Joys and challenges of creating a non-accredited multidisciplinary design program in a traditional engineering faculty

Abstract

In January 2021, a new academic unit (School of Engineering Design and Teaching Innovation) was created in the Faculty of Engineering for the first time in over 20 years. After identifying needs in the job market for programs with a focus on multidisciplinary skills, the academic unit’s first task was to develop a three-year nonaccredited program, titled “Bachelor’s of Multidisciplinary Design (Internship)”. Fundamentally, the program will include core technical expertise expected from an engineering faculty but will also offer flexibility for students to explore other interests. This type of flexibility and openness may seem daunting for first year students. Therefore, example learning paths were created based on current job market trends, with more learning paths in development.
 This paper focuses not only on the development of such a unique program in Canada, considering insight provided through stakeholder and focus group meetings, but also the challenges associated with submitting this program proposal through all levels of university bureaucracy, from the faculty committees through to provincial review. While there have been questions, and sometimes doubts, that such a program could be fully developed, the program is on track to pass all levels of approval and welcome its first cohort of students for the Fall 2023 term.