Civil Engineering Professional Advisory Council (CEPAC)

The Civil Engineering Advisory Council (CEPAC), at UIC, consists of civil engineering faculty members and professional practitioners. The formation of the Council was prompted by the American Board of Engineering Accreditors (ABET). The purpose of CEPAC is to enhance undergraduate education at UIC. Similar organizations are mandated at all other accredited engineering departments and at other schools.

For our department, the professional practitioners are from the environmental/hydraulics, geotechnical, structures and transportation areas. They are representatives of private companies and governmental agencies. The roster of organizations include STS consultants, Christopher Burke Engineers, Thornton Tomasetti Engineers, IDOT, CTE Engineering, US Army Corp of Engineers, Montgomery Watson Harza Engineering Co., Clark Dietz, Teng and Associates, Inc., Midwest Engineering Services, Inc., Alfred Benesch & Company and Parsons Transportation Group.

To assist in determining the strengths and weaknesses of our curriculum, surveys for graduating seniors, (Senior Design Class years 2001 and 2002) and alumni from about 1975 to 2001 were made. The results of the survey are shown in the following tables. The first two tables indicates that the graduating seniors scored themselves better than an average for an overall score, in their perceived abilities, compared with the alumni who indicate an average for their mean score. The third table included alumni only and illustrates their recommendations for curriculum improvement. CEPAC is now challenged to emplement, where possible, those recommendations.