Executive SummaryThis paper describes "action research" strategies that were employed to assess the process and outcomes of leadership development programs for college students. These methodologies provided evidence that formal leadership development and education programs work on college campuses and that leadership can be taught. Successful outcomes for student participants, their institutions, and their communities were documented. The action research strategy involved multiple stakeholders and assisted in sustaining a social movement to continue leadership development programs on college campuses across the country.

Mercy. His area of expertise is in applications of Digital Signal Processing, including Pattern Recognition problems involving both 1-D and 2-D signals such as signature verification and identification of shape contours of objects; problems involving the use of Computational Intelligence techniques such as Fuzzy Logic and Neural Networks in intelligent control and autonomous vehicle navigation; modeling of mechatronic systems; and engineering education. He has published extensively in the area of Computational Intelligence, in particular in modeling handwritten signatures using neural networks for the purpose of authentication, and in engineering education in the area of curriculum development. Shuvra Das, University of Detroit Mercy Dr. Shuvra Das is Professor of Mechanical Engineering at UDM. He teaches mechanics of materials, mechanical design, mechatronics, and computer modeling and simulation courses such as finite elements and mechatronic system modeling using bond graphs. His current research interests and publications are in two broad areas: mechanistic modeling of manufacturing processes, and mechatronic systems. He received the Engineering Teacher of the Year Award in 1996, UDM Faculty Achievement Award in 2001, and the ASEE North-Central Section's Best Teacher Award in 2002. Das earned his B.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology, and M.S. and PhD. degrees from Iowa State University. He was a post-doctoral research associate at University of Notre Dame and worked as an analysis engineer for Concurrent Technologies Corporation prior to joining UDM.

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Mechatronics refers to the interplay between mechanical and electrical principles that apply to a growing number of industrial products and processes. Despite the importance of this interdisciplinary area, many of today's engineering graduates are unprepared to function competently in environments that require them to integrate electrical and mechanical knowledge areas. In addition, engineers with better communication and teamwork skills are needed to ensure U.S. competitiveness in today's global economy.In order to address this competency gap a team of faculty members (consisting of faculty from both ME and EE departments) started work in the mid-nineties to integrate mechatronics-based activities at all levels of the undergraduate engineering curriculum at University of Detroit Mercy. These included a new senior level technical elective in introductory mechatronics along with mechatronic activities in freshmen design and in the introductory electrical engineering course meant for non-EE majors. This effort has been very successful, and now mechatronics activities are also going on in many pre-college programs that the school runs.Recently this team received a National Science Foundation grant to take this effort one step further by developing two new advanced courses in the area of modeling and simulation of mechatronic systems and in the area of sensors and actuators, including emerging technologies. One of the key components of this effort is a detailed plan for outcomes assessment. An outcomes assessment expert is also part of the team just as in our earlier efforts. The first of the two courses will be taught for the first time in January 2005. This paper describes in detail the technical content of the planned course as well as the assessment plan for the course.