12 October 2001
Copyright © 2001 World Expertise LLC – All rights
reserved
A periodic electronic newsletter for engineering education leaders,
edited by Russel C. Jones, PhD., P.E.
International educational meetings scheduled for this fall
in the Middle East are being canceled, according to a note in the Chronicle
of Higher Education by Daniel del Castro. Such cancellations are a result of
participants deciding against traveling in the region. The American Embassy in
Damascus has postponed a workshop which was to have brought together delegations
from American Universities and Syrian Universities interested in establishing
partnerships. A higher education summit scheduled for Marrakesh, Morocco,
designed to bring together academics and government officials from around the
Arab world and the United States to discuss the effects of globalization on
higher education in the region, has been rescheduled to next year. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/10/2001100902n.htm
French budget proposals would boost grant money for
long-suffering university researchers by nearly 20%, according to a note by
Michael Balter in the 28 September 2001 issue of Science. But civilian
R&D funding overall would rise only 2.2%, barely beating inflation. French
scientists are concerned that French R&D will gain little ground on R&D
in the United States and other research powerhouses. Government officials say
that the top priority is to create opportunities for young researchers, so that
they are not attracted to positions abroad. See http://www.sciencemag.org
Canada has announced the creation of a new public
university, the first in almost 40 years, according to a note in the Chronicle
by Karen Birchard. The Ontario Institute of Technology will be located in
Durham, east of Toronto. It plans to open in 2003 with 1,500 students, and
quickly expand to accommodate 6,500. The projected enrollment within 10 years is
20,000. The curriculum will include arts and sciences courses, along with
job-related programs to serve local employers – in auto manufacturing, nuclear
technology, and justice and community safety. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/10/2001100908n.htm
Emerging market countries should not ignore the resources
and contributions of their expatriates, according to an article by Janamitra
Devan and Parth Tewari in the October 2001 issue of IEEE Spectrum. In the 1990’s some 650,000 people
from emerging markets migrated to the United States on professional employment
visas. Around the world, about a third of the R&D professionals of
developing countries have left them to work in the US, the European Union, or
Japan. For most such countries, tackling the fundamental causes of the talent
drain will take years. Some of these countries have found pursuing the
expatriates to be useful – either to convince them to return, often with
significant incentives, or by utilizing their contacts and expertise to start
new ventures in their home countries. The writers suggest that emerging markets
take three steps: create emigrant networks, facilitate contacts, and target
incentives. See http://www.spectrum.ieee.org
A Japanese government panel has recommended that the
Ministry of Education, Science and Technology loosen controls on state-run
universities, according to a note in the Chronicle by Alan Brender. The
panel recommends that universities be allowed to establish new academic
departments, change the pay scales of faculty members, and reap profits from
patents resulting from academic research. It also recommends that national
university presidents be given ultimate responsibility for financial as well as
academic affairs. These recommendations are the first step in transforming the
national universities from being wholly reliant on the Education Ministry to
becoming independently administered institutions. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/10/2001100504n.htm
India’s engineering students and professionals are among
the finest in the world, and are highly sought after by graduate schools and
businesses in other countries such as the US. Writing in the October 2001 issue
of ASEE Prism, Thomas Grose reports that now such students no longer have
to leave India to get an American engineering education as US schools are
increasingly setting up shop in India. Illinois Institute of Technology has
offered master’s degree programs for some years, and Northwestern and MIT have
recently announced India programs. See http://www.asee.org/prism
Eighteen British institutions plan to generate income by
displaying advertisements on the screen savers of students, faculty and staff
members, according to a note in the Chronicle by David Cohen. Each screen
displays a rolling mix of up to 60 individual messages, lasting 15 seconds
apiece. The lineup of ads will be changed each week. The displays continue to
appear until the user activates the computer keyboard or mouse. About a third of
the screen saver time will be reserved for promoting messages from the
institutions themselves. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/09/2001092601t.htm
According to recent report, 429 million people have access
to the Internet. As reported in the October 2001 issue of the IEEE Institute by
Carol Goodale, 41% of those users are in the US and Canada. Europe, the Middle
East and Africa account for 27%, while Asia-Pacific users represent 20%. Only 4%
are located in South America. This “digital divide” between cyber-haves and
cyber-have-nots impacts the latter’s access to the e-world’s potential for
education, economic and social benefits. Challenges for developing countries
include the cost of building communications infrastructure, providing relevant
content, and training of potential users. See http://www.ieee.org
Hundreds of Middle Eastern students in the US have decided to return home, in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks, according to an article in the Chronicle by Beth McMurtrie. Many of the students departing stated that they did not feel safe on US campuses. Some countries have reported a drop in the number of students expressing an interest in studying in the US, but that is expected to be a temporary phenomenon with such student delaying rather than canceling US studies. Intensive English language programs appear to be hardest hit by withdrawals. In the Middle East, Universities are preparing to handle an influx of students who have either returned home from the US or decided not to go abroad. Overseas, most American students are staying put – although those in the Middle East and South Asia are anxious. See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v48/i06/06a04201.htm
