The department of polymer and fiber engineering department will close Aug. 15 after reviews presented by Christopher Roberts, dean of the College of Engineering, University president Jay Gogue, the University senate and other groups at the June 5 Board of Trustees meeting.
Current polymer and fiber engineering students will be able to complete their degrees, and the college will also continue to maintain the graduate program in that field.
“This move has been studied very carefully at all levels within the University, and is motivated by fundamental changes that have occurred within the College of Engineering, as well as in the regional industry base,” Roberts said. “Foremost among these is the continued diminishment of enrollments in the polymer and fiber program, and the need to align our resources with emerging enrollment trends.”
There were 63 undergraduates in the program in fall 2014.
Provost Timothy Boosinger said there is not enough demand for the program.
Faculty will be assigned to other majors that have more enrollment so they can better serve students, according to Boosinger.
According to Roberts, the program is still high-quality.
"The quality of the program was never in question, it's just relative distribution of our resources and the number of students that we have to serve," Roberts said. "I'm certain the students that are enrolled will get a very good education if they choose to finish up the degree."
The College of Engineering will offer specialized coursework in the graduate program for polymer and fiber engineering with plans for an interdisciplinary Center for Polymer and Composite Engineering.
Maria Auad, interim department chair and associate professor of polymer and fiber engineering, said the center will providenew opportunities for research.
"Although we are closing the department chance to direct the funding through new avenues, which I think are going to be very important for the school of engineering and Auburn University," Auad said.
Julia Freeman, academic advisor for polymer and fiber engineering, said she has dealt with students who have not been accepted into the major since its closing.
"Oh yeah, I've been having that conversation," Freeman said.
She also said it was a slow process since the Board of Trustees vote came after the start of Camp War Eagle, so it affected incoming freshman.
"We had students who didn't read their email and didn't know until they got here that they couldn't major in this, and so basically what I have told them is that they should still be able to get a background in polymers ... and that this degree has been accredited as a materials engineering degree, so I see the logic in folding this background into materials engineering," Freeman said.
Students can also use the bachelor program to prepare for the graduate program if they want to specialize, according to Freeman.
Auad also said this will "open opportunities for the continuation of research in polymer and composites" at Auburn.
"They already have two specializations, one in polymers and one in fiber composites, so I'm telling the students that they can get this background, it just won't be as a major," Freeman said.
She also said the university is adding content in polymer and composites to materials and chemical engineering courses as well as preparing to develop minors in polymers and composites.
"There is some advantage to having a broader undergraduate degree such as materials, mechanical or chemical engineering which are the ones who are the most closely aligned right now, basically materials and chemical, and then having a specialization in something like polymers and composites, and according to what they're telling me that's where the programs are headed," Freeman said.
Roy Broughton, professor emeritus in the department of polymer and fiber engineering, has taught at Auburn since 1976.
"Given the ubiquitous nature of polymers, fibers and composites, and their industrial significance, dissolving the single department devoted to those areas is questionable," Broughton said.
However, Freeman said there can be positives to the closing of the department.
"I'm hopeful that that will serve the students, in the long run," Freeman said. "Because when you're job hunting, it's not a bad thing to have a broad bachelor's degree, and then you tend to specialize in a graduate program, but if you can specialize in a bachelor's program with a minor or a specialization, that's also good when you're job hunting."
She also said small departments or colleges run the risk of closure because of lack of funding from the state.
Broughton said the attempt to close small programs isn't new at Auburn.
According to Freeman, this is the third time since she's been an adviser the university has considered closing the program. She said when polymer and fiber engineering was textile, they considered closing it since it was small. Going forward, they changed the program and it grew, but Freeman said it's not the same because it doesn't have 400 students like civil engineering.
"You have to raise your own money through research and gifts, and it's just hard to do when you're a small department," Freeman said. "You have fewer, professors doing research and so obviously that affects the bottom line."
Freeman said this transition was basically a re-aligning of programs within the College of Engineering.
"You know it's hard when you close a department, because a small department the students know each other and it's just a different sort of feel, so that's the hard part," Freeman said.
Freeman was asked to stay on as an adviser through the closing and remodeling of the building.
"I think there are going to be a lot of opportunities for our alumni, our students and our faculty," Auad said.
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