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Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology

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Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
File:RoseSeal.gif
Typeprivate coeducational
Established1874 (details)
Endowment$156.6 million[1]
President(see Current events)
Academic staff
161
Students1,970
Undergraduates1,840
Postgraduates130
Location
Terre Haute
,
IN
,
USA
Campussmall city: 295 acres (1.2 km²)
Athleticsleft.22 Division III NCAA teams[2] called Fightin' Engineers
Websitewww.rose-hulman.edu

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (abbreviated RHIT), formerly Rose Polytechnic Institute, is a private non-sectarian college. RHIT specializes in teaching engineering, mathematics, and science and is highly regarded for its undergraduate engineering program, which has been ranked first in its category (colleges whose highest degree offered is a Bachelor's or Master's) by U.S. News & World Report for seven consecutive years (2000-2006). Its 295 acre (1.2 km²) campus is located in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Academics

RHIT focuses on engineering and the natural sciences. Rose-Hulman baccalaureate degrees are considered some of the most intensive in the world for engineering and the natural sciences. Students at RHIT are expected to focus on their studies. One of the primary reasons that, until 1995, Rose-Hulman admitted only men to their undergraduate programs, was to give the classroom top priority in the RHIT college experience. Rose-Hulman is also dedicated solely to teaching students and conducts very little research. For this reason, the school does not offer PhDs and has a very small graduate program that is used as a resource to help educate the undergraduate students. This dedication to teaching also results in having no classes taught by TAs. Rose-Hulman supports 161 faculty, 99% of whom hold a PhD. The current student to faculty ratio is 12-1.

Rose-Hulman was among one of the first schools to integrate computers into their curriculum. Laptops were required for all students starting in 1995, and are currently heavily used in every class.

Majors at Rose-Hulman are predominantly engineering and natural sciences (plus Economics):

  • Undergraduate: Applied Biology • Biochemistry and Molecular Biology • Biomedical Engineering • Chemical Engineering • Chemistry • Civil Engineering • Computer Engineering • Computer Science • Economics • Electrical Engineering • Engineering Physics • Mathematics • Mechanical Engineering • Optical Engineering • Physics • Software Engineering
  • Graduate—-most of the undergraduate engineering majors plus: Environmental Engineering • Engineering Management

Rose is currently undergoing ABET accreditation for a variety of newer majors, but currently Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering are accredited by ABET. Because accreditation occurs but once every seven years, programs younger than seven years are not yet accredited. This means that Biomedical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Software Engineering, and Computer Science are all seeking accredidation in 2006-07.

Rose-Hulman is on the quarter system with each season representing a single quarter. Therefore, most students take three quarters of school a year, with the summer quarter for vacation or work/internships.

History

The college was founded in 1874 as the Terre Haute School of Industrial Science. A year later, the name was changed to Rose Polytechnic Institute despite the objections of the president of the board of managers and chief benefactor, Chauncey Rose. Mr. Rose was a wealthy developer and philanthropist who made most of his fortune in the railroad business [1]. The first class of 48 students entered in 1883, chosen from 58 applicants. All but four students chose to major in Mechanical Engineering, and nearly half quit their studies before graduation for a number of reasons, including poor grades or conduct [2].

In 1917, the school, having grown to more than 300 students, moved from 13th and Locust St. to a new site consisting of 123 acres (0.5 km²) of farm land on U.S. 40 donated by the Hulman family of Terre Haute. For their gift and continued financial support, in 1971, Rose Polytechnic was renamed Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in the family's honor.

During the 1960s and 70s, growth accelerated under president John A. Logan with the construction. Five new residence halls, a new student union, library and a student recreation center were all constructed between 1963 and 1976. Permission was sought and received to increase the student population to 1000 [3]. (Since then, the student body has nearly doubled, with about 450 undergraduate students per class chosen from several thousand applications.)

For most of its history, Rose-Hulman was a men's-only institution. It voted to become coeducational in 1991, with the first women students starting in 1995. Also in 1995, the college required all incoming freshmen to purchase laptop computers, becoming one of the first schools to do so. Ever since, laptops have been required for all freshmen, and the curricula have heavily integrated computers into classroom instruction.

These significant events in the Institute's history happened one year into a major fundraising campaign called "Vision to be the Best." Originally a $100 million campaign over ten years, it met its goal in half the time. The goal was extended to $200 million, and by the end of the campaign in June 2004, over $250 million had been raised. In 2002, Hatfield Hall, a state-of-the-art theater and alumni center was opened. Five years earlier Shook Field House was replaced with the $20 million Sports and Recreation Center, which is a major reason that the National Football League's Indianapolis Colts have used the campus for their summer training camp since 1999.

