Institutional
Support and Financial Resources
Support
for the undergraduate instructional program comes from several sources: state
support channeled through the office of the Dean of Engineering; support
received from the Georgia Tech Foundation in response to curriculum, lab,
faculty development proposals; proceeds from the $10 million endowment raised
during the recent Centennial Capital Campaign; and educational research grants
from government agencies (e.g., NSF) and industries.
In
Table I-5, the expenditures of the aerospace engineering program are given for
the past three fiscal years beginning on
It is
believed that EAC/ABET Criterion 7, related to the institutional support,
financial resources, and constructive leadership is met and substantially
exceeded by the Aerospace Engineering Program, for the following reasons.
– The Institute funding level has been
steady for the past several years (with a modest cost of living increase) after
fluctuations in the number of faculty (retirement, new hires, etc.) are
considered. The Institute support is
currently at the level of $4.6 million per fiscal year (approximately $170,000
per faculty member).
–
The merit based increases in salary
have averaged around four percent for the past several years. This has been beneficial in retaining highly
qualified faculty and staff.
– The Institute and the School of Aerospace
Engineering have been very successful in offering competitive starting salaries
to new faculty and staff.
– The administrative/academic staff average
one administrative assistant for four faculty members. The academic office is staffed by two of these
administrative assistants. Four staff members handle the School’s financial
affairs. The School has its own
instrumentation lab and workshop to address research and instructional needs,
staffed by three engineers. Two
engineers are in charge of maintaining academic and instructional computing
facilities. Mailing, fax, printing and
supplies are handled by a staff member. The
physical plant is maintained by the Institute from a separate source of
funding.
– As discussed earlier, instructional
laboratories are in kept in good condition. A significant portion of the funding for
laboratory improvements comes from the institute either as part of the School's
operating budget, or Georgia Tech Foundation grants.
– The AE faculty members have been diligent
and have shown creative leadership in securing external funding for laboratory
improvements, and undergraduate research internships. For example, Dr. Marilyn Smith and Dr.
Narayanan Komerath were recently awarded a NSF grant
($100,000 per year, for a total of four years) that will give need-based
scholarships to qualified undergraduate students throughout the College of
Engineering. A grant from NSF (PI:
Narayanan Komerath) was used to upgrade the fluid mechanics
lab facilities. Dr. Jagoda
and Dr. Mavris have been able to establish United
Technologies Corporation and General Electric internships, respectively. Dr. Marilyn Smith was recently awarded an
institute grant for the establishment of a computer cluster for use in
undergraduate education and research.
In summary, the