The Student Government Association may encourage Wichita State to formally recognize engineering students who pass the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam. A resolution was presented to the Student Senate on Wednesday and was referred to the Academic Affairs Committee.
Engineering Senator Abby Otten compared the FE Exam to “an ACT or an SAT, but it’s for engineering skills.” The exam has 110 questions, and students have six hours to complete it.
While WSU engineering students currently can, and often do take the exam, the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying provides licensing, recognition and graduation cords to commemorate students who take the exam. WSU is not currently a school recognized by the NCEES, but the process to be recognized is fairly simple, according to Otten.
“It’s really just us having one representative from Wichita State University that’s employed through the university to be our connection point,” Otten said. “For other schools, it’s most of the time some sort of engineering professor or somebody who promotes or has classes regarding the FE Exam.”
The point-of-contact would need to provide NCEES with the number of students who qualify for a cord, along with an address to send them to, Otten explained during a presentation to the Student Senate.
WSU being recognized would “give (students who take the exam) a leg up on application and internship opportunities,” according to Otten.
After her presentation to the Senate, Otten said that she is planning to write another resolution recommending that the university add a webpage about the exam.
“Most of the time, the majors that take it are more electrical-based, mechanical-based, industrial-based, so larger engineering types here at WSU — aerospace and biomedical — don’t have to take it, which is why a lot of our students haven’t heard of it before,” Otten said.
SGA resolutions are suggestions to the university and act as the official opinion of the association when passed.
All senate meetings are livestreamed on SGA’s YouTube channel.