Presidents
1. Charles O. Thompson, 1884-1885 2. Thomas C. Mendenhall, 1886-1889 3. Henry T. Eddy, 1891-1894 4. Carl L. Mees, 1895-1919 5. Philip B. Woodworth, 1921-1923 6. Frank C. Wagner, 1923-1928 7. Donald B. Prentice, 1931-1948 8. Ford L. Wilkinson, 1949-1958 9. Ralph A. Morgen, 1959-1961 10. John A. Logan, 1962-1976 11. Samuel F. Hulbert, 1976-2004 12. John J. Midgley, 2004-2005 13. Gerald S. Jakubowski, July 2006-


Current events

After the 2004 retirement of Samuel Hulbert, the college faced a leadership crisis. Soon after the arrival of John J. Midgley as the new president, the college increasingly disliked and rejected him. On 11 June, 2005, Dr. Midgley resigned as president of Rose-Hulman, less than a year into his presidency. Robert Bright, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, is currently serving as interim chief executive officer.

At a press conference on 17 March 2006, Mr. Bright named Gerald S. Jakubowski, currently with Arizona State University, as the thirteenth president of the Institute. Dr. Jakubowski will take over effective 1 July, 2006.[3]

Campus

Rose-Hulman's 295 acre campus includes a Baseball field, a Softball field, and a Soccer field at the west end, two lakes surrounded by residence halls in the middle, the academic buildings east of that, and a row of fraternities to the east. The Sports and Recreation Center, Cook Stadium, and other sports-related facilities anchor the north side of campus, with the Oakley Observatory on the far east edge.

The enterance of the campus leads to Hadley Hall, the main administrative building. The center of campus is marked by the Grace and Anton Hulman Memorial Union, which includes dining facilities and administrative offices.

A view of Percopo Hall (left) and White Chapel.
Root Quadrangle, Logan Library (left) and Olin Hall (right).
The Flame of the Millennium and Hatfield Hall.


Residence Halls

There are nine residence halls on campus: Deming, Baur-Sames-Bogart (BSB), Speed, Mees, Sharpenberg, Blumberg, Skinner, Percopo, and the Apartments. The oldest, Deming Hall, was built in 1926 and is an all-male hall. Deming holds 109 students, mostly freshmen, on four floors. BSB Hall, built in 1956, is an L-shaped hall with room for 144 students on three stories, mostly freshmen. Speed Hall was built in 1963 and holds 116 freshmen on three floors, all male. In front of Speed Hall is Speed Lawn and Speed Lake, the latter of which the other residence halls surround as well (with the exception of Skinner). Mees, Sharpenberg, and Blumberg (all built in 1966) together form the Triplets, three nearly identical halls each holding 76 students on 4 H-shaped floors. Mees and Sharpenberg are identical, with Blumberg being a mirror image of the two. Skinner, built in 1976 is a unqiue apartment-style residence hall on the east side of campus. Unlike the other halls, occupants in Skinner are not required to be on a campus meal plan. Apartments in Skinner are composed of two bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen. Percopo, built in 1999, is a Sophomore-only hall, designed to retain and help educate Sophomore students. Percopo has in-house tutors and other resources geared towards assisting Sophomores through what is generally considered the hardest academic year. Percopo has 109 double-rooms (sharing a bathroon) on four floors. The newest hall, the yet to be officially named, New Apartment Style Residence Hall is broken into two buildings connected by a commons area. Apartments East and Apartments West are identical, each having rooms with two bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a living room. The commons area holds a Subway restaurant a convenience store and a barber shop.

Academic Buildings

Rose-Hulman is composed of four main classroom buildings plus a library and mechanical engineering lab. The four main buildings are Moench Hall, Olin Hall, Crapo Hall, and Myers Hall. Olin came as a result of a proposal by Sam Hulbert and was later expanded to add six more advanced learning classrooms. Olin includes a large occupancy by the Civil Engineering and Chemical Engineering departments. Crapo is home to the Math Department and includes two floors of classrooms. The John T. Myers Center for Technological Research with Industry, the newest academic building, holds the Graduate Department. The largest, Moench Hall, is composed of four floors of classrooms and offices, and was the original academic building on campus built in 1922. All of the remaining departments have offices in Moench.

The Logan Library is a small engineering library whose lower floor is occupied by The Learning Center, with tutors and help available to students. Near Myers is the Rotz Mechanical Engineering lab.

Artwork

Various artwork is located across campus. The tallest and most attention worthy of which is the Flame of the Millennium and its surrounding fountain. Designed by Leonardo Nierman, it rises majestically just east of the main enterance. Other artwork can be seen in the Root Quadrangle between Olin, Moench and Crapo, as well as surrounding Olin. A Japanese garden is also located next to Olin. In addition, a series of small bushes in the shape of 'RHIT' adorns the side of a hill leading to the main enterance.

