Transforming the Department: 1999-2004

Established in 1989, the Department of Systems Engineering at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York offers pedagogically sound, ABET accredited undergraduate degrees in systems engineering and engineering management. However, from the start, course development, teaching, student summer internships, faculty research, and faculty development were essentially managed as separate, individual-centric, stove-piped programs. In the summer of 1999, an internal Department review and assessment' by senior faculty identified this as a major hindrance to the Department's pursuit of excellence and higher performance. In an effort to improve performance and efficiency across all programs, the Department leadership developed a plan to transform the department by better aligning and enhancing the synergy between programs. This paper discusses the challenges of this undertaking and highlights the success of our continuing transformation process.