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Tulane University to Reduce Engineering School

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the in-the-wake-of-disaster dept.

baldbobbo writes "According to University President Scott Cowen of Tulane University, the School of Engineering will be greatly reduced. I have to wonder, as a student who can graduate in May 2007 (the deadline for those students to still receive a degree in any of the cut majors) with a Computer Science degree, but wants to stay an extra year, should I transfer to another university, graduate on time, or switch majors?"

15 of 291 comments (clear)

  1. huh? by GigsVT · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why would you want to stay an extra year without a degree? If you want to take non-required classes, just take them after you get the degree.

    --
    I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
    1. Re:huh? by aprilsound · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Financial Aid tends to dry up when you already have a degree (and aren't pursing a new one.) 46% of all college students receive federal aid, not to mention private scholarships, state equalization grants, and so on. Probably not affordable.

      As for the poster, you still have 2 years and you want to take your time?
      Abandon the sinking ship that is your school; unless you like the idea of having a degree from an institution that no longer has a CS program. In the new tech world, your reputation can make or break your career. In a school without a CS program, the best you can hope for is that no one has ever heard of your school, because finding out that you were the last one shoveled out the door is not going to inspire confidence.

  2. How about . . . by Seumas · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You talk to your student advisors? That's what you pay your tuition for. How the hell would a bunch of random people on Slashdot know what you should do in some strange particular circumstances that we couldn't possibly know the details of since we aren't on the staff for your school?

    1. Re:How about . . . by Seumas · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, they're at his school and they're going to have a much better clue about what the school is offering and how he can use those services than a bunch of random slashdotters who don't know a thing about his school (and many who have either never been or haven't been to college in eons).

      If this was a more general question that didn't hinge on cuts at his school, that'd be different.

    2. Re:How about . . . by NOLAChief · · Score: 4, Insightful
      because some of us who post to slashdot actually are alumni. And because it should be news for nerds when some of their fellow nerds are getting screwed. I graduated from Tulane in 2004 with a degree in mechanical engineering, one of the programs that is due to be cut.

      If you haven't figured it out yet, I heard about this today and I am furious. How does eliminating a quality engineering school strengthen the university? How does it strengthen the community? New Orleans is trying to rebuild. I know, my house in Metairie (jefferson parish, next door) got flooded. Life sucks, but ultimately we will rebuild. And guess what? engineers will be needed to rebuild the city and make it a better place in the long term. who better than engineers with a personal investment in the area? seriously, i have to wonder, with cowen making foolhardy decisions like this for the university he's paid to run, what business does he have running the mayor's rebuilding commission?

      Switching gears, as an alumnus, what does this say about my degree? does this mean it's worthless? if so, i want a refund, mr. cowen. every single penny i've given to the university. every single bit of blood, sweat, and tears i gave to earn my degree and try to make the university and the community a better place for it. every year you complain that alumni donation rates are down. it adversely affects your precious us news and world report rankings. want to know why we alumni aren't giving the university a dime? because of shit like this. i'm tired of being alienated at every turn.

      As for the submitter, being eligible to graduate in 2007 makes you, what? A sophomore? You still have time. Run. the good faculty will be jumping ship and if you think the tightwad financial twits will give any money for design projects to a doomed program, think again. Half the time it was like pulling teeth even before the storm. and do what I'm going to do. tell everyone you know thinking about attending tulane not to bother, regardless of major. You can't be world class without students, and you can't be world class without the support of the alumni.

      sorry about the rant. had to vent

    3. Re:How about . . . by Fausthero · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I totally agree with Chief here. The New Orleans community will be needing all the help they can get when it comes to tackling the great engineering problem that is New Orleans. It makes no sense that they should cut the engineering department when a majority of the other departments, lets say the French, or mythology department doesnt get cut. This is bullshit. So of course Tulane takes the easy way out and axes the program while emphasizing its liberal arts (read drop out alcoholics here) program. And in classic new orleans fashion, Tulane is rebuilding itself not as a new bastion of intellectual research but as the party school it has been trying to shake image of for 15 years... I will be returning to Tulane to get my Biomedical eng. bachelors and masters degree , hopefully by next december. However, I just heard word, that Tulane is laying off 250 faculty members to deal with their project $200 million dollar recovery expenses. That must be why I haven't seen spring course offerings from some of my known professors. I also wonder, how they can get rid of engineering, especially because we bring in a lot of research and get funded through other means such as the NIH, etc. So frustrated

  3. Stick with it! by joshjoneswas · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The aggravation of switching schools is far too great. Many of your credits may not transfer and, as experience tells me, the relationships you have built with your professors thus far will work wonders in the senior year and beyond when it comes to those pesky deadlines and loads of work!

  4. who are your professors? by coyote-san · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Who are your professors? You're worried about graduating, they're worried about getting (or keeping) tenured positions. Who will be around to teach your final classes?

    This shouldn't be your primary consideration, but it needs to be on the table.

    --
    For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. -- H L Mencken
  5. greatly reduced? by fireduck · · Score: 5, Insightful

    according to this chart, the only engineering remaining is chemical and biomedical. everything else (Civil and Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Computer Engineering) gets cut. That's an extremely dramatic cut.

    My suggestion is to leave ship. Sure you could stick it out, but with the program being eliminated, there's little incentive for faculty to stay (they'll all be looking for jobs elsewhere), and less incentive for the school to spend money on student support (computers, etc.). End result is that you'll likely have a lot of classes taught by part-time folks who are being recruited at the last minute when every untenured junior faculty doesn't show up for spring semester (because they've also abandoning ship).

  6. Re:Too many engineers by Seumas · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Not so much cluing in to the problem as surrendering to the inevitability that we can't compete with the rest of the world in the field?

  7. A Suggestion by Parafilmus · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If you want more school, go for a Master's degree. It's only 30 more hours. Why take another year undergrad, when you can get another degree for about the same number of hours?

  8. Leave by alienw · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Get the hell out of there as soon as you can. If they are cutting the program, the professors will be more worried about finding a new position than actually teaching. There aren't enough openings out there for a whole engineering department that is about to get cut.

  9. Re:How did this get posted? by TubeSteak · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Now Slashdot is an academic advising website?

    Since the only thing most advisors do is apply their experience to your situation, yes.

    Maybe a roomful of academic advisors can match the cross section of experiences you'll get from a front page slashdot post.

    He's not just asking "what should I do with the next few years of classes," he's also asking "how is this going to affect my life"

    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
  10. Re:Faking it. by NOLAChief · · Score: 3, Insightful

    you know, I hope they are. can never quite tell what's a moneymaking scheme and what's not with cowen. he's known for floating crap likely to be unpopular around the holidays and after finals when no one's looking. if he is faking it, it's a lot of ill will to kindle, though, and could backfire. i as an alum (ME '04) am furious and feeling alienated. like hell am i going to contribute any money to the tulane general fund. At least not until cowen is run out of town on a rail. were i a faculty member, i'd be polishing my resume anyway, not wanting to put up with this shit forever. and what does this say to the students? that you're not valued? apparently so.

  11. Re:Admission Letter in Hand... by wev162 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    A decision as drastic as effectivly gutting half the university isn't going to be decided and announced in a day. A proposal as broad as this would have been considered for quite some time before announcement, I'm suprised there weren't any leaks or rumors ciculating beforehand. I'm sure there are many students left pondering their fate this evening and my best wishes to them, I only missed their plight by a matter of a year or so...