Executive Summary
For
James C. Helm
After many years of
teaching at the college level, it is with great respect and anticipation that I
am applying for promotion to Professor. I am currently an Associate Professor and
Chair of the Engineering Division in the
Teaching has been a
life-long process for me, I began teaching as an instructor in mathematics
at the
I began as an Assistant
Professor at UHCL in 1998 with a joint appointment in Computer Science (CSCI)
and Software Engineering (SWEN) teaching face to face courses titled: SWEN 5231
Software
Formalism and Notations; SWEN 5431 Independent Verification and Validation;
CSCI 3333 Programming in C; CSCI 3333 Data Structures; and CSCI 3532 Advanced
Data Structures. In the fall semester of
1999, I was assigned specifically to the SWEN program. With the help of Dr. Sharon White, I revised
the SWEN rubric to follow the stages of the software life cycle process and
began putting the SWEN program online. I
developed and taught: SWEN 5430 Software Metrics; SWEN 5543 Reuse and
Reengineering; and SWEN 5130 Requirements Engineering. I also began using the Rational Unified
Process in a special topics course, CSCI 4931 Software Engineering Tools. This course provided the students with hands-on
tools and document templates related to software engineering methodology used
in local industry. The CSCI 4931 course began
my relationship with the Rational Company, now owned by IBM. I applied the Rational
tool, RequisitePro, for use in the new WebCt online version of the course SWEN
5130 Requirements Engineering. I also
developed a WebCt online version of the course, SWEN 5431 Testing, Verification
and Validation.
Starting in the Fall of 2000, I became the first Program Chair of the new
Systems Engineering (SENG) program. Dr.
James Dabney was the other new faculty member developing courses in the SENG Program
and assisted me in developing the new program.
I developed and taught both a face to face as well as web assisted course,
SENG 5330 Risk Management, and SWEN 5332 Decision Analysis for the new Program. In 2003, I developed the WebCt version of
SENG 5330 Risk Management and taught these core courses in both the Software
and Systems Engineering programs.
In the Fall of 2005 to the present, I was elected by the faculty to
be the Division Chair of Engineering. My
fall schedule has been to teach two sections each, face to face and online,
of: SWEN 5130 Requirements Engineering,
and SENG 5330 Risk Management. During the
spring semester, I teach two sections each, face to face and online of: SWEN 5130 Requirements Engineering and SWEN
5431 Testing, Verification and Validation. During the summer I teach one online section
of SENG 5330 Risk Management and SWEN 5431 Testing, Verification and
Validation. The sections of the courses
are limited to 30 students and over this time period have averaged roughly 25
graduate students per semester. With the
aid of web based courses and teaching assistants, I have maintained an average
of 209 graduate students per year during the four years of 2005-2008. The students are from Computer Science,
Business and the Engineering programs.
I have been well
received by my students, based on their evaluations, and was one of the
finalists for the Minnie Stevens Piper Award in 2002, and the Technical
Educator of the Year award given by the Clear Lake Council of Technical Society
in 2001. The Deans and Division Chairs
have consistently evaluated me from very good to outstanding in teaching.
Finally, my philosophy
is to be compassionate toward the students and willing to provide
guidance. The guidance I provide is in
the form of advising the student with regard to their candidate plan of study;
providing outside research opportunities in the form of special topics courses;
working on the grievance and scholarship committees; recommending students for
scholarships and teaching assistant jobs; hiring and directing research
assistants, and giving student recommendations to prospective employers. I am compassionate because I listen to the
students' situation and give the student the benefit of the doubt before making
a final decision.
I have demonstrated the
ability to acquire and conduct sustaining research. I was responsible for acquiring and sustaining
the IBM Rational Suite Enterprise Software for 50 site licenses worth over
$500,000 for the university UCT and the schools SCE computer labs. I researched and applied the Rational tool suite to develop new and innovative courses
for: Software Test Tools, Requirements Engineering, Risk Management, and
Testing, Verification & Validation.
I have done significant research in the field of Web development
starting in 1998. While serving as a
member of the Course Management System
(CMS) committee, I helped research several online course tools (e.g.,
WebCT™, Blackboard™, e-College™, and Sakai™).
I received a Certificate of Recognition from NASA for assisting RICIS in
the development of Multimedia-Oriented Repository Environment (MORE). I have used this research to develop three
web based courses in Software and Systems Engineering. The Verification & Validation course was
the first web based course at UHCL to use the Macromedia Flash animation
tool. I have six refereed publications
that date back to 1972, sixteen conference papers, and have given lectures on
Risk Management to NASA contractors.
Examples of my recent publications include refereed conference
publications, “Teaching Continuous Risk Management Using A
Requirements Management Tool,” “Understanding the Human Estimator,” and
"Continuous Risk Management Using Rational Unified Process
RequisitePro."
My most recent funding
activities include writing and completing the final report for the Aerospace
Workforce Innovation Network AWIN Grant ($109,272, Award, Co-PI) ending April
2009. This grant helped develop online
courses for Systems Engineering and face to face courses for Engineering Management. In addition, two UHCL certificates in Software
and Systems Engineering were developed with this funding. I also spent a considerable amount of time
researching the content for an Engineering Management curriculum and Library
content requested by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) for
the Engineering Management Proposal.
In
addition to my accomplishments in teaching and research, I have always
responded positively to requests for service. The list of my service throughout
the 10 plus years with the University is presented in the following paragraphs.
I will present highlights of my recent accomplishments in service to the University,
to the Program and curriculum development, to the engineering profession, and
to the community.
Service to the University: This semester I was
elected vice president of the Council of Division Chairs. This is a two year
old Council composed of the University Division Chairs, which reports to the Provost
concerning academic issues. Over the
years, I
have served on numerous committees for the University and supported shared governance.
My service includes membership on the
Educational Policies and Courses Committee (EPCC), past member of the Faculty
Senate and Graduate council, SCE Scholarship Committee, SCE Grievance
Committee, SCE Curriculum Committee, and Student Services/Classroom Building
Task Force. I attend the University
graduation commencements and faculty assembly meetings. I
have worked on several Distance Education committees including: member of the search committee seeking a Distance
Education Director, member of the Course Management System
(CMS) Platform Selection Committee,
member of the distance education Web Based Working Group DEAT, and UH System
Campus Online Workshop (COW). I also assisted Dr. Carol Snyder, past
Academic Vice President, in the search for a Director of Distance and Extended
Education. For five years I was
the Assistant Director of the Research Institute for Computing and Information
Services (RICIS). I solicited research
with NASA JSC, the
Service to the program and curriculum development: I
developed the Engineering Management Program proposal in 2004; presented the concept
to the school Curriculum Committee, the University EPCC, the Faculty Senate,
and the Deans’ Council. The program was
approved at the UH system Board of Regents and the THECB in the spring of
2007. The program has been successful
since its inception. I
assisted in developing the Master of Science program in Systems Engineering and was the Program Chair for 4 years. I helped develop
online courses in the Software Engineering Program to deliver an online Masters
degree. In 2005, I attended the ABET annual
meeting in
Service
to the profession: My service to the profession has
included international, national, and local commitments. I am a Board Member, the webmaster, and
sponsor for the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE). I am a Member
of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE) and served as
a committee member for Houston Systems of Systems Seminar, Gilruth Recreation
Center, NASA-JSC, Houston, TX; October 11, 12,
2007. I sponsored, planned and
managed the Computer Applications Conference at
Service to the
community: Each year I participate as a judge for Science Engineering Fair at the
George R. Brown in