The Thayer School of Engineering and Technical University of Denmark are finalizing a proposal to create an exchange program between the two schools, Thayer assistant dean of academic and student affairs Holly Wilkinson said.
For the program to be finalized, it still needs final approval from Thayer faculty and to undergo a series of several arts and sciences faculty committees, Wilkinson said.
Pending the approval, the program will be advertised to undergraduate students this fall, open for applications next winter for trips in the fall of 2016, Thayer Dean and engineering professor Joseph Helble said.
Wilkinson, Thayer faculty members and executive director of off-campus programs John Tansey are, in conjunction with partners at DTU, drafting a memorandum of understanding, the first step in the formation of a formal contract between the two institutions.
Thayer began its search for potential exchange program partners a year ago, Wilkinson said. The 25 schools in the initial pool were chosen for their ranking among engineering programs and their offering of English-language courses, to ensure that the program would be accessible to most Dartmouth engineering students.
After the schools in the initial pool were selected, Wilkinson said the top four to five were chosen based on mutual interest in a partnership and the level to which the academic calendars aligned. She added that there was difficulty matching up Dartmouth’s quarter system with the semester systems of other schools.
The two forerunners were the University of Melbourne in Australia and DTU, though currently the partnership with DTU is more developed, and a proposal for a partnership with Melbourne will not be proposed in the near future, she said.
She said that the Thayer also released a survey to students a year and a half ago, to which between 60 and 70 responded. Among the top preferences for a foreign exchange program were Australia, New Zealand and Western Europe.
Once approved, both schools will review the program every three years, Wilkinson said. Both schools will attempt to maintain an equal number of students participating in the exchange, he added.
Wilkinson said that students who participate in the program will both gain a cultural experience and have the opportunity to accelerate their degree completion by earning four credits for the term as opposed to three at Dartmouth.
Helble added that the experience will also expose students to how engineering is taught and practiced in other countries while pushing them out of their comfort zones, which he said will be a boon to both their educational experience and careers in engineering.
Helble said that the program will further contribute to Thayer’s mission of teaching engineering in a liberal arts setting.
“We are not an engineering program that believes, like many others do, that an engineering education at the undergraduate level should be about cramming as much technical content as possible into four short years,” Helble said.
Helble said that the faculty has been supportive of developing exchange programs within Thayer’s curriculum, while also being supportive of student groups, such as Dartmouth Humanitarian Engineering, and other study abroad programs that provide a means of obtaining engineering experience outside of Thayer.
Helble said that another factor in the decision to propose a program was due to a significant increase in enrollment.
The current program accommodates three to four students per program per year, Helble said.
“There has been a high level of demand over the last couple of years,” Wilkinson said. “We are, unfortunately, having to turn great students away from participating in one of our exchanges because we can only send a limited number of students.”
Wilkinson noted that the proposed program will offer an alternative to students who do not want to travel to Asia, as the existing undergraduate exchange programs are with the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand.
There is an internal application process for students who are interested in studying abroad, and a committee comprised of faculty members and Wilkinson determine which students to accept into the program. A faculty advisor helps students select courses prior to their departure, she said.
Engineering majors Robert Halvorsen ’17 and Pranav Vangala ’17 are both supportive of an additional exchange program, saying the demand for abroad programs exceeds the number of open slots.
Halvorsen added that, due to Thayer’s relatively small size, there are certain specific courses that may only be offered at other schools.
Tommy Hodsden ’18 said that he would be interested in participating in an exchange program if it is approved, as he has been considering participating in one of the programs Thayer already offers.
