Response to A Great Question & Merry Xmas

For those of you who did not see the comment to my Roy Is Right entry, here it is below. It is such a great question that it deserves a good answer.

"If you agree with this fact, why do your books still contain so much math and formulas? Why don't you WRITE what industry wants, so that we can TEACH what industry wants?"

A frustrated electronics instructor

There are actually a couple of answers to this question. And both are related to the textbook issues I have discussed here before. As an author, I am seriously concerned about what I write in my books. I want it to be what industry wants and needs but also something that the instructors will want to buy and teach. The main problem is there is a difference between the two.

Generally speaking, I do write about what instructors want. And they do seem to want all the theory, math, formulas and related technical stuff. Industry may not necessarily want it or need it, so do not reject it as long as we cover what they do want. When I write a book, guess who gets to review it? About a dozen instructors and potential adoptors of the book. They still seem to prefer the traditional engineering technician version of the material. So they tell the publisher to keep this, add that and do it this way. So the publisher does it.

Publishers are paranoid about their book contents. Their customers are not really the students who actualy pay for the books or the industry who employs the grads but the instructors who choose the books and buy them for their courses. So they give the instructors what they want or like. More often, what the instructors want is the status quo. They are comfortable with what they teach and they hate to change. Most instructors want new material and up to date coverage, but to include it, we must usually cut out something else so as not to exceed our page budget. In the past when I revise a book as I am doing now, I add the hot new interesting material but instructors scream when I take out the older dated material.....even if it is no longer used!! I am not making this up. I have literally had to cut out the newer relevant content for some older materials that the instructors like to teach regardless of its current application or relevance. So in order to keep my publisher happy and to sell some books that instructors want, I have to compromise the book.

Who can we blame? Not me, as I tried to update the material based on real research about what industry wants and what grads need to succeed. Not the publisher because they want to sell books. So put the blame where it belongs, on the instructors who insist on teaching the old stuff and not the new stuff.

In the past I have proposed a book or two that covers what industry wants and needs only to have them rejected by the publishers simply because their reviews by instructors are negative for the reasons given above. Yet, the instructors who have little if any recent industry experience do not truly know what is important, relevant or industry desired. The solution to this is to have publishers include industry representatives in their reviews. I have suggested this many times, but it has never happened.

So, the answer is, I do want to write what industry wants but it is rejected by the publishers and their college faculty reviewers who know less about what is needed. Thus the downward spiral of technological obsolesence in the texts continues.

There is some hope however. This downward trend in enrollments has really hurt publishers who sell far fewer books than before. I believe they recognize that part of the problem is dated courses, books, and curriculum. There is a hint that some publishers are taking a fresh look at content and producing books that are more on target. If one publisher sticks his or her neck out to update texts, and it is successful, the others will follow. That will eventually bring the books more into line with what industry wants and what students really need to know.

Does any one out there have any ideas about how to solve this perpetual problem?

Hope you all have a great Xmas weekend.

Roy is Right

Roy Brixen of San Mateo College in California recently posted some very interesting comments to my recent blogs. Check out his comments to my Gloom and Doom and Things They Don't Teach You in School blog entries.

I certainly have to agree with Roy about the gradual fading away of engineering technician positions in industry. There used to be at least one and maybe as many a 8 engineering techs assigned to an engineer. That need in the 1950's is what originally created the Associate degree in engineering technology. Today, there are very few engineering techs. An engineer is lucky to have one tech today and most have none. While engineering techs have not gone away entirely, they are a pretty rare breed today. Most of them tend to be in organizations where lots of R&D is done where special equipment and one-of-a-kind things are built. Today, the engineer himself or herself, does even the tech work as Roy indicates. Design and simulation software helps do it all in record time.

In my travels and visits around the country as a Technology Editor for Electronic Design magazine, I usually ask companies about what techs they employ and what they do. Mostly the companies I visit have NO techs. Yes, none. I am not making that up. Those that do have techs use them mainly for testing.

Most AAS degree programs in electronics were designed to teach engineering techs. That is why the programs and courses are still heavily vested in math and circuit analysis. These programs are out of sync with what is actually going on. And that may be one of the reasons that programs are in decline. They don't match up with the real needs.

So if there are not that many engineering techs jobs today, what kinds of tech jobs are there? The good news is that there are still lots of tech jobs out there. They just are not engineering tech type jobs. Instead, they are jobs more involved with installation, repair, service, troubleshooting, testing and measuring. And there are still a few good manufacturing jobs out there for techs.

