2013-2014 General Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
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 Return to: College of Engineering
The Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering offers two curricula that are designed to provide a broad, but integrated education in the scientific, mathematical, engineering, sociohumanistic, and ethical principles that are the basis for a professional career. The curricula also provide sound preparation for continued professional development through informal studies, continuing education programs, or graduate study in a specialized engineering or related field. The philosophy of the faculty is to offer students a quality education, preparing them to enter any field of civil or environmental engineering. The department assists students in achieving the technological, communication, and interpersonal competencies, as well as a sensitivity to and understanding of socioeconomic issues, necessary for the professional practice of engineering.
For those students wishing to concentrate in environmental engineering, two opportunities are available. Students pursuing the civil engineering degree may select 20 hours of electives during the senior year with emphasis on technical, socio-economical, and regulatory issues in environment engineering. Alternatively, students may pursue the more specialized environmental engineering curriculum leading to the BS in Environmental Engineering.
In collaboration with external Civil and Environmental Engineering Program Advisory Committees, the faculty established the following program educational objectives for the undergraduate degree programs:
- consistent with the mission of the university, provide quality undergraduate programs in civil and environmental engineering which focus on the efficient, economic, environmentally sensitive, and socially responsible design, maintenance, and improvement of the state and national infrastructure;
- attract, retain, develop, and support excellent faculty, students, and staff that have the capability and motivation to achieve the program educational and outcomes objectives of the programs;
- provide modern instructional facilities to support the development of experimental, computational, and design skills; ensure the continual improvement of the programs through an active assessment and evaluation process that encompasses the constituencies of the program;
- provide adequate resources and administrative support to ensure that the program educational and outcomes objectives of the programs can be met; and
- support student chapter programs, as well as promote student participation in professional organizations and service activities.
The department is committed to the continual improvement of its BS degree programs in civil engineering and environmental engineering. Specific outcome objectives have been established for the degree programs and will utilize the following measures for assessing the achievement of these objectives:
- technical and professional capabilities of students in open-ended project design courses
- student, alumni, and employer surveys
- faculty assessment of ethical behavior of students
- student participation in professional organizations
- student performance on the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination
- subsequent professional registration of graduates
- success of graduates in post-graduate degree programs
The data from these assessment measures will be evaluated and used as the basis for improvement of all elements of the degree programs.
Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering
Civil engineering is a profession that advances the well-being of people, while improving and protecting the environment. A civil engineer gains knowledge of mathematics and physical sciences through study, experience, and practice. This knowledge is applied with judgment under economic constraints to provide facilities for living, industry, transportation, and a myriad of other activities. Civil engineering graduates can practice in the fields of structural, transportation, hydraulic, water resources, geotechnical, construction, environmental, and public works engineering. They are employed by private industry as well as governmental agencies and many ultimately establish their own consulting engineering businesses.
The philosophy of the department is to provide the students a broad background in key areas of civil engineering, and the opportunity for specialization through electives. Specifically, students take several courses each in the fields of structural, geotechnical, transportation, surveying, water resources, and environmental engineering. Eighteen hours of electives in the senior year provide the means for a student to specialize in one or two of these areas, if desired.
The graduates of the civil engineering program shall:
- be prepared to take a leading role in the provision, upkeep, and improvement of the state and national infrastructure in an efficient, economic, environmentally sensitive, and socially responsible manner;
- have an understanding of professional practice issues, understand their roles in a local and global societal context, and have the interpersonal and communication skills needed to be effective engineers;
- be prepared and motivated to become licensed professional engineers and to continue their education through professional development and post graduate programs;
- be proficient in analysis and structural, transportation, geotechnical, and water resources engineering; and
- be proficient in laboratory and field measurements and the ability to design, conduct, and critically evaluate the results of experiments in the areas of hydraulics, construction materials, and geotechnical engineering.
The successful civil engineer is a registered professional engineer who affiliates with various professional and technical societies. The department recommends that its students join and participate in the Student Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers and encourages each senior to take the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination that is a partial requirement for registration as a professional engineer.
The civil engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, www.abet.org.
Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Engineering
Environmental engineering is a separate and distinct baccalaureate degree program within the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. As a discipline, environmental engineering is defined as “…the application of engineering principles to improve and maintain the environment for the protection of human health, for the protection of nature’s beneficial ecosystems, and for environment-related enhancement of the quality of life.” The degree program is broad based and encompasses resource management; conception, planning, design, construction and operation of engineered systems for the protection of human health; the protection and management of the environment; air, water (surface subsurface, and groundwater), and land interactions and transformations; the behavior of natural systems, including their response to the activities of man; professional responsibility; and multi-disciplinary efforts across private and public sectors to assure environmental protection. For achieving additional depth in specific areas of environmental engineering, elective courses are available in a range of topics including in-situ waste site remediation, computer modeling, use of natural systems for wastewater treatment, and special topics and design/research project courses.
The basic mission of the program is to provide the fundamental intellectual knowledge, when supplemented by professional experience that will provide the technical and interpersonal skills required to conceive, plan, design, and implement the systems needed to provide and ensure environmental protection for human health and the sustainability of our natural ecosystem.
The graduates of the environmental engineering program shall:
- possess the technical and professional skills needed to ensure that they are adequately prepared to enter and progress professionally in the practice of environmental engineering or progress academically in advanced areas of study;
- be proficient in the fundamentals of mathematics and statistics, computational methods, natural and physical sciences, and chemical, civil, and environmental engineering sciences necessary to communicate and collaborate effectively with a broad spectrum of environmental professionals;
- have an introductory level of knowledge of environmental issues associated with air, land, and water systems and associated environmental health impacts;
- be proficient to conduct laboratory experiments and analyze and interpret data in the areas of soil properties and behavior, water quality and unit operations–physical, chemical, and biological;
- have the ability to perform engineering analysis and design of water, air, and land treatment/protection systems that minimize risk to the environment and public health;
- have an understanding of concepts of professional practice and the roles and responsibilities of public institutions and private organizations pertaining to environmental engineering and the interpersonal and communication skills needed to be effective engineers and citizens; and
- become licensed professional engineers and continue their education through professional development and post graduate programs.
Students are encouraged to participate in the activities of the student chapters of the Louisiana Water Environment Association, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and Engineering Without Borders. Other professional organizations that may be of interest to students include the National Society of Black Engineers, the Society of Women Engineers, and the Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO).
The department encourages each senior to take the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination that is a partial requirement for registration as a professional engineer.
The environmental engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, www.abet.org. ProgramsMajorMinor
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