N ew P ro v o st se le c te d
WPI News Release - Diran Apelian, associate vice president for aca demic affairs and graduate studies and Howmet Professor of materials Engi neering at Drexel University in Phila delphia, has been named provost and vice President for academic affairs. Dr. Apelian will assume his new posi tion as W P I’s chief academic officer on July 1, 1990. He succeeds Richard H. Gallagher, who left to become president of Clark son University in July, 1988. Donald N. Zwiep, long-time head of W PI’s Department of Mechanical Engineer ing, has served as acting provost in the Interim. Provost-elect Apelian earned his bachelor of science degree in metal lurgical engineering from Drexel University in 1968 and his Sc.D. in metallurgy and materials science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1972. WPI President Jon C. Strauss an nounced Dr. Apelian’s appointment following a meeting of the Trustee Executive Committee at W P I’s Board of Trustees winter meeting on Friday. He described Dr. Apelian’s dedica tion and achievements in both teach ing and scholarship as well as his suc cessful administrative experience.
“WPI is indeed fortunate to have a person with Dr. Apelian’s accom plishments in teaching, scholarship, and administration join our institution as provost,” Strauss said. Dr. Apelian has served at Drexel University in various capacities since 1975, first in the Department of mate rials engineering rising in rank to professor and department head from 1983 through 1987, and then being ap pointed to a distinguished chair, the Howmet Professorship, in 1987. He served as associate dean, research and graduate studies for engineering from 1987 to 1989 and in 1989 became associate vice president for academic affairs and graduate studies for all programs at Drexel. As Drexel associate dean of re search and graduate studies, Apelian has been responsible for all research and graduate studies for the college of engineering with 120 faculty, five departments, and 450 graduate stu dents. he was instrumental in estab lishing multi-disciplinary research centers and the college’s research ex penditures flourished to an all-time high of $9 million per year. The new provost served as a visit ing professor in the Metallurgy De partment of Catholic University in
Leuven, Belgium in 1981, and during the summer of 1984 as a visiting pro fessor in the Department of Metal lurgy at the Swedish Metals Research Institute in Stockholm. Apelian is active in national and international engineering organiza tions. He was elected a fellow of the American Society for Metals in 1987 and is a member of a score of profes sional, learned and honorary societies including Alpha Sigma Mu, where he is president-elect and Sigma Xi. He also served on the National Re search Council, Committee for U.S. Army Basic Scientific research from 1986-89 and on the Committee on Materials Science and Engineering and Panel on Education from 1986 to the present. He has chaired several committees of the National Materials Advisory Board: Plasma Processing of Materials and On-Line Control of Metals Processing. Apelian is a mem ber of the Office of Naval Research Board of Visitors and serves on the Franklin Institute Committee on Sci ence and the Arts. Howard G. Freeman, chairman of W P I’s Board of Trustees, said, “I ’ve had several opportunities to meet with
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D r. D ir a n A p e lia n ,P ro v o s t a n d V ice P re s id e n t f o r A ca d em ic A ffa irs.
The Student Newspaper of Worcester Polytechnic Institute ^
Volume 18, Number 6___________________________ Tuesday, February 27,1990
APSA discusses budget and standards by Pat Charles News Editor The Academic Planning and Stu dent Affairs (APSA) Committee met last Friday. APSA is composed of trustees, faculty, staff and students. The committee discusses strategic planning, faculty, and student issues. The topic of discussion last Friday was the obtainment of the commit tee’s goals with attention to the 199091 budget and the maintenance of W P I’s high educational standards. An update of individual commit tee’s activities was summarized by the Trustee’s Committee on Aca demic Policy and Student Affairs. Some of the actions underway are outlined below: The Committee on Tenure and Academic Freedom reviewed tenure recommendations with Provost Zwiep concerning seven candidates. The Committee on Appointments and Promotions examined credentials of 11 faculty nominated for promotion to Associate Professor and 3 to Profes sor. The Committee on Administra tive and Financial Policy has been involved in the creation of an effec tive strategic plan for WPI. The Committee on Academic Policy’s proposed formal Technical Writing Major within the Interdisciplinary Studies Division was accepted by the
faculty and the major will be desig nated on the diplomas of students in this option. The Strategic Planning Committee discussed several goals. One objec tive was the enhancement of graduate level education. An increase of graduate studies to 20% involvement was proposed. Also, the BS/MS pro gram could be expanded. Corporate support would be a target for funding in these areas. Another goal of the SPC was to discuss options which would improve the campus environment. WPI this year has so far received applications from 52 countries and 49 states. As the college evolves into a national and global university, more students will desire access to facilities over breaks and additional hours will be required. In order to “foster meaningful interac tions between students faculty and staff,” the committee has been re viewing plans for a Campus Center. Mike Donahue represented student interest for such a project, and two major construction proposals are cur rently under consideration. In the light of recent budgeting, a slight increase in the student faculty ratio has been proposed as a source of new revenue. “For the financial via bility of the school, WPI could stand to increase the student to faculty ra tio.” According to the members of the
Harvard National Model UN by Alton Reich Newspeak Staff Harvard National Model United Nations for 1990 was held the week end of February 18 at the Sheraton in Boston. W PI’s International Rela tions Council Attended the Model UN. The Harvard Model UN is one of the largest in the country covering all the committees in the General Assem bly, ECOSOC (Economic and So cial), and Special Agencies. Each school at the conference represents one nation. This year WPI was repre senting the Arab Republic of Egypt. The idea is to accurately reflect the interests of your nation while discuss ing issues in your committee. Each
committee generally has two topics to discuss, these topics are developed by the Harvard students who participate in running the conference. Awards are given out at the end of the Model UN to individuals who accurately represent their country in their committee sessions. W PI did very well, out of 14 students attend ing, 4 received recognition. Naray anan Rajan, Jchan Tamboowalla, Mo Khan all received honorable mention; Alton Reich received an Outstanding Delegate Award. The WPI group did extremely well, and showed outstand ing preparation for the Model UN. The selection process of a country for next year’s Harvard UN will begin shortly, and those interested in attend ing the next H NM UN should contact Prof. Zeugner for information.
