Although the College of Engineering’s task force report deems the college to be a “significant net contributor” to the rest of the University, the college aims to slash its budget by 15 percent. The college hopes to “do [its] part, both in terms of budget restrictions and revenue enhancement, to maintain and enhance the strength of the University,” Christopher Ober, interim dean of the college, stated in an e-mail.

"If we help the University, it helps us,” Ober said.

Among the report’s recommendations are increasing student enrollment, decreasing faculty hiring and streamlining undergraduate and graduate curriculum. While the Engineering Task Force Report called for a reduction of “faculty positions by as many as 15,” the report predicted that this will happen through natural attrition, as aging faculty retire. With applications up by 18 percent this year, the task force suggested an increase of 70 students to the incoming class. This 10 percent augmentation would result in a direct boost of $2.6 million to the University's revenue rather than the college’s. Maintaining excellence: The best engineering school in the Ivy League hopes to continue to excel.

While Prof. Alan Zehnder, theoretical and applied mechanics department chair and associate director of undergraduate affairs, recognizes that changes to the engineering curriculum will need to occur in order to respond to the task force's proposals, he does not see such adjustments as problematic.

“I think we could take a limited number of students more,” Zehnder said. “Fewer course offerings and larger courses are likely on the way but we're going to do our best to provide the best quality of education."

The reduction of faculty will not be indiscriminate, but strategically for individual departments.

“What I have seen is encouraging as it suggests that energy research and education will remain a priority within the college,” Prof. Jeff Tester '66, M.S. '67, chemical and biomolecular engineering said. As “an expert in geothermal energy,” Tester, who the college hired from MIT last year, was in fact one of these “strategic hires,” according to Ober.

“There’s a clear need for research in the area, and again we have faculty across the college and across campus working on various aspects of the energy puzzle,” Ober stated. “We believe that if we enhance that core of talent with strategic hires ... we can have a significant impact on the energy challenges of our country and the world.”

While prioritized hiring has always been essential to the college's success, the economic crisis made the college's plans to increase faculty to by 30 null and void.

“In October of 2008, we were asking ourselves, 'how are we going to hire good people?' The suddenness [of the change in economic climate] was really a shock,” Zehnder said.

Although the college's dreams may have cracked, they have not been shattered. “... while it is unlikely that we will be able to hire at the rate we had hoped, we will focus our faculty hiring, albeit limited, in the areas such as energy and bioengineering,” Ober stated.

As the task force report suggests a reduction of engineering faculty positions, the plan also proposes a system of post-tenure review to ensure that all faculty remain a productive member of the engineering community throughout their careers.

“Our faculty are extraordinarily productive but over the course of a career objectives and interests can change,” Ober stated in an e-mail. “For faculty members who have smaller research programs, for example, a recommendation might be to shift more of their effort to teaching. The goal of these actions is finding the right fit both for individuals in terms of their career and for best use of precious talent.”

Even though no mergers within the college are on the table, the task force suggested a merger of sciences classes in the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and the College of Engineering — establishing a new College of Engineering and Science. The task force said that they had not taken any concrete action on this idea that proposes a major restructuring of Cornell.

“The process of Reimagining Cornell is discussing radical changes and we must see if such changes will help us best serve the University's mission,” Deputy Provost David Harris said.

While the task force proposes a wide range of suggestions, Ober urged members of the Cornell community to see them as what they are, suggestions.

“The plan is a plan,” Ober said. “We may have more savings than initially anticipated ... Some aspects of this plan will not need to be implemented.”