Students will not immediately be affected by a reorganization of the School of Engineering and Applied Science that will involve the splitting and merging of several of the school’s departments, interim Dean Thomas Mazzuchi said.
“The restructuring should not have any effect on students who are graduating,” Mazzuchi said. “As for continuing students, I will try to foresee changes the best I can. My job is to try to run around and see that everyone’s happy.”
Leaders of SEAS student organizations said Wednesday they still did not know many details about the reorganization but said the changes seem like a positive step for the school.
“I just found out about it last week,” said Sergio Yanes, who is serving his second term as president of the Engineers’ Council. “In general, it really hasn’t been announced to students yet.
“There will probably be some fallout that will affect students,” Yanes said. “But in the long run, once things get settled, I expect it to be beneficial.”
“This is definitely a step in the right direction, but it’s still a very small step,” said Jon Roepke, president of the GW chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
“I’ve heard only a little about the changes,” said engineering management graduate student J.P. Blackford, who represents SEAS in the Student Association Senate. “I think it has the potential to streamline the operations of the school. I don’t think students really care how things are reorganized, as long as it doesn’t really affect them.”
Mazzuchi said he planned to alert students about the restructuring Wednesday to give them an idea of what to expect as the school reorganizes in the coming months.
Under the reorganization plan, some SEAS departments will split and others will combine to create five departments: civil and environmental engineering; electrical engineering; computer science; mechanical and aerospace engineering; and engineering management and systems engineering.
“All this is going to depend on how the faculty reacts,” Blackford said. “Is this going to be just a bureaucratic change or really change the way the school operates? It’s really sort of `wait and see.’ ”
