Proposal
for an engineering exchange program with Dartmouth
Introduction
The engineering exchange (or dual degree)
program with Dartmouth is an arrangement, offered through the Twelve College
Exchange, under which eligible Amherst College students could attend Dartmouth College
for a year to take engineering science courses (chosen to be eligible for
credit at Amherst College), leading ultimately to both an AB from Amherst and a
BE from Dartmouth in five years. While
several universities run such partner programs, Dartmouth's seems an especially
good fit with Amherst both in philosophy and structure. The philosophy of DartmouthÕs Thayer
School of Engineering includes emphasis on the liberal arts as an essential
element of an engineering education. The Ò2-1-1-1Ó structure of the program
aligns with our traditional junior year abroad patterns. A student spends his or her first two
years at Amherst, followed by a junior year at Dartmouth for engineering science
coursework. The student returns to
Amherst for senior year at and graduates from Amherst with an AB in an Amherst
College major. The student would
then have the option to return to Dartmouth for an additional year to complete
a BE degree. This program will
appeal to students interested in exploring engineering as intellectual
discipline integrated with the liberal arts, and who wish to gain some exposure
to the field before committing to pursue an engineering graduate degree or
career.
Motivation
Among peer institutions Amherst is conspicuous
by the absence of its participation in an engineering dual degree program. A recent survey of the web pages of the
US News top fifty national liberal arts colleges shows
that every one but Amherst has an engineering exchange program (some partner
with Dartmouth, others with Columbia, Caltech, RPI, or Washington University in
St. Louis), excepting those that have their own engineering department. Amherst itself had a cooperative
engineering-science program with MIT listed in the catalog until 1979-1980.
Inquiries by prospective and enrolled students and
conversations with alumni suggest a continuing demand for a program of this
sort. Prospective students ask
about the avenues for exploring engineering at Amherst. Alumni, some of whom
pursued engineering graduate school after Amherst, say they would have
considered the program had it been available. Not every student expressing an interest
would avail themselves of a dual degree program (and
indeed, space in the Dartmouth program will likely be limited to only one or
two of our students per year), but for those that do it could be a valuable
experience.
Administrative
The year at Dartmouth would be carried out
under the umbrella of the Twelve College Exchange so would require little
additional administrative machinery from Amherst. In fact, a few of our students
effectively participated in this program in the past, taking engineering
coursework at Dartmouth during their year of Twelve College Exchange. However, Amherst's formal participation
in their dual degree program guarantees that Amherst students accepted into the
program will receive advising by the engineering school and will be
automatically admitted for the fifth year, and students participating in the
program will be eligible for financial aid from Dartmouth during that fifth
year. The program has twenty-five
slots and is sometimes oversubscribed, but we are told that the acceptance rate
from Amherst's peer schools is high.
Applications to the program are due each year on Feb. 1. Application is in the sophomore year to
spend junior year at Dartmouth.
In discussion with the Amherst College
Registrar, the following rules would govern eligibility:
á
Students would apply in their sophomore year and participate
their junior year.
á
Students must have the pre-requisite courses to
apply.
á
Transfer
students are eligible to apply.
However, they could not apply until the end of their first semester in
residence, and they must have earned an Amherst GPA to apply. Transfer students must ultimately have
at least 4 semesters in residence (16 courses) at Amherst.
The following rules would govern the manner in
which coursework and time at Dartmouth would be regarded by
Amherst:
á
Courses coming from Dartmouth would be treated in
the usual way for Study Abroad or Twelve College Exchange: no grades, but a grade
of "C" is required for credit to be applied.
á
A semester at Dartmouth would be treated as a
semester in residence and count toward the eight required at Amherst.
á
Students must follow Amherst college policies
regarding withdrawals and course load.
á
All courses taken at Dartmouth must be graded (no
pass/fail).
á
No online courses will be accepted for credit.
á
All courses must be pre-approved by the
Registrar. Specific courses may be
pre-approved by the College for this program; anything beyond those would require
explicit pre-approval by Registrar.
Courses
Pre-requisites
In the first two years at Amherst, students are
required complete:
1.
Calculus through vector calculus (MATH 111,
121, and 211)
2.
Two semester of introductory physics (PHYS 123
and 124 preferred, PHYS 116 and 117 accepted)
3.
One semester of introductory chemistry
4.
One semester of introductory computer science
The list of required courses is not overly
burdensome and is often completed by physics and other science majors by the
end of sophomore year. There is
some flexibility should students not be able to complete all of these courses
before the junior year at Dartmouth.
The chemistry or computer science course is sometimes taken in the
junior year at Dartmouth, or might be put off until the senior year at
Amherst. Dartmouth also will accept
placement out of some of the introductory courses as satisfying their
requirements, although they stress that for admission they expect to see
significant college science and math coursework in the first two years even
with placement.
