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| September 2009 | Subscribe |
PREMIER SPONSOR |
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In This Issue:
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II. Congressional Hotline |
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SENATE PANEL OKs DOD SPENDING BILL AND CHIDES DARPAA $636.3 billion defense spending bill containing $78.5 billion for research, development, testing and evaluation cleared the Senate Appropriations Committee this month. The committee report shows the panel snipped $100 million from what the House provided for defense-wide basic research, including $15 million cut from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency's University Strategic Partnership program, leaving $33.5 million. But they also added money including $7 million more than that administration sought for University and Industry Research Centers. Department-wide R&D totals $20.4 billion, some $312 million less than the House-passed version. Like House appropriators, the senators had some uncharitable things to say about the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. They called the agency's $3.2 billion request "fiscally imprudent"; said DARPA provided inadequate support for its classified programs and "remains concerned by the lack of clear and executable plans for many DARPA projects." They demanded that by next year it comes up with a plan to redirect spending among different programs when needed. The panel also knocked out $135 million for new projects, explaining that DARPA Director Regina Dugan, who arrived July 20, hadn't had time to adjust them to Obama administration priorities.
STUDENT AID OVERHAUL HEADED FOR HOUSE VOTESometime this month, the Association of American Universities reports, the House is expected to consider the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act. A companion bill has not been introduced in the Senate, but a measure is expected this month.
PANEL: NASA HUMAN SPACE PROGRAM NOT A-OKNorman Augustine, who heads a panel on future human space flight by NASA, will discuss options before the House Science and Technology Committee this month, and he'll also testify before a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation subcommittee. Augustine’s panel's report summary is blunt: "The U.S. human spaceflight program appears to be on an unsustainable trajectory. It is perpetuating the perilous practice of pursuing goals that do not match allocated resources."
CONGRESS MAY AVOID OMNIBUS SPENDING BILL THIS YEARWith a few exceptions, the House and Senate appropriations bills approved by both the House and Senate don't vary much in dollar amounts, the American Institute of Physics' Richard Jones reports in an analysis. That increases the likelihood that the current Congress will succeed in approving more appropriations than has been its practice in recent years, when it had to resort to omnibus funding bills to keep the government running. But there will be budget items worth watching when the Senate and conference committees get going after Congress resumes work this month. Among them: Math and Science Partnerships, flat-funded by Senate appropriators, with the House providing a 3 percent hike; and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which the full House voted to cut and Senate appropriators want to increase by 7.3 percent.
GI BILL BLUESA House Veterans Affairs subcommittee plans a hearing this month on problems in processing GI Bill benefit claims. The IT system "is not yet fully functional," according to the committee notice.
HUBBUB OVER HUBS GIVE CHU LESSON IN LOBBYINGA House-Senate conference committee offers the last chance for Energy Secretary Steven Chu's innovation hubs -- he calls them Bell Lablets -- to be more than a mere pilot program. House appropriators slashed his request for eight hubs, allowing just one at $35 million. Senate appropriators allowed three. Conferees will resolve the difference. Writing in Science, Jeffrey Mervis quotes Chu as accepting responsibility for an inadequate selling job: "I didn't take the time to explain it personally to each member. That's the way it works around here. And I've learned that," he told the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology.
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Knovel |
Are you students being challenged with real-world engineering problems?The Knovel University Challenge is a great chance to find out! By nature, engineers are problem-solvers and make technical decisions every day. Give your students hands-on experience finding and using tools and information essential to their studies, work, and future projects. If your students can answer 3 questions using Knovel, they could win a Kindle, Wii, iPod Nano or Gift Cards. Send your students to www.info.knovel.com/challenge today!
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III. Teaching Toolbox |
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Making Them Want to StayTo prevent dropouts, engineering schools have to extend more of a hand to students. A recent study discovered that dropout rates among engineering students are no worse than those in other disciplines. Still, anything that engineering schools can do to improve retention would be a good thing for them and society. In this Teaching Toolbox Classic, two Purdue University educators offered suggestions to keep students enrolled. By Phillip Wankat and Frank Oreovicz The obvious way to increase student retention in engineering is to admit better students. Alexander W. Astin's study of graduation rates for the Higher Education Research Institute shows that the correlation between six-year graduation rates and the rate expected based on entering characteristics is 0.81. Thus, 66 percent of the variation in retention rates between institutions is explained by differences in the quality of the entering students. Although this data is for all students, the correlation for engineering students is undoubtedly similar. Many schools would be happy to admit better students. They can do it by providing generous scholarships to outstanding students, but most schools don't have those kinds of resources. Short of that, there are a number of steps that schools can take to keep students in engineering. First, they have to take action fairly quickly—many students decide within the first 10 weeks whether they are going to stay at a university. Since living on campus is known to make students feel more connected to a university, some engineering colleges have developed special purpose areas in residence halls, such as a floor for women engineering students. Commuters also appreciate an informal place to meet, with lockers to store books.
