How Students “Learn ChemE”: The Impact of Departmental Culture on Student Success

Each engineering department has a unique departmental culture based on its history, faculty makeup, geography, faculty teaching styles, and a myriad of other factors. While some departments have a long history with a well-established culture and traditions, other departments that have been recently formed are faced with the challenge of creating a culture from scratch. The success of a department in creating and sustaining a desirable culture can have a significant impact on recruiting, retention, and general satisfaction of its undergraduate and graduate students. These types of activities also serve to shape students’ expectations about what it means to enter the engineering profession and shapes how new students identify themselves as engineers. This presentation will discuss John Falconer’s contribution to and influence on the chemical engineering culture, not only at the University of Colorado at Boulder, but also in chemical engineering departments world-wide.