ENGRC 3023 Information

The Engineering Communication Requirement and ENGRC 3023

• All 3023 paperwork MUST be submitted by the last Wednesday in August for Fall semester consideration. 
• All 3023 paperwork MUST be submitted by the last Wednesday in January for Spring semester consideration.
• Students who are approved will enroll in a 1cr graded course using a PIN provided by the ECP Director.  

Using the ENGRC 3023 option, Engineering instructors in the  can provide guided communication-intensive projects and communication instruction for select students enrolled in their active courses, enabling those students to fulfill the Engineering Communications Requirement. The instructor of record will be the Director of the Engineering Communications Program (ECP), who will record the final grade provided by the Engineering instructor.

Students can begin exploration of this option by sending an email to engrcomm_info@cornell.edu, with "3023 request" in the subject line. 

For Faculty: ENGRC 3023 Considerations and Process

Generally speaking, ENGRC 3023 can be initiated by a Cornell Engineering instructor in a major program or by an affiliated Engineering student in collaboration with an Engineering instructor. If you are an instructor and you have identified a project that deserves more attention OR if you would like to provide targeted, intensive communication projects for a subset of your enrolled undergraduate students, 3023 may work for you. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: For any Cornell Engineering undergraduate degree, all ABET and/or other assessment responsibility falls to the Engineering instructor within the major for records keeping and tracking, including PI rubrics. The Engineering Communications Program does not validate or invalidate any ABET documentation for Engineering programs or majors. All ENGRC 3023 student work should be substantiated and documented within the engineering faculty’s own program. ECP is happy to help with short-form rubric development for these purposes. 

ENGRC 3023 enrollment should be completed by the last day of each semester that students can add courses. Please refer to the University  calendar for the specific date each semester. This means that projects and a simple form must be submitted to the Engineering Communications Program at least three working days before the semester’s last acceptable “add” date; ECP must have time to process the student into 3023 before the “add” date closes at the university level. 

For Faculty: Considerations

In general, the student workload should be equivalent to any additional workload for a 1cr course in the College of Engineering (37.5 working hours by the student). All parties (instructors and students alike) should understand that this additional workload during the semester is expected for graded letter credit (not pass/fail), which should include not only a project set but feedback and revision cycles. Note: Project sets are the collection of materials to be graded; their contents are determined by the Engineering faculty, not ECP. The highest grade possible is "A," not "A+" for ENGRCs.

Such student work for engineering communication credit might be any or all of the following or other substantial project work deemed appropriate for communication learning outcomes (below). The best 3023 work has a variety of deliverables, not just writing. Items such as these have worked well in the past for other participating faculty, where writing and also other genres are mixed for a strong final portfolio:

• A long research paper (10+ pages) with both primary and secondary sources properly cited. Such papers should include not only writing but also visual communication pieces (figures: graphs, charts, visuals, drawing, code snippets, etc.). It is expected that all figures have . The work should demonstrate a revision (one or more) after the instructor has reviewed it and commented. Papers without external research citations will not be acceptable.
• A 15-20 minute final presentation. Slides are created and they contain legacy/archival quality full notes in the notes pane. The work should demonstrate a revision (one or more) after the instructor has reviewed it and commented. A live or recorded presentation is completed and reviewed by the engineering instructor.
• A scientific poster. The work should demonstrate a revision (one or more) after the instructor has reviewed it and commented.
• Another genre or project that provides substantial engineering communication. There are quite a few possibilities here, including proposals, grants, and more.  Unacceptable types of project examples would include the following (these are examples only, as reference):
  • A series of blog posts or other social media artifacts.
  • A podcast.
  • Past work from an internship or co-op.
  • Past work from another course already completed.
  • Any work for a TA or RA position (paid, for credit, or volunteer).

For Faculty: Recommended Process

1. After the student has requested the 3023 Information Packet and form, the Engineering instructor within the major should have a conversation with the student about the proposed project, the work, and revision/completion cycles.
2. If the project is promising, ECP recommends a one-page summary of the work should be crafted by the student and instructor together, with proposed benchmark due dates; consider it a kind of informal MOU with the student. This is for the protection and understanding between the student and the Engineering faculty member. ECP does not require this document, but if the instructor and student create one, it would be a good idea to share with the ECP Director at  engrcomm_info@cornell.edu.
3. The 3023 request form needs to be filled out by the student and signed off on by the mentoring faculty member.
4. The student should deliver the completed form to ECP by uploading to Cornell Box, emailing it to  . After receiving the form, the Director of the Engineering Communications Program will contact the student and set-up an appointment with them to discuss the next steps to get them enrolled in ENGRC 3023.
5. At the end of the semester, ECP will reach out to the Engineering faculty member for the final grade to enter into Faculty Center. Grades should be available for recording by December 21 (fall semesters) and May 20 (spring semesters).
6. The Engineering faculty should archive any student materials needed for future use, including ABET; there is an example ABET rubric on page 5 of the Information Packet sent to the student.  Note: The instructor of record in Cornell’s Faculty Center will be the Director of the Engineering Communications Program, who will record the final grade provided by the Engineering instructor at the end of the semester.  

Note: ENGRC 3023 may be taken more than once with different courses by permission of the engineering instructor.

For Students: ENGRC 3023 Considerations and Process

First, an interested student should request the ENGRC 3023 Information packet by sending an email to  engrcomm_info@cornell.edu.

Next, read the ENGRC 3023 Information Packet that was sent.  Generally speaking, ENGRC 3023 can be initiated by a Cornell Engineering instructor in a degree-granting major.

ENGRC 3023 enrollment should be completed by the last day of each semester that students can add courses. Please refer to the University  calendar for the specific date each semester. This means that projects and a simple form must be submitted to the Engineering Communications Program at least three working days before the semester’s last acceptable “add” date; ECP must have time to process the student into 3023 before the “add” date closes at the university level.

Student Process

1. After reviewing the Information Packet, have a conversation with the Engineering Instructor about the proposed project, the work, and revision/completion cycles.
2. If the project is promising, ECP recommends a one-page summary of the work should be crafted by the student and instructor together, with proposed benchmark due dates. This is for the protection and understanding between the student and the Engineering faculty member. ECP does not require this document, but if the instructor and student create one, it would be a good idea to share with the ECP Director at .
3. Once that is settled, fill out the 3023 Request Form. It will need to have the instructor sign off as well.
4. Upload the completed form to Cornell Box or email to  engrcomm_info@cornell.edu .  After the completed form is received, you will receive an email inviting you to make an appointment with the Director of the Engineering Communications Program, if desired.
5. The student will be enrolled in ENGRC 3023.
6. The student completes all agreed-upon work for the Engineering Faculty during the semester.

PLEASE NOTE: ENGRC 3023 must be paired with a 3cr Engineering course. Applications for ENGRC 3023 to be attached to 2cr, 1cr, or 0.5 credit courses—even in combination—will be denied. This policy is to assure that there is enough concentrated and dedicated course time and instructor contact not only for the work to be done with the "parent" engineering course, but also the extra 1cr-worth of work for the ECR. As well, paired courses must be from a degree-granting major in the College of Engineering.