Assessment | Public Health - Industrial Hygiene Emphasis

The Industrial Hygiene (IH) Emphasis has been accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) since 1996 and received accreditation through 2022.

The Utah State University baccalaureate industrial hygiene program seeks to graduate well educated, entry level, industrial hygienists who are prepared for either professional practice or graduate school with a solid science background in biology and chemistry and who are competent in the principles and practice of industrial hygiene, prepared with occupational safety skills, and knowledgeable about environmental protection. The approach of the Utah State University industrial hygiene program to achieving this goal is to integrate the knowledge gleaned from a strong basic science and humanities education into our applied science and professional practice curriculum and to meet the requirements of ABET accreditation.

Consistent with the above goals, the following Program Educational Objectives have been identified for the Industrial Hygiene emphasis: Graduates will be able to:

Succeed in an entry-level industrial hygiene or safety position in a regional, national, or international industry or governmental or nongovernmental agency.
Integrate biological, chemical, and other basic sciences into their professional practice.
Utilize existing and future technical tools and techniques within their profession.
Work effectively within the social, organizational, regulatory, and economic constraints and opportunities of their profession.
Pursue a graduate degree, lifelong learning activities, and/or professional certification.

The ABET accreditation process uses a standard set of “Student Outcomes” to assess the Program’s Educational Objectives. The Student Outcomes for ABET accreditation are:

An ability to identify, formulate, and solve broadly defined technical or scientific problems by applying knowledge of mathematics and science and/or technical topics to areas relevant to the discipline.
An ability to formulate or design a system, process, procedure or program to meet desired needs.
An ability to develop and conduct experiments or test hypotheses, analyze and interpret data and use scientific judgment to draw conclusions.
An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences.
An ability to understand ethical and professional responsibilities and the impact of technical and/or scientific solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.
An ability to function effectively on teams that establish goals, plan tasks, meet deadlines, and analyze risk and uncertainty.

These Student Outcomes are assessed by using:

Exam questions from each required public health course and scoring rubrics of capstone papers in the Public Health Management Course (PUBH 5500). A cut score threshold of ≥ 75% is used as a standard to establishing success in the acquisition of each of the Student Outcomes (items a – k in the list above).
Evaluation of student performance in the required IH internship. This is done by each student’s supervisor using the Supervisor’s Evaluation of ABET Student Outcomes Form. Supervisor rating are given using a 1-5 scale with 1 being poor and 5 being excellent. A percentage score is assigned to each integer rating (1 = 20%; 2 = 40%; 3 = 60%; 4 = 80%; 5 = 100%) and an aggregate percentage score is calculated from all reports for items a – g, j, and k. An aggregate score of ≥75%, calculated individually for each item, is interpreted as demonstrating achievement of a given Student Outcome.
Results of a survey sent to graduates two years after a student’s academic year of completion. We use terms of Very Well, Well, Needs Improvement, and Not at All to assess items a-k. Graduates are also asked to assess the 5 IH Emphasis Learning Objectives directly. A percentage score is assigned to each rating (Very Well = 100%; Well = 75%; Needs Improvement = 50%; Not at All = 25%), responses of graduates are aggregated, and a percentage score is calculated for each item. A score of ≥ 75% is interpreted as demonstrating achievement of a given Student Outcome.

Data is compiled each year If an item scores ≥ 75%, this is considered as evidence of achieving the outcome. A score of <75% triggers an examination of what needs to be done for improvement.

As an example, to assess an ability identify, formulate, and solve broadly defined technical or scientific problems by applying knowledge of mathematics and science and/or technical topics to areas relevant to the discipline (Outcome #1), 10 sub-categories are used. Sub-categories are:

Recognize common chemical occupational health hazards.
Recognize common ergonomic occupational health hazards.
Recognize common mental, psychological, and sociological occupational health hazards. recognize the hazards associated with common industrial/manufacturing operations and processes.
Apply knowledge acquired in physics and mathematics to the generation or behavior of physical hazards in IH.
Apply knowledge acquired in chemistry to the generation or behavior of airborne chemical hazards in IH.
Apply knowledge acquired in biology, physiology, and toxicology to the hazard of physical agents (e.g., noise, thermal, vibration, or nonionizing or ionizing radiation).
Apply knowledge acquired in biology, physiology, and toxicology to the hazard of chemical agents (e.g., dosing routes, metabolic pathways, toxicity terms, and common/important toxicological responses).
Recognize the occupational hazard of biological agents.
Recognize responses to common occupational ergonomic hazards.

To provide an example of test questions for each sub-category, the questions for “recognize common chemical occupational health hazards” are:

Match the correct term with the correct definition: Benzene, Carbon Tetrachloride, Vinyl Chloride, Methanol, Carbon Disulfide, Formaldehyde. (6 points).
Primary route of exposure is inhalation, but skin can also be a route of exposure, often metabolized in the liver, and often causes CNS effects. (2 points).
The primary route of exposure is through inhalation, generally excreted by the kidney, not generally absorbed by the skin, often deposit in bones, kidney, or liver. (2 points).
Match the correct term with the information provided: Black Lung, Asbestosis, Metal Fume Fever, Polymer Fume Fever, Pneumoconiosis, Byssinosis. (6 points).
Inhalable airborne debris during a building demolition would be considered: (2 points).
Machining fluids have what 3 functions and what is the most common disorder associated with them? (4 points).
For health and safety, what is the major advantage of powder paint over liquid paint systems? (2 points).
What is Angiosarcoma and what is the cause of Angiosarcoma? (4 points).
Chrysotile is the most widely used asbestos type, what is the most hazardous asbestos type? (2 points)

Continuing with the example of assessment of “An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and applied sciences” (Student Outcome (a)), 70 exam questions are used in the 5 required Public Health courses. In addition, this outcome is assessed using results of the Supervisors Evaluation of Interns and results of the Alumni survey, in which graduates assess this outcome based on their experiences.

Assessment of the program curriculum and student outcomes is made with aligning program-level learning objectives as shown in the following table.

IH Learning Objectives Compared with ASAC Student Outcome from ABET.

Curriculum Points	Succeed in an entry-level industrial hygiene position in a regional, national, or international industry or governmental or nongovernmental agency	Integrate biology, chemistry, physics, and other basic sciences in the practice of their professional practice	Utilize existing and future technical tools and techniques within their profession	Work effectively within the social, organizational, regulatory, and economic constraints and opportunities of their profession	Pursue a graduate degree, lifelong learning activities, and/or professional certification
Physiological and/or toxicological interactions of physical, chemical, biological, and ergonomic agents, factors, and/or stressors with the human body
Anticipation, recognition, evaluation, and control of potentially hazardous agents, conditions and practices
Fundamental exposure assessment techniques (both qualitative and quantitative)
Industrial hygiene data interpretation including statistical and epidemiological principles
Applicable business and managerial practices
Occupational and environmental standards and regulations
Fundamental aspects of safety and environmental health
Ability to identify, formulate, and solve broadly defined technical or scientific problems by applying knowledge of mathematics and science and/or technical topics to areas relevant to the discipline
Ability to formulate or design a system, process, procedure or program to meet desired needs
Ability to develop and conduct experiments or test hypotheses, analyze and interpret data and use scientific judgment to draw conclusions.
Ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences
Ability to understand ethical and professional responsibilities and the impact of technical and/or scientific solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts
Ability to function effectively on teams that establish goals, plan tasks, meet deadlines, and analyze risk and uncertainty