This is the home page for the second of the four strategic planning
workshops to be held at Harvey Mudd College during October, 2006.
This workshop will be held on campus on Wed., October 18, 2006.
As of 10/25/2006, we have an second draft of a summary report
from Workshop #2. We have tried to synthesize the many ideas into a
few action themes, each with several possible action items.
Here is the report in two formats:
As a small and passionate science-and-engineering school, HMC has
an unusual set of opportunities and constraints in how we interact
with the societies that extend beyond our campus. This workshop
will focus on ambitions and goals for HMC's interaction with
"the rest of the world." At the same time, we will consider strategies
for achieving those goals that can further our mission both inside and
outside the school walls.
We are extremely excited and fortunate that the president
of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Freeman Hrabowski
will present the keynote address for this workshop.
Educational outreach (higher education)
What role do we envision for HMC within the larger higher-education community? How can HMC
leverage its strong internal commitment to education in order to increase its influence on how
science, engineering, and mathematics are taught elsewhere? Are there untapped opportunities
to collaborate with other institutions to promote excellence in science, engineering, and
mathematics education?
Entrepreneurship
How - and to what extent - should an HMC education develop or reinforce entrepreneurship skills?
What are the best opportunities to foster creativity, innovation, and risk-taking in HMC students,
and what curricular or extracurricular programs can promote these traits? How might HMC leverage its
alumni base and clinic program to help students develop entrepreneurial skills and experience?
What roles do we seek for both novel and existing resources, such as the HMC Entrepreneurial
Network, in the college's future?
Diversity
What will be the most effective strategies for making HMC's campus more broadly representative
of society? How can HMC keep pace with -- or keep ahead of -- rapid national and regional
demographic changes? How should HMC's processes and structures (e.g., admissions criteria,
curricular requirements, campus climate, teaching practices, and mentoring structures) change
to become and stay as responsive as we need to be?
Community outreach and service
What roles should we envision for HMC student, staff, and faculty involvement in community
service? Some colleges make community service a graduation requirement; HMC's integrative
experience requirement is related, but not identical. Should HMC change its requirements,
simply ensure that opportunities are available and supported, or is the definition of - and
participation in - community service an entirely personal matter?
Educational outreach (K-12)
How should HMC scientists, mathematicians, and engineers promote greater scientific literacy
in our society? What role do we envision for HMC in the primary and secondary education
communities? Are there untapped opportunities with other institutions to promote excellence
in science, engineering, and mathematics education? Should we develop additional programs
to encourage HMC students to pursue teaching or related educational careers?
Leadership
In the mission statement HMC asks its students to "assume leadership in their fields."
What are the most important experiences that a college can provide to help its students, staff,
and faculty become leaders? Which of these experiences should be part of the required HMC
experience and which should be opportunities for individuals or small groups to pursue?
What can HMC do to help faculty and staff develop leadership in their own fields?
Research Impacts
What role do we envision for research at HMC? Is it primarily an educational experience for the
participating students or a contribution to progress within scientific, academic, and broader
society? To what extent can we realistically emphasize both goals, or should we make this
tradeoff more transparent, e.g., for pretenure faculty? Compared to the clinic program, is the
research program at HMC as visible as it should be?
To oversimplify, one might argue that at Caltech, research is done per se - and it often
results in excellent educational experiences. At HMC on the other hand, one might say that
research is done for educational reasons, and it often results in excellent research products.
If HMC's goal is research-as-education, how can we optimize the educational benefits?
Conversely, how might HMC encourage research that directly and visibly impacts the broader
community?
Ethics
Harvey Mudd asks its students to look outward "with a clear understanding of the impact
of their work on society." Implicit in this goal is an assumption about the internalized
values held by HMC community members. To what extent should the college actively encourage
its community members to reflect on their personal value systems and the ethics that grow
from them? Can the college's Honor Code, policies, practices, and culture better support
the continuing development of personal, societal, and scientific ethical standards among
faculty, students, and staff?
Each workshop needs a 16-person planning committee, drawing from
all of HMC's constituent groups: academic disciplines, staff,
students, alums, and trustees.
Currently, the HMC 2020: Optimizing HMC's Interface with Society
workshop planning committee is
There will be a dinner and speaker to kick off all four workshops
on the evening of Monday, October 16, 2006.
HMC 2020: Optimizing HMC's Interface with Society, Wed. October 18, 2006: