The Engineering Advising Center

The Engineering Advising Center was cofounded in 2000 by Dr. Maria Vaz, Provost; Dr. Laird Johnston, Dean of Engineering and Associate Dean Emeritus Richard Maslowski.  Throughout its entire history (now 75 years in extent), LTU has been noted for its emphasis on personal attention to students.  Dr. Vaz had discussed the need for additional counseling for students with Deans Johnston and Maslowski and, at the beginning of 2001, Dean Johnston and Associate Dean Maslowski “hired” President Emeritus Richard Marburger on a fulltime volunteer basis to serve as Senior Engineering Advisor.

The job description has evolved over the years but started out with the specific mandate to be available to students in the late afternoon and early evening hours.  During its entire existence, LTU has proudly served as the only institution for many miles around where “working men and women” (they were of particular concern to founder Russell Lawrence) could obtain undergraduate degrees in Engineering and Architecture and Design completely during evening hours.  All LTU degrees are offered on that basis but some are duplicated by other institutions.

The Senior Engineering Advisor (and Editor-in- Chief of this commemorative Joint Newsletter) will enter the ninth decade of his life next year.  His children, both professionally successful LTU graduates, matured long ago and thus, unlike virtually every other LTU employee, he has plenty of time available to carry out the tasks at hand.
His new employers (Deans Johnston and Maslowski) generously came to the conclusion that he had accumulated sufficient wisdom during his long professional career to provide counseling of great usefulness to both young students who sometimes seem aimless and
to the many mature male and female students who know exactly what their aims are.

In order for the Senior Engineering Advisor to be in possession of information needed by students, he attends the regular meetings of the Engineering Chairmen and all other informational meetings available including the twice-monthly meetings presented by President Walker and the senior executive staff.

Over the years, the position has evolved into a multi-faceted activity in which the Senior Engineering Advisor occasionally undertakes tasks assigned to him by the President, Provost, Chief Advancement Officer and others.  These tasks can be skillfully interwoven with the ongoing daily interaction with students seeking guidance and scheduling assistance.

One of the great resources available to the Engineering Advising Center is the Engineering Dean’s Office Team which consists of the Dean, the Associate Dean, the Administrative Assistant to the Dean (Ms. Tammy Botzen) and the Senior Engineering Advisor.  As one would expect, on frequent occasions the “buck stops at the Engineering Dean’s Office.”  Problems are solved (as we see it) with consistently amazing insight and teamwork.

Engineering students take more that 40% of their credit hours in the College of Arts and Sciences.  Arts and Sciences faculty serve as academic advisors to all freshman entering Engineering students.  This is why both the Engineering Dean (Dr. Johnston) and the Arts and Sciences Dean (Dr. Moore) proudly regard Engineering students receiving their baccalaureate degrees as joint products of the two colleges.

The post of the Senior Engineering Advisor is analogous to that of a primary care physician in the practice of medicine.  On occasion, clients must be referred to specialists when complex cases are encountered.  Our specialists are colleagues like the Registrar, the Admissions Director, the Financial Vice-President and others.  Whenever we can, we feel it is important to escort the student to the office of the “specialist.” 

It is the goal of the Engineering Advising Center to minimize the time the student spends on administrative details so as to optimize the time the student has available to go to class and study.  One of the finest aids in this regard has been the establishment of websites on the Internet.  Much counseling can be accomplished over the telephone since Bannerweb allows both student and advisor to view records at the same time.  Necessary forms are available on the Admissions website, the Registrar’s website, etc.  Forms can be submitted by fax, eliminating the need for an arduous extra trip.

Studying the MIT website a couple of years ago, the Engineering Advising Center came across what we now regard as the Von Karman-Moore formulation; Scientists discover what is; Engineers create what never was.  As the reader will recall, Theodore von Karman was a famous Caltech professor; our Dean Moore, who enhanced the statement, is a Caltech alumna.  Thus, we recognize that Engineers use science as a foundation for their creations.

It is true that scientists often create what never was (Bardeen with the transistor; Townes with the laser, etc.)  To maintain the validity of the Von Karman-Moore formulation, we simply observe that in this final step, the scientist has donned an Engineering hat!

Finally, the Dean’s Club was launched from the Engineering Advising Center in 2001 with the support of Dean Johnston.  The purpose of this organization is get high-achieving students to network together, make suggestions of value as to improvements in procedures and facilities that they think would enhance the educational experience at LTU, receive from the Dean and Department Heads advance information about forward thinking in the College of Engineering, etc.

Shortly after arriving on campus, Dean Moore expressed an interest in having her students involved.  With the speed that characterizes all of his activities, Dean Johnston simply moved the apostrophe so that it is now the Deans’ Club.  Dean Glen LeRoy brought his students into the group during the past year.

We anticipate that this activity will help bond the students to the University so that an ongoing mutually beneficial interaction will take place in the years following their graduation.

Advisor Contacts