ANNUAL REPORT - The Petroleum Institute

The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Arts and Sciences Program
Dr. Brian Bielenberg, Director
I. Executive Summary
During 2011-12, fifty-five Arts and Sciences
Program faculty and staff welcomed 191
first time freshmen, providing them with the
foundations of their engineering education
through courses in Chemistry, Communications,
Design, Health and Fitness, Humanities and
Social Sciences, Mathematics, and Physics.
In addition to delivering high quality courses,
the Arts and Sciences Program has continued
to expand its academic support services
through a number of tutorial programs and
has implemented the first components of an
Academic Intervention and Mentorship (AIM)
Program for academically at-risk students. As
part of a focus on providing engaging, studentcentered,
active learning environments, a
studio approach to teaching introductory
Physics was initiated, and additional online
learning tools such as MyEconLab for
Economics and LabSkills for Chemistry were
introduced. At the graduate level the new
MSc degree program in Applied Chemistry
received accreditation and several new
graduate level elective courses were offered.
Arts and Sciences faculty were also extremely
active in research and service, with several
faculty delivering invited talks at prestigious
conferences regionally and internationally.
Overall, A&S faculty were involved in 17
sponsored research projects, delivered 34
conference presentations and produced nearly
60 publications during Academic Year 2011-12.
The Program continued its extensive service
and outreach activities through the hosting of
area secondary school students, several invited
speaker series, special events, an international
design competition, and collaborative efforts
with both internal and external partners.
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