William and Flora Hewlett Foundation gives $10 million for engineering education to MSU and 8 other Western schools

Montana State University is one of nine Western schools to receive a William and Flora Hewlett Foundation grant for its undergraduate engineering program.

By Chronicle Staff

The three- to five-year grants are part of the "Engineering Schools of the West Initiative," and are intended to help increase retention and recruitment, and improve student learning through better undergraduate teaching.

The eight other schools are: Boise State University, Colorado School of Mines, New Mexico State University, Northern Arizona University, Oregon State University, University of Nevada, Reno, University of Utah, and the University of Wyoming.

These institutions will collaborate to tackle issues, including new ways to assess student learning or provide students with a global orientation.

"We really believe that the whole can be greater than the sum of the parts," said Initiative Director Richard Reis. "By bringing representatives from the nine schools together on a regular basis, the foundation expects to have a much wider impact on engineering education than would be

possible with just stand-alone programs."

The grants will support programs ranging from summer projects that target high school students from traditionally underrepresented groups to courses that mirror how engineering is done in industry.

Others will develop curricula to help engineering students understand the ethical issues and responsibilities of professional engineers.

William Hewlett was the co-founder of the Hewlett Packard company, who believed graduates of the state engineering schools were the backbone of HP’s success.

The grants are "both a measure of its appreciation for the societal contributions of (the schools’) engineering alumni and a way to help

improve the quality and quantity of engineering graduates," Ssaid Hewlett Education Director Mike Smith.

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2003/01/29/news/engineeringbzbigs.txt