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1.IntroductionPhotonics education has been delivered in two modes: the full fleshed AAS degree in photonics/optics as at Camden County College, and the infusion of photonics courses in existing engineering AAS degrees as at Indian River Community College. Below we will examine both approaches. 1.1The IRCC approach.Beginning with the 1990s, the state of Florida experienced a constant decrease in the enrollments of electronics engineering technology (EET) programs [1]. This decline in enrollment was not only local to Florida, but was common throughout most of the United States of America [2]. Even though everyone understands that the type and the kind of electronic equipment and devices we use in our daily routines are on the rise, we yet experience a reduction in interest in the study of electronics engineering. At many community colleges across the nation, electronics programs shut their doors without much of a struggle. Indian River Community College could not accept defeat without putting up a good fight. The problem was examined from all its angles in order to figure out its root causes, and then a solution and a strategic plan was devised. Out of the traditional electronics program the Robotics and Photonics Institute (RPI) was created and started in the fall of 2006 with 100% capacity. The photonics curriculum was developed with assistance from OP-TEC which offers a complete series of books with associated laboratory experiments in basic optics and lasers [3]. We are now in the middle of our recruiting campaign for the fall 2007 term which is going so well that we will have the luxury of selecting the best 24 out of a total of 60 applicants. This paper presents the successful approach of Indian River Community college in solving a problem that has distressed many electronics departments of community colleges throughout the United States. 1.2The Camden County College approachThis paper will also discuss existing full photonics technology programs, particularly at Camden County College, Blackwood, New Jersey, and their attempt to maintain adequate enrollment numbers. It is our hope and desire to help any other college that is experiencing similar problems as we did both as photonics infusion programs or full photonics AAS degree programs and provide advice and suggestions on how to overcome them. The photonics/fiber optics department of Camden County College was started in 1976 and has steadily grown to be one of the most advanced centers of learning and training in photonics and fiber optics in the country. In 1989, it moved into its own building - the Laser Institute of Technology for Education and Research. Over these three decades, the department has received many grants from federal and state organizations as well as photonics industries. Dr. Fred Seeber, Professor Emeritus of Photonics/Physics, is the main architect of the growth of this department and has chaired it for nearly three decades. The department can boast of practically every type of laser system and detectors. In the fiber optics division, every type of equipment necessary for optical communications is available. The faculty, both full-time and adjunct, are well qualified, and most of them possess doctorates and many years of experience in their specialty. Student enrollment has fluctuated over the years with enrollment levels as high as 50 students per semester to about 15 each semester. Currently a total of 27 students are enrolled in the program. The cause of this fluctuation is difficult to determine not only at CCC but at many other full AAS Photonics programs around the country. Some have suggested that four year institutions have started their own programs offering degrees in photonics engineering and technology. Others point to the curriculum difficulty and prerequisite requirements of a photonics program as compared to others offered at the community colleges. A main focus of OP-TEC is to try to determine some of the causes related to low enrollment figures. The lack of enrollment is certainly not because of the job market. It has been generally strong in most areas of the photonics industry. Graduates have done extremely well in their careers, many of them graduating from four year colleges and universities and becoming presidents of their own start up companies or attaining high positions in established firms. 2.The problem as identified by IRCCThe low enrollment in the electronics programs is caused by the following factors: the students do not understand the depth and breadth of the electronics industry, curriculum was not updated to include the new technologies, and the marketing of the electronics programs was non-existent or inadequate. Even though many educators identified one or more of these problems the bureaucratic system of most community colleges was slow to react and remedy the problem fast enough before the “death” of the program [4]. 2.1Students do not understand the depth and breath of the electronics industryThe electronics industry has been around for more than 100 years and became the under-grid of almost all modern technologies such as telecommunications, biomedical, biotechnology, genetics, computing, industrial automation and controls, robotics, electro-optics, lasers, fiber optics, entertainment electronics, warfare and anti-warfare electronics, electronic publishing, laboratory instrumentation, and many others. To most people though, the word electronics brings to mind the electronics section of a department store, and that is where the problem begins. The department store electronics belong to the consumer electronics sector which needs no technicians any more because of the disposable nature of these products. The word electronics has been stereotyped to the television, VCR, DVD, audio systems, and all the other home appliances that the cost of repair is higher than the cost of a newer appliance with more features