At the Colorado School of Mines (CSM), the Division of Liberal Arts and International Studies (LAIS) fosters the attainment of several important assessment goals. For example, we assist accredited programs in meeting the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) requirements as well as working toward a vision of the engineer of 2020, as described below.
Of the 11 criteria in ABET's Criterion 3, six of them (over 50%) are non-technical professional skills, and LAIS helps meet those as much if not more than most of the courses students take in their majors. Only four criteria are strictly technical, and the rest (as noted below) intersect with LAIS courses to a significant degree. However, relative to CSM's peer institutions, a relatively small portion of the overall undergraduate curriculum is devoted to LAIS: 19 credits total, 10 of those core courses and nine upper-division credits.
ABET Criterion 3: Four Technical Criteria
a. An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering
b. An ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data
e. An ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems
k. An ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice
All Other Criteria
Blue text indicates a potential intersection with LAIS curriculum:
c. An ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic
constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety,
manufacturability, and sustainability
d. An ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams
f. An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility
g. An ability to communicate effectively
h. The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global,
economic, environmental, and societal context
i. A recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning
j. A knowledge of contemporary issues
LAIS also assists engineering programs in reaching a vision of an engineer who possesses a broader and deeper understanding of non-technical attributes than engineers of the past. According to a recent publication of the National Academy of Engineering, the engineer of 2020 will aspire to have the:
- Ingenuity of Lillian Gilbreth
- Problem-solving capabilities of Gordon Moore
- Scientific insight of Albert Einstein
- Creativity of Pablo Picasso
- Determination of the Wright brothers
- Leadership abilities of Bill Gates
- Conscience of Eleanor Roosevelt
- Vision of Martin Luther King
- Curiosity and wonder of our grandchildren
Where will a Mines graduate obtain such attributes? Certainly, LAIS plays a significant role, and could stand to play an even larger one. The section below describes our division's goals and demonstrates our dedication to continuous improvement in how we have assessed our core courses and cross-curricular initiatives.
LAIS Assessment Goals
(Adopted March 1998)
The course work* in LAIS is designed to help CSM develop in students the ability to
1. Engage in life-long learning and
2. Recognize the value of doing so by providing students with the broad education necessary to:
- understand the impact of engineering solutions in contemporary, global, international, societal, and ethical contexts;
- understand the role of Humanities and Social Sciences in identifying, formulating, and solving engineering problems;
- prepare people to live and work in a complex, dynamic world;
- understand the meaning and implications of "Stewardship of the Earth”;
- communicate effectively in written and oral forms.
* Since LAIS encompasses a broad range of disciplines--Music, Literature, Art History, etc.—clearly not all courses
will address all of the goals.
Core Courses
• Nature and Human Values
• Human Systems
Cross-Curricular Initiatives
• Writing Across the Curriculum
• LAIS Upper Division Curriculum
H&SS Gen. Ed. Requirements Undergraduate 