Continuing professional education: A study of collaborative relationships in engineering between universities and corporations

Historically, universities and corporations have engaged in various kinds of collaborative relationships, such as in research, student recruitment, grants, and contracts. Yet fundamental social, demographic, and economic changes have heightened interest in forging stronger alliances between the two sectors.The purpose of this study was to investigate collaborative relationships between a select group of universities and corporations in the provision of continuing engineering education programs. The research questions were chosen to explore the goals and expectations of the universities and corporations; the ways in which collaboration was implemented; and the incentives provided to faculty and corporate employees to participate in the collaboration.A qualitative methodology was utilized to investigate, describe, and draw generalizations about the continuing engineering education alliances of the five universities and nine corporations of this study. The sample included research universities with nationally ranked schools/colleges of engineering and established relationships with corporations for the funding of research. Fifty interviews were conducted with individuals involved in collaborative corporate-university relationships, which were tape recorded, transcribed, and content analyzed.The findings suggested that goals were multidimensional; collaborative activities provided a means to both promote organizational vitality and engineering competence. Specific individuals were closely linked to the implementation of collaborative relationships: highly placed supporters for the collaboration; champion(s) of the program who provided impetus to the activity and direct involvement; administrative and support staff who attended to the details of the liaison; and motivated faculty and engineers who executed the transfer of training, education, and research.For some organizations, collaboration may not represent a viable organizational choice, given the range of obstacles that can jeopardize the relationship. For other institutions, however, the potential benefits may compel them to consider strategies for implementation. For the participants of this study, collaborative programs provided a mechanism to address social issues impacting these institutions: the need for a skilled and knowledgeable work force, the importance of research, development and technology transfer in economic development; and the leveraging of scarce resources in an increasingly competitive environment.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio