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Olin is preparing for two accreditation reviews – NEASC and ABET.
First, Olin is seeking accreditation from regional accrediting body, NEASC (New England Association of Schools and Colleges) and has already achieved “Candidacy” status. The next step is to complete the review for full accreditation. NEASC accreditation covers the college as a whole and determines Olin's eligibility for federal student loans and other programs. The review requires the preparation of an extensive self study covering all aspects of the institution—academics, student life, finances, physical facilities, governance etc. A Steering Committee has been working on completing the first drafts of this study. A series of public meetings will be held with President Miller and members of the Steering Committee later in the fall to review the self study and collect input from the community. These meetings are scheduled as follows:
- Students: November 17, 7-8:00 p.m.
- Staff: November 18, 11:00 a.m.
- Faculty: October 19 and November 30
The NEASC process culminates with a four-day (April 9-12, 2006) campus visit from a team of experienced educators that will interview faculty, students and staff and follow up on the self study. Questions about NEASC accreditation should be sent to Ann Schaffner.
ABET (Accrediting Board for Engineering and Technology) covers Olin's three engineering programs/majors—Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. ABET does not have a formal candidacy status and will conduct a review in the fall of 2006, following graduation. ABET requires the preparation of a self study document. The major focus of this document is on academics. Groups of faculty have been working on initial drafts. Since the ABET visit will not take place until fall '06, there is not yet a specific date set for the visit. If you have questions about ABET accreditation contact Michael Moody.
On October 4, Olin hosted a delegation from Reykjavik University in Iceland. Reykjavik University was created earlier this year when Reykjavik University and the Technical University of Iceland merged into a single institution. The merger came at the behest of the Icelandic Parliament, which wished to foster the interdisciplinary academic synergies that would result from a merged institution, as well as more effectively meet the growing demand for high-tech education in Iceland. The University has four schools: Business, Engineering, Law, and Education, with the majority of the enrollment in Business and Engineering.
The delegation consisting of the President, Deans of Engineering and Business and others visited Olin to learn about our educational model, including the collaboration with Babson, and to see the Olin campus since they need to design and construct a new campus for the merged institution. They were hosted by Nancy Sullivan (who also coordinated the visit), Dee Magnoni, David Kerns, and Steve Hannabury. The delegation also visited Babson College and met with some of our Babson colleagues.
As part of the recent file migration, IT implemented community-wide public storage space. This space can be used by students, faculty and staff to share data. There are three file shares of interest:
- Groups: This is a secured space, meaning that access to folders needs to be explicitly given by IT, and the data within each group folder will be restricted to the members of the group. All of the previous data from Groups is in this folder, and secured as before.
- Public: This is open to the community at large to store Olin-related data. Since this space is accessible to the entire community, your secure data should not be put here. This space combines the functionality of two previous shares - Share and the Public student folder. The data from these two shares has been moved into the OldShare and OldStudentPublic shares. The reason that this data was not just moved into the new Public share is that over time more secured data was put into these locations, and IT does not want to just open such data to everyone in the community. Note: OldShare and OldStudentPublic will be kept online until January 15, 2006. At that time they will be taken offline and will no longer be accessible. This means that the data on them that people currently use needs to be moved over to the new Public share, or if it is of a more secure nature, then it can be moved elsewhere, such as Groups or Departments.
- Sandbox: A space requested by members of the community and one of the recommendations of the IT Student Working Group for any data, as long as it is legal and falls within the Olin Acceptable Use Policy. This space is for very short-term storage and will be automatically erased at midnight on the first day of each month. It will not be backed-up, and therefore files stored here will be unrecoverable if they are lost or deleted.
None of this space is unlimited, so please keep others in mind when using it to store files. Please contact the IT Help Desk at help.desk@olin.edu if you have any questions or concerns.
The color printer/copier model AC3131 located in the Olin Center Computer Lab is designed specifically for high-end color printing and copying. There has been a large amount of black and white text printing/copying being sent to this printer, and we want to alert community members to the high cost of this type of printing on this unit. To accommodate black and white printing in the computer lab, community members are being asked to please use the HP 2100 black and white printer that is located adjacent to the color model. Copying of black and white documents should be done from other black and white copiers on campus.
You can access black and white printer/copiers in the following locations 24/7: Library, AC first floor and lower level, AC214, AC314, AC414, and Campus Center Student Work Room (second floor). Please check the IT Web Site for locations of other copiers available during normal operating hours. If you need further info, please contact helpdesk@olin.edu.
The College is currently seeking qualified candidates for several positions. Employees are reminded that HR is always happy to accept referrals.
Students are continuously pushed to develop a sound system of ethics by making decisions in which they must rely upon a set of values. Should a student take a job with a company that doesn't create environmentally or socially conscious products? How much community service is enough? When a student sees someone abusing alcohol or drinking when they are under age, what should they do? In each of these situations students must rely on a system of ethics and values to justify their actions. However, defining values is hard work and insight into the application of a value is often a second-hand thought in today's hectic world.
