Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
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Template:Infobox University3 Olin College is a selective, private college for undergraduate engineering students. Olin is located in Needham, Massachusetts (in the Boston area) in the United States, and is adjacent to the campus of Babson College. Olin is not currently accredited, as it has yet to graduate a class.
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History of the College
Olin was founded by the F. W. Olin Foundation, and chartered in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1997. The F. W. Olin Foundation donated most of its remaining financial resources to the college, providing it with an endowment worth approximately 460 million dollars.
The F. W. Olin Foundation charged the college with the challenge to grant full-tuition scholarships to all students. For its first two academic years, the scholarship included room and board for all students as well. Olin admitted its first incoming class of 75 students in 2002 and expects to grow to an approximate size of 300 students by Fall 2005. The class of 2006 also includes 30 "Olin Partners", who helped develop and test the Olin curriculum during the 2001-02 academic year, called the "Partner Year".
Construction of the first phase of the campus has been completed, and construction on a second dorm is almost complete. Because of its small size, Olin has made arrangements to share many facilities with Babson College.
Richard Miller was inaugurated as the college's first president on May 3, 2003.
Accreditation
Olin is not currently accredited, as it must first graduate a class to receive accreditation. However, Olin does have candidate status with the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), which gives accreditation to schools and colleges in general, and Olin is working with the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), which accredits specific engineering degree programs. All accreditation will apply retroactively to all degrees issued by the college.
The Olin Experiment
Olin differs from traditional engineering schools because of its focus on project-based and team-based learning, its interdisciplinary approach, its unique organizational structure, and its practice of providing full-tuition scholarships to all accepted students.
Much of Olin's curriculum is built around actual engineering and design projects. This project-based teaching starts directly at the freshman year and continues until senior year. Half of senior year is occupied with the "capstone" project, where students are asked to provide solutions relevant to a real-world engineering project.
Teaching is done in small groups and students have first-name relations with almost all faculty and staff. Although the focus of the curriculum is on engineering, a lot of attention is given to the arts, humanities, and social sciences, especially entrepreneurship. Integrated course blocks and interdisciplinary classes emphasize the connections between different subjects.
All accepted students receive the Olin Scholarship, which pays tuition in full. This tuition includes cross-registration with nearby institutions, presently Babson College, Wellesley College (which allows cross-registration for both men and women), and Brandeis University. Olin also shares clubs and intermural sports with those colleges. Aside from the official curriculum, students can receive funding and non-degree college credit for so-called Passionate Pursuits, personal projects with academic value.
In addition to the full-tuition scholarship, students can obtain additional grants from Olin. These grants are paid when it is determined that the student in need of over $2500. The latter sum is supposed to be obtained through part-time and summer work.
Olin admissions attempt to maintain approximately a one-to-one male to female ratio. Despite being an engineering school, Olin looks for students who have strong interests outside of engineering. However, Olin currently has no foreign students (as foreign students could not obtain student visas due to Olin's unaccredited status).
The internal organization of Olin is unique for not having separate academic departments. Consequently, no separate budget exists for different major tracks or subject areas. The faculty members work on a five-year contract basis only, with no opportunity for tenure.
The Olin Honor Code
One of the principles that Olin College has based itself on is the idea of trust and honor within an academic community. This trust allows the students a great deal of freedom, both in social and academic issues. The Olin Honor Code (http://community.olin.edu/honorcode) has six clauses, the first five of which are derived from the core values defined in the founding precepts written up by the F. W. Olin Foundation, and the "Do Something" clause, which requires students to take action when they feel that the Code has been violated, either through official or unofficial means. All students sign the Honor Code upon beginning their freshman year at Olin.
- Integrity - Honestly and completely representing one's work, self, and actions; taking responsibility for one's actions and work.
- Respect for Others - Recognizing all people's inherent dignity and worth.
- Passion for the Welfare of the College - Helping the college through cooperation, concern for others, and responsibility for the community's reputation.
- Patience and Understanding - Striving to foster harmony through empathy and mindfulness of others.
- Openness to Change - Being receptive to change; striving for innovation and improvement.
- Do Something - Acting personally to address violations and potential violations of the honor code.