Junior
year at Dartmouth
The Dartmouth academic calendar is on a quarter
system. Students would spend three
quarters at Dartmouth, taking three courses each quarter. As per the usual Twelve College Exchange
procedure, courses taken at Dartmouth must be approved in
advance by the Amherst College Registrar. Some Dartmouth courses in the program
(listed below) are be pre-approved by the
College. For courses not
pre-approved, the Amherst College Registrar may consult with the Dean of
Faculty or Amherst College departments to confirm whether a course could
qualify for credit at Amherst based on a criterion that the course is
consistent with the liberal arts. Final
approval is at the discretion the Registrar.
Dartmouth requires students take six
engineering science courses during the junior year:
(1) Common
core courses ENGS 21 (Introduction to Engineering), ENGS 22
(Systems), ENGS 23 (Distributed Systems and Fields) are required. Common core courses emphasize an
integrated approach to problem solving and systems analysis.
(2) Students
will take 1-2 courses from a list of four Distributive core courses, ENGS 24
(Science of materials), ENGS 25 (Introduction to Thermodynamics), ENGS 26
(Control theory), ENGS 27 (Discrete and probabilistic systems). Distributive core courses address basic
concepts of engineering and help students make informed decisions about their
eventual engineering specialties.
(3) Students
will take 1-2 courses from a list of gateway courses. Gateway courses introduce students to
specific engineering disciplines and help them shape their programs around
their interests.
a.
ENGS 31 (Digital Electronics)
b.
ENGS 32 (Electronics: Introduction to linear and digital
circuits)
c.
ENGS 33 (Solid mechanics)
d.
ENGS 34 (Fluid dynamics)
e.
ENGS 35 (Biotechnology and
biochemical engineering)
f.
ENGS 36 (Chemical engineering)
g.
ENGS 37 (Introduction to
environmental engineering)
In addition to the six engineering courses,
students will take three courses in the humanities or social sciences.
Senior
year at Amherst
Students would return to Amherst to complete an
Amherst College major and graduate with an Amherst College degree. Students are encouraged to take
additional advanced science and math course during this year.
Fifth
year at Dartmouth
Students returning for the fifth year would take
additional technical engineering courses that would lead to a BE from
Dartmouth.
Additional details, including admissions
requirements and suggested courses of study, housing and financial aid during
the fifth year are available at:
http://thayer.dartmouth.edu/academics/undergraduate/dual/
Pre-approved
courses
Final approval of courses for Amherst College
credit is at the discretion of the Registrar. The following courses have been
pre-approved by the Registrar for Amherst College credit. Departments should be consulted for
advice on whether courses could be used to satisfy departmental requirements.
ENGS 20: Introduction to
Scientific Computing
ENGS 21: Introduction to
Engineering
ENGS 22: Systems
ENGS 23: Distributed Systems and
Fields
ENGS 24: Science of Materials
ENGS 25: Introduction to
Thermodynamics
ENGS 26: Control Theory
ENGS 27: Discrete and
Probabilistic Systems
ENGS 30: Biological Physics
ENGS 31: Digital Electronics
ENGS 32: Electronics:
Introduction to Linear and Digital Circuits
ENGS 33: Solid Mechanics
ENGS 34: Fluid Dynamics
ENGS 35: Biotechnology and
Biochemical Engineering
ENGS 36: Chemical Engineering
ENGS 37: Introduction to
Environmental Engineering
ENGS 41: Sustainability and
Natural Resource Management
ENGS 42: Contaminant Hydrogeology
ENGS 43: Environmental Transport
and Fate
ENGS 51: Principles of System
Dynamics
ENGS 52: Introduction to
Operations Research
ENGS 56: Introduction to
Biomedical Engineering
ENGS 60: Introduction to
Solid-State Electronic Devices
ENGS 61: Intermediate Electrical
Circuits
ENGS 62: Microprocessors in
Engineered Systems
ENGS 63: Introduction to VLSI
Systems
ENGS 64: Cellular and Molecular
Biomechanics
ENGS 65: Engineering Software
Design
ENGS 66: Discrete Mathematics in
Computer Science
ENGS 67: Programming Parallel
Systems
ENGS 68: Introduction to
Communication Systems
ENGS 71: Structural Analysis
ENGS 73: Materials Processing and
Selection
ENGS 76: Machine Engineering
ENGS 80: Ethics and Engineering
ENGS 91: Numerical Methods in
Computation
ENGS 92: Fourier Transforms and
Complex Variables
ENGS 93: Statistical Methods in
Engineering
[Note that the pre-approval is
limited to these Dartmouth College courses only. In particular, this does not imply
automatic approval courses with similar titles at UMass or elsewhere.]
Additional courses could be
approved in consultation with the Registrar and Amherst College
departments.