Department Works to Gain Recognition

As Harvard embarks on a planned $2 billion fundraising campaign, some parts of the University are anticipating a generous financial boost.

Among the most frequently cited potential beneficiaries of the campaign are Harvard's science departments, which have increasing financial demands as technological developments change their academic needs.

"Just to represent the areas that have grown up we're going to need to put more effort into hiring new faculty and keeping our physical resources as up-to-date as possible," says Paul C. Martin '52, Harvard's dean of the Division of Applied Sciences.

Administrators point to the declining number of science concentrators as a major reason for working to improve and enlarge the departments. In 1984, the University had 1329 science concentrators, but in 1988 that number had declined to 1144. Faculty members and administrators say they hope to revive student interest in science at Harvard.

And in at least one of these departments, students are taking an active role in promoting their program as well. According to its members, the newly-formed Harvard Society of Engineers (HSE) seeks to increase student interest in and administrative commitment to the Engineering Sciences and Applied Physics Department.

Engineering Sciences and Applied Physics--which is seen as a top department nationally--has been one of the hardest hit of the University's science departments, with the number of concentrators declining from 117 in 1984 to 85 in 1988.

"Undoubtedly there is a need for more people in the applied sciences," says Martin, adding that Harvard currently has plans to expand the engineering faculty. "In nearly all other major institutions the applied sciences have been getting a larger share of the total research budget."

The expansion of Harvard's engineering program is important, according to Martin, because rapid changes in the scientific sphere have seen a vast expansion in the importance of previously less advanced fields, such as computer science.

Given the increasing importance of computer science and other applied science fields, why does Harvard reflect a national trend of decreasing interest in these academic areas?

Students suggest that one of the primary reasons why enrollment in engineering sciences has declined is the number of concentration requirements. To graduate with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree, a concentrator must have taken at least 20 half courses--three more than are required to receive an honors degree from any other department at Harvard.

An 'Extremely Demanding' Program

According to J. Scott Swartz '91, an engineering concentrator, "You have to be careful about which courses you take and when. After concentration and core courses, you have almost no electives left over."

And, because many of the requirements are ranked among the most difficult courses at Harvard, says Swartz, who is treasurer of HSE, many students become discouraged with the heavy workload.

"You get pretty tired of having to sit and work in the library on weekends while the rest of your friends are having fun," Swartz says. "It's especially difficult during freshman year," he says, adding that many incoming students change their minds about concentrating in engineering soon after they arrive here.

Reza Dibadj '91, one of the co-presidents of HSE, agrees with Swartz, calling the program "extremely demanding." He notes, however, that part of the difficulty lies in the nature of the subject itself.

"There is a fundamental problem in that the scientific approach is so layered," Dibadj says. "You have to get introductory math and physics and chemistry out of the way before you can take really interesting design courses. Plus you have to fill all the [Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology] (ABET) requirements, which are very strict," he adds.

The ABET sets national standards for the number and types of courses a student must take in order to qualify for a B.S. degree. These national standards ensure that engineering programs are about as difficult everywhere else as they are at Harvard.

Because of these high standards, Wang Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Roger W. Brockett says that to a certain extent Harvard's difficulties in maintaining engineering enrollment mirror those of other universities.

"It's hard to go against national demographics," Brockett says, pointing to the high dropout rate among prospective engineering students.

"I don't believe our experience is that different from most Ivy League schools," he says. "It's just not that surprising that people don't have a very clear idea of what it means to work in engineering when they first come here to Harvard, because most people aren't exposed to engineering courses in high school."

Brockett adds that to counter this phenomenon the department had created a new introductory level course, Engineering Sciences 51, in order to introduce prospective concentrators to engineering design techniques.

The department also offers a less intensive degree program, but the B.A. degree in engineering sciences does not seem to attract as many students as the department might hope. According to Swartz, the alternative of entering the B.A. program--which has fewer requirements--is less attractive for students because many graduate schools and prospective employers do not know what level of knowledge a B.A. degree indicates.

While the B.A. program does not require students to delve quite as deeply into engineering, Brockett says, it still plays an important role in the department.

