CTR Symposium 13 April 2016

AN EVALUATION OF A DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERSCTR Symposium

13 April 2016

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Paper Authors

Kelly Selman, P.E.District Engineer, DallasTexas Department of Transportation 

Nabeel Khwaja, MS, P.E.Research EngineerCenter for Transportation Research, The University of Texas at Austin

Dr. Randy B. Machemehl, P.E.Nasser Al-Rashid Centennial Professor in Transportation EngineeringCenter for Transportation Research, The University of Texas at Austin

Moggan Motamed Graduate Research AssistantCenter for Transportation Research, The University of Texas at Austin

Clair LaVayeEditorThe University of Texas at Austin

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Dallas District Dallas District

– Plans, designs, builds, operates and maintains the state transportation system in seven counties: Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Kaufman, Navarro and Rockwall

– Encompasses 5,447 square miles– Lane miles of state system roadways:

10,426– Serves approximately 4.2 million people– Approximately 3.7 million registered

vehicles– Current full-time employee count: 822– Five area offices and six maintenance

offices

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Overview – TxDOT DFW Construction/Development $32 billion in planning on select

regional projects $10 billion in key projects under

construction or in development regionally

$7.1 billion in key projects recently completed

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I-35E at Lake Lewisville Bridge

35Express Project

Columns for I-35E at Belt Line Road New SB I-35E Bridge over FM 407

5

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The Dallas Horseshoe Project

I-30 Margaret McDermott Bridge construction west of downtown Dallas

NB I-35E connection to westbound I-30 in downtown Dallas

I-35E looking north approaching downtown Dallas

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The Challenge

Shortage of trained

engineers for leadership positions in

DOTs

Not enough graduates

Universities are challenged to

provide thorough grounding

DOTs have difficulty retaining engineers

Increased retirement of experienced

leaders

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Background of the Dallas EA Program

Personal Experience Historical hiring of Engineering Assistants by TxDOT - 2006

– Individual offices• Summer Interns• Area Office (10 at the time)• District Design

– Less structured and more dependent on Individual supervisor and the EA• Sometimes created a barrier in EA’s development

Cross-functional experience (In lieu of ‘silos’) Progression through the ranks – Equal opportunity for Experience &

Training Leadership positions

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Dallas EA Program - Overview

EA Program– Mandatory for all new EA hires (since 2009)– Uniform training and flat organizational structure – The EA’s Supervisor is the Deputy District Engineer – one

payroll unit• Quarterly group meetings + presentations • Mock interviews to develop interviewing skills• “Loaned out” to different disciplines, i.e. Design,

Construction, Traffic Operations, etc.– Do not count towards FTE allocation

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Elements of the EA Program

1. Functional Area Rotations– Usually design construction traffic operations

2. Mentoring– Assigned a high-level district manager as a mentor– Mentors are not in the trainee’s direct chain of command

3. Formal classroom/online instruction– At least 3 courses per year – List includes: GeoPak, bridge construction, work zone traffic control,

watershed modeling, risk management, etc.

4. Professional Engineer (PE) Exam Prep– Expected to take PE exam after 4 years of training– EA’s given access to PE exam classes and study opportunities

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Success Stories of the EA Program

Project Manager of the Dallas Horseshoe Project - $800 million DB Project

Project Delivery Engineer – Dallas District Area Engineer Assistant Area Engineers Hydraulic Section Supervisor Area Office Design Section Supervisors

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Evaluation of the EA Program

Examine what DOT’s are doing to:– Recruit– Train– Retrain, and– Build leadership skills in engineering staff ranks

Procedure1. Review published information2. Conduct national survey3. Examine the Dallas TxDOT District Training Program4. Objectively evaluate the Dallas Training Program

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DOT OUTREACH AND TRAINING

Summer Internships Partnerships with universities DOT Training Programs

– At least 21 DOTs offer/require training

Variability across DOTs:• 61% provide mentoring• 100% rotate trainees through

functional areas• Most DOTs do NOT require

training for ALL new hires

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SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESULTS

Training Mentorship Mandatory Training?

Rotation?

Total “YES” 14 14 2 11

Total “NO” 7 10 7 0

Total Responses 21 24 9 11

Training programs range from 19 weeks up to 4 years

Average duration = 2.3 years

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EA PROGRAM PARTICIPANT PE EXAM PASS RATE

October 2014 Texas Board of Professional Engineers Transportation Discipline Pass Rate = 48%

Bayesian analysis of TxDOT EA pass rate– Bayesian analysis gives us a way to “update” a probability

estimate (here, 48% pass) in light of evidence (in this case, Dallas District survey results)

– Results indicate an 89% chance that those who complete the program will pass

TxDOT EA’s program participants have almost twice the likelihood of passing compared to the general population

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Time to Licensure• On average, pass at the

end of fourth year

• Those with previous experience became licensed in < 2 years

• Those who did not participate take 6.74 years on average

EA Program BenefitTime to Licensure

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EA Program Benefit: Participant Mean Job Progress (Promotion) Rates

Progress Mean of Total

Progress Mean 2000-2007

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8 0.7550.721

0.435 0.452Employee with Train-ingEmployee without Training

Pro

gres

s R

ate

For 117 total engineers– 49 with training, and – 68 without training

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Survey of Dallas Engineers

77 total responses– 32 Training program

graduates – 14 currently active in program – 32 did not participate in the

training program

Questions addressed:– Employee job satisfaction– Professional growth

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Survey of Dallas Engineers

When you began your full time job at the DOT, do you think you received the training you needed to do your job

well?Do you have opportunities for professional

growth within TxDOT?

When you began your full time job at TxDOT, do you think you received the training you needed to do your job well?

Do you have opportunities for professional growth within TxDOT?

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Survey of Dallas Engineers

Are you comfortable asking questions when you are in doubt?

Are you comfortable disagreeing with your supervisor when you discuss ideas?

Are you comfortable asking questions when you are in doubt?

Are you comfortable disagreeing with your supervisor when you discuss ideas?

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Feedback for Improvements

Leadership Program – Graduates believe that a leadership program should be implemented– “We arrived trained in engineering, but we have to learn management.”– More customization of rotation progression– Helps to have upper-level managers responsible for rotation to avoid delay

Mentoring– Formalize the mentoring process – Add a mentor group composed of recent graduates– Allow trainees to pick a mentor from a pool

Equipment– Need to further improve access to materials and equipment

Overall, positive experience!

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Recommendations for those starting a training program

Flatten the organization structure for trainees to eliminate internal conflicts and area self-interests

Enforce rotation for trainees Customize area rotations based on potential, talents, and

interests of trainees. Monitor and standardize the number of classes taken each year