Engineering and Computer
Science Update
Dennis L. O’Neal, Ph.D., P.E.
Dean
ECS Board of Advocates
September 19, 2014
Welcome!
We invited two new candidates to the Board meeting.
• David Morgan
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Vice President of Polyethylene, Chevron Phillips
Been at Chevron Phillips since 1979
B.S., Chemical Engr., TAMU, 1979
M.B.A., UH, 1984
• Brian Bammel
– SAP Programming Services North American
Supervisor, ExxonMobil Global Service Company
– Been at Chevron Phillips since 2004
– Began career at Shell
– B.S., Engineering (ECE), Baylor 2001
What we’ll will do this morning
• Dean’s update/conversation
• Divide into committees
– Development/Corporate Relations
– Undergraduate Program
– Graduate Program/Research
• Reports from three committees
School of Engineering and Computer Science
Highlights since our last meeting
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Academic Programs
Administrative Changes
Faculty News
Development and Corporate Relations
Academic Programs
Computer Science ABET visit went very well
• Visit was October 19-21, 2014
• They saw the Teal Residential College as a strength of
the program
• Only one concern was identified relating to coverage
of materials related to professional, ethical, legal,
security, and social issues and responsibilities.
– Syllabus in one course didn’t explicitly show all topics
– Easy fix
• We expect 6 year NGR (next general review) for the
program in July when ABET meets.
Capstone Design - Background
• For years, capstone design has been a source of
frustration for the engineering faculty
• Most major universities have active capstone design
programs that involve industry
• Baylor has treated capstone design project the same
way they treated research projects
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OGC got involved and couldn’t respond quickly
IP had to be negotiated
Contracts had to be signed
Most companies simply did not work with Baylor
• I was asked to intervene
– Work with Larry Synder on a proposal to the administration
Major points of our proposal included:
• ABET requires that engineering students have a capstone
design experience with realistic constraints and standards
• The norm is our peer institutions have robust industry
sponsored capstone design challenges
• Changed the vocabulary of the conversation
– Companies bring capstone design “challenges” to the program
• No contractual expectations on the part of the program
• Students will work on the challenge as a part of their capstone
design course and submit all documentation as required by the
course instructor
• In November, the Interim Provost and Vice Provost for
Research agreed with our position
ECS faculty are finally freed to seriously
talk to prospective companies about
bringing design challenges to our seniors
Computer Science Ph.D. Proposal
• Cleared initial review by the Dean of the
Graduate School
• Currently being reviewed by the Provost and
Financial Office
• Required creative accounting to show no net
cost to the university
• Next step would be Graduate Committee
– Faculty committee with representatives from all over
the university
• Possibly to the Board of Regents sometime next
year
Enrollment Management
• Engineering programs were the first at Baylor
to adopt minimum requirements for entering
freshmen
– Fall 2014 – SAT 1110/ACT 24
– Fall 2015 – SAT 1220/ACT 27
• Approved in 2013 because of rapid growth of
ECS program the prior 5 years (654 -> 1034)
• Fall 2004 average SAT scores - 1223
Enrollment management (1220 SAT) for pre-engineering appears to be
on track with cutting 20% from the 2014 fall class
500
450
Number of Deposits
400
350
Totals from FY14
Dec. 30, 2013 - BINF(8),CS(50), EGR (190)
Jan. 27, 2014 - BINF(9),CS(63), EGR (245)
Feb. 5, 2014 - BINF (9), CS(69), EGR (266)
Feb. 17, 2014 - BINF(10), CS(77), EGR(296)
Mar. 24, 2014 - BINF(16), CS(99), EGR(317)
Apr. 29, 2014 - BINF(18), CS(93), EGR (305)
350
BINF
CS
EGR
300
TOTAL
2014
242
250
200
150
93
100
50
16
0
12/4/2014
1/4/2015
2/4/2015
Date
3/4/2015
4/4/2015
Administrative Changes
Since the fall meeting, I’ve made some significant structural
changes to better support the undergraduate program
• Separated the Teal Residential College functions from those of
ECS staff
– Some staff positions were “blurred” because of the way Teal and ECS
evolved
– Redefined the Teal residential director position so s/he reports
directly to the faculty-in-residence rather than the ECS Dean’s office
• Created an Undergraduate Programs Office
– Mission is to serve our undergraduates and ensure their success at
Baylor
• Created a staff position (Associate Director for Undergraduate
Programs) to support all ECS undergraduates
• Have another position requested to support the office
The ECS Undergraduate Programs Office consolidated
all undergraduate support functions, such as:
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Advising
Recruiting
Student activities
Scholarships
Retention
Articulation agreements
The Office is located in temporarily located in the Teal office area until we get some
additional space if Fall 2016
I appointed Dr. Michael Thompson as the
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs
• Professor in Electrical and
Computer Engineering
• Been at Baylor for over 15 years
• Prior faculty experience at UT
Pan American
• Works well with all departments
and undergraduates
The Undergraduate Programs Office includes four professional staff
serving under the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs.