Not everyone is prepared to dig into the B.S. program," he says. "The B.A. option serves a valuable purpose by letting people who are less certain that they want to commit themselves to the rigor of [the B.S. program] still get an outstanding education while preparing them to go on to do graduate engineering work." Brockett notes that many students who have earned the B.A. degree have gone on to attend prestigious graduate programs.

In order to continue and increase the number of B.A. candidates who attend graduate school, Swartz says that one of HSE's goals is to "convince the [Division of Applied Sciences] to write a cover letter with transcripts to explain what a B.A. degree actually means."

Students in HSE hope that by legitimizing the B.A. degree, the program will attract more students who might be willing to take that less demanding route.

But, while students point to the difficulty of the concentration as one reason for its small size, they say that if more interested students knew about the department they might be tempted to join it in spite of the many requirements.

Swartz says that the University has not been making an effective public relations effort to inform high school applicants of the merits of Harvard's engineering program. He adds that during pre-frosh weekend he would like to have the University place prospective engineers with Harvard--students currently in the program.

The Office of Career Services could also do more to inform companies about Harvard's engineering program, according to Swartz, particularly given the fact that "except maybe for computer science, engineering is the most marketable major here," he says.

Apparently, however, the concentration's rigor and relative lack of attention are not the only difficulties facing concentrators. Another appears to be lack of access to suitable equipment--especially computing facilities--for undergraduates.

Swartz calls the Science Center computers "inadequate," and says that HSE has asked the University for funds to purchase 10 to 15 machines exclusively for use by concentrators. Thus far the administration has not responded to the request, he says.

Brockett acknowledges that conditions in the Science Center can be crowded, but he notes that there are 15 work stations available for engineering use in one of the other science buildings.

"It's a continuing thing to get new computing facilities and up-to-date supplies, but I think overall we're doing a fine job keeping our students supplied with the best equipment," Brockett says.

A Small But Acclaimed Program

Ironically, these concerns about the department's ability to attract students arise annually despite nearly universal acclaim for the academic merits of the engineering program here. Many of its members are famous for their pioneering research, according to Martin.

Martin acknowledges that the engineering department is small in comparison with those of other major national universities, but he says that in specific areas Harvard ranks among the best in the nation.

"Harvard has 20 people in the field and other institutions have 100, but given the number of resources and people available, we do an outstanding job," he says.

Dibadj agrees and says that there are many advantages to studying engineering here, one of which is the quality of the faculty. "There are a lot of excellent professors here who have managed to attain great respect in their fields," he says.

In addition to the faculty members at Harvard, students also have access to professors at MIT. The opportunity to cross-register is widely perceived as one of the greatest strengths of the department.

Both Swartz and Dibadj call cross-registration an excellent chance to sample MIT's famed program while still enjoying all the benefits of a liberal arts education.

And the liberal-arts emphasis here is seen by many as another of the strongest aspects of the program. "Harvard prepares a student to interact with a much broader environment and people who graduate from our department normally have incredible interpersonal skills," says R. Victor Jones, Wallace professor of applied physics, who is also an advisor to HSE.

Jones says that the environment here attracts "different kinds of people" from those who would attend MIT, but he says that over the long run their communications skills help Harvard graduates to achieve as much as or more success than their MIT counterparts.

Also sharing this view is Brockett, who says that "what one often finds is that an overly specialized education serves you well for the first few years but sooner or later engineers reach a point where poor communications abilities begin to hinder the development of their careers."

"One can document that Harvard engineers go farther because of their broad education and the fact that they didn't over-specialize," Brockett adds.

Harvard engineers thus get the best of both worlds, students and faculty say. The strong Harvard department is supplemented by MIT without sacrificing the benefits of a broad education.

And, after the coming fundraising campaign, the engineering program should be able to expand its faculty and equipment. So for now, students say, HSE is attempting to focus attention on a program which is growing stronger.

Dibadj says that HSA has already brought more publicity to the department and adds that he hopes this will convince the University to devote even more effort to building on its solid foundations.

"What it fundamentally comes down to is that there's no reason with such resources a great university like Harvard shouldn't be one of the leaders of its field," Dibadj says.