The General Engineering department in the Davidson College of Engineering offers interdisciplinary degrees at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Both the Bachelor of Science in General Engineering and the M.S. in General Engineering degrees programs provide high-performing students with the opportunity to develop an individually tailored, interdisciplinary program of study. The programs are design to provide flexibility for students who need coursework that is truly interdisciplinary and not available through the other engineering programs in the college. A typical program of study for a student includes courses from at least three different programs in the College of Engineering and may also use courses from other colleges. Currently, multidisciplinary MS degrees offers a concentration in Electronic Materials and Devices.
In addition to providing administrative and advising support for both the B.S in General Engineering and the M.S. in General Engineering, the General Engineering department also provides administrative support for the College of Engineering's writing courses (ENGR 100W and 200W) as well as the Introduction to Engineering course (ENGR 10) taken by all undergraduate students in the College of Engineering. The department offers a minor in Green Engineering and students majoring in Social Sciences can minor in Applied Computing for Behavioral and Social Sciences (ACBSS).
The curriculum is based on a strong core of engineering courses and science courses common to all engineering curricula. The required science courses include physics, chemistry, and mathematics. The undergraduate curriculum is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).
Recognizing that the quality of its curriculum is directly related to the knowledge and skills of its faculty, the General Engineering Department supports continuing scholarship and research of its faculty and students.
The University Library serves as the main information and research source for the Department of General Engineering. The SJSU Library collection is augmented by consortial agreements with CSU+ and Interlibrary Services. A large number of university, college, and public libraries are located nearby in the Bay Area, providing a rich source of library resources available to SJSU engineering students and faculty. Many local industrial and government institutions have ongoing research with our engineering faculty and allow their resources to be accessed by our students and faculty as well.
There is a coordinated effort between the collection development and management for the General Engineering Department and the other SJSU engineering departments, as well as with many of the science disciplines, most notably Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics. It is also necessary to maintain a coordinated effort with some areas of the social sciences and arts/design.
The Library's printed collections and electronic resources in engineering are both strong in general. The basic and essential engineering materials are maintained to support the curriculum, teaching, and research. The continuous subscription and addition of the engineering online databases of Engineering Village, IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, and SPIE Digital Library; and science and technology databases of Academic Search Complete, ScienceDirect and Web of Science has greatly enhanced the study and research capability of students and faculty. The collection is enhanced by the addition of ASTM Standards & Engineering Digital Library.
A. Academic Senate Policy
According to Academic Senate Library Policy S15-10, periodic evaluations of the print collection are required to maintain the high quality of the academic collection, with the primary goals of improving the effectiveness of browsing and providing space for new acquisitions. The objectives include relocating materials, and weeding duplicate materials and materials that support discontinued programs or are no longer relevant for current programs.
B. Evaluation Plans
Development of the General Engineering collection requires a concerted effort in working with the engineering faculty to identify changes in the curriculum and to review the library collection to ascertain that the appropriate research materials are available at a level comprehensive enough to support new areas and to update materials for existing areas of study. Access to a greater number of key resources in full text will be emphasized, especially in core coursework, standards, journals, and databases. Because the collection fund for general engineering only covers database subscriptions, any funds for materials related to curriculum and research will come out of other engineering department funds.