The Chronicle has carried several reports of interest on developments following the terrorist attacks in the US on September 11th:
v Congress is urged to spend more on research into ways to counter cyberterrorism, by Dan Carnevale. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/10/2001101101t.htm
v NSF awards grants to assess damage at terrorist-attack sites, by Tim Swartzendruber. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/10/2001100303n.htm
v Campuses beef up security, increasing patrols and ID checks, by Dana Mulhauser. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/09/2001092502n.htm
v Bush antiterrorist proposals raise concern about students’ privacy rights, by Sara Hebel. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/09/2001092493n.htm
v Colleges largely complying with requests for information on foreign students, survey finds, by Ron Southwick. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/10/2001100403n.htm
v
Students protest and show support for US military strikes in
Afghanistan, by Dana Mulhauser. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/10/2001100901n.htm
In an article in the 21 September 2001 issue of Science,
Andrew Lawler reviews how the unthinkable in terrorism became real for a
horrified world. If lightly armed men with pilot’s training could bring about
such devastation, what might they be capable of doing with weapons of mass
destruction? One expert observed, “had the terrorists had nuclear weapons, we
might be facing the fact that New York City doesn’t exist”. Weapons of mass
destruction come in three types: nuclear, chemical, and biological. Better
coordination of defense efforts and
more resources – such as increased R&D funding to combat terrorism -- are
needed, according to the author. See http://www.sciencemag.org
High schools in the US are not adequately preparing enough
young people for college, according to a report by the National Commission on
the High School Senior Year. As reported in the Chronicle by Alex
Kellogg, only half of the 70% of high school graduates
who enroll in four-year colleges leave with a degree. Although 90% of
freshmen say that they expect to complete college, only 44% have taken a
college-preparatory curriculum in high school that positions them to
successfully do so. The other 30 million are being prepared for a future that
has already vanished, in courses of study that lack rigor or coherence,
according to the report. Its recommendations call for comprehensive
restructuring of high school curriculums to better prepare students for the
rigor of college studies, and a closer alignment of high school’s curriculums
and graduation requirements with college standards. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/10/2001100501n.htm
Officials at the Internet2 project have announced that the
project’s high speed network backbone will get improvements over the next two
years that will allow it to carry more data and support more users, according to
an article in the Chronicle by Scott Carlson. This news follows the
decision by Internet2 members to open the system up for use by thousands of
colleges and universities, community colleges, libraries, museums, and
elementary and secondary schools. The network was previously available only to
research universities that belonged to the Internet2 consortium. A maturing of
high-speed technologies played a part in the policy change. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/10/2001100201t.htm
The White House has asked the academic community to oppose
earmark projects, according to an article by David Malakoff in the 28 September
2001 issue of Science. Last year, Congress steered a record $ 1.7-billion
into specific university projects that had not been requested by the
Administration, nor gone through peer review. Critics argue that earmarking
undermines peer review, promotes poor quality science, and erodes government
science budgets. But most legislators support academic earmarks as a way to help
smaller institutions – especially those in their districts – compete against
wealthier research universities. See http://www.sciencemag.org
President Bush’s nominee for science advisor won strong
bipartisan support at his Senate committee hearing, according to a report in the
Chronicle by Ron Southwick. John Marburger, director of the Brookhaven
National Laboratory, is expected to be confirmed soon by the full Senate. In his
testimony, Marburger said he hoped to direct scientific research to help combat
terrorist attacks, and emphasized interest in research on global climate change.
He spoke about the importance of funding research in chemistry, engineering, and
mathematics – to balance the greatly increased funding on biomedical research
in recent years. Many scientists have praised the selection of Marburger to
direct the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, but say that the
key to his success will be not his scientific prowess but his ability to get the
President’s ear. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/10/2001101005n.htm
Colleges are struggling to deal with student use of their
computer networks to download hefty video and software files, according to an
article in the Chronicle by Scott Carlson. People are e-mailing music and
videos to one another as attachments, leading to a logarithmic increase in size
– challenging universities’ bandwidth capabilities. Some students have
downloaded files as large as 19 gigabytes. Some universities have been forced to
limit downloads, in addition to previous efforts to educate students about good
network citizenship. But since bandwidth use on campus is generally free,
student demand is hard to control. See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v48/i05/05a04401.htm
Scientific collaborations between the US and India and
Pakistan have received a green light in the wake of the September 11th
terrorist attacks, according to a note in the 5 October 2001 issue of Science.
