround UK chemical engineering university
applications, IChemE is concerned that should the UK MEng be dropped
in favour of five year programmes this will result in decline
of the numbers of students prepared to undertake an extra year
of study.
It can be speculated that the extra costs incurred
in a further study year will drive prospective students away,
particularly as annual fees at least at the leading universities
(typically where chemical engineering is taught) will almost certainly
rise. UK Government needs to be aware of this risk and should
be doing everything in its power to make engineering careers attractive.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR
ACTION
IChemE seeks as desired outcomes from this Select
Committee consultation:
1. Clarity regarding the essential characteristics
and the expected outcomes of the first cycle and second cycle
engineering degrees.
2. Support to the position that a Masters-level
qualification (integrated Masters or first cycle plus second cycle)
is the appropriate, minimum basis for the academic formation of
a professional engineer.
3. A vigorous and continuing defence by
Government of the UK-style integrated MEng, based on the proven
delivery of Masters-level outcomes in an efficient way and recognising
that the MEng has a track record in delivering high-quality, well
prepared graduates for an international profession.
4. Confirmation that a range of flexible
pathways to meet the Masters-level is essential. The "standard"
Bologna two-cycle package of (Batchelor + Master) is one such
pathway.
5. Confirmation that engineering degree
qualifications should be based on assessment of learning outcomes,
with duration of programmes and/or credit-counts only as a guidance
for programme designers.
6. A fundamental review and change to ECTS
by the European Commission to reflect a more sophisticated relationship
between nominal workload (credits) and learning outcomes. Without
this the MEng will remain open to allegations that it is not a
full second cycle qualification with the obvious reputational
risks to UK universities and graduates alike.
December 2006
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