Innovative administration supports innovative education

Louisiana Tech Universitypsilas College of Engineering and Science has over ten years experience operating under an innovative multidisciplinary administrative structure which has created a supportive environment for numerous education reform initiatives. The traditional departmental structure was dismantled in favor of a much more flexible approach which has helped remove barriers between departments and promoted collaboration between engineering and science programs. The new administrative structure relies heavily on multidisciplinary teams and has been a key factor in the successful establishment of our first integrated engineering curriculum in 1997, followed by our integrated science curriculum in 2002. Other innovations implemented since that time include the first undergraduate nanosystems engineering degree program in the US; multidisciplinary design courses which include engineering, business, and technical writing students; a freshman enrichment program; the living with the lab curriculum (the most recent version of our integrated engineering curriculum); and a program whereby engineering and science majors complete the master of arts in teaching and become certified K-12 teachers. The college currently has $3.5 million in NSF funding for STEM projects. Much of the lasting success of these education reform efforts can be attributed to the supportive, interdisciplinary approaches the college uses in all of its core functions, including undergraduate education, research, and graduate education.