The US government had cracked
down after both countries tested nuclear weapons in 1998, but restrictions were
lifted in a September 22nd decision by President Bush as he put
together a worldwide alliance to help the US fight terrorism. The easing lifts
restrictions for most civilian R&D agencies, but a small number of agencies
involved in nuclear, missile, and space programs remain under the restrictions.
See http://www.sciencemag.org
The National Science Foundation will honor seven professors
“whose research excellence has been shared” with both students and the
public, according to a note in the Chronicle by Michael Blasenstein. The
first ever Director’s Awards for Distinguished Teaching Scholars will be
presented at a November 8th ceremony, and each recipient will be
awarded $ 300,000 over the next four years to continue his or her work. For a
list of recipients, see http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/09/2001092508n.htm
The MIT Media Laboratory has been looking for ways to clone
its successful approach to conducting and paying for cutting-edge research in
other parts of the world, according to an article by Jeffrey Young in the Chronicle.
It has an outpost in Dublin, is building one in India, and is exploring
additional locations in South Korea and Latin America. In addition to such
efforts at spreading the lab’s model for conducting research, it is pursuing a
second major thrust – exploring ways that technology can be used to help
developing nations. The idea is not just to give word processors, Palm pilots,
and other technology to people in remote villages, but to explore how digital
technology could be used in practical ways to improve the health and lives of
people in impoverished areas. See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v48/i07/07a04101.htm
We should resist the push to rush all scholarly journals to
free access via the internet shortly after publication, according to an article
by John Ewing in the Chronicle. The author, who is from a scientific
society which publishes several journals, argues that those calling for such
free internet access have not thought clearly about all aspects of publishing.
They do not understand the need to have journals make a small profit in order to
ensure that they stay self-sustaining. And they forget that quality is as
important as price – where quality includes such frills as links that allow
navigating through large collections of materials. The author does not argue for
the status quo, but does argue that scholarly societies that are wrestling with
online delivery tools, archiving, format changes, and new business models should
not be criticized for being cautious in order to protect the fragility of
scholarly publishing. See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v48/i07/07b01401.htm
Fulbright Award applications are currently being accepted
for engineers interested in providing research or university lectures in
Armenia, India, Mauritius, Namibia, Portugal, Sri Lanka, Syria, and the United
Arab Emirates. Candidates with specializations in biomedical, chemical,
electronic, environmental, textile, computer, petroleum, manufacturing,
materials, and industrial engineering are being sought. Applicants must be US
citizens, have a PhD or similar degree, have professional or university
experience, and have a record of publication and teaching in higher education.
For more information see http://www.iie.org/cies
In Pakistan, an Open University is offering distance
education to more than a million students, according to an article by Daniel del
Castillo in the Chronicle. Allama Iqbal Open University was founded in
1974 under a government charter, functioning both as a bricks-and-mortar
traditional university and as a distance learning institution. Its courses are
based on tutorials and enhanced by non-broadcast video, audio cassettes, and a
network of 12 regional campuses around Pakistan. It follows the model of the
British Open University, which was the first open university in the world when
it opened in 1969. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/09/2001092601u.htm
Aboriginal people in Canada are embracing distance
education, according to a note in the Chronicle by Doug Payne. The
Conference Board of Canada has reported that they are using web-based distance
education, electronic conferencing, bulletin boards, e-mail, and self-directed
learning software to more fully participate in the knowledge economy. The
Conference Board’s report includes 10 case studies of projects that utilized
information technology to improve aboriginal education. A government committee
has recently unveiled a national broadband strategy to provide high-speed access
to Canadian residents, with a special emphasis for First Nation, Inuit, rural,
and remote communities. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/10/2001100801u.htm
The University of Phoenix has announced plans to market its
adult-education and degree programs through America Online, according to a note
by Michael Arnone in the Chronicle. The University is trying to expand
information flow about its programs to a broader audience, and a significant
percentage of the 30 million members of AOL have shown an interest in taking
courses online offered through AOL. Advertising for the University is being
prominently displayed on AOL, with links to the university’s web sites. The
