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The 2+2 Scholars Program: Collaborative Undergraduate Nuclear Engineering Education in Idaho

Abstract

The 2 + 2 Scholars Program brings together nuclear engineering undergraduate students from three Idaho universities - Idaho State University (ISU), the University of Idaho (UI), and Boise State University (BSU) - to spend their junior and senior years in Idaho Falls, attending classes at University Place (a joint campus of ISU and UI) while working as interns at the Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and using INL facilities for coursework. Scholarship funds are provided by the AREVA Group and the DOE.

How did it start?

In 2003, the Idaho State Board of Education approved the establishment of ISU's Institute for Nuclear Science and Engineering (INSE). The Institute, directed by Dr. Michael Lineberry, was created to encompass all things nuclear at ISU and to promote and facilitate collaboration with the INL. The Institute was designed to go beyond the traditional limitations of a college, because there are things happening in the Physics Department, in the College of Engineering, and in Biology and Medicine that are all very exciting and relevant to nuclear. INSE provides an opportunity to pull them all together and manage the momentum and the collaborations with the INL. The idea was for the Institute to span not only across colleges at ISU, but also across all three state universities - ISU, Boise State, and the University of Idaho. The University of Idaho offers expertise in mechanical and chemical engineering aspects of nuclear. Boise State focuses on energy policy issues and on nuclear materials. ISU contributes through its expertise in the more traditional areas of nuclear engineering and nuclear physics. It's a great combination that works to collaborate with INL. The universities can use what INL has, and in turn INL gets to use the university facilities. So, it's mutually beneficial.

The idea for the 2 + 2 program actually occurred at a meeting of all three of the universities’ vice-presidents for research. It was kicked off in 2004, when the Idaho State Board of Education approved a bachelor of science in Nuclear Engineering degree for ISU. Before that approval, the state of Idaho didn't have a nuclear engineering bachelor's degree, but rather an ABET accredited interdisciplinary degree with nuclear emphasis at ISU. With this new degree program in the state, and the new mission of INL to become the nation's center for nuclear technology, all the ducks were in a row to set up an initiative like 2 + 2.

The Scholars Program began in the fall of 2005, in close collaboration with the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) through its Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES). This program is part of a larger collaborative effort between INL-CAES and the U.S. nuclear education infrastructure, as represented at least initially by the Idaho universities mentioned above (the “Idaho University Consortium” (IUC) as it’s known for purposes of collaboration with INL); and a “National University Consortium” (NUC - named in a companion paper on CAES). The main purpose of the collaborative relationship is to play a major role in revitalization of nuclear science and engineering education and research in the U.S.

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Dunzik-Gougar, M. L., & Lineberry, M., & Bond, L. (2006, June), The 2+2 Scholars Program: Collaborative Undergraduate Nuclear Engineering Education In Idaho Paper presented at 2006 Annual Conference & Exposition, Chicago, Illinois. 10.18260/1-2--1454