In addition to a list of established courses to meet this requirement, both management
and engineering created special courses. One, Introduction to Engineering for Non-Engineers
(ES300), introduced major concepts and thought processes used by engineers, by including a
variety of practical problems in a broad spectrum of disciplines to provide an integrated insight
into the engineering profession. The second, Introduction to Management (SM300), surveyed a
selection of topics in management, including accounting, financial analysis, budgeting, capital
budgeting, marketing and production models, organizational theory and individual/group
behavior in industry; it also included basic methodology for personal finance and investment
activities.
"Outer Reaches."
Stimulated by the idea of exploration of space beyond the known world,
President Plane created an "Outer Reaches" committee to formulate ways by which Clarkson
students could reach out beyond the narrow limitations of their established curricula and
achieve intellectual independence. On September 23, the committee's major recommendations
presented to the Faculty Senate were that regardless of his or her major field of study, every
student should develop:
a) a spirit of intellectual inquiry;
b) an awareness of the relation between his or her area of specialization and the larger
body of general knowledge; and
c) the ability to interact with specialists in other areas in order to solve practical
problems of an interdisciplinary nature.
Focusing on those goals, the committee made specific recommendations to modify all
courses to encourage independence of thought and work, and to emphasize problem solving.
It further stressed the need for greater interaction between students and the potential
users of their skills by inviting outsiders (especially alumni) to speak on campus, by visiting
industrial sites, and by stressing the interdependence of course work and library resource
material. Additionally, it called for special opportunities to be provided for students to obtain
experience in laboratory, project, or practical work, especially for work outside campus, and in
interdisciplinary work within the boundaries of existing curricula. Finally, it stressed that all
undergraduates should take a "core curricula" of specialized and interdisciplinary courses to
obtain knowledge of a reasonable depth over a sufficiently broad range of areas; one three-hour
course would not suffice to provide "reasonable depth."
Interestingly, all of those recommendations were implemented in time by such means as
double majors, elective concentrations (at least five courses in second major), visitors to
campus as "experts in residence" for a few days each semester, the "Foundation Curriculum,"
and Semester In Industry- all created within five years of this recommendation.
Technology Assessment. Taught by Jerry Gravander, an assistant professor of
humanities, this new course analyzed the impact on society of some of the proposed new
technological advancesáPenvironmental, socio-political, economic, legal, and valuational.
Students came to realize they had to check a scientific method, a technology, to see if
their new idea met not only design specifications, but also society's wants and needs. For
example, they reviewed the case involving the Monsanto Corporation which, following a
