Back to Tulane: De-engineering
Richy Leitner was about to begin his second year at Tulane University late last summer when Hurricane Katrina disrupted his life and academics. He's back in New Orleans as the university prepares to reopen its classrooms.
One of the most talked-about things on campus has been the post-Katrina elimination of most engineering majors. University President Scott Cowen seemed to be doing the right thing with the changes he made. But while it seems a legitimate action, it has had negative repercussions on campus.
For the engineering majors, greater good isn't really all that comforting. I have been talking a lot about how excited everyone is to be back, but it is a bittersweet homecoming for the engineers: Students must finish by the end of the spring 2007 semester to graduate with a degree in one of the programs being cut.
For the freshmen, this is going to be close to impossible. Most of the sophomore engineers must make a choice between trying to squeeze in as many classes as they can in an attempt to finish their majors a year earlier than they had intended to, switching majors, or transferring to another school. No one is happy about any of the options. No one likes the idea of being forced to transfer to another school, but taking an overloaded schedule for the next four semesters would detract from the full Tulane experience.
Obviously, people are upset about the changes. There was an engineering support rally held the first day of school. I am not really the protest-rally type, so I did not go and thus am not sure what kind of turnout they got. But there are lots of people trying to get the administration to change its plan. I have seen signs at area restaurants urging people to take action to get the policy changed. I said before that I agree with most of the things Cowen is doing, and if he wants to cut engineering and it will help get the school back on its feet financially, then that seems like a logical course of action.
The problem that I have with this plan is the time they chose to eliminate the programs. I think they should have just waited one more year, so that everyone who is already established at Tulane and has been working towards an engineering degree for at least a year has the opportunity to finish out their bachelor's degree in the field and time frame they intended to.
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