The News Record

Issue date: 4/5/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Courtesy of the Dean of Engineering The 8th floor of Rhodes Hall is to have a cafe-style study area at the entrance.

The University of Cincinnati's College of Engineering obtained approval to add a new department, the Department of Engineering and Education.

The UC Board of Trustees approved the addition of the department March 29.

The cost of the renovation to Rhodes, where the department is going to be housed, is projected to be $8 million, said Carlo Montemagno, dean of the College of Engineering.

Montemagno plans to raise the money through alumni donations and does not plan to use any university or state funding.

The new department seeks to improve the campus experience for first and second year engineering students and to keep them connected to the college.

"Our students tend to spend their first year predominately in arts and sciences and lose their connection to engineering," Montemagno said. "That causes them to become less motivated in their chosen profession and leads them to leave or change their career objectives."

The design and makeup of the new department came from the collaboration of a committee made up of professors from different departments of the College of Engineering.

"Dean [Mark] Bowers was the head of the committee and there was one person from pretty much every department that was on this committee to look at what we wanted the engineering and education to be like," said Rodney Roseman, chemicals and materials engineering professor.

The need for the new department came from the results of surveys of students and faculty, and what other universities around the country were doing, according to Montemagno.

The new department would have its own faculty that conducts research and interacts with students.

"The faculty who are a part of this new engineering education department, their scholarly pursuit is going to be focused on doing research on improving engineering education," Montemagno said.

There are a number of ways that the new department will improve students' experience, one of which is a change in some of the college's curriculum, according to Montemagno.

In addition to curriculum changes, there is scheduled to take place a total renovation of the eighth floor of Rhodes Hall.

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