70931, page 1-35 @ Normalize - WVU College of Engineering and ...

WVU ENGINEERING AND MINERAL RESOURCES Volume 3 Issue 1
Tim Bielawa struggled during his
freshman year in engineering, but extra
help provided by the College gave him
the encouragement he needed to
persevere.
Mechanical Engineers, the Student Society
for the Advancement of Biometrics, and
many others.
Getting involved in student organizations
early helps students engage with their
peers, faculty members, and alumni,
provides excellent networking
opportunities, and gets students involved
with projects and competitions that
enhance their education.
The Freshman Program also sponsors
many other activities, said Hensel, from
peer mentoring, department visitation
days, guest speakers, and more.
options,” said Byrd. “Sometimes they have
adjustment problems; for some of them,
their freshman year is the first time they
will ever receive a bad grade.”
Knowing the important role parents play
in students’ lives, Byrd also sends a weekly
e-mail to freshman parents, updating
them on what is going on in the freshman
classes, so that parents can give students
the support they need.
Engineering freshmen also now have the
option to live among their peers in
Braxton Tower, part of the Evansdale
Residential Complex, where more than
half of the residents are engineering
majors. Students in Braxton have the
advantage of having study partners right
down the hall, in addition to social
activities and trips led by the hall’s
resident faculty leaders, Bob Whitmore
and his wife, Dara.
“Our job is to support the students,” said
Bob Whitmore, a faculty member in
WVU’s Davis College of Agriculture,
Forestry, and Consumer Sciences, “and to
organize activities that help them adjust to
college life.”
Recent activities for Braxton residents
have included a trip to New York City, a
dinner for women in engineering, picnics,
and ice cream socials.
For himself, Bielawa said that special study
sessions he attended over the summer
were probably the most important factor
in getting over his freshman slump.
“The study sessions helped me gain the
confidence I needed to tackle the
challenging problems in engineering,” he
said, “and from then I was okay.”
Bielawa said that his social life has
changed for the better, too. He got
involved with the WVU student chapter of
the Institute for Electrical and Electronics
Engineering, and was even recently elected
president of the chapter.
“This college really wants students to
succeed, and faculty members go out of
their way to help students in any way they
can,” said Bielawa.
“We believe in our students,” said Prucz,
“and we are confident every one of them
has the potential to be a successful
engineer.”
Besides Hensel, four other College faculty
members – Jack Byrd, David Durham,
and Migri Prucz – serve as freshman
advisors. These busy folks help students
solve any problems that they experience,
and help them choose among the
College’s eleven academic majors and
seven dual degree programs. With more
than 500 freshmen, their offices are often
filled with students in search of help.
“Freshmen find the requirements
confusing, and don’t know all of their
Robin Hensel (standing at left) is the College’s coordinator of freshman engineering.
Dean Cilento (right) spoke to freshman parents eager to hear about their children’s
progress during the College’s first Freshman Engineering Reception last fall.
13