Engineering Education In A Liberal Arts Environment At Baylor University

Engineering programs that exist in a liberal arts environment struggle to be understood. They constantly have to defend their program to university administrators, administrators who are not engineers or science oriented by education. This paper outlines the development of engineering as an intellectual discipline, putting it on equal terms with arts and sciences. Next, the paper traces the development of Baylor University’s engineering program from 1979 to present. The motivations for this engineering program and the growth of the program over the past two decades are examined. Baylor University’s Baptist heritage has also significantly impacted the present program. The present program is analyzed with the constraints imposed by accreditation and the institution itself. The conclusion reached is that there are few academic courses available for development of a liberal arts concentration. Baylor University is in the midst of defining itself in terms of a 10-year vision. This has resulted in an Academic Summit which is imposing additional liberal arts requirements. In the end, three questions are posed: 1) Are Specialized Liberal Arts Courses Required?; 2) Can Engineering & Liberal Arts be Integrated?; and 3) How Can the Liberal Arts Support Engineering? Lastly, this paper examines the integration of liberal arts into engineering education to develop a Christ ian worldview as stated in Baylor University’s mission statement. The authors conclude that a common liberal arts core for Baylor University is not the answer for engineering programs and proposals are given to satisfy liberal arts requirements.