Undergraduate Town Hall with Dean Zu

Dean Jean Zu, along with three other faculty members, held a town hall for undergraduate students of the Schaefer School of Engineering and Science (SES) on Wednesday, Nov. 15. Dean Zu opened with a brief introduction about herself and her experiences with the students and faculty of Stevens in the short time that she has been here. She noted that these town halls are important to bring up issues within the school. She added that “we are here to help you” in order to help improve student experiences as well as the school itself. Zu noted that the faculty wants to hear concerns as well as suggestions that any students may have.

Due to time constraints, the event began with Professor Sheppard, former interim dean of the SES, asking students about their issues with math and physics recitations. Dean Zu jumped in saying that there will be individual meetings with department chairs to help manage and improve recitations. Right now, her main focus is reforming math and physics recitations, but the faculty also noted that there were other course recitations that need to be improved.

The first question came from Olivia Schreiber, a senior Chemical Biology major, asking about the differences between engineering and science students’ senior projects. As a science major, she felt that the science capstones were left behind. Science capstones usually relate to participating in faculty research. Professor Sheppard stated that although there is research among the students, it is not enough. Dean Zu added that there are ideas to reform the capstone but they are unsure how the changes will be implemented. One possibility is a senior thesis paper. Schreiber then added that although there is a specific class for research, other opportunities are very limited. Multiple Chemistry, Biology, and Chemical Biology majors also feel that there is a lack of space for research. Ideas such as collaboration with outside institutions, displaying research early on in student careers, and finding a way to help students build relationships with faculty were brought up as possible solutions.

The next question came from a Chemistry major regarding undergraduates in graduate-level courses. The student felt that it is unfair that undergraduates are graded the same as graduate students who have more experience. The faculty explained that they have the same expectations for undergraduate students as graduate students, as they feel that a Stevens education should prepare you to take those courses. The faculty also added that there are plans for those science graduate courses to be replaced with undergraduate courses.

A 5 out of 5 Mechanical Engineering major then shifted the topic to hands-on experiences. Even though the Design Spine has been updated, engineering experiences outside of that class are very limited. While there are some students who get the chance to work in the machine and CNC shops, the spots are limited. Dean Zu then deferred to Sheppard’s initiative to consolidate the machine shop and make it a student space. The new area should be open by next summer.

Next to speak was a senior Cybersecurity major who is a TA in the Computer Science Department. They feel that classes within the Computer Science Department appear to be getting easier. This causes students not to feel prepared for more advanced classes. The student also noticed that grading has become more lenient and the curriculum has shrunk because professors feel their job security is based on student evaluations. In response to this, Dean Zu explained that the demand on the department is increasing due to a high number of students now choosing to major in Computer Science. As a result, class quality is decreasing as class sizes increase. To combat this, the Computer Science department is trying to hire more professors, but private industry demand is taking high-valued professors away. However, this is not just a Stevens problem, but a problem throughout the entire industry.

Next, there was a question about the Engineering Design IV curriculum. By the third semester, all engineers have declared their major, but Design IV is focused towards Computer Engineering. The faculty explanation was that it is important for all Stevens graduates to have a broad-based knowledge of engineering, not just of their specific discipline.

Some good news for the engineering students is that administration has taken steps to modernize lab facilities. Funds are being saved up to buy new lab equipment, so professors can now put in grant requests to buy new and improved equipment for their students to use. There are over 500 students in the Design labs throughout the semester, so it is difficult to upgrade all of the labs at once. Dean Zu felt that this issue has been overlooked in the past so it is important to her that this is completed.

One of the final topics was the lack of foreign languages. Dean Zu stated that it is important to learn other languages. They would also like to make languages recognized as a humanities course for the student to get credit. Dean Zu, who is from China, immediately sent out an email from her phone to the Dean of the College of Arts and Letters asking why there is no Chinese language course at Stevens.

At the end, Dean Zu asked students what they thought about the meeting. With mostly positive feedback, the main complaint was the early time of the meeting. Knowing this, Dean Zu will move future town halls to the afternoon.  Although there are over 2,000 undergraduate students in the SES, only 10 students actually made it out to the early morning event. The small group felt that a meeting with too many students wouldn’t have been as productive, but more perspectives might have uncovered some other issues. Dean Zu plans to host another town hall next semester.