Engineering to remain independent

By JACKIE WOMACK

The College of Engineering will not merged into the college of math and science, but will instead enter a trial period of two years during which improvements will be made, universtiy provost Jeri Echeverria said in a meeting with engineering students on Feb. 11.

“There was a great deal of interest in keeping the college independent, including student response, community members and faculty,” she said on Feb. 12.

Echeverria also announced the appointment of Andrew Hoff— previously an associate dean at the College of Health and Human Services— as the interim engineering dean.

“Dr. Hoff is an excellent administrator whom I believe will assist the college in moving forward during the next few years,” Echeverria said.

One of the first things Hoff said he wanted to do was get “acclimated to the college.”

“I think my first plans are to do a survey — to focus on meeting faculty, students and staff,” he said.

Hoff said the meeting with the students was “very productive.”

“I want them to not have to be concerned about the college [of engineering],” he said. “I want them to be able to focus on their courses.”

Rufino Gonzalez, a civil engineering major, was pleased with the outcome of the meeting.

“It was pretty good,” he said. “Hopefully, within two years I’ll graduate with a bachelors of science.”

Davidson Chanda, president of the American Society of Civil Engineers at Fresno State, said it was a good decision.

“We are happy that [Echeverria] was able to listen to the voice of reason,” he said.

Echeverria said during a previous meeting with engineering students on Jan. 27 that she was favoring a revitalization plan rather than a merger.

At the time of that meeting, the faculty hadn’t yet submitted a final plan for addressing such issues as student recruitment and retention and increasing the number of grants received.

Chanda said money was the real issue.

“The problem is that the college has not been funded,” he said. “You can have one dean or six deans, but if they don’t have the tools, then the college can’t be improved.”

The result, Chanda said, is that engineering is taught mainly by part-time professors.

“For example, in civil engineering, there are three full-time professors and five part-time,” Chanda said.

“All the classes I’m taking this semester are from part-time.”

Freshman Denise Soria said the proposed merger wasn’t a good idea.

“I’m relieved that they didn’t (go through with the merger),” she said.

“From what I heard, the reason that they wanted to do it was administrative.”

Echeverria said the final decision not to merge was influenced by the faculty’s submitted plan.

“There are several elements of the plan that I believe will revitalize the college, and many of the ideas came from the faculty,” she said.

Chanda said there was a danger with putting engineering on a trial period because new students may shy away from going to a college where “they’re not sure to graduate” from the same program they entered.

Civil engineering major George Carbajal said if the merger had happened, he knows what his reaction would have been.

“I would have transferred if they had merged,” he said.

Hoff said the plan to revitalize the college was the key to improving it.

“We’re trying to enhance the college,” he said. “I haven’t been hired to ‘fix’ the college.”

He said his lack of an engineering background was a advantage in this respect.

“I don’t come in with a pre-conceived idea of what should be going on,” Hoff said. “My focus is on the college as a whole.

“Engineering has some tremendous opportunities.”

Hoff said his term as interim dean is supposed to last through the Spring 2007 semester.

“For now, the search for a permanent dean is on hold,” Echeverria said. “We will begin planning for that search next year.”