For the past 20 years, Gary Gabriele has devoted his time and effort to the development of education at RPI. During his tenure, he has served in positions ranging from professor of mechanical engineering to his recently resigned position as vice provost for administration and dean of undergraduate education.
As of Wednesday August 18, Gabriele will be working off campus. He will be on loan to the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Va. For the next two years, Gabriele will serve as division director for Engineering Education and Centers, a program that funds major scientific research as well as education. “[Rensselaer has] been really supportive of the offers from NSF,” Gabriele commented on his newly acquired position. He stresses the importance of his offer because he believes that it is essential for RPI to “influence what goes on in the future of engineering education.”
Gabriele is responsible for many changes at RPI that have happened over the past few years involving educational development and opportunity for students. He started the teaching and learning colloquium for faculty, a two-day conference aimed at updating faculty members on new methods of teaching. Gabriele also took part in the founding of the undergraduate research program. With this program, students can write a research proposal and be awarded up to $3,000 each to fund their projects.
More recently, Gabriele played a major role in changing the advising system and developing a new Early Warning System. New online tools have been added to the advising system to accommodate faculty advisors. With these changes, it is hoped that they will keep themselves up to date on the status of their students. The EWS is a new adaptation of an older system formerly used to only identify first year students who may have been experiencing problems in certain classes. This new EWS will be used to help quickly identify all students who may be struggling in any subject area.
Gabriele was directly involved with revising the core curriculum over the years. It was one of his main priorities to ensure that the undergraduate programs are of high quality. Gabriele also took part in overseeing the developments of the Anderson Center for Innovation in Undergraduate Education. The Anderson Center contributes to the development of classroom innovations. One such improvement is the studio style teaching, a method of teaching and learning developed here at RPI.
According to Provost G.P. “Bud” Peterson, Gabriele’s position will be filled shortly. Until it is filled, Peterson will be fulfilling the duties of vice provost and dean of undergraduate education. Gabriele is scheduled to return to campus on September 15, 2006, as a professor of mechanical engineering.
