Graduate Student Resources

The Complete Engineer provides opportunities for members of the Nebraska Engineering graduate community to focus on their development in six core competencies. Within each competency, there are two stages of growth. In the engagement stage, graduate participants will have an opportunity to identify, engage, and reflect on their participation in extra and co-curricular activities to advance their knowledge of that competency. After completion of the engagement stage in the framework, participants will advance to the transformation stage. Graduate students each have varying times to degree completion, a two-stage model allows for participation flexibility. Participation with the Complete Engineer program at the graduate and postdoctoral level is above and beyond what is required by an individual’s coursework or employment, an individual must be self-motivated and self-directed. Graduate students and postdocs are encouraged to participate in the program to gain additional skills and benefits including:

Developing additional skillsets to become a more well-rounded individual poised to solve big problems
Support for growth activities
Non-technical skill achievement reflected on transcript
Skills in competency areas that employers and organizations are looking for

Learning is a lifelong process and individuals are encouraged to continue to self-assess and develop goals for growth and learning as they move through the stages of their lives beyond their time at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Inclusive Excellence

Diverse. Empowered. Connected.

Communication

Collaborative. Positive. Respectful.

Teamwork

Accountable. Productive. Involved.

Self-Management & Leadership

Motivated. Open. Goal-oriented.

Civic Responsibility

Active. Engaged.

Professionalism & Ethics

Responsible. Respectful. Equitable.

Competency Growth Framework
Steps to Participate
How to Participate

Competency Growth Framework

Complete Engineer Competency Definitions	Engagement	Transformation
Inclusive Excellence We recognize and embrace our differences and make equity and inclusion a priority. We know diversity of people and ideas empowers us to address challenges and leads us to creativity and innovation.	Student participates in experiences that challenge currently held perspectives.	Student is able to reflect on how their values, beliefs and perspectives have evolved. Student can demonstrate growth in behavior, knowledge, skills, and/or abilities related to inclusive excellence.
Communication We effectively connect through respectful collaborative exchanges of information and ideas. We build relationships and achieve successful outcomes through our many forms of communication.	Student presents information in effective ways to audiences inside and outside the domain, across various venues, and using various techniques.	Student is able to reflect on how their values, beliefs and perspectives have evolved. Student can demonstrate growth in behavior, knowledge, skills, and/or abilities related to communication.
Teamwork We create accountable, engaged, productive teams that collaborate across disciplines. We respect the contributions of all members and their unique roles and perspectives as we work toward objectives.	Student can demonstrate how they are learning more about leadership, developing self-management strategies, seeking opportunities to demonstrate skills.	Student is able to reflect on how their values, beliefs and perspectives have evolved. Demonstrate growth in behavior, knowledge, skills, and/or abilities related to self-management & leadership.
Self-management & Leadership We take responsibility for our own behavior and well-being as we act with integrity to serve the needs of our communities. We responsibly prioritize goals and use initiative, motivation, empathy, openness, and organization to move toward shared goals.	Student has initiated participation in service or civic activity. Student is able to demonstrate awareness of responsibility to the world, the profession, and local community.	Student is able to reflect on how their values, beliefs and perspectives have evolved and how they play out in civic engagement. Demonstrate growth in behavior, knowledge, skills, and/or abilities related to civic responsibility.
Civic Responsibility We have a positive impact on the world around us by being engaged, solving problems, and making a difference. We create a better future by actively contributing to our professions and communities.	Student is able to demonstrate how they practice teamwork within and across disciplines. And able to articulate and fulfill role and responsibilities on a given team.	Student is able to reflect on how their values, beliefs and perspectives have evolved. Demonstrate growth in behavior, knowledge, skills, and/or abilities related to teamwork.
Professionalism & Ethics We are trusted and recognized for our integrity, as we work to improve the health, safety, and welfare of society. We behave responsibly, ethically, and respectfully.	Student is able to demonstrate professionalism, ethics, and respect in their behavior. Additionally, they’re able to articulate the role professionals in their field play in improving the health, safety, and welfare of society.	Student is able to reflect on how their values, beliefs and perspectives have evolved. Demonstrate growth in behavior, knowledge, skills, and/or abilities related to professionalism & ethics.

Steps to Participate

Individuals will engage in the Complete Engineer and subsequently how an individual moves from Engagement to Transformation, will be determined by a combination of activities. Those methods include, an individual development plan, extra and co-curricular activities which focus on Complete Engineer competencies areas, and reflections on the experience and collection of experiences those activities facilitate. Documentation of attendance and reflection responses will be tracked and collected in Canvas. As an individual provides supporting documentation and demonstrates development as outlined by the Competency Growth Model, the individual will be issued a permission code to enroll in a zero credit course and the achievement documented on their transcript.

STEP 1:

Identify one or more competencies to focus on
Fill out an Individual Development Plan (IDP)
- Unique to individual goals and development
- Don’t need to stick to PDF, can use any format (Excel, Word, etc.)
- A guide with examples is provided for reference
- The examples are not exhaustive
Share the plan with your faculty advisor

STEP 2:

Participate in extra and co-curricular activities identified in the development plan
Continue to add to plan as new opportunities are identified

STEP 3:

Log into the Canvas Complete Engineer® module to upload reflections and artifacts from the activities that impacted your development in a focused competency area
Reflection is a critical bridge between experience and learning. Provide thoughtful reflection and justification for competency achievements

STEP 4:

Two Complete Engineer Fellows (COE faculty and staff members) will evaluate reflections based on a rubric to determine if growth was demonstrated.
If the Fellows agree, a course permission code will be sent to the student to enroll in the corresponding zero credit course, so the achievement is documented on the transcript!

How to Participate

Individual Development Plan (IDP)

An individual development plan allows for an individual to personalize goals that best meet their needs. IDPs are designed to be evolving documents that change as the individual’s goals change and as an individual accomplishes goals and needs to establish new goals. The IDP allows for an individual to independently engage and co-create the Complete Engineer experience, while also engaging their faculty advisor or mentor through the creation of the plan and accountability toward completion of goals. A graduate COE IDP template that maps to Complete Engineer core competencies is located HERE.

Extra and Co-Curricular activities.

Graduate student course study plans are highly individualized and tailored to a student’s specific educational and research goals. For this reason, engagement is based on extra and co-curricular activities initiated within the programs, College, University, local community, and an individual’s professional community. There is no set number of experiences an individual participates in to complete the levels. Individual development happens at different speeds and a particular experience will impact individuals differently depending on where a person is in their own development as it relates to the competency.

Reflection.

Reflection is a critical bridge between experience and learning. Reflection allows information to settle while an individual makes sense of an experience. Reflecting on an experience or a collection of experiences, allows an individual to ascribe meaning to the experience such as personal significance, connections made to what one already knew or believed, movement from understanding to action, and new beliefs.