Johns Hopkins University embarked upon a comprehensive review of undergraduate education in 2017, through the work of the Second Commission on Undergraduate Education. The Commission delivered its final report in 2020. Since that time, many faculty in the Whiting School of Engineering have worked under the leadership of Michael Falk, vice dean for undergraduate education, to bring to life the recommendations in the report in ways that will transform how engineering students are educated in the Whiting School of Engineering.
The innovations to undergraduate education recommended in the WSE CUE2 Launch Plan are bold. They reconsider the interrelation of education, mentorship, empowerment, and the coming-of-age process. They commit us to redefining engineering education as an entry point to entrepreneurial innovation rather than a process of industrial standardization more apropos of the 19th and 20th centuries. We are confident that the result will better prepare our students for a world of ubiquitous information and relentless transformation where creativity is an essential ingredient for success. Our driving vision is engineering education that is dynamic, accessible, inclusive, and humane. As engineering education develops capacities to repair genetic codes, imbue machines with ethical intelligence, generate energy sustainably, and heal ecosystems, the promise and challenge of our educational systems have never been more existential.
WSE Launch Plan
In order to bring the many CUE2 recommendations described in the Launch Plan to life, there will be three new school bodies established to guide and sustain implementation of the Foundational Abilities, Customized Academic Learning, and the Hopkins Semester. All will be chaired by the vice dean for undergraduate education and served by the associate dean for undergraduate academic affairs in an ex-officio manner.
WSE CUE2 Implementation Advisory Committee
The WSE CUE2 Implementation Advisory Committee will be comprised of a Faculty Senate liaison, two additional faculty, and at least one student, one departmental academic program staff, and one representative from undergraduate academic advising. This body will deliberate regarding plans as they are finalized and review the results of early assessments. This body will be dissolved no sooner than two years after initial implementation of all CUE2 recommendations.
WSE ePortfolio Board
The WSE ePortfolio Board will be comprised of five faculty with two-year terms that rotate among the WSE academic departments and one faculty member from the Center for Leadership Education. This board will articulate and oversee the academic aspects of ePortfolio implementation going forward in perpetuity.
WSE Customized Academic Learning Board
The WSE Customized Academic Learning Board will be comprised of six faculty with two-year terms appointed from amongst the WSE departments. This Board will articulate and oversee the academic aspects of Customized Academic Learning and Hopkins Semester going forward in perpetuity.