This annual event will provide an opportunity for students to hear the words, stories, and expertise of nationally known speakers and philosophers as well as faculty, staff, and parents that have (1) taken the time and energy to engage in the tough work of defining one of the Honor Code's core values and (2) understands the implications of ‘doing something' when one believes in one or more of those values.
Students, staff and faculty are invited to participate in the Honor Code Values Speaker series by suggesting a speaker. Please forward your suggestions with a brief rationale to Nick Tatar by Nov. 1. All suggestions will be carefully reviewed by a five-member committee of the Honor Board.
The Summer Book Program Advisory Committee is accepting suggestions for next summer's book. The committee will consider four factors in reviewing your suggestions: readability; lends itself to a Convocation discussion; relates to the Olin curriculum; and is available in paperback or at paperback price. Suggestions (title, author and rationale) should be sent to Rod Crafts by October 31.
Family Weekend will begin with registration and a welcome dinner at 5 p.m. on Friday, October 21 and will conclude at noon on Sunday, October 23 with brunch and parent meetings. The weekend includes several fun family activities and informative college presentations. Check out the website for more information. Staff, faculty and students are invited to participate in all of the weekend events and bring their families. An RSVP would be greatly appreciated (password FW2005).
- Family Weekend Volunteers Needed: Staff or students who are available to help with any portion of family registration on Friday (10/21) from 5-6:30 p.m. and Saturday 8:00 a.m.- noon should contact Cara Szeghy.
- Student Project Presentations Needed: Are you working on something interesting at Olin? Would you like to show it off? At brunch on the Sunday morning of Family Weekend (10/ 23), we're looking for a few students to sit by a project and show it off to parents and community members as they come in to eat. Please contact Andrew Bouchard if you are willing to help.
- Faculty Course Presentation Slots Open: Faculty who would like to offer a 30 minute course presentation on Saturday (10/22) at 11:00a, 11:30a, and/or 12:00p should contact Teresa Kelleher as soon as possible.
On October 13, at 4:00 p.m., Prof. Rajit Manohar from Cornell University will present Reconfigurable Asynchronous Logic in the Olin College auditorium.
This talk will present an overview of the asynchronous design approach and examine some common asynchronous constructs, and use the analysis to design a new reconfigurable logic architecture – an asynchronous FPGA (AFPGA) – suitable for implementing high-speed asynchronous pipelines. The design significantly outperforms previously proposed asynchronous FPGAs, and for the first time outperforms commercial synchronous FPGAs as well. We also describe a synthesis flow that can translate algorithms into the basic building blocks provided by the AFPGA architecture.
Rajit Manohar is Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Cornell University, where his group conducts research on all aspects of asynchronous design: circuits, VLSI, system architecture, fault-tolerance, energy efficiency, and design automation. Contact Burt Tilley for more information.
Olin Dance Project (ODP) invites all members of the BaBOW and local communities to enjoy a semester-long series of fun, free Tuesday night social dance lessons and biweekly practice dances. The third lesson will be October 11. The group will be moving from salsa on to cha cha, through the end of October. In November and December, the group plans to learn Argentine tango. Everyone interested in learning to dance is welcome! All lessons are taught by professional instructors and are held in the Dining Hall at 9:00-10:30 p.m. on Tuesdays. Also, starting the weekend of October 15, there will be biweekly social dances on either Friday or Saturday night with a great mix of music in the Dining Hall.
Sign up for the ODP mailing list to receive updates on our upcoming lessons, biweekly social dances, and off-campus dance opportunities: http://lists.olin.edu/mailman/listinfo/odp.
On Saturday, October 15 from 7:30 a.m. (registration) – 4:30 p.m. (closing keynote) Babson College will host the 8th Annual Women's Leadership Conference at the Sorenson Center for the Arts and Olin Hall. The conference features more than 50 entrepreneurial, corporate, and not-for-profit women leaders who will share their captivating stories and life lessons. Throughout the day you'll have the opportunity to meet and work with women who are role models for the type of leader we all aspire to be. These women have successfully made it happen - enriching both their personal journeys and the performance of their organizations. You will gain new insights, new tools, and new colleagues. To register, visit www.babson.edu/cwl/conference. The cost is $40 for Babson and Olin faculty, staff and students.
In today's intense, rapidly changing market, lengthy business plans are being replaced with Executive Summaries and "Rocket Pitches." The Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship invites Babson and Olin students and alumni the chance to pitch their early stage business opportunity to a powerful audience - Venture Capitalists, Angels, Corporate Partners, Faculty, Alums, and other "friends of Babson" The plan is to provide presenters with feedback, mentoring, networking opportunity and possibly even financing. Space is limited. If you are interested in participating as a "Presenter" and would like more information (guidelines, submission deadlines, resources available to presenters, and downloadable forms), please visit www.babson.edu/eship.
Deadline for submission is Monday, October 17.
The Rocket Pitch event will be held Friday, October 28 in Olin Hall at Babson College.
Come learn about this life changing experience and hear from past interns about their wonderful experiences in South Africa. Wednesday, October 12 in the Glavin Family Chapel at 7:30 p.m.