University of Phoenix describes itself as the largest university in the US, with
70,000 students on 58 campuses nationwide and 25,000 students earning degrees
through its online division. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/10/2001100501u.htm
A professor of comparative education in Britain is calling
for governments to take a realistic view toward distance education, according to
an article in the Chronicle by Dan Carnevale. Bernadette Robinson of the
University of Nottingham has worked with 37 different countries, most of them
developing nations, that are creating distance education programs. She states
that many governments and institutions think that distance education is going to
be a cheap way of providing courses and programs, without recognizing the high
initial investments needed for delivering them online. She also notes that
countries need to have the human capacity to develop good materials and to
operate distance education programs. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/10/2001100301u.htm
The International Journal of Engineering Education has
published a special double issue on “Design Education for the 21st
Century”, edited by Clive Dym and Sheri Sheppard. More than 30 papers are
organized into several categories: ‘People’ issues, teams and
collaborations, products and projects, science and systems for the design
toolbox, and assessment. The papers represent much of the proceedings of Mudd
Design Workshop II, held on the campus of Harvey Mudd College in California in
May 1999.See http://www.ijee.dit.ie
The October 2001 issue of the Journal of Professional
Issues in Engineering Education and Practice contains several articles on
civil engineering education and practice, including one on assessment of
communications and collaborative learning in engineering education. That paper,
by Enno Koehn, observes that in many companies today team goals, team
contributions, and team rewards often supercede individual actions – and that
today’s students have accepted the concept of collaborative learning. See http://www.pubs.asce.org
The annual meeting of the European Society for Engineering
Education (SEFI) was held in Denmark from 12 to 14 September 2001. World
Expertise LLC organized a one- day pre-conference to introduce US and other
non-European participants to issues in engineering education in Europe. A US
group headed by Gerry Johnson of the National Technological University presented
a half-day session on the results of the first international electronic
conference on engineering education, run for three months last summer as a
mechanism for involving third-world educators who typically cannot travel to
such meetings. The SEFI conference itself focused on changing the paradigm in
engineering education. Major plenary sessions covered the following topics:
Ø The changing society
Ø New engineering competencies
Ø
Changing the paradigm
Considerable discussion centered on the Bologna
Declaration, an attempt of the European Union to harmonize education across the
Continent. See www.sefi2001.dk for details
of the program and copies of plenary presentations.
A post-conference scheduled for Berlin, cosponsored by SEFI
and ASEE, was cancelled due to travel disruptions following the terrorist
attacks on the US. It will be rescheduled for 2002. See www.asee.org/conferences
for details as rescheduling plans are firmed up.
The 2002 annual meeting of SEFI will be held in Florence,
Italy, from 8-11 September 2002. A call for papers and other information can be
found at www.sefirenze2002.unifi.it
as planning progresses.
The deadline for submitting abstracts for the 2002 ASEE
ANNUAL conference is November 1st. Abstracts must be submitted
through the CAPS system, ASEE’s online submission web site, at http://www.asee.org/conferences/annual2002/caps
From the Chronicle of
Higher Education:
Ø
Georgia Institute of
Technology, Dean of Engineering, 9/28/01
Ø
Al Akhawayn University,
Morocco, job opportunities, 9/28/01
Ø
University of Nebraska at
Lincoln, Dean, College of Engineering and Technology, 9/21/01
Ø
University of New Mexico,
Chair, Chemical and Nuclear Engineering, 9/21/01
Ø
North Carolina State
University, Department Head, Electrical and Computer Engineering, 9/14/01
Ø
Nanyang Technological
University, School of Computer Engineering, positions, 10/5/01
Ø
University of the West
Indies, Trinidad and Tobago, Professor, Energy Systems, 9/21/01
Ø
United Arab Emirates
University, multiple positions, 10/5/01
Ø
University of Southern
Colorado, President, 9/14/01
Ø
Florida Institute of
Technology, President, 10/2/01
Ø
University of Louisiana
at Monroe, President, 9/14/01
Ø
Minnesota State
University at Mankato, President, 9/14/01
Ø
University of Tennessee
at Knoxville, President, 9/14/01
Ø
Washington and Lee
University, President, 10/5/01
Ø
University of
Massachusetts at Amherst, Chancellor, 10/5/01
Ø
Oklahoma State
University, Vice President for research, 9/28/01
From the October
2001 issue of ASEE Prism:
Ø
SUNY at Buffalo,
Department Chair, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Ø
University of Pittsburgh,
Department Chair, Chemical and Petroleum Engineering
Ø
University of New Mexico,
Department Chair, Chemical and Nuclear Engineering
Ø
University of Minnesota
at Duluth, Head, Chemical Engineering
Ø
Ohio University, Dean,
College of Engineering and Technology
Ø
Rose-Hulman Institute of
Technology, VPAA and Dean of Faculty
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