and usually cheaper than the one it is replacing. To change this stereotypical misconception an intensive educational and, at the same time a promotional campaign has to be undertaken. All promotional material produced needs to avoid association with the consumer electronics sector, but present and emphasize the new technologies of lasers, photonics, robotics, biotechnology, medical electronics etc. 2.2Modernizing and revisiting the curriculumMany instructors and institutions are reluctant to change the curriculum. They are so adamant about not modifying the curriculum, they almost consider blasphemous any attempt to change it [4]. The Photonics Advisory Committee at Camden County College consists of members from both the photonics industry and universities. Former Camden County College graduates sit as members of this important committee. The committee meets at least once a year and its recommendations are incorporated into the curriculum. It is these individuals who can advise the faculty of a photonics program about how to proceed in the future. The curriculum must change every so many years in order to add the new technologies in our AS or AAS degree programs. The fact that these degree programs have to remain at the length of two years and at a fixed number of credit hours makes it imperative that we revisit the existing curriculum and remove what is no longer needed to make room for the new knowledge. In the 1970’s, for example, in a digital electronics course we taught the discrete transistor circuitry that made up an individual AND gate. In the 1980’s we stopped teaching what is “under the hood” of the AND gate because we had to make room for decoders, encoders, multiplexers and demultiplexers. As more digital devices have been invented we had to always go back and take something out in order to make room for the new. The same systematic approach has to be applied to the entire electronics program. First the new technologies that need to be introduced have to be identified, and then a review of the curriculum has to take place, to determine what has to be removed without loss in quality of the technician we will produce. All the core courses of DC and AC circuits, Discrete and Integrated Analog circuits, need to be revaluated, their scope has to be aligned to the needs of today’s industry, and all the non essential circuit analysis and design needs to be removed to make room for the new courses. The fields of photonics and robotics are very attractive and are very well received by young and older prospective students. Courses in these modern specialties need to be added to the curriculum, and promotional materials need to be produced showing that education in these new technologies will lead to high wage paying jobs in the service area of the college and beyond. 2.2Marketing of the modernized programMost community colleges spend very little in the marketing of their electronics programs and do not have a professional marketing person or even a marketing department. The marketing effort in most of the colleges with enrollment problems consists of creating unattractive, single color brochures that are stacked up in a few display areas around the college. In some colleges an additional effort is made to take these brochures to different area high schools and distribute them to students. Community colleges will seldom place ads on television or on the radio for marketing programs and recruiting students. In contrast to this, private electronics colleges advertise on television regularly on prime-time, and on the radio more frequently. Even though the cost of attending these private colleges is usually more than four times the cost of a community college, the private schools have not experienced as dramatic a decrease as community colleges have. The reason is the intense and effective marketing effort of the proprietary colleges. These for-profit colleges have a coordinated marketing campaign consisting of attractive colorful print publications, professionally produced interactive websites, and trained marketing people who are paid well only if they produce results. Community colleges can stand against this professionally organized campaign of the proprietary schools by selling their strong points, which are: much lower cost to the student, better equipped labs, better educated faculty which typically has higher scholarly credentials, and accreditation by high caliber accreditation boards. This has to be emphasized with appealing colorful print and electronic promotional material. 3.The Idea of the Robotics and Photonics InstituteAt Indian River Community College, the electronics department, in consultation with its industrial advisory committee, decided to infuse the emerging fields of robotics and photonics into the traditional electronics engineering technology AAS degree program. The electronics program consists of 68 credit hours out of which 15 are devoted to general education courses. The remaining 53 credit hours are technical courses required to produce a quality technician. The 53 credit hours of technical courses had been divided into two groups: the major field core and the major field electives, as shown in figure 1. In the major field electives group, we had the specializations of telecommunications, computer support and biomedical options. We added the Photonics option and the Robotics/Manufacturing option. Each one of these options consists of a group of courses totaling 19 credit hours as shown in figure 2. After the student completes the general education and the major field required core, he can choose any one of the four specializations or “cherry pick” courses from the four specializations, totaling 19 credit hours. After studying the needs of the local industry and carefully planning a marketing campaign, we decided to create the Robotics and Photonics Institute that would consist of the 15 credit hours of general education, the 40 of major required courses, 12 hours of photonics and 7 hours of robotics as shown in figure 3. 