Staff Editorial: Plan for future with expansion

As part of its continuing effort to improve the quality of engineering education, the Board of Trustees recently voted in favor of expanding undergraduate enrollment at the Pratt School of Engineering by 200 students in increments of 50 over the next four years, beginning in 2005. It is clear that the University has planned extensively for expansion, having begun construction of the Center for Interdisciplinary Engineering, Medicine and Applied Sciences, pledging to hire additional tenure-track faculty by 2004 and commissioning a new dorm on East Campus. However, for expansion to be a success, officials must immediately begin to develop a plan to alleviate the stress that the addition of 200 students will place on housing around the rest of campus.

First, expansion is a good idea, and the timing couldn't be better. The construction of CIEMAS will dramatically improve the amount of research, teaching and working space available to engineering faculty and students. The resources available at CIEMAS, including project labs and state-of-the-art research facilities will draw higher quality teachers and applicants in the coming years. This, combined with the effort to hire 20 tenure-track faculty, will increase the quality of the engineering curriculum, and allow Pratt to add students without decreasing the student-faculty ratio. In fact, if both the faculty hirings and student expansions go as planned, the ratio will actually improve. By 2004, every undergraduate will have the opportunity to participate in mentoring or research with a faculty member.

The University has also taken several steps to prepare for the short-term effects of expansion on transportation and housing. The Board approved the construction of a new 138-bed residence on East Campus. A new East Campus dorm is overdue, and the extra space it creates should not only house the new engineers, but also eliminate the need to use small rooms in other dorms as double and triples. The frequency of bus services around campus will also increase. However, the need for additional parking near CIEMAS should be addressed.

While the short-term housing problem seems to be under control, no firm plan detailing expansion's impact on West Campus has been unveiled. As it stands, juniors and seniors have a hard time getting rooms on West. Students coming back from abroad have an even harder time, and the addition of 150 students without an increase in space is a recipe for trouble. In light of the mandatory three-year on-campus living requirement, housing everyone will become almost impossible. Officials from the Office of Residential Life and Housing Services should present a viable solution to the housing dilemma before expansion kicks into full swing.