Guest Essay: The Decline of New York University Sustainability

Elaine Lee is a mechanical engineer student at New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering.

After almost a year of virtually no communication, students of the Sustainable Urban Environment program at the Tandon School of Engineering seemingly lost all hope that their major would continue to exist. Many professors are working tirelessly to incorporate sustainability lessons into many engineering programs. Everyone I spoke to radiated a passion for the field. Some dream of someday leaving Tandon to become urban planners or designers, while others hope to inspire their students to transform the industries that pollute our world.

By the end of the fall semester 2021 Sustainable urban environment The students received the following notice: “Please Note. Applicants are no longer accepted for this program.” Environmental engineering was thought to be the main vehicle, but since then there have been little to no updates on the issue.

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“You need to sleep so as not to see sustainability as a critical issue in our time,” said Richard Wehner, who was co-director of the SUE program and is currently a professor emeritus.

Vener and his colleagues have developed a specialty that combines the technical, scientific and political dimensions of sustainable development. It was focused on the urban environment because “the city is where most problems and most solutions come from.” Although the university struggled to attract students in its first few years, after Brooklyn Polytechnic’s merger with New York University in 1973, people from all over the United States flocked to SUE.

The major was designed to be small, limiting enrollment to 25 students, Vener said. Also, unlike other large companies, SUE does not have a dedicated floor. It also lacks full-time teachers – after Vener retired, only the assistant professor and deputy vice-rector remained, and the rest of the professors are adjuncts.

In the fall 2022 semester, the union representing the New York University Auxiliary Faculty will threatened beat if the university did not raise wages, offer additional educational resources, and provide job security, among other requirements. Only after the expiration of the union’s contract did the university and the union come to a compromise. SUE is not the only specialty taught primarily by assistants; V music education program V Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development Also. As in the case of the State Unitary Enterprise, the major stopped accepting applicants in the fall of 2022. close completely autumn 2023.

“When all professors are adjuncts, there is much less success in guiding students after hours,” said Ricardo Scheler, a junior student in the SUE program.

SUE was the reason Scheler even applied to NYU, believing the program produced “excellent critical thinkers on social issues.”

Following Vener’s retirement in January 2020, Associate Professor Alisa Reznikova was hired as the new director on a five-year contract. But in August, after NYU announced the future of SUE, Reznikova resigned, and no one replaced her. To date, the current SUE advisor, James Lewis, does not even specialize in sustainable development, but in humanistic psychology. As a result, many students are reluctant to ask about sustainability career opportunities.

“I have found empathy and compassion for the environment and the people around me,” said Senior SUE Specialist and Science and Technology Specialist.

As a person close to the former director and aware of plans for the major, they were confused as to why the major that meant so much to them was cancelled.

“NYU’s move to get rid of a major is a really big setback for the school,” said Keilynn Yamanashi, another SUE senior.

Yamanashi is also studying urban design and architecture at New York University’s College of Arts and Sciences. While the Urban Design and Architecture program has some similarities to SUE, it focuses more on the theoretical side of urban planning rather than the technical side. Also, the lessons in SUE are better contextualized simply because they are located in an engineering school.

All three students enjoyed the accessibility of the specialty and the relatively small workload. They liked the professors and SUE flexibility that allowed them to explore different courses, which the traditional engineering curriculum could not do. However, like many of their peers, they were disappointed and uncertain about their future.

In a virtual town hall attended by SUE students, questions about what to do if future employers question the legitimacy of the SUE program went unanswered. Career resources and reassurances were not given.

When Scheler asked, “How does this decision align with the actual goals of…creating a sustainable engineering school,” the answer lacked depth and elaboration.

“From my point of view, it seems like they’re just beating around the bush, but it looks like they’re determined to get rid of the Major,” Yamanashi said.

In my own senior year castle design engineering class, environmental friendliness just put it on topic. I cannot recall a case when the professor, after almost four years of work at Tandon, studied it in detail.

“[Sustainability] should be an important topic mentioned in all laboratories, but it is mentioned only in two out of 11 laboratories,” said Olivia Wu, Teaching Assistant for EG1004, an introductory course required for all engineering and computer science students.

Many professors have also noticed this pattern of neglect. Miguel Modestino, Associate Professor of the Department of Chemical Technology, has always found ways to incorporate sustainability into his lessons. While Modestino has been advocating for sustainability lessons since 2017, it wasn’t until the Fall 2022 semester that Tandon’s sustainable design initiative kicked off. This program aims to combine multiple sustainability curricula while doubling the number of sustainability faculty.

“I hope at some point we don’t have to call it the Sustainable Design Initiative, I hope we could just call it design,” Modestino said.

But why can’t NYU promote sustainability in engineering while also promoting SUE for those less engineering minded? Why can’t they coexist? If NYU wants to be different from other schools, it should promote smaller specialties, not limit their recruitment.

The WSN Opinion Section strives to post ideas worthy of discussion. The views expressed in the “Opinion” section are solely those of the author.

Contact Elaine Lee in [email protected]