committee, the change could be made without a loss of quality in the WPI education. The adjustment could be accomplished through normal faculty attrition: faculty retirement and de parture. According to the report, a SFR of 14:1 could mean an income savings to WPI of $750,000 per year. Compared to other technical and comprehensive colleges, W PI’s ratio is low, and even with a slight increase in the ratio, WPI would be in range of these other colleges. Other compre hensive schools with similar SFR’s, for example. Rose Hullman has a ratio of 15:1; Cooper Union, 26:1; Carnegie Mellon, 18:1; and Harvey Mudd 11:1. Current levels of instructional loading were discussed and models presented. Projected load data for CD of 1990 and comparisons were considered by the committee. Poten tial changes in W P I’s student faculty ratio were considered against faculty
productivity, a continued high quality of education, and the financial viabil ity of the institution. In the executive summaries of the meeting, current student recruitment was discussed. Many schools have suffered due to interest in science and engineering which continues to de crease on the high school level. A survey of PSAT takers indicated that only 7.7% of High School students have interest in science or engineer ing. This figure is down from 12.5% last year. Further, the college popula tion continues to decline. Tufts Uni versity suffered a 10% decline in applications, Boston College 7%, and Harvard University 7%. Despite negative trends, WPI has been able to maintain a constant application pool. So far this year, 2643 applications have been received. WPI projects a freshman class of 650 next year. This means a maxi mum acceptance rate of 80% and a .31
enrollment yield on accepted stu dents. Problems that may lie in the future if this trend continues, though. Over the next five years, an average freshman class size of 650 will mean that the undergraduate population will stabilize at 2440. Currently, the undergraduate class is around 2500. This gradual decrease will bring fu ture budgeting problems and could mean millions of dollars in deficit based on the current budget structure. The committee is optimistic, though. Expanded recruitment around the globe has attracted a larger and more diverse student body despite dismal recruitment statistics at other New England colleges. Plans for a the new Campus Center, planned dorm refurbishments, and attention to the expansion of W P I’s graduate pro grams will further improve quality of life at WPI and aid in the structure of a firm financial growth.
A cry for student representatives by Brian Gosselin Class o f 1991 In the light of the present uproar about the budget, you would think students would jump at the chance to be a student representative. Not so. In the past two weeks, there have been a few articles looking for students to become members of the academic committee. These committee mem bers are the student representation on
many faculty committees. One such committee is the Institute Budget Committee, which decides W P I’s budget. So if these positions are so important and vital to how the school is run, why is nobody interested in being a member? This is your chance to be a voice. The means for student input is there yet nobody is willing to come forward and be a representative. Why? Apathy maybe? There are six committees. They are the Committee
on Academic Operations, Committee on Academic Policy, Committee on Student Advising, Educational De velopment Council, Faculty Awards Committee, Institute Budget Com mittee. If you are interested in repre senting students on any of these committees please send your name, phone number, WPI box number, and major to Student Government or Brian Gosselin at WPI box 101.
Sophomores claim third victory by David C. Cortese President, Class o f 1992 The sophomore class has claimed its third victory this year with a win over the freshmen in the Freshmen vs. Sophomre basketball game last Tues day in Harrington Auditorium. The
final outcome of the game after five minutes’ playing time was sopho mores 8 - freshmen 5. Representing the sophomores were Sean Doherty, Tom Sheehan, Mike Murphy, Ellen Madigan and Tammy Odea, all of whom played an excellet game. This puts the sophomres at 3-0 in Freshmen
vs. Sophomore competition this year. I would like to thank everyone who helped to make the game possible, especially Ray Gilbert, Mel Massucco, Chris Jachimowicz, Mike Donahue, and of course the freshman class officers and players.
The staff of N ew speak wants to wish everyone a safe and happy spring break. The next issue of Newspeak will be on March 2 7 .