Along with the outside sculptures, many paintings also adorn the inner walls of the school. The largest collection of the late Salty Seamon[4], a Hoosier watercolorist and illustrator, is found throughout Rose-Hulman. An impressive 115 piece 19th Century British watercolor collection adds a touch of elegance to the Hulman Memorial Union.

Student life

The student body tends to come mostly from the Midwest United States, though as the school has gained prominence it has gradually attracted a more geographically and ethnically diverse applicant pool. A 2003 gift of $7 million from an alumnus was specifically established to increase geographic diversity. International students currently make up about 3% of the student body. Approximately 20% of students are female.

Athletics

File:RHITAthletics.jpg
Logo of RHIT Athletic Teams.

There are many facilities for sports events. The Sports and Recreation Center (SRC) is home to basketball courts, raquetball courts, an indoor track, a swimming and diving pool, a weight-lifting room, a basketball arena (Hulbert Arena), and a multi-use room (for dance, wrestling, etc). Outside of the SRC is Cook Stadium and its football field surrounded by the William Welch Outdoor Track & Field Complex. Inside of Cook Stadium grandstand is the RHIT rifle range. Adjacent to the football field is a series of tennis courts as well as two intramural fields (used by the Indianapolis Colts) near these courts. Rose-Hulman's sports facilities also include the Art Nehf baseball field, a softball field, and the Jim Rendel soccer field.

In 2007, the SRC will be home to the Division III Men's and Women's Indoor National Track Championships, after having previously hosted the Division III Women's Basketball National Championships in 2002 and 2003.

Rose-Hulman currently competes in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, an NCAA Division III athletic conference. In 2006, it will move to the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, the former Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference of which Rose had previously been a member. The colors of the Rose-Hulman Fightin' Engineers are rose and white, and their mascot is Rosie the Elephant.

As of 2005, Rose-Hulman has had a student athlete named to an NCAA Division III Academic All-America Team for 21 consecutive years. Sixty-four Academic All-Americans have been named from the school since 1978. [5]

Fraternities and sororities

There are eight social fraternities, two social sororities, and one social sorority colony, some of which have their houses on campus. The fraternities are: Alpha Tau Omega, Delta Sigma Phi, Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Gamma Delta, Pi Kappa Alpha, Sigma Nu, Theta Xi, and Triangle. The established sororities are Chi Omega and Delta Delta Delta. The new sorority, Alpha Omicron Pi, will colonize in April 2006. As of 2003, nearly half of the students were members of Greek social organizations. [6].

Various academic honor and service organizations are also represented, including Alpha Phi Omega, Alpha Chi Sigma, Tau Beta Pi and Upsilon Pi Epsilon.

Media

The campus radio station is WMHD 90.7 FM, "The Monkey." Until recently, the station broadcast with a very low power antenna on campus, but now operates an off-site transmitter at 1400 Watts. The studio facilities are in the basement of the BSB residence hall. The station is operated entirely by volunteers, and all disc jockeys choose their own format and playlists. More information about WMHD can be found at the WMHD information page.

The school also supports a weekly newspaper, The Rose Thorn, focusing on campus news. Students run all aspects of the paper from writing to editing to advertising.

Clubs

Rose-Hulman provides funding for a variety of clubs and interests on campus. These include:

Homework Hotline

Funded by a grant from the Lilly Endowment, and supported by 3-M Corporation, the Homework Hotline has provided help to Indiana Middle School and High School students since 1991. Approximentaly 30 Rose-Hulman students a night field calls from around the state and help students answer math and science questions. In 2004-05, a total of 39,835 students called the hotline.

The hotline can be reached at 1-877-ASK-ROSE from 7pm to 10pm, Sunday to Thursday.

Rose-Hulman Ventures

Located in Aleph Park, just south of Rose-Hulman's main campus, Rose-Hulman Ventures is a technology-based incubator for local companies, as well as an internship and job opportunity for current and graduated Rose students. Rose-Hulman Ventures allows smaller companies the chance to grow their business with the experience and know-how of Rose-Hulman and its team of high-quality engineers. It also provides internship experience for students that further complements their education.

Rose-Hulman Ventures was funded by a $30 million grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc. in 1999, and has been further supported by the same group since then, including $24.9 million in 2002.

Noted alumni

References

  1. 1 endowment "2005 NACUBO endowment study" (PDF). National Association of College and University Business Officers. Retrieved February 17, 2006.
  2. 2 NCAA_teams "NCAA member schools > Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology". NCAA. Retrieved January 27, 2006.
  3. 3 jakubowski "Gerald Jakubowski Named 13th President of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology". Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Retrieved March 19, 2006.


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