The Systems and Information Engineering department held a meeting Wednesday afternoon for Systems undergraduates to discuss the potential merger with the Civil and Environmental Engineering department. Interim Systems Engineering Chair Peter Beling, an associate Systems professor, led the discussion.
Five students attended the discussion, a number much lower than the previous meeting’s attendance of roughly 75 students.
At the last meeting, Systems Engineering undergraduates spoke out against the merger in a heated, two-hour long discussion with Beling and Barry Horowitz, former Systems department chair and Systems professor. The undergraduates expressed concern about the quality of teaching, job opportunities and inclusion in the decision-making process.
“I think it’s a weird time to have a meeting for a lot of people, since they’re in the middle of finals,” attendee Brendan Rogers, a fourth-year Engineering student, said. “A lot of people I think who probably would have come were tied up with finals or have already left for the year, so they probably weren’t here, which is probably why the attendance is probably a little less than I think what would have been expected.”
Beling said perhaps the communications sent out to students have reassured them not to worry about their degree.
“They’re getting the idea, ‘okay, there may be some issues that are concerning to them, but the basic idea that we might be doing something like getting rid of the Systems major or turning it into a Systems-Civil combination degree’ — those are simply not true,” Beling said. “That’s been made clear by the information that’s flowed out through mass emails.”
At the meeting, Beling presented several slides that outlined the vision of the possible merged department, its history and timeline, a diagram displaying the position of the merge within the Engineering Department and several opportunities for collaboration if the two departments were to merge.
The slide showing the timeline of the merge outlined three steps that are in progress: a final vote in each department, gathering feedback from students, alumni and others and developing a name and branding.
“We don’t want to be a civil-focused systems department or a systems-focused civil department,” Beling said. “I think it will be something that’s not that sort of hybrid name.”
After presenting the slides, Beling opened the floor for student input and questions. Students asked about faculty, and what changes to the faculty would look like.
“You would prefer faculty that have experience in both Systems and Civil?” one student asked.
“I think that would happen naturally,” Beling said. “I don’t actually know a huge amount about the Civil curriculum.”
Rogers said he felt the meeting clarified some of his questions about the merger.
“Big concerns are about the quality of undergraduate education and about the department shifting its focus more towards environmental kinds of topics,” Rogers said. “The presentation really clarified what the intended goal of the merger is … and what some of the operations of the new department would be going forward.”
Read More
Professors speak about leading productive dialogue on Israel-Hamas war
By Lexie Stadler | 16 hours agoThe event was hosted by the University’s Task Force on Religious Diversity and Belonging, which is designed to ensure that the University is welcoming to community members from all religions and cultures.
Honor Committee considers formal ban of AI detectors as evidence in trials
By Lexie Stadler | YesterdayThe Committee also addressed balancing student perspectives with those of Committee representatives during panel discussions.
Pro-Palestinian protesters form encampment near University Chapel
By CD News Staff | YesterdayThe encampment overlapped with a separate “May Day” protest on the Lawn, which was hosted by student activist group U.Va. Dissenters and the U.Va. Apartheid Divest Coalition.
