Differential Fee Leads to Improvements


The differential tuition students pay for engineering courses makes a difference in the quality of education students receive. School of Engineering faculty and staff have been busy over the past year upgrading equipment and services to make students' time at KU more efficient and fruitful.

Some examples of how the differential tuition fee is used and the impact those funds have had are:

Career Services  

Additional staffing in Engineering Career Services helped bring about a 50 percent increase in employers attending the spring 2005 career fair and a 79 percent increase in employers interviewing on campus when compared with a year before.

Engineering Computing Services  

Purchase of 35 new PC lab computers for 1010 Eaton Hall, six new laptops for checkout in Spahr Engineering Library and a tape backup system

Software license renewal for a variety of applications used in classrooms and required for student assignments and projects, such as AutoCAD, CodeWarrior, Fluent, Pro/E to name a few.

Student fees also provide support staff who maintain the schoolÂ’s computer systems and provide IT security and web services to students.

Aerospace Engineering  

Upgrades and license renewal of computer software

New workstations in Instrumentation Lab

New shock tube pressure sensors and exit port

Support for Engineering Expo projects and displays

Materials for senior design courses

Supplies for additional courses

Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering  

Funds for student projects such as the concrete canoe.

Student travel to regional and national meetings

Upgrades in Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering computer labs with new devices, software, printers and necessary supplies.

Travel expenses for class field trips

Materials, chemicals and small tools for class related laboratory experiments

Resources for Engineering Expo displays and projects

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science  

Components for EE/CoE senior design projects General stock for electronics courses Software upgrades for labs & infrastructure New robotics kits Upgrade network/lab infrastructures Upgrade lab workstations

Chemical and Petroleum Engineering  

Renovation of the undergraduate computer lab, including a new suite of PCs

Improvements in the undergraduate teaching labs

Mechanical Engineering  

Annual licenses for ME-specific computer software - - e.g., Pro-E, Adams, Matlab, Labview, and Patran

Partial support of Formula Team & Windpower Team projects

Partial support of Engineering Expo student activities

Partial support for new ME staff member for the Engineering Shop

Partial support of Shop supplies (e.g., expendables and small tools) for ME student use; and partial support of Shop machine repair

Shop security supplies/materials

Purchase of new lathe in the Engineering Shop

Support/maintenance of CNC and Rapid Prototyping machines for use in ME courses

Subsidization of ME 346 (Materials course) caliper sets and safety glasses for students

Test materials for ME 311, Strength of Materials

Electronics and equipment for ME 455, Instrumentation Course

No cost (free) printing in the ME Computer Lab for ME students (toner & paper); and Computer Lab supplies (e.g., cables, drives, networking components)

Photocopy handouts from ME faculty in ME courses