An honor board, elected by the students, resolves conflicts within the honor code system and applies sanctions, if necessary, for honor code violations.
The Honor Code was created by a group of Olin Partners in 2001-02, and has since been signed by every Olin student. The code and its related policies can be amended by the majority of the students at a "town meeting" (a quorum (50%) of the student body is required for a vote to take place).
Each amendment town meeting concludes with a vote on whether to abolish the honor code. If the code were abolished, the governing policies set up by the Office of Student Life would take effect. This automatic vote prevents the Code from remaining in effect if students no longer support it, and also allows students to reaffirm the honor code each time it is challenged or changed.
Academics
Olin's academic culture is heavily influenced by the school's honor code. Students often take exams on their own time, and are generally allowed to use outside resources on exams. Students are trusted to adhere to the rules and limits specified for each exam without the supervision of a proctor of any sort. Because of this, honor code violations in an academic context are treated far more seriously and formally than social violations.
In general, however, Olin's academic culture is highly informal, with students talking to professors, staff, and administration mostly on a first name basis. Some members of the college's upper administration also teach classes. Teachers and administration at Olin are generally very receptive to student suggestions. The Olin community puts a lot of emphasis on feedback. This is viewed as especially important because Olin is a new school, and Olin students play an active role in shaping the college for future generations.
Olin currently has three majors: Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), Mechanical Engineering (ME), and a General Engineering degree. Within the General Engineering degree, different specialisations exist. Students may concentrate on Computing (E:C), BioEngineering (E:BE), Materials Science (E:MS), Systems Design (E:SYS), or design their own concentration subject to approval. Also, Olin students have access to a MS in Technological Entrepreneurship program at Babson College with the potential to have a MS a semester after graduating from Olin College.
Olin classes emphasize the importance of context and attempt to take an interdisciplinary approach. Freshman take integrated course blocks, that teach engineering, calculus, and physics by exploring the relationships between the three subjects. Arts, humanities, and social sciences courses take an interdisciplinary approach to subjects such as the self ("What is I?"), history ("History of Technology"), and art ("Wired Ensemble" and "Seeing and Hearing").
Culture
Residential life
All Olin students are required to live on campus in the dormitories (although an exception has been made for students who are married). As a result, much of the social life at Olin occurs in the lounges on each floor of the residence hall. Olin has no Greek life, nor does the college plan to ever have fraternities and sororities.
Social conflicts are generally resolved informally, coming before the Honor Board only in extreme cases. In addition, the Office of Student Life picks student Resident Resources (R2s) to fill the role traditionally named "Resident Assistant" (RA) at other schools. Unlike most RAs, R2s are not directly responsible for enforcing college dorm policies. This allows them to fulfill their roles as advisers without requiring them to report every situation they deal with.
Extracurricular activities
Most students participate in multiple non-curricular school activities, including clubs, community service, co-curricular activities (which are noted on the transcript), and Passionate Pursuits (independent projects which can receive non-degree college credit and funding).
Many Olin students are also involved in the arts, including writing, visual art, music, and theater. Olin also has a variety of clubs and organizations that support the arts, including the Olin Vocal Ensemble, FWOP (Franklin W. Olin Players), FILM (For Intelligent Lovers of Movies), and the Olin Conductorless Orchestra.
In addition, many students participate in athletics. While Olin does not field intercollegiate athletic teams, there is a thriving intramural soccer league, and Olin students are allowed to participate on club teams and in non-NCAA sports at Babson College. For instance, the women's rugby team (ranked third in New England) includes several Olin members. Additionally, students can participate in Sunday morning football games, pick-up and intramural Ultimate Frisbee games, SMAC (http://projects.olin.edu/SMAC) (Student Martial Arts Club, Olin's martial arts club), WHACK (Weapons Handling and Combat Khakistocracy, Olin's fencing club), and numerous other athletic activities.
Students are easily able to create new clubs and organizations. A club only needs four members to become official and receive funding. The clubs on campus are overseen by CCO (Caucus of Clubs and Organizations). All clubs also follow under the oversight of CORe (Council of Olin Representatives), Olin's student government.
