Students in Engineering Science have long thought themselves special. Now, the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering is moving to enshrine that special status in the name of their engineering degree, by having them receive a “BASc in Engineering Science.”
This is to recognize the program’s “distinct” nature, said Engineering Science division chair Will Cluett.
“We’re trying to develop name-brand recognition for Engineering Science,” he said.
Engineering Science is one of 10 engineering programs offered by the Faculty. It is also the most competitive. Around 300 frosh started out in Eng Sci each fall. Up to a quarter of them drop or transfer out by the end of the year.
In their first two years, Eng Scis are drilled at an “accelerated pace” in all the toughest subjects: chemistry, bio, math, and everything in between. They also spend a term building a robot in teams during second year. In the last two years, Eng Scis fan out into one of eight specializations, called options.
Cluett said that re-branding the degree could convince those skeptical Eng Scis that their hard work was worth it. And employers might come to value students with such a degree very highly, he added.
But some students are lukewarm to the idea of a degree name change.
“Many students feel that our faculty is only doing this to distinguish ourselves from other engineering schools, as Eng Sci is specific only to U of T,” Engineering Society president Mei Ling Chen commented in an email.
One student even started a petition to persuade the faculty to reconsider the change.
Chen also mentioned student concerns that employers might not realize the value of the new degree at first.
Cluett insisted that the response among students has been mostly positive, and that a marketing campaign to trumpet the new degree to employers is already being planned.
The proposed degree name change has been approved by the Faculty Council and the Engineering Society. It still requires approval from U of T’s Governing Council. Cluett said that next year’s Eng Sci graduates might be the first to get the new degree.
Hear ye! Hear ye! Engineers seek town crier
In an age of flat-panel displays and wireless internet, the engineers are going old-skule. On March 30, the Engineering Society will be selecting its first town crier, a newly created director position. The town crier job came into being at the March 6 meeting of the Eng Soc, where it was tabled as an emergency motion. But the position comes with stipulations, like having to wear a pointy hat.
“The pointy hat shall be adorned by a feather of the Town Crier’s choosing,” reads one of the stipulations entered into Eng Soc by-laws. The crier will also be issued a “suitable bell.”
“We have yet to get the tricorn hat,” Eng Soc president Mei Ling Chen confided in an email.
