August 20, 2007

Sciencedude: Cal State Fullerton engineering panned in national survey

Gary Robbins

Cal State Fullerton’s undergraduate program in engineering fares poorly in the latest US News and World Report rankings, tying for 65th place, even though it’s one of the larger programs on campus.

“The rankings,” says USNWR, “are based solely on a peer survey of deans and senior faculty that asked them to rate each program they are familiar with on a scale from 1 (marginal) to 5 (distinguished).

Fullerton and 21 other schools were awarded a score of 2.6, the second lowest in the survey. Eleven other California institutions finished higher than CSUF, including seven CSU campuses.

Raman Unnikrishnan, dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at CSUF, says his program is strong. But he adds, “The rebuilding continues after the many difficulties they had in the nineties.

“A recent administrative restructuring has made the individual programs stronger. A new Computer Engineering program added just a couple of years ago is yet to celebrate its first graduates.

“We are hiring new faculty members to rejuvenate the curriculum. Our enrollment has grown and for the first time in the last twenty years or so, the College of Engineering and Computer Science has met its enrollment target for fall 2007. The college has some 700 engineering majors.

“Sure, we would definitely have liked to see a higher ranking by the US News and World Reports. I believe that is around the corner and in two or three years Cal State Fullerton will enjoy a much higher recognition nationally. “

Harvey Mudd College in Claremont finished No. 1 in the undergraduate engineering rankings, and nearby Cal Poly Pomona tied for 16th.