Spring 2003
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Spring 2003 |
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If cheering for Rose-Hulman ever became a crime, I would be
guilty as charged, and this column no doubt would be entered as incriminating
evidence. I strive to approach life in a positive manner, and I enjoy using this
forum to share with you all of the progressive events happening in the life of
Rose-Hulman. The past few years have been marked with success upon success. Our
faculty, staff and students continue to achieve at high levels, and our
reputation has never been better. Things are going great at Rose-Hulman. However, I would be
remiss if, from time to time, I did not share with you some of the challenges
facing our college. While we progress on all fronts as a college community, some
issues give cause for concern. Some have been with us continuously, while a few
are relatively new. I’d like to share some of them with you now. Financial aid –
This is an issue we have wrestled with for as
long as I can remember. There are several extremely talented young men and women
who cannot come to Rose-Hulman because of difficulties in paying the cost of one
of the country’s best educations. Rose-Hulman is the first choice for many
prospective students, but they go elsewhere because our financial aid is not
sufficient to meet their need. Many colleges can "buy" students through
financial aid packages that are more generous than those we are able to provide.
Rose-Hulman would like to provide more, but the resources are not always there
to meet that need. Diversity –
When our students graduate from Rose-Hulman, they
enter a world teeming with people from different cultures and ethnic
backgrounds. We have made a concerted effort to increase diversity on campus,
but we have a long way to go. Currently, we have more applications from
underrepresented persons than ever before. We hope this trend will continue as
we strive to increase diversity. This enhances the total educational experience
of our students as they gain perspectives from people of all walks of life. Changing Technologies –
An education in engineering and science is
one of the more expensive components of higher education because of its
technical nature. To provide the most up-to-date and comprehensive technical
education, we need to outfit our labs and classrooms with current equipment. If
you are a regular reader of this column, you have an appreciation of the
project-based nature of the Rose-Hulman education. We give undergraduates access
to some very highend equipment to further their learning experience. The problem
lies in the quick-hanging nature of technology. What is cutting edge today,
could be obsolete in a year. We have an obligation to keep our labs as
up-to-date as possible. Economy – Life Sciences – This is one of the newer challenges we face. Some of the groundbreaking educational developments are taking place in the life sciences. I believe the life sciences will be to this century what physics was to the previous century. We have made a commitment to this evolving trend through establishing a Department of Applied Biology and Biomedical Engineering supported by qualified faculty. We have made great strides in this area, but we have some catching up to do in the area of facilities. We have programs in place we are unable to launch because we lack the proper lab space for them. We do not want to do it unless we can do it in an extraordinarily good way, which is the Rose-Hulman tradition.My intent in sharing these challenges is not to sound a warning of gloom and doom for Rose-Hulman. Instead, I share them as opportunities that we have been addressing and will continue to address to make our great college even better.
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