Engineering and the liberal arts, a perfect match

Monmouth College announced last semester plans to include three new majors in the curriculum beginning fall of 2019. These STEM programs include neuroscience, engineering, and data science. Excitement from faculty and staff members has been evident but there has undoubtedly been some student skepticism about how successful some of these programs can be at our small midwestern college. I got to sit down with Dean and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Mark Willhardt and ask him some questions about these new programs, specifically engineering.
Much of the inquiry surrounding the addition of engineering to Monmouth’s programs is about how the study fits into the liberal arts experiences. Looking at state school’s state of the art equipment and million-dollar engineering programs, it’s hard to see how Monmouth College stands out. Dean Willhardt made this vision clear assuring that it isn’t Monmouth’s goal to steal students from esteemed engineering programs like Purdue or Michigan. The goal is to recruit students who “are looking for the traditional liberal arts experience.” He pointed out some of the qualities that make us stand out, including the quality mentoring and abundance of hands-on research experience.

Willhardt drew comparisons between a public school’s entering engineering class of 600 versus Monmouth’s that may have just a dozen and pointed out that our ability to “personalize the process” is unique because “we aren’t interested in students not graduating.” He made clear that engineering students here will not be mere data points that slowly fall out of the program, but individuals who can be mentored and have a surplus of alternative options available to them. Powered by the liberal arts experience, these students will be involved in far more than the rigors of engineering, but also be able to “speak well, write well, and gain leadership experience” which is something not seen many other places.
While there is no shop currently available for mechanical engineering students, Dean Willhardt assured that this addition is definitely in the long-term plans. Just because Monmouth doesn’t currently have a shop, “doesn’t mean we won’t.” He explained that there are plans to “build with care” and begin forming these new programs from the ground up. The school plans to start with the electrical and chemical engineering programs and give them a strong start because both programs can utilize the lab space already available in the Center for Science and Business. From there, mechanical engineering will be given the support it needs to take off.

The idea for these new STEM programs came from the Faculty and Institutional Development Committee (FIDC) that is usually tasked with “recommending to the faculty and administration policies and procedures relative to the use and development of human and financial resources of the College.” This time around, President Wyatt pushed for consideration of possible program ideas. Faculty members submitted recommendations for program additions which were taken to a research company to be fully analyzed. Questions about future job opportunity, job security, economic trends, and student preferences were all considered during this process. Neuroscience, data science, and engineering all turned out to be promising programs that the school could easily implement. Combining some of Monmouth College’s strong programs such as biopsychology, computer science, math, and physics, all of these new programs are easily formed and just made sense. Willhardt says that a college’s job is to “take what you already have, tweak it, and it gives it another dimension.”

For the incoming freshman class, the first with the option to begin in engineering, Willhardt said that “our program is going to look different.” With general education requirements and the Integrated Studies element, an engineering student at Monmouth College will have a wildly different experience than many others. This “cohort will be stronger than any other engineering cohort,” Willhardt said. They will have a “stronger identity of what it means to be an engineer.” He said Monmouth College’s goal is to “educate the whole human being” and that engineering students graduating from Monmouth will have a “mark of distinction.” Dean Willhardt points out that Fighting Scot graduates, in all departments, are going to be able to say to peers: “I know more than you because I was asked to know more than you.”

Emma Hildebrand
Features Editor