The undergraduate Engineering Council approved a resolution directed toward the administration last night outlining a series of changes meant to fix perceived deficiencies in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

The resolution was drafted by a coalition of students called the Concerned Students of Washington University Engineering (CSWUE) and lists eight requests.

“We really believe that we have a duty to improve the school where we can,” said Justin Char, a senior and member of the Engineering Council (EnCouncil) and CSWUE. “Everything [in the resolution] was designed to address specific problems that we’ve seen and brought up in the past.”

The resolution passed with overwhelming support, gaining 63 votes in favor; there were two votes against and four abstentions; the 69 students who voted on the resolution represent nearly 5% of undergradute engineering students, an exceptionally large turnout for an EnCouncil meeting.

CSWUE is a group of students who aim to demonstrate that students in the school of engineering are concerned with the school’s future.

“This is a group dedicated to fixing things we see as problems and addressing people’s concerns with some of the changes that have been made by [Dean Sansalone's] administration,” said Char.

The resolution is the second formal challenge to Dean Sansalone’s administration. At the start of the academic year, tenured professors called for the removal of the school’s dean, Mary Sansalone, citing issues similar to those raised by the students.

At no point in the resolution is Dean Sansalone mentioned by name. The resolution does, however, call for the administration to “acquire Faculty Assembly approval prior to major curriculum and policy changes,” which is a response to Dean Sansalone’s failure to do this in several instances, according to members of CSWUE during last night’s debate.

The resolution also requests that the administration “prevent the use of intimidation or coercion on any member of the University community,” which is a response to complaints by students and faculty of being pressured or slandered by members of the administration.

Supporters of the resolution were careful to frame the resolution in a constructive light and as the start of positive action, rather than as an attack on Dean Sansalone.

“This is not a resolution specifically aimed at her,” said Char. “This is not a resolution that is specifically aimed at any one person. This is a resolution that has specific goals that a broad group of people can work towards.”

Representatives of the engineering school administration declined to comment on the resolution on Thursday because it had not yet been approved.

Char explained that by using a series of specific bullet points, the resolution was able to lay out constructive criticism.

“When it was presented to us, we saw it as our responsibility to listen to what our constituents wanted us to act upon,” said senior Rachel Lee, president of EnCouncil. “We want to be able to take positive steps forward to be able to make something better and to make this a school that we can be proud of.”

The resolution also calls for the administration to increase student involvement with the school and to give students a greater voice in framing the future of the engineering school through the creation of departmental advisory boards which would be open to all students.

According to Lee, some of the requests laid out in the resolution-and specifically those relating to student involvement-were already goals of the Engineering Council for the semester.

The resolution calls for the reinstatement of “open, unscripted, impartially moderated, and recorded forums” with a panel of engineering deans. Since Dean Sansalone began her tenure a year-and-a-half ago, many students have complained that the forums for students to interact with administrators do not allow for a free flow of criticism and praise.

This is the first resolution that the Engineering Council has passed in three years. The last resolution dealt with student concerns over professors’ compliance with engineering school policies on assignments during reading week, office hours and course syllabi.

The resolution will be distributed to the school’s deans and department chairs.

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