program, or to concentrate in one of these major fields of oceanography. 

 Except for the management major, this is at present the most popular 

 of all the majors offered to the midshipmen. 



Since oceanography was first introduced as a minor /major curric- 

 ulum, it has grown from 20 midshipmen in the class of 1969 to 150 in 

 the class of 1972, leveling off at a planned enrollment of 160 per year. 

 The objective of the oceanography major curriculum is to provide a 

 program for in-depth study of oceanography at the undergraduate level, 

 to produce better naval officers by providing an understanding and 

 appreciation of the naval environment, and to prepare midshipmen for 

 graduate study in the field of oceanography. 



In the Spring of 1969 an ocean engineering curriculum, offering 

 basic courses in oceanography, was approved. This major will 

 develop for the students an appreciation of the marine environment, 

 as for an example, the effect of waves on structures. To date, 17 

 students have enrolled for next year's courses. 



The Comimittee on Ocean Engineering of the National Academy of 

 Engineering reviewed the Naval Academy program in June of 1968 and 

 observed that meteorology and oceanography are foundation blocks in 

 the Academy's engineering curricula. The Committee recommended 

 that the Naval Academy in all of its engineering curricula, should 

 "strive for excellence in - and reputation for - interaction with the 

 naval environment, which is the ocean. " They recommended this in 

 preference to developing a specially identified major in ocean engineer- 

 ing. The Committee recommended that all basic engineering courses 

 at the Naval Academy should be rewritten or modified to present max- 

 imum emphasis on the ocean environment, and that areas of concentra- 

 tion rather than formal minors be considered. 



Although in theory this is an attractive approach it isn't surprising 

 that the Naval Academy found it nearly impossible to implement. Re- 

 ■writing a course to reflect an emphasis on the ocean environment isn't 

 much help unless the teacher himself has been schooled in oceanography, 

 or has been a practicing ocean engineer. Staffing every basic engineer- 

 ing course with such talent would be extremely difficult, and organiza- 

 tionally would be hard to sustain. Viability and strength develop only 

 when departmental, or at least curricular major status is granted. 

 Diffusion throughout the existing organization usually is an invitation 

 to ineffectiveness. 



Until recently, oceanography and ocean engineering were not 

 widely offered in undergraduate curricula. However, some of the 

 basic courses in oceanography can now reasonably be taught at the 



