Program Educational Objectives
Graduates of the Nuclear Engineering program will apply their engineering knowledge, critical thinking, and problem solving skills and be expected to:
- Engage in professional practice at or beyond the entry level or enroll in high-quality graduate programs, applying their engineering knowledge, critical thinking, and problem solving skills.
- Become leaders in engineering, science, academia, business, and public service.
- Continue their intellectual development through participation in continuing education, professional development, and/or community service.
Program Constituencies and Needs
The NE program works to meet the needs of the following constituencies:
- Students.
- Alumni.
- Employers.
- NE program faculty.
NE students are the customers of primary concern, and they must be provided with an education that will open significant opportunities for employment. Alumni offer valuable perspectives on their education from our program which has helped their career and what improvements may be important to make the program even more competitive. Their careers demonstrate the accomplishment of the PEOs. Alumni are those who the PEO apply the most directly to, with the PEOs being simple clear statements of what the program intends our graduates to achieve within a few (e.g., three to five) years of graduation. Some of these graduates go on to serve Rensselaer as advisors to the program (representing industrial, government, and academic agencies which hire our graduates) and/or provide financial support for scholarships and endowments that directly affect students in their education. Employers are attracted to well-educated undergraduate engineering students, and graduates who accomplish all of the PEOs are a clear benefit to their employers. The NE faculty has the academic responsibility for the curriculum and for education of the students, and many NE faculty members at Rensselaer have spent decades building the program. In summary, each of these constituencies has a vested interest in the success and continued improvement of the NE program at Rensselaer and the proper direction of the program through its educational objectives.