Rodman Courses
If you are wondering about what you need to do about registering for classes, don't worry. You will be registered automatically for the classes that most first-year Rodman students take. This list includes classes which are exclusive to Rodman Scholars (denoted by the *), as well as classes shared with the entire first-year class of the engineering school:
Class Pneumonic Title
* ENGR 141R Synthesis and Design I
CHEM 151 Intro. Chemistry
CHEM 151L Intro. Chemistry Lab
* STS 200R Scientific and Technical Thinking
* PHYS 142R Intro. Physics
APMA 111 Calculus I
* Rodman courses
You will receive an official copy of your schedule when you arrive for your summer orientation. At orientation you will meet with your academic advisor, one of the Rodman Scholars faculty members, and they will deliver a package of information to you. Your class schedule will be in this packet along with other very important paperwork. Any changes that need to be made with regard to your schedule (such as any elective spaces you may have due to AP credit) can be discussed with your advisor.
More conveniently known as S & D, Synthesis and Design will be your first experience with fundamental engineering concepts and design. This class replaces the standard "Introduction to Engineering" class that all first-year engineers must take. Lectures will usually last about an hour and the remaining time may be spent on group work or other activities.
The curriculum will be chosen by the professor to include the introductory principles of engineering. Topics may include engineering economics, decision-making, time management, elementary statistics, materials and manufacturing, engineering ethics, and risk analysis. The class will include an introduction to Microsoft Excel, a useful tool with a million more functions that you ever dreamed existed.
In the second semester the class will focus predominantly on the Capstone Project. This project is a design problem which will extend through most of the spring. Topics are influenced by student interest, and the students work in groups unless they choose not to do so. The project will require group organization, managing, and ultimately will result in the construction of a working model or prototype. This project is the signature of Synthesis and Design and often becomes the students' favorite part of the course, often to the envy of their fellow engineering classmates outside of the Rodman program. The lecture part of the course is on the engineering design process and also teaches an introduction to the computer program MathCAD.
Comments from upper-class Rodman Scholars:
"This class gave the opportunity to work on special projects. You are able to build what you create in many cases, an attribute rare in first-year classes. S & D also covers a variety of topics, and teams depend on one another so that you really get to know the other Rodmans."
"This class is quite flexible. The program is constantly being redefined based on your input. S & D presents an excellent opportunity for hands-on experience and education in a wide range of engineering concepts and techniques. You probably will not have to worry as much about grades in this class as others. In the past they have been fairly high."
"[The Capstone project] forced us to stretch our and learn on our own. It was frustrating at the time, but I think we learned quite a bit. As it turns out, the design project in the last semester of Chemical Engineering is very much like the S & D project. We were given minimal instruction and no limits on how to solve the problem. Just like first-year, we had to learn how to define and then solve the problem on our own. This is probably the most valuable asset you can bring to an employer when you are going into the job market."
This course, Scientific and Technical Thinking, is taught by the department of Technology, Culture, and Communication, a unique department within the engineering school whose objective is to provide engineers with strong communication skills and provide a basis for the ethics of technology. The course is designed to cover the non-technical aspects of engineering. The professor, Michael Gorman, discusses the human cognitive process and the different ways in which people choose to solve problems. The class encourages student-led instruction and group discussions, so participation is an important part of your grade. STS 200R involves an end-of-the-semester project that concerns the interaction of society and technology, usually a topic of the group's choice. This team project requires a final report and presentation to the class.
Comments from upper class Rodman Scholars:
"[STS] was an interesting class. It was difficult to get an 'A' in, but not too difficult to do well. Dr. Gorman can be very flexible about his class and he is very knowledgeable. Get him to focus on something that interests you and you can learn a lot. This is one of the least technical classes, especially for the first year."
"This class enables you to have space free in your schedule for a College of Arts and Sciences class or one of the University Seminars, since you will have a heavy load of engineering classes second and third year."
This is the general Physics I class covering classical mechanics, particle kinematics and dynamics, energy and momentum, rotations, gravitation and gases. It is the same as PHYS 142E taken by other engineering students later in their second semester. PHYS 142R has a class size of about forty students, unlike PHYS 142E which has about 350 people. Because the class is composed of Rodman Scholars, the information is at a more advanced level and the course moves rapidly. Taking physics a semester early allows Rodman Scholars to begin taking engineering core courses more quickly, opening up space for other courses in the following semesters.
