Harvey Mudd College
Overview
Harvey Mudd College (HMC) is a small, primarily undergraduate private college specializing in science, engineering and mathematics. HMC is one of five institutions in the collective of Claremont Colleges. The five adjoining campuses are within walking distance and share library, dining hall, campus security and health service resources, however, each college is managed independently in terms of faculty, trustees, and admissions procedures. Harvey Mudd students may can take classes at the other four undergraduate Claremont colleges, but their Bachelor of Science degree is issued by Harvey Mudd College.
Location: Claremont, CA
Total First-Years: 225
Undergraduates: 844
Faculty: 109
Additional information can be found in Institutional Statics.
First-Year Programs of Note
The following are noteworthy programs that differ from MIT practices. Unless otherwise stated, assumptions should not be made about the effectiveness of these programs.
Bridge Programs
HMC Summer Institute (SI) is a summer program designed to ease students’ transition to Harvey Mudd. There are some similarities to MIT’s OME program, however, it is shorter and a less academically rigorous. Participants arrive on campus three weeks before orientation and in addition to hands-on faculty talks, social justice and leadership experiential workshops, and group activities, they begin taking the first math class in the core curriculum. SI participants continue to take this math class as a cohort after the program ends.
Boojum Institute is an overnight trip to the San Jacinto Mountains during the first weekend of SI. Participants and staff stay at Idyllwild Pines camp and participate in a Challenge Course experience involving low and high ropes activities. This experience is designed to foster cooperation and development of inner strength, leadership skills and interpersonal relationships.
First-Year Seminars and Experiences
HMC's Academic Excellence Program (AE) provides a setting for first-year students to meet up and work together on homework problems in the core subjects (chemistry, physics, and math courses). AE is similar to MIT's Talented Scholars Resource Room (TSR^2). In the evenings, HMC students can attend structured review sessions for exams, or participate in open sessions that encourage groups of students to work on homework problems together to gain a better understanding of course concepts. Upperclass student facilitators lead sessions and serve as individual and group tutors. Facilitators are all recommended for the position by their departments and attend training sessions on problem solving and collaborative learning strategies led by the AE Program Director. Over 75% of HMC first-year students participate in the AE Progam to some extent, with 10-15% of them attending group or individual sessions more than 10x a semester.
Orientation
The Orientation Adventure (OA) is an off-campus component of HMC's new student orientation program. Students spend two days in small groups (10-15 students) exploring the outdoors in Southern CA. These excursions are designed to help new students get to know each other outside the academic context . OA trips are led by student Orientation Leaders as well as a faculty/staff member.
Other Programs
The following programs are structured and implemented in a manner similar to those at MIT.
Learning Communities
HMC does not have formal learning communities
Service Learning, Community-Based Learning
Office of Community Engagement (OCE
Writing-Intensive Courses
Undergraduate Research
There are several undergraduate research programs offered through HMC’s Department of engineering. These programs are available to all students, including first-year students. Additionally, The Office of Career Services (OCS) can help students find Summer Research Opportunities.
Diversity/Global Learning
The Office of Institutional Diversity (OID) offers a variety of educational programs designed for the entire campus community, including “Project Decode” for first-generation students and “Building Bridges" to help improve cultural competence and communication.
There are opportunities for all students to participate in summer Study Abroad programs, but no programs specifically designed for first-year students.
Internships
Internships are available to first-year students, however all students are eligible to apply for these.
Orientation
Advising
Given the small number of students and close-knit community at HMC, all faculty are expected to be first-year advisors, although first-year advising is not focused on academic major. Typically, students declare their major in the third semester and once they declare, they are assigned advisors in the major.
Description of Core/GIR Practices
HMC’s Common Core curriculum includes courses in biology (1), computer science and engineering (1); mathematics (3); physics and an associated laboratory (2.5); chemistry and an associated laboratory (1.5); an interdisciplinary or disciplinary “Core lab”; a half-semester college writing course, and a course in critical inquiry offered by the Department of Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts. HCE also has a physical education class requirement (3) which should be completed in the first and second year.
Curriculum Notes: HMC is also active in the process of considering revisions to their core. A committee led by a faculty director has been working for the last 6-months to engage the community in curriulum discussions and in fall 2017, they voted on the goals of the core curriculum, however, specific curriculum revision recommendations have not yet been put forth.
A change in recent years to the structure of the core computer science course(s) was to create two tracks, black and gold (school colors), for the introductory course. Students admitted with a strong CS background track into the black section, in which students take just one class. The gold section runs as two separate consecutive classes for those who are just getting started with programming. This has helped improve the issue of gender balance in the CS major. There was a belief that previously, far fewer females became CS majors because they felt intimidated in the introductory classes with more advanced male students.
First-Year Housing
All HMC freshman are required to live on campus. Prior to arrival, new students complete a survey of preferences to determine which dorm would be best fit each student. There are spaces reserved specifically for freshmen in each dorm and the first-year class is assigned to a dorm based on their survey response. Within the dorms, students are supported by various peers in Dorm Leadership positions.