Concerns grew in the week before spring break that the environmental engineering undergraduate program would be eliminated from RPI’s list of majors. News came that Dean of Engineering Alan Cramb had been asked to review the program for possible elimination; however, at the time of publication, no official decision has been made by the administration regarding any change to the current program.
The environmental engineering program was first offered to Rensselaer undergraduates in 1955, emerging out of the civil engineering major and becoming a part of that department. This was the first program in the United States to offer degrees specifically in environmental engineering. Many other institutions have been influenced by RPI to adopt similar programs emanating from civil engineering departments, especially with growing national concerns toward issues in sustainability.
The feeling among students in the environmental engineering department is that Cramb does not wish to see the program continue. Environmental engineering student Lisa Muscanell ’09 stated her “understanding is that the dean of engineering has made it very clear that he wants to eliminate the program.” She goes on to explain that she and other students in the department feel, “The main reason for the elimination of the undergraduate program by 2012 ... is that the program does not bring in revenue from its research.” Muscanell and Shelby Perry ’08 have spearheaded the initiatives to keep the RPI undergraduate program.
Since no official decision has been made on whether the program would stay or be phased out, Cramb did not wish to go into too many details. He explained that there’s “always a discussion of programs” which helps further benefit the school. Cramb discussed how without reviews, RPI programs would become stagnant. He goes on to explain that the final decision would be up to Provost Robert Palazzo and President Shirley Ann Jackson, but it has yet to progress to that state at this point in time.
At Jackson’s Spring Town Meeting on Monday, Cramb had an opportunity to explain the reasoning for the review. Two overlying factors which brought about the review of the environmental engineering program were its very low enrollment and his loss of three professors in recent years. In September of 2004 the program lost Professor Edward L. Shuster to a drunk driver, and has still been unsuccessful in filling his position. Two other professors of environmental engineering have switched departments at RPI.
Cramb went on to assure that no decision would be made rashly, and he “will talk to undergraduate and graduate students” as well as administration in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Departments before making a decision to recommend to the provost and president. Jackson has also asked Cramb to continue conversations with students to keep them informed and to gain their perspectives.
If the dean of engineering were to recommend phasing out the program, and the provost and president were to agree, it would no longer be offered to incoming freshman as a possible major. The Class of 2012 would be the last class offered the major, and it would then be phased out completely following their graduation. However, students would still be able to pursue M.S., M.Eng., D.Eng., and Ph.D. in environmental engineering.
Jackson assured that environmental engineering “will not disappear [but] it might change form,” and that no currently enrolled student would be directly affected or left without a major. Currently an environmental engineering concentration is offered to students pursuing civil engineering. If the current environmental engineering program were to be phased out, the concentration would be the replacement for students wishing to explore environmental engineering.
The environmental engineering program here at RPI focuses on using scientific and engineering principles to protect and repair natural resources. Although the program stems from the civil engineering program, students majoring in environmental engineering take more courses involved in life sciences and chemistry than do civil engineers.
Students have voiced concern that the environmental concentration offered to civil engineers pursuing a B.S. degree will not have the same impact in the field as with the B.S. in environmental engineering. Without courses critical to environmental engineers, some students feel that the concentration would only be good as a stepping stone to a graduate program and not adequate as an alternative to the current program. At the Spring Town Meeting, one student asking about the future of the program commented that the concentration wouldn’t be a sufficient substitution, since it’s “eliminating the core classes of what is environmental engineering.”
Although the enrollment in environmental engineering is less than 20 students each year, school-wide support for saving the program has been seen. Student-driven initiatives have flooded the mailboxes and inboxes of Jackson, Palazzo, Cramb, and other influential administrators with letters expressing support for the program. The letter-writing campaign has been supplemented with a student run website, http://saverpienve.blogspot.com/, to help keep the concerned community informed and involved.