Comments from upper class Rodman Scholars:
"I did not even mind the days when we were held ten minutes late to demonstrate a lab. I thought most of the tests were fair, but beware of the final exam."
"I had AP credit in physics going into my first year. However, I picked up physics to fill my schedule. It really helped reinforce the concepts I was unsure of in high school. The grade helped my GPA."
In the engineering school you are required to have a semesterly schedule of no less than 15 credit hours. Credit hours are a rough estimate of how many hours you will spend in a class per week. For example, if you go to a class for an hour three times a week, it will be a three credit hour course. Laboratory times are slightly different and do not follow a one-to-one ratio of class time to credit hours.
The fifteen-hour requirement is more stringent than the credit requirement for students enrolled in the College of Arts and Science, but you have a lot more information to learn in four years, as your courses must train you in limited time to be a successful engineer! The number of credit hours for which you are enrolled will be listed in the information given to you by your student advisor. Special permission may be granted by the engineering school dean which will allow you to carry less than fifteen credit hours, but this is a rare exception.
Entering Rodman Scholars have multiple advisors within the engineering school. During the summer before you come to U.Va., you will be matched with an upper-class Rodman student as an advisor. They will be in contact with you to answer any questions or calm any fears you may have about your first semesters as a college student. Your faculty advisor will be one of the Rodman faculty members until the time when you chose a major and have an advisor from within your respective field. Students who decide to pursue a minor will have a separate faculty advisor for this as well, and if for some reason you are not happy with your advisor, it is possible to change to another faculty advisor.
Deviations from the basic first-year Rodman class schedule are almost always a result of Advanced Placement (AP) credits. The most common changes to this schedule involve Calculus, Chemistry, and Physics AP credit. If you received a 5 on the placement tests for any of these three subjects you will automatically receive credit for these, although some students may actually decide to enroll in these courses again to ensure they learned all the necessary material.
Credit for AP English is complicated. If you were not a Rodman Scholar, AP English (5) or AP English Literature credit (4 or 5) would replace the STS 101 course required for your first semester. However, all first-year Rodman Scholars will take the 200 level STS course, a unique course taught solely to your incoming Rodman class. If you did not take or did not receive credit (4 or 5) on the AP English or AP Literature exam, you will be required to fulfill the three credit hour discrepancy by enrolling in another STS 200 level course in some later semester.
A word of advice about moving ahead in the curriculum: the courses you will take in your first year are crucial to the rest of your engineering studies. They are the building blocks of engineering concepts and theory. If you are even the slightest bit unsure of your knowledge in a subject area for which you have received credit, you may want to consider taking the class again. This is especially true for Calculus, Physics, and Chemistry. Remember that the AP exams are designed for every high school student in the country and are not tailored specifically for the University of Virginia engineering school curricula.
If you are fortunate enough to have extra space in your schedule you will be able to (and be required to) fill these spaces with other courses. You can choose classes either within the engineering school to advance in your expected major (if you have foresight that many incoming engineers do not have!), or outside of the engineering school to broaden your academic horizons. A good source of information about courses outside of the engineering school can be found online by perusing the Course Offering Directory, which lists specifics on available classes and their times for the upcoming semester, as well as the Undergraduate Record, which contains all classes offered by departments and requirements for minors in each
CODAlso feel free to ask your student or faculty advisor what he or she thinks is the best option. Your faculty advisor will have good suggestions for electives related to potential majors, and your student advisor may be able to connect you with another upperclassman that shares your interests. Remember that they have been where you are now and have had to make the same decisions. If you have problems or questions about issues related to credit you received or course enrollment, you will want to go to the Dean's office in Thornton Hall (Thornton A122) and speak to the secretaries there. They are by far the most informed resources you can use when it comes to issuing credit, course requirements, and the like. It is important that you settle your schedule as soon as possible. You will have plenty of time, and the engineering school is much more gracious than the college of arts and science with regard to drop/add dates, but any gaps or overlaps you have in your schedule as you try to decide between classes will only compile as time goes by.
If you are a cadet, the Rodman schedule has been fixed this year to allow you to take the Synthesis and Design I course in the fall semester. In past years there has been a scheduling conflict which had not allowed Cadets to take Synthesis and Design I in their first semester. If you are in the ROTC program then your schedule will include other items, but you are probably already aware of these.
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