Olin students are also encouraged to combine their creative and technical skills in competitions. Every year, students have competed in the Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM). In 2002, one Olin team received the second highest honor in the MCM; in 2005 an Olin team won the MCM. Some students compete in design projects such as Mini-Baja and the Olin Automatons, a group developing an autonomous vehicle for the DARPA Grand Challenge).
Spontaneity and student happiness
Many organized events can be set up on a spontaneous basis due to efficient communication among students. This is in part due to the small size of the Olin community but also because of email lists and Olin's policy requiring all students to purchase identical laptops at the beginning of freshmen year.
Organized "Study Breaks" with fun activities, run by the R2s and the Olin Student Activities Committee (SAC), are designated to help deal with high stress levels that often occur due to the multitude of activities.
Student happiness at Olin is surprisingly high, especially for an engineering school. The Princeton Review ranked Olin as #11 on its list of happy students (http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/rankings/rankingDetails.asp?CategoryID=7&TopicID=43) for 2004. It was the only engineering college to make that list.
Mascot
Olin College chose a Phoenix (unofficially named "Frank") as its mascot in order to represent the college's willingness to change: Like a Phoenix is reborn from its ashes, Olin College attempts to be open to change and willing to reinvent itself. Olin's colors are blue and silver.
Architecture and design
Olin_College_Great_Lawn.jpg
Olin currently has three main buildings, arranged around a central oval courtyard, which is perched on top of a hill adjacent to Babson college. The Academic Center (AC) houses all of Olin's labs and classrooms. The Campus Center (CC), contains the cafeteria, the Office of Student Life, Student Accounts and Records, and acts as a meeting and storage space for a variety of clubs and organized activities. Finally, the Olin Center (OC) holds the library, the offices of administrators and teachers, and the Olin auditorium (which serves as a location for various events as well as being the one lecture hall on campus. Off to one side of the Oval, the Olin dorms stand across a wide path from the Campus Center.
Olin_Center_Sunset.JPG
The architecture of the college was designed by architects Perry Dean Rogers & Partners. Outside, the design reflects the juxtaposition of technology and nature, with the steel, brick, and glass facades contrasting with the grass and trees in the Oval. The outside geometry of Olin architecture around the Oval is highly structured, but focuses on curves rather than more traditional right angles.
The base of the Campus Center is a brick and tile atrium with potted plants around the edges, which flows off into hallways and offices colored by white paint, maple paneling, and carpet and upholstery in blue and gray (reflecting the school's colors). The slight contrast between the light-peach colored walls and the white tile (on the ground floor) and gray carpet (above) prevents the long halls of the academic center from having an "institutional feel" (Eisen). Small clusters of couches and armchairs around circular coffee tables and tall, movable whiteboards turn the AC halls into informal, practical workspaces.
Olin_College_at_Night.jpg
Another major focus of the architectural design of Olin was light. During the day, the large panel windows on all three main buildings allow ample natural light. During the night, the light emanating from the buildings creates a dramatic effect of light and shadow on the courtyard and the columns outside.
Continuing construction
The dorm immediately adjacent to campus, West Hall, is full to capacity, and the construction of a second dorm, East Hall, is in progress. To alleviate housing problems, Olin has leased some temporary housing (placed across a soccer field from the main part of campus), where some Olin students volunteered to live. The new residence hall will be completed by Summer 2005.
References
- Eisen, David (January 4, 2004). "Campus Embraces Bold Thinking". The Boston Herald, p. 43.
- Murray, Charles (August 30, 2004). "If I'm happy, can this be EE school?" EE Times.
External links
- Olin College Website (http://www.olin.edu)
- Olin College News (http://www.olin.edu/about_olin/news/news.asp)
- Olin College in the Media (http://www.olin.edu/about_olin/news/media_coverage.asp)
- Frankly Speaking (Olin College Newspaper) (http://franklyspeaking.olin.edu)
- Olin College Honor Code (http://community.olin.edu/honorcode)
- Olin College Faculty page (http://faculty.olin.edu)
- Princeton Review Olin College Page (http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/profiles/generalinfo.asp?listing=1037875<ID=1)