Homegrown Coffeehouse says, “Think of this show as something like bringing the Comedy Connection to Needham.” If you laugh and cry within the same ten minutes, you either need a vacation or you are sitting in the audience at a Don White show. This working class family man from Lynn, MA, has emerged as the thoughtful songwriter of the decade whose relevance to our lives is evidenced by the powerful reaction he evokes at every concert. Don will be at the Homegrown Coffeehouse, Saturday, October 22 at 8:00 p.m. Visit www.uuneedham.org for more information.
The latest Olin HR/Training update is now available. This includes both the Fall 2005 Computer Training Schedule and Lunchtime Seminars.
Vice President for Innovation and Research Sherra Kerns recently attended the ASEE Global Colloquium in Australia where 30 countries were represented by the 300 participants. The three themes of the colloquium were Globalization of Engineering Education, Kindergarten to Year 12 Pipeline, and Transformation of the Disciplines.
During the colloquium, the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies (IFEES) held its first two formal meetings, with representatives of 30 organizations in attendance. IFEES took shape in 2004 while David Kerns was President of the IEEE Education Society and Sherra Kerns was President of ASEE. This coincidence provided the opportunity for focused work on the formation of this new federation.
Human Resources Manager Pat Berardi and Director of Academic Services Terri Dunphy were selected to participate in the Susan Vogt Leadership Fellows Program sponsored by the Boston Consortium for Higher Education (TBC). Pat and Terri will join colleagues from the other twelve TBC member institutions in this year-long program in which they will have the opportunity to grow their leadership, facilitation, and reflection skills through self-assessment, development opportunities, and a collaborative final project.
Olin College acknowledges the following five year service anniversaries for October, Joe McDonald (10/9/00 start date) and Marjorie Quinlan (10/30/00). Congratulations to both!
Team Olin College of Engineering recently took second place in the Komen Race for the Cure community team competition. The competition, which awards teams with the largest number of race runners and walkers, recognized Olin's 86 students, two faculty members, and one staff member. Olin was out numbered only by the MIT team, which had 95 members. All proceeds generated by the race fund local and national breast cancer research and programs. This was Olin's fifth year participating in the race. Last year Olin entered 43 participants.
Olin College has made several efforts to help those affected by the recent hurricanes. One such effort will bring Professor Michael Larson to Olin as a Visitor for the balance of the fall semester. He also may bring two graduate students to be able to continue his research. His home in New Orleans and his office/laboratories are currently not usable. Dr. Larson is currently Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Tulane University. He has a Ph.D. in ME from MIT in 1992. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses and supervises research in engineering design and mechanics. He established and directs the “Studio for Creative Design” at Tulane, which was awarded the “2005 Innovator of the Year” award by Biz New Orleans. He also supervises the “Laboratory for Laser-Materials Interaction” with about $1m annually in externally funded research. He has been an ABET evaluator in ME, has won multiple teaching awards, has developed entrepreneurship coursework at Tulane and co-founded companies.
Professor Larson's office will be in OC 327. He has offered to teach a seminar or two and occasional classes, and will continue his research while here. Please stop by at your convenience and welcome him to Olin.
This week's spotlight shines on David Soo, Hall Director and Study Away Coordinator for the Office of Student Life. David is responsible for the Study Away program and lives in East Hall, overseeing residence hall activity.
LINK: When did you start working at Olin?
DS: I started at Olin at the beginning of July 2005, so I just reached the three month mark.
LINK: What is your favorite thing about your job?
DS: Since my responsibilities include the Study Away program and being a part of the Student Life team, I have the opportunity to do a little bit of everything. I have been getting a handle on the Study Away program and advising students preparing to go away, while at the same time evaluating where and how the program can grow to reach its full potential. In between all of this, I have been involved in a number of areas in Student Life—from Orientation to R2 training to working on the Family Weekend Committee.
LINK: How do you spend your spare time?
DS: I must confess that I am a news junkie. I love Meet the Press and find myself glued to C-Span from time to time, and my most frequented site (besides the Olin web page, of course!) is the New York Times online. When I am taking a break from all of that, though, I am often spending time with friends and family who live either in Boston or the Northeast.
“Fair Weather, Friends,” By Valentina Zic, Needham Times, October 6, 2005
EXCERPT: “In the judges category, Olin College's kale soup came in second place…Olin College food services manager George Butler described the soup as a mixture of fresh kale, the Portuguese sausage linguica, potatoes, tomatoes, chicken broth and seasoning. Butler said the soup was a campus favorite. He added that a recently released Princeton Review report, based on student satisfaction surveys, ranked Olin Colleges dining services second in the nation.”
"New School Prepares Graduates," Design News, September 26, 2005
EXCERPT: "Olin College, a new engineering school, will graduate its first class in the spring. As the startup begins its first year with all four grade levels enrolled, President Richard Miller is optimistic that the experiment is helping retain students."
In the last issue we asked what big breakthrough in scientific theory occurred 100 years ago? Tiana Veldwisch was the first to correctly answer Einstein's theory of relativity. She will receive Olin Gear for her prize.
Olin trivia buffs...
Q:
What two schools recently merged to form Reykjavik University in Iceland ? (hint: Link readers will know this)
A: First person to correctly respond to Jennifer Thomas receives a prize. |
