CIVIL ENGINEERING Valuable Asset to Union or Expendable Resource?

URGENT NEED FOR CIVIL ENGINEERS For more information go to civil.union.edu ASCE REPORT ON THE NATION’S INFRASTRUCTURE D+ $1.3 Trillion over Next Five Years Check it out at

THE DECISION TO PHASE- OUT CIVIL ENGINEERING WAS NOT CAREFULLY THOUGHTOUT, AND THE CONSEQUENCES WERE NOT CONSIDERED For more information go to civil.union.edu

NO DUE PROCESS STAKEHOLDERS NOT INVOLVED –AAC –Faculty (Division 4 Petition) –Students –Alumni ALTERNATIVES NOT SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED For more information go to civil.union.edu

APPEARS THAT PROCESS WAS SET UP TO VALIDATE PRECONCEIVED CONCLUSION AAC Not Consulted CORE Team GLEAN Team and Report Whose idea was it? For more information go to civil.union.edu

THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS ON THE COLLEGE AS A WHOLE FAR OUTWEIGH ANY POTENTIAL BENEFITS For more information go to civil.union.edu

Who Supports This Position? Faculty Alumni –Donations –Alumni Recruiting Students (present and prospective) Parents Peers at Other Institutions Employers and Professional Organizations For more information go to civil.union.edu

How will Division 4 and the College Suffer without Civil? Synergisms Choices (enrollments) Interdisciplinary Courses will significantly decrease Community service activities will suffer Three-legged stool: others likely to follow For more information go to civil.union.edu

How will College Suffer without Engineering? Reputation Technical environment for LA students Diversity (Ability to go from engineering to LA) Overall student quality will fall –Engineers usually 7s, 8s, or 9s Enrollments in Physics, Chemistry, Geology and Math will drop. For more information go to civil.union.edu

Why does the Administration want to get rid of Civil Engineering? Make way for “Converging Technologies” Resource Driven Other For more information go to civil.union.edu

Make Way for Converging Technologies Dean says CE is least compatible with his vision Fallacies –CE Profession in the thick of CT –Interactions between CE and LA –MIT Experience For more information go to civil.union.edu

Reallocation of Resources Procedures not followed –None of 20 new faculty lines to Division 4 –AAC not involved No effort made to –Examine all resources available –Decide how best to use them What is best for Union? For more information go to civil.union.edu

Reallocation of Resources Computer Science needs should be met by the College –10-12 new CS courses for Liberal Arts –CS not an engineering discipline –Loss of two CS lines to liberal arts –CS short ~ four lines –Net +24 liberal arts, -4 engineering For more information go to civil.union.edu

Reallocation of Resources Fallacies –Phase out of Civil will NOT meet CS needs Phase out period Retirements –Adjunct problem exaggerated –CE not more expensive than other engineering and science disciplines Why weren’t we asked to economize? Fundraising to increase resources? For more information go to civil.union.edu

Converging Technologies Oversold to the Board of Trustees Undergraduate environment –Parts of courses –One or two upper-level electives Corporate sponsorship going to research universities Will not thoroughly integrate LA Student recruitment and graduate jobs No market research For more information go to civil.union.edu

Civil Engineering Plan Draft –Done under short deadline from Dean –Completed and presented to the Dean on time –Dean said we had done what we had to do & he would present our proposal to the President –CE not allowed to participate in meeting with President –Plan not seriously considered –Dean later said it was “too little - too late” For more information go to civil.union.edu

Civil Engineering Plan Draft Updating our curriculum –Leadership in the 21 st Century –Maintaining a sound technical foundation Much more thorough integration of LA Can be accomplished with existing resources Is more convergent than Dean’s narrow definition Promoting and publicizing strengths of our program For more information go to civil.union.edu

What are We Doing? Newsletter and responses (Roger’s comment) Garnering support –For Department and Division –From Faculty, Administration, and Board Raising funds to balance resource differential Students Professional organizations Division petition For more information go to civil.union.edu

What Can Faculty in Other Divisions Do? Contact Roger Contacting faculty Trustees Call for study of alternatives (Cost/Benefit) Develop petition –Support –Reconsideration of Decision –Rejection on Procedural Grounds For more information go to civil.union.edu