What is The Gateway Coalition?
The "Gateway" Engineering Education Coalition - Phase II is a collaborative program of 7 institutions, supported by the Engineering Directorate of the National Science Foundation. Headquartered at Drexel University and representing a
diversity of institutional cultures imbedded in regions of significantly underrepresented minority populations, the Coalition expects to open new
"gateways" for learning by altering engineering education from a focus
on course content to a focus on the development of human resources and the broader experience in which individual curriculum parts are connected and integrated.
The intellectual threads weave together the introduction of engineering and its
functional core "up-front", unified and connected supportive knowledge
"concurrently", the integrative aspects of the engineering process, multidisciplinary
emphasis, and instructional technologies. To the greatest extent possible these are
achieved through cross-institutional programs which lead to lowering barriers
among institutions as well as within institutions.
The Focus Areas of The Gateway Coalition - Phase II
The scope of the program includes six major foci. These focus areas are:
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The Emerging Engineering Professional
Educating the emerging engineering professional is a broadly-defined mission
whose sphere of influence extends beyond the technical and scientific
aspects, whether they be foundational underpinnings or the upper division
specializations. The engineering professional must also develop:
- The ability to effectively communicate in written and oral forms;
- A sense of business acumen, practices, and awareness -- this
includes some understanding of marketing, economics, and
organizational management; their interplay among themselves and
with the engineering process;
- An understanding for, and work ethic for leadership in the workplace;
individual and team contributions, sensitivity to customer needs, their
incorporation into the engineering and engineering management process, and
commitment to the concepts of total quality management;
- A sense of professional ethical and legal responsibilities;
- An appreciation of the joy of learning and of the need for lifelong learning;
- An appreciation for intellectual breadth to be not only an
engineering leader but a well versed and updated participant in
societal activities. To reach this requires an appreciation for the
humanities, arts, politics, law and business beyond that which is
technically or scientifically targeted.
The interplay of the four major foci is a beginning through which to address
this technical and non-technical breadth.
Delivering an educational experience that incorporates these objectives and tools
requires a change in the pedagogical culture from a program that is lecture
driven and teacher centered to one that is process driven and student centered.
Inherent in this educational process is to better understand how we learn as well as
how we teach. In the longer term these collective efforts push the envelope of the
institutional culture to alter and enhance the manner in which it initiates and
embraces systematic institutional change.
For more detailed information on the Gateway Coalition's mission,
read the Gateway Strategic Plan.
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Gateway Organization and Personnel
Search the full Gateway membership database;
or browse by organizational groups:
Other Items of Interest
The Gateway Coalition honored by
The Innovation Network:
Novell, Inc., Computerworld &
The Smithsonian Institution
Visit Related Web Site
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 Gateway Newsletter
Gateway Publications
Gateway Member Institutions
Gateway Conferencing Services
Shared Resource Modules for
Environmental Engineering Education
Secured Administrative Module
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