Thirty-four percent of faculty found it “acceptable” to phase
out the College's civil engineering program, while 58 percent found
it “unacceptable” to do so in a recent vote on the resource needs
in engineering.
A total of 205 faculty voted; 18 (9 percent) abstained.
Among other options on the ballot, 23 percent found
acceptable (68 percent unacceptable) an option that would reduce the size
of faculty salary increases (Option 2); 40 percent (51 percent
unacceptable) a proposal to increase the number of students by 1.4
percent (Option 3); 56 percent (36 percent
unacceptable) a smaller increase of students combined with
early retirement (Option 4); 33 percent (58 percent
unacceptable) a combination of smaller cuts among various programs, early
retirements and lab fees (Option 5); and 57 percent (35 percent
unacceptable) reducing the number of CE faculty and assessing a lab
fee (Option 6).
On a breakdown of preference, 37 percent indicated that Option
6 was their first choice; 23 percent listed Option 1; 18 percent,
Option 4; 6 percent, Option 3; 4 percent, Option 5; and 2 percent, Option 2.
The College's Board of Trustees is to consider the issue
at its meeting on Friday.