to see the entire research report - Rowan - Rowan University

Cooperation with local industry includes sponsorship of summer internships for a
high proportion of the junior and senior students, and occasionally students at lower
levels. The PRIDE program (Partners with Rowan in Developing Engineers) provides
scholarships and internship opportunities by local and international companies. A full-
time Outreach Coordinator, who works on internship and career placement, reports that
90% - 100% of the graduates seeking engineering employment after graduation have
been placed from the first three graduating classes.
Personal Faculty-Student Interaction
With a student to faculty ratio of approximately 17:1, and class sizes not
exceeding 35, personal faculty-student interactions are facilitated. Faculty offices are
walled in glass, most frequently with open doors. As one faculty member put it, “The
biggest strength [of the Rowan engineering program] is the faculty-student interaction.
It’s pretty unique in an engineering program. Not every student needs it, but it’s good to
have it.” Faculty know by name each of the students in their major, and develop strong
personal relations with students both in the Clinic setting and in advisory capacities, as
well as in research activities and informally. The policy of accessibility to students
extends well beyond the classroom, including but not limited to faculty-student soccer
and basketball games, after-school dining and drinking, faculty and student participation
in professional conferences, faculty advisement of student chapters of professional
organizations.
Not only faculty are impressed by this relationship. In focus group interviews,
students also emphasized their close relationships with faculty. Department chairs report
IB-36