Orientation programs can also help first-year students cope with the transition to college. Extensive programs in the summer and during the first semester help engineering schools retain students: teaching them how to study, how to take tests, and how to manage their time. Honors programs and merit scholarships programs also make students feel special and help them bond with the university. Students in honors programs stay in engineering at higher rates than students with matching characteristics who don't have those kinds of benefits. Students who get to work individually with professors tend to do better academically. This includes serving as a paid tutor or working on a research project. To affect retention, these activities must occur in the first year or early in the second year. Engineering departments that enroll first-year students need to make special efforts to retain them, as the largest loss occurs during the first year. Athletics, clubs, informal socials, small first-year seminars, eating meals with professors, and visiting professors' homes should all be part of the freshman experience. Encouraging students to participate in one or two activities and providing them employment on campus can also help keep them in the program. Students who are academically engaged are more likely to stay. Self-paced instruction, simulations, inductive learning, group competitions, and active learning methods that encourage participation are good activities. Cooperative group learning and group competitions, such as building a bridge or designing a paper airplane, are particularly effective for underrepresented minorities and women students. Allowing students to help decide what to study in class or what format to use for a test can also help make students more enthusiastic. Clearly, not all students belong in a discipline this academically rigorous. But by providing extra attention, schools could keep those who have the makings of good engineers from dropping out.
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IV. JOBS, JOBS, JOBS |
Job-hunting? Here are a few current openings:1. Dean -- 2 opportunities 2. Mechanical Engineering -- 7 opportunities 3. Biofuels initiative -- 1 opportunity 4. Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering -- 1 opportunity Visit here for details:
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V. COMING ATTRACTIONS |
A SNEAK PEEK AT PRISM’S UPCOMING OCTOBER ISSUECover Story: Make way for the Smart Grid. It’s getting a big policy push from the White House, but more research and testing is needed to bring a much-needed IT overhaul to the world’s biggest machine. Feature 1: How do you convince parents to urge their kids to consider engineering careers? Michigan Tech suggests teaching the whole family. Feature 2: A profile of JP Mohson, ASEE’s new president. His is an immigration success story of an man who is a “doer” and an inspiring educator. A K-12 Revelation Is At Hand: EGFI-k12.orgNAE research shows today's K-12 students are motivated by one goal: to change the world. ASEE's new groundbreaking web site will show them how: through a career in engineering. Welcome this month to EGFI-k12.org, ASEE’s new interactive online hub, specifically designed to connect K-12 students to the endless possibilities of engineering. The ASEE community must play a pivotal role in promoting engineering to the next generation if we are to truly rise above the gathering storm. Please visit EGFI-k12.org and help us spread the word throughout our community. Each new student we turn on to engineering is another hope for our future.
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VI. COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS |
Creating a Cultural for Scholarly and Systematic Innovation in Engineering EducationThe ASEE report, “Creating a Cultural for Scholarly and Systematic Innovation in Engineering Education,” and its associated survey are posted on the ASEE homepage at www.asee.org. The project has entered the second phase and is seeking input from the broad American engineering community on the recommendations and suggested actions in the report. Members of the engineering community are encouraged to provide their feedback on this first phase of this initiative on advancing U.S. engineering education innovation. Input from the second phase will be included in the Phase 2 (and final) report to be issued in the fall of 2010. The survey will remain open until June 1, 2010. ASEE Member SurveyAttention ASEE members, $25 Amazon.com gift certificates are available to 10 lucky members who fill out the ASEE survey at the link below: Your feedback is greatly appreciated and will be used to help us develop a new service for ASEE members. THANKS!
SEPTEMBER’s PRISM MAGAZINETalk about gotta have reading. The September issue’s topics range from Washington politics to the environment to disaster relief: 1. Cooperative and Experiential Education Division (CEED) - New Name and Mission! The Cooperative and Experiential Education Division of ASEE is the new name for CED (The Cooperative Education Division) effective February 2009. The new name expands the mission of the organization to include the various forms of engineering experiential education (e.g. internships) that have grown and expanded at universities nationally and internationally. To learn more about CEED and the annual conference, contact the Membership Chair Maureen Barcic: paub2m@pitt.edu. 2. Conference for Industry and Education Collaboration (CIEC); Palm Springs, California, February 3-5, 2010 Once a year, the CIEC is organized and sponsored by four divisions of the American Society for Engineering Education. The Conference serves as an annual mid-winter meeting for the Cooperative and Experiential Education Division (CEED), the College Industry Partnership Division (CIPD), the Continuing Professional Development Division (CPD), and the Engineering Technology Division (ETD). This year’s theme is “Preparing the Workforce for the Global Marketplace.” More info here: http://www.asee.org/conferences/ciec/2010/index.cfm
To submit an ASEE related Community Announcement, please email connections@asee.org with the subject line - ASEE Community Announcements. We will not run job postings, or school or book promotions, only ASEE-related section/division announcements for all members to read.
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