• Ms. Emily Sandvall
– Associate Director
• Three academic advisors
– Ms. Ida Jamshidi, Asst. Dir.
– Ms. Jessica Kelly
– Ms. Caroline Clark
For the first time, I think we have the right people on the
“bus” and adequate bandwidth to think strategically about
addressing issues in the undergraduate programs
Having a full complement of advisors is already beginning to payoff for
ECS – the Table below is just for pre-engineering students
Fall
Number
Retained in ECS
Retained in Other
Programs
Cohort
Number
Number
%
Number
%
Number
%
2013
268
212
79.1%
41
15.3%
15
5.6%
2014
299
224
74.9%
69
23.1%
6
2.0%
The nine additional students who stayed at Baylor
pay enough tuition to cover the salaries of the
two additional advisors we hired.
Gone from BU
(Attrition)
Overall, ECS had a lower freshmen attrition rate than
the university had for fall 2014 to spring 2015
10
Fall-to-Spring Attrition (%)
9
ECS
University
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
2010
2011
2012
Fall Semester
2013
2014
Faculty News
Dr. Joseph Kuehl is off to a quick start
• Won the prestigious Air Force Young Investigator
Research Program (YIP) award
• 57 scientists and engineers across the country were
recognized
– Over 200 proposals were submitted
• Multi-year research award
• Opens up future avenues of funding with the Air
Force
Topic of research: “The influence of multiple interacting primary modes and mode
representation on hypersonic boundary-layer stability and transition prediction”
Status of Faculty Searches
• Mechanical Engineering
– Filled one position in materials area (polymer
speciality)
• Electrical and Computer Engineering
– Filled one position in computer engineering
– Filled one position in electronic materials
– One position pending
• General Engineering
– Did not fill Clinical Professor of Professional Practice
position
ECE reached a major milestone this
spring in faculty hiring
Linda Olafsen will be the first
female ECE faculty member!
• Ph.D., Duke University (Physics)
• Background is electronic materials
• Research is in integrating graphine onto
semi-conductor surfaces
• Starts as an Associate Professor
Development and Corporate
Relations
Jacob Singletary is the new ECS
Development Officer
• Assistant director of annual giving
(2011-2014)
• Call Center Coordinator (2007-2011)
• Dell Computers (2006-2007)
• BU Grad – 2006
• Working with Kristen on transition
Corporate Relations and Marketing
are an Ongoing Effort
• Visited with over 10 companies this spring
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3M
SpaceX
Dow Chemical
Mars
Boeing
• First ECS E-newsletter was sent out in February
• 20th anniversary issue of Synergy
We continue to meet with companies that
can recruit our students
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ExxonMobil
Navy
Accenture
3M
SpaceX
Boeing
JP Morgan Chase
Dow Chemical
Mars
National Oilwell Varco
Navy (Nuclear Program)
Growth of annual giving is encouraging
$250
250
Amount Given (k$)
Number of Donors
200
$150
150
$100
100
$50
50
$0
0
FY12
FY13
FY14
Year
FY15
Number of Donors
Amount Given (k$)
$200
ECS alumni are beginning to challenge the Business School in
the percentage giving back to their School
Percent of Alumni Who Are Current Donors
Business
ECS
12.0%
10.0%
8.0%
6.0%
4.0%
2.0%
0.0%
Academic Unit
Gifts from ECS alumni the past three years
are still modest
Unit
Gifts Past 3 yrs
Business
$71,694,558
Arts and Sciences
$21,860,517
Law School
$2,570,838
Graduate School
$2,189,031
Education
$1,388,369
Music
$383,985
Nursing
$265,369
Engineering & Computer Science
$107,303
Truett Seminary
$24,989
Social Work
$9,803
We wish to thank the companies and
corporations that have supported ECS this year
What we’ll will do this morning
• Dean’s update/conversation
• Divide into committees
– Development/Corporate Relations
– Undergraduate Program
– Graduate Program/Research
• Reports from three committees