Exciting progress has been made toward achieving the Strategic Vision Goals for Harvey Mudd College. As you may know, the college’s strategic vision plan “HMC 2020: Envisioning the Future” was developed in 2006 after an intensive college-wide strategic planning process. The vision goals were focused around six important key points, including: experiential and interdisciplinary learning; innovation, leadership and impact, especially in engineering, science and mathematics education; global engagement and informed contributions to society; and developing the whole person.

These goals, along with HMC’s mission statement, guide the college in its work to provide an extraordinary education for the world’s brightest students. As we fulfill our mission to educate the nation’s next leaders in science and technology, we must continue to lead as well. We must also respond to the exceptional students who demand nothing short of an outstanding curriculum, inspiring and relevant programs; extraordinary faculty and peers; modern facilities and equipment; global experiences; and ample financial support.

We have already begun to achieve some of these goals through the work of the Strategic Vision Curriculum Committee (SVCC), a body of 10 faculty members appointed in January 2007 and charged with reviewing the entirety of the HMC curriculum in regard to the strategic goals. Specific consideration was also given to interdisciplinary learning, the ability to take foreign languages, the creation of new electives, and opportunities to take courses to grow in scholarship, leadership, and the development of the ‘whole person’.

The SVCC began by thinking broadly about the goals of the curriculum, and then examined the curricula at 20 peer institutions, considered data on the strong interest of HMC students in foreign language study, studied past core curriculum revisions as well as the changing preparation of our students, and reflected on the HMC mission statement as well as the goals of the Strategic Vision. During this process, it became apparent that the ability of students to take electives would play a fundamental role in achieving these goals.  

The committee developed a proposal to modify core curriculum requirements in a way that would provide a little more flexibility and electivity for students, without compromising Mudd’s signature academic rigor.  The proposal evolved in consultation with many faculty and students, and was presented to the full faculty in October. At this time, the proposal was approved by the faculty with more than 80 percent support.

Some features of the new curriculum plan include:

• Increased opportunities for electives, including one in the first semester and at least three electives for all majors (currently there is no elective in the first semester and only one elective slot in all four years of the engineering major)
• Improvement in the ability of students to take foreign languages (currently, a lack of elective slots and lab scheduling prohibit language study in the first year)
• A new interdisciplinary “choice” lab in the third semester of the core, in addition to a physics and chemistry lab in the first year, to give students a choice between exciting new labs that will interface between disciplines
• A new Writing half-course in the first semester, with focused instruction on writing, taught by faculty from all departments, to emphasize the importance of communication in all disciplines
• Fixed placement of core biology in the second semester
• Some reduction of core requirements in math, chemistry, physics, and the humanities to increase space for electives
• No zero-unit required courses (to adequately account for student time)

Under this plan, the new curriculum still retains its place as the most extensive core and humanities curriculum among our peer institutions, and students continue to take a larger course load (more than five courses per term) than students at peer institutions. The ability to take electives can be channeled towards further depth in major study, a foreign language study, or broader intellectual development in technical disciplines as well as humanities, social sciences and the arts.

These modifications meet the strategic goals by creating interdisciplinary opportunities for all students; by allowing students to explore a wide range of interests, including highly relevant proposed electives (e.g., nanotechnology, energy and the environment, and wireless communications); and giving students the opportunity for foreign language study within the first year, a skill that will be increasingly vital due to the accelerated globalization of science and engineering. Finally, the introduction of a true interdisciplinary lab elective gives students the opportunity to explore exciting fields (e.g., biochemistry, biomechanics, and digital electronics).

The faculty and I have an unwavering commitment to the high academic standards that make Harvey Mudd College one of the top undergraduate science and engineering colleges in the world. We are enthusiastic about the recent progress made towards achieving the college’s strategic goals, and believe that these changes will allow HMC to maintain a leadership role in undergraduate STEM education, attract the most talented students, and provide the best possible education for future generations of HMC students.

Sincerely,

Robert J. Cave
Dean of Faculty