Engineering School Sees Low Satisfaction Ratings

Despite impressive growth in the number of engineering concentrators—and a noted rise in Harvard’s national reputation for engineering—many of Harvard’s young engineers do not seem to be satisfied.

According to senior surveys completed by the class of 2010 last May, engineering sciences ranks the lowest in terms of student satisfaction. Thirtyeight seniors concentrating in engineering sciences gave the concentration an average rating of 3.45, well below the College mean of 4.18 and 4.21 for natural sciences concentrations.

“It’s certainly not good to be at the bottom of the list, but we’re at least relieved that students aren’t giving us 1s and 2s,” says Robert D. Howe, associate dean for academic programs at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Howe, along with many current ES concentrators, says he thinks dissatisfaction stems from inadequate advising.

“We have had some growing pains. As enrollment has gone up, we haven’t kept up with advising as we should,” he says.

And while many concentrators say they are largely happy with their experience, some say they are not necessarily surprised by last spring’s results.

SUBPAR ADVISING

Robert D. Longcor ’12, an ES concentrator, says he still does not have an official concentration adviser. The junior says he was always interested in engineering, but after considerable dissatisfaction with the Bachelor of Science engineering degree, he switched to the less demanding Bachelor of Arts track and added a secondary in Economics.

“The whole [advising] system is understaffed, not run really well,” he says.

Several sophomore ES concentrators say they have yet to be assigned individual concentration advisers, despite having submitted their official plan of study forms in November.

Without a “well-defined” support system from the administrative staff, many concentrators instead turn to upperclassmen as mentors, according to ES concentrator Julie Xie ’12.

Longcor attributes some of the department’s weaknesses to the youth of SEAS, which was established in 2007.

“Students are comparing this to other concentrations that have been here for hundreds of years,” he says.

SEAS Assistant Dean for Academic Programs Marie Dahleh says that bolstering the advising system is a crucial step to improving the concentration.

“What we have recognized is that we need to have more folks involved,” she says, adding that the department is looking to model its program on the life sciences and invest in assistant directors for undergraduate studies.

As lecturers and mentors, the assistant directors will have “contact with pre-concentrators early,” and may relieve over-burdened advisers, Dahleh says. Although the advising system lacks the kind of structure sought by some ES concentrators, others, like Caroline T. Quazzo ’12, say the small size of the concentration facilitates contact between professors and students.

“I actually think the advising [is] quite good,” she says.

HIGH DEMANDS

Among concentrations at the College, ES is also uniquely demanding. Bachelor of Science candidates must complete 20 half-courses, the highest number of requirements at the College.

Concentrators pursuing a Bachelor of Arts, meanwhile, are required to enroll in 14 to 16 half-courses.

The set of courses—which encompasses classes in mathematics and applied science—ensures that concentrators achieve a deep understanding in their field. But juggling the full course load in addition to laboratory commitments, Gen Ed requirements, and extracurriculars can at times be daunting.

“I think students aren’t very happy with [ES] because it’s a huge workload and a lot of problem sets,” says Carl Daher ’13, an ES concentrator.

Quazzo says that of her 16 required courses, 10 were introductory engineering requirements.

“It’s definitely grown on me—[it was] daunting at the beginning,” she says.

Scheduling so many classes also poses logistical problems, according to Howe. Many courses are held in the afternoon and may interfere with extracurriculars and athletic commitments.

“Optimizing these schedules is difficult,” he says, but the department is trying to move classes around. Given the complex nature of the concentration, efforts are also in place to make requirements easier to understand.

Not all concentrators say they are bothered by the demands. ES Concentrator Sarah E. Campbell ’12 says she has had semesters with over 23 hours of class each week, but she appreciates the rigor. “The benefit of having a lot of class time is that you completely immerse yourself in the material,” she says. And concentrators are not shy to share the heavy-lifting; challenging problem sets have a way of bringing students together, according to Xie.

In fact, many say the concentration as a whole is very tight-knit.

“It’s so small that I actually know every professor,” says William C. Burke ’13, a mechanical engineering concentrator.

POSITIVE CHANGES

For William H. Marks ’12, vice president of the Harvard College Engineering Society (HCES), improvements to the ES experience are already underway.

“One thing that SEAS has done well is that it [has] begun to listen more to student wishes,” says Marks, adding that the administration has been increasingly receptive to student suggestions.

Dahleh affirms these efforts.

“We’ve partnered pretty heavily with the Harvard College Engineering Society just to get more feedback about student experience,” she says, adding that the department is also working with the Office of Career Services to help students find internships and jobs.

The implementation of lab components and the opening of a new microfluidics teaching facility are two additional developments aimed at fostering a “hands-on, industry sponsored” approach to student learning, says Dahleh.

Burke is working with Barry A. Griffin ’71, a visiting lecturer on design curriculum development, to build a turbine to power underwater sensory equipment. “It’s fantastic, because I’m already able to help the world,” Burke says.

Griffin has been actively developing hands-on projects at the undergraduate level, and in courses like ES 20: “How to Create Things and Have Them Matter” student have the opportunity to tackle real-world design challenges. Furthermore, student initiative also fuels innovative projects in engineering.

Xie works with HCES to find and advertise design projects for students. “Having an environment outside of class where you can express your creativity, design something crazy, is a very different experience than what the classes offer. That has added a different dimension to the concentration,” she says.

“I think it’s a generational thing,” adds Marks. “The seniors who ranked [ES] so low started out doing engineering at a very different time and I think that as the juniors, sophomores, and freshmen progress through the ranks, you will see the numbers rise very rapidly.”

—Staff writer Amy Guan can be reached at guan@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Radhika Jain can be reached at radhikajain@college.harvard.edu.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction.

CORRECTION: FEB. 21, 2011.

The Feb. 18 article "Engineering School Sees Low Satisfaction Ratings" incorrectly identified the concentration's satisfaction numbers. In 2010, the concentration scored an average rating of 3.45. In 2002, its score was 3.11.