Systems engineering receives INCOSE academic equivalency

INCOSE has presented the systems engineering department at CSU with an academic equivalency for SYSE501: Foundations of Systems Engineering.

Many of the students in the systems engineering department at Colorado State University are working professionals, who pursue an advanced degree to further both their academic knowledge and careers. Now, by taking the department’s introductory course, students can easily achieve both goals because of a recent recognition from the International Council of Systems Engineering (INCOSE).

INCOSE has presented the systems engineering department with an academic equivalency for students to bypass the knowledge exam on their path to becoming an Associate Systems Engineering Professional (ASEP) or Certified Systems Engineering Professional (CSEP).

“Receiving academic equivalency shows that our courses are in alignment with the systems engineering body of knowledge (SEBOK),” said Thomas Bradley, department head and Woodward professor of systems engineering. “It is a metric of our program’s quality and completeness.”

CSU is the eighth institution to be granted academic equivalency from INCOSE.

The initiative to obtain academic equivalency was led by Jim Adams and Gregory Marzolf, both assistant professors in systems engineering, who worked to ensure the department met INCOSE’s requirements.

This academic equivalency applies to SYSE501: Foundations of Systems Engineering. This course covers the components of the systems engineering perspective, the application of systems engineering to practical problems, and the system life-cycle process.

Students who finish SYSE501 with at least a B+ (87%) or higher in the course can bypass the INCOSE certification exam for either ASEP certification or CSEP certification. This applies to both online and on-campus students who take SYSE501 after Fall 2020 (note: students who took SYSE501 prior to Fall 2020 are not able to use SYSE501 to bypass the knowledge exam).

In addition to finishing SYSE501, students must also complete the other requirements for the ASEP or CSEP certification. For the ASEP certification, this includes submitting an application to INCOSE. For the CSEP certification, students must submit an application and letters of reference.

“SYSE501 really can serve as a jumping off point for our student’s careers in systems engineering,” Bradley said.


Note: Students who took SYSE501 prior to Fall 2020 are not able to retroactively use SYSE501 to bypass the knowledge exam.