A second point, as Roy pointed out, is that the jobs tend not to be in the electronic industry. They exist in any organization that uses electronic equipment of any kind. Some examples are instrument techs in a process control plant, a field service tech that works on office machines like copiers, an MRI machine maintenance tech, or a two-way radio tech working for city fire and police. Anyway, you get the idea. The fact is, most of these jobs are not called electronic techs. They have other names.

If you are looking to revise and update your programs, read Roy's comments they begin to think how you can adjust course content and curriculum to better meet the real need. And that should lead you to figure out how to name and promote your programs to attract new students.

Good luck with that and don't forget to share your comments with us here.

Thanks, Roy.

Gloom And Doom

While this block tries to take a positive approach to the declining enrollment problem, you should at least think about the possibility that your department could in the near future be phased out and closed. That has already happened to many schools from coast to coast. While they are in the minority, it is a grim reminder that, paraphrasing the old saying, "there but for the sake of God go I." Let's face it, it could happen to you. If you have been fighting the problem for a while, you should be more than a little concerned. Hard-hearted college administrators have little to lose by closing your department and making themselves look good by investing in some other newer more promising career areas.

I have heard more than a few say that if electronic technology AAS programs are fading away, so be it. There must be a good reason. A season for all things, so to speak. Maybe the need for techs has reached its low point and few if any are needed. At least the kind of techs we have been producing for the past few decades. Maybe the tech is becoming extinct. We should put them on the endangered species list and get some government aid or something. Electronic technology technicians seem to be so much more worthwhile that saving the salamander, the spotted owl, grizzly bear or cave spider.

While that view does have its own logic, I just cannot seem to subscribe to it. What I see is a bunch of academic programs that have not kept up with the times. Faculty burying their heads in the sand refusing to acknowledge the massive technological, social and economic changes going on or especially doing anything about them. Schools keep on doing what they have always done because it is easy and comfortable......not to mention irresponsible. Maybe the price you pay for inattention and inaction is technological obsolescence and eventual oblivion.

Your only hope at this point is to take things into your own hands and put together a plan to save the day, then implement it....FAST. If you have read this blog you already know there are lots of ideas and solutions in here. What you need to do is put together a plan based on what you think will work best in your own case. To take no action is to decide that you will simply ride it down to zero over the next few years. What a nice way to end a career. Wouldn't you rather go down fighting? I urge you to get started on some kind of plan now. No one else is going to do it. Even if you think that taking such an initiative is not your job as a professor, you may not have that job unless you do.

There is a basic rule in the business world that you should follow here. No, it is not that the business should make a profit for its stock holders. That is a priority in business, of course. But not the main priority. The number one priority is.....SURVIVAL. If you don't live to fight another day you have no business. Your goal at this point is to survive the down turn and come out bigger and better than ever. At least give it a try. You will most certainly feel better about yourself if you do lose your job to a closure. And who knows, it could turn things around or give you more time.

Here is a check list of some of the key tactics to implement your strategy.

• Change the name of the department to something more attractive and meaningful.
• Shift focus to some more promising and exciting field.
• Closely examine the local industry and job prospects and identify some new opportunities.
• Call your industry advisiory board together for an emergency session. Get some answers.
• Revise and up date the courses and curriculum.
• Get out and recruit in high schools and elsewhere.
• Advertise and use PR.
• Up date yourself technically by self study or with financial help from your department if available. Learn something new.
• Do something drastic and innovative. What have you got to lose?

As a back up plan, consider your options should your department close. If you are old enough, retirement is the best bet, but that is not a happy way to go. You may not have any other good choices. Maybe you can join another department assuming you have the credentials. How about computer technology or math? If you are young enough, you can always go back to industry. It is tough being away even for a few years because of the rapid and significant changes that occur continuously. Nevertheless, get back into industry if you can.

Another option is teaching at one of the local proprietary schools with AAS degrees. They are doing better than the public community colleges for sure. Schools, like ITT, Corinthian Colleges, DeVry and a few others would no doubt welcome you. I suspect that like most academics you are pretty uppity and arrogant so think that proprietary schools are beneath you. But, what do you really know about them? They are doing better than you are. And they are better than you think. Don't knock them until you have tried them. I have and can tell you will be surprised.

If you have the appropriate academic credentials, consider going to one of the 4-year bachelor of technology degree granting universities. These are still doing well, at least better than community colleges. If you love teaching and academia, this is a great option.

Anyway, the main message is do something, NOW. And let us all know via this blog how it works.