Bob LaMontagne advised, "I would advise long conversations with the
intended affiliate schools to make sure you are offering the proper
prerequisite courses."
I second that advice. But we did that and still had some problems. We
knew that by spending three years here, the students would miss a couple
engineering courses offered in the first three years at the engineering
school, but that was one of the reasons the overall program was five
years rather than four. But then, the engineering schools started
questioning whether basic courses like calculus and physics and
chemistry taken at a liberal-arts school would be "good enough" for
engineering.
This was bizarre because we were using the same textbooks, and we were
covering as much or more of the book than they were. Plus, I believe
our lab experiences were better. However, they started saying things
like "different emphasis" at a liberal-arts school. We did have a
couple students actually repeat calculus and physics at the engineering
school, which I think was a real travesty, and they both said their
courses at Bluffton were considerably better and taught at a higher
level.
I think one problem was that we didn't have very many students going to
a particular school. We had a 3-2 agreement with three different
schools, and we also had some students do 3-2 with two schools for which
we didn't have agreements. That meant each engineering school only got
one of our students every couple years. That wasn't enough to establish
a track record.
We also had a problem that department chairs and deans of engineering
schools can change, and understandings can get pitched out the window
when a change occurs. If you are going to implement a 3-2 plan,
advertise it, matriculate students, etc., then by the time the students
get to the engineering school you are already 4 or 5 years down the road
from when you recruited those students as juniors or seniors in high
school. We found that if the engineering school wanted to change
requirements, they can do it almost immediately. Then students that are
already in the stream can get left high and dry. Be sure the
engineering school is willing to take students on the current
understanding for about 4 years after the understanding changes.
If that seems like a long time, remember how scholarships work. It is
very difficult for students to get a scholarship when they transfer.
The best time to get a good scholarship is when you are a senior in high
school. Thus, once you have made a commitment to go to a particular
small college with a 3-2 agreement, and you have turned down
scholarships at other places, you have pretty much forfeited the
opportunity to change. Thus, if you are a sophomore or junior, and the
3-2 agreement changes such that you won't qualify... what are you going
to do?
At the present time we do not have any 3-2 agreements. Students who
really want to come here, but also want engineering, spend four years
here and major in math or physics or chemistry or come combination.
Then they enter an MS program in engineering. Some have gotten
assistantships immediately, and some have gotten assistantships after a
year of taking a few undergraduate courses at the engineering school.
They have then ended up with a liberal-arts degree from Bluffton, and an
MS in engineering from the larger school. The total time has typically
been 6 or 7 years... not much different than if they had pursued an MS
in engineering by starting at an engineering school.
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry and Physics
Bluffton University
Bluffton, OH 45817
(419)-358-3270
edmiston@bluffton.edu