Engineering and Engaged Scholarship at Penn State Part II: The Existing Ecosystem
The objective of engineering education is to educate students who are ‘ready to engineer’. This implies that students should be broadly prepared with not only deep knowledge and understanding of the technical fundamentals, but also the pre-professional skills required to be successful in the engineering workplace of today and tomorrow1. Part I of this paper includes a brief rationale and need for ‘Engaged Scholarship’ and the inherent need for a robust ecosystem to support it. Part II details the existing curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular efforts which form the core for the engaged scholarship ecosystem in the College of Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University. Curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular opportunities for students are detailed. Part III provides an overview of how this assortment of minors, certificates, programs, courses, and student organizations is being integrated and institutionalized into a strategic mission for the University.