Engineering dean outlines plan for future

Engineering Dean Gregory Farrington discussed changes in the school and a newly announced writing requirement for Engineering students during a question and answer session held yesterday as part of National Engineering Week. Adding the new "Writing about Technology" class will make the writing requirement University-wide, he noted. During the discussion -- sponsored by the Undergraduate Engineering Advisory Board -- Farrington summarized the school's five-year plan as an "attempt to look at engineering ? what we feel our distinct character is and where we want to place our emphasis." Improving the school's national rankings is one of the goals outlined in the plan, Farrington said. Three Engineering School departments -- Materials Science and Engineering, Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering -- placed in the top 11 in the most recent rankings by the National Research Council. But Farrington said he wants to propel the Computer Science department into the top tier as well. The dean noted, however, that it is unlikely for the entire school to rank in the top ten because "to rank higher, we would need to become bigger." But despite the Engineering School's smaller size, Farrington emphasized the quality of the school -- as well as the increase in the number of applications to the Engineering School this year. Engineering junior Lindsay Napor said Farrington's efforts to make the school better will greatly benefit the students. She noted that the dean seemed "genuinely interested in improving the student experience." Farrington added that the Engineering School -- as part of a "multifaceted university" -- provides students with a "much better education broadly" than many other schools. He added that one of the Engineering School's strengths is its requirement of students to take courses in other schools. Taking "English classes with English majors and History classes with History majors" is an advantage that the Engineering School has over smaller technical schools. Ideally, Farrington said Engineering graduates should "be comfortable with mathematical issues and issues which relate to people." And the dean noted that he is hoping to create more links with other schools in the University. One of the school's newest improvements is the Chemistry 101 requirement, which is now taught in the school by a both a chemistry instructor and an engineer. Although the course received a student ranking of only 1.86 last year, Farrington said the ranking improved to 3.0 this year after the course was revamped. But Farrington cited some of the school's weaknesses, including "an accumulated lack of attention to facilities ? space, laboratories." And after noting "the lack of a consolidated engineering and sciences library," Farrington said the school is addressing this issue. Farrington ended the discussion by jokingly explaining his "grand dream" -- to build a roof over the open space in the middle of the Towne Building to create an atrium complete with a cappucino bar.