4.Marketing and Promotional CampaignColorful flyers were produced which explained the program in detail, educating the reader about the many high wage jobs awaiting upon graduation. A point was made to compare the high cost of the proprietary schools to the cost of attending IRCC. The newly packaged program was marketed as the Robotics and Photonics Institute (RPI), a selective admission program that required an application process with minimum entrance requirements. The courses for RPI were scheduled Mondays through Fridays from 8:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and the applicants commit to taking all the courses as a cohort group from the beginning to the end of the degree. The RPI was presented by a college recruiter to four high schools and the workforce retraining office. An open house event, which many students and parents attended, took place in the Spring semester of 2006, and three one-week summer camps in emerging technologies were offered in July 2006. The local newspapers were contacted and three different articles were published about the new program between April and July of 2006. The RPI term by term schedule is displayed in figure 4. Camden County College ProgramsThe photonics AAS degree program in both Laser/Electro-Optics Technology Degree and Fiber Optics Technology Option Degree Camden County College are listed below. Photonics Laser/Electro-Optics Technology Option Degree: Associates in Applied Science
1All students transferring to Rowan University or NJIT must take the Calculus I, II track and Physics III, IV track. 5.The Fruits of Our LaborBy the middle of July 2006, the RPI was full to capacity and we had to direct many applicants to our evening program. Because of the size of our labs we could only accept 24 students in the first RPI cohort group. The group consisted of 22 men and two women. The age distribution ranges from 18 to 55 years old, with 19 of the students being under 26 years old and five between 30 and 55 years old. The cohort arrangement brought the students close to each other, and a strong feeling of camaraderie is evident in the classroom. They all help each other towards their common goal which is graduation and landing of a good paying job. The students form their own study groups and assist each other, not only with college activities, but give each other private personal assistance. In our departmental website used for instructional purposes, we have added general information about the robotics and photonics industry, how to transfer to a bachelor’s degree program at the University of Central Florida, and we also keep an active bulletin board posting part and full-time jobs. All these synergistic activities generate a productive spirit of care and cooperation between the students and the faculty of our department. Camden County College experienced similar success in past years with like endeavors in its full AAS Photonics programs. However, as environments change both at the high schools and four year colleges and universities as well as industry, modifications are almost constantly required for maintaining enrollment. 6.Future Plans and OP-TECWe are planning to add a third course in the photonics option that will consist of several modules of laser technology applications. These modules are under development by OP-TEC with the support of the National Science Foundation. We are also developing a series of videos of the experiments for the first course of OP-TEC, “Fundamentals of Light and Lasers”. We will make these videos available to colleges that are interested in infusing photonics in their curricula. The location of IRCC on the Atlantic coast of Florida, and its proximity to three world class ocean research institutions, prompted the exploration of a cutting-edge application of photonics in bioluminescence. We are in discussions with all of our research partners with the purpose of creating educational materials for these technologies, training technicians for their special needs, and assisting them in their mission of exploring and protecting our oceans. IRCC as a principal partner with OP-TEC, is chartered to produce educational modules in the areas of homeland security. CCC is chartered to produce educational modules in applications of lasers in medical electronics. 7.ConclusionElectronics engineering technology education is a moving target. One cannot rest after a successful implementation of a program. We always need to be vigilant and continually scan the horizon for the new technologies that are appearing and taking root. Curriculum must be revisited, updated, and modernized to not only satisfy the needs of today’s industry, but anticipate the new needs created by the emerging technologies. Engineering departments need to be visionary, forward looking, risk taking, and flexible in the creation and delivery of new knowledge. Industry cannot wait for the slow bureaucratic wheels to turn. Community colleges have to deliver at the speed of industrial changes and not the speed of intra-college mechanisms. The presentation and marketing of our educational programs is as important as the technical content of our degrees. Full AAS Photonic Technology programs need to reassess their course offerings and develop career pathways to make sure curriculum offerings meet the needs of their industrial employers and to honor articulation agreements for transfer to four year colleges and universities. Efforts should also be made to infuse photonics into other technical areas as suggested in this paper. References, available at: Florida Community Colleges 2006 Fact Book, http://www.firn.edu/doe/arm/cctcmis/pubs/factbook/factbook_main.htm Google Scholar
Science and Engineering Indicators 2006, National Science Board, http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind06/ Google Scholar
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