In
December 2007, Dean John English created a task force to develop a
strategic plan for the College of Engineering. This group was composed
of two professors from each department, four staff members from the
college, a member of the college development team, a member from the
dean's office, and an alumni representative. This group met Jan. 7,
2008, in an all-day retreat. With the help of a facilitator, Greg
Parnell, the task force developed goals or themes in various areas that
would support the college's recently drafted vision statement. Various
actions items and measures or metrics were proposed for each theme that
would indicate how well the college is progressing toward its vision.
A small
subgroup then drafted an initial document, blending different themes
and expanding on ideas presented during the retreat. Drafts were shared
with all task force members who then shared their own views, as well as
their constituents', and suggested various revisions. During the
revision process, suggestions for deletions, modifications, combining
themes and actions, and recommendations for new themes and actions were
sought. The dean and the department heads were also involved in shaping
the evolution of this strategic planning document. Through multiple
iterations and refinements, the present document was realized with the
following six proposed themes.
Planning Themes
- Recruit and retain diverse academic achievers from
both inside and outside Kansas to produce graduates who will take the
lead in generating technological solutions for and new knowledge about
tomorrow's challenges.
- Provide outstanding and diverse faculty and technological
facilities so students receive quality teaching and advising, enabling
them to become problem solvers, leaders, and critical thinkers highly
sought after by universities, industry, and the government.
- Establish focused, high-impact, nationally recognized research
programs and build a prominent faculty that will enhance the college's
national and international reputation.
- Establish lifelong connections with alumni and capitalize on
this network, corporate partnerships, and related research/scholarship
within the college to strengthen the education experience,
research/scholarship quality, and financial support of the college.
- Prepare students and faculty for the changing global environment
to create a culture of diversity, creativity, innovation, and
entrepreneurship.
- Disseminate new knowledge to a global society and the citizens of Kansas to meet the land-grant mission.
Vision for the College of Engineering
To
be a highly ranked college providing quality education within a
research environment that develops engineering leaders to benefit
society.
To
achieve the aspirations of Kansas State University to be ranked in the
upper quartile of reputable rankings, the College of Engineering will
take a leadership role in fostering excellence in teaching,
scholarship, and outreach. Furthermore, we will grow a community that
is focused upon continuous improvement in quality and national stature
of all programs. As a land-grant institution, the college has a special
obligation in these areas, unique among the regents’ engineering
colleges. To become a highly ranked engineering school, the college
must have quality programs responsive to the needs and hopes of a
rapidly changing world and an increasingly diverse society. Our world
view must be all encompassing with the ultimate purpose of providing
engineering leaders and new knowledge to the citizens of Kansas, the
United States, and the world.
The
responsibility to become a highly ranked engineering college rests
primarily with the faculty and staff. Greatness can be achieved only
with world-class personnel who can produce educational and scholarly
programs of exceptional quality. The purpose of this strategic plan is
to present various goals and actions that will allow the college to
reach its lofty vision.
We, the
faculty, students and staff, will focus on those activities that
directly support the vision of becoming a highly ranked engineering
college. The principal effort of faculty, staff, and college resources
will be invested in our core values of instruction and scholarship, and
in those activities that directly enhance our national reputation.
The
college is committed to providing students with an educational
experience second to none. It will provide academic and extracurricular
learning experiences that value both excellence and diversity, and that
prepare students for successful professional careers. Our graduates
will exhibit the hallmarks of educated professionals- ready to become
future engineering leaders, problem solvers, entrepreneurs, and
involved citizens.
Key to
realization of the college’s vision will be an increased emphasis on
research and other creative endeavors. All faculty members will
participate in the educational programs of the college and contribute
to the discovery and dissemination of new knowledge. Because excellence
in Ph.D. programs largely determines national reputation, some of the
most important themes and goals of this strategic plan are directed at
greatly enhancing the college’s Ph.D. programs.
2008 Strategic Planning Themes and Action Items
Theme 1: Recruit
and retain diverse academic achievers from both inside
and outside Kansas to produce graduates who will take the lead in
generating technological solutions for and new knowledge about
tomorrow's challenges.
Action Items for Theme 1:
(a) Undergraduate Students
- Develop programs that expose middle school students to engineering concepts.
- Employ cutting-edge technology and media tools to promote engineering at K-State to middle school students.
- Conduct workshops for high school science teachers to provide them with material about engineering/science applications
- Provide comprehensive scholarships for legacy and top students.
- Provide incentives for faculty and staff to recruit quality students.
- Retain at-risk undergraduates through special support programs.
- Measures:
-
- Student retention by cohort
- Number of entering students with ACT>28 or top 10% of their class
- UG enrollment time trends vs national trends
- Student team placements in national academic competitions
- Percentage of under-represented students enrolling and retained
- Number of out-of-state students
(b) Graduate Students
- Compete for the highest quality graduate students (especially Ph.D. students).
- Provide funds for graduate student recruiting.
- Supplement GRA stipends to make K-State more attractive to top-notch graduate students.
- Provide funds to enable students to start on research before project funds become available.
- Reduce tuition for Ph.D. students by 20% a year.
- Fund 24 Ph.D. tuition scholarships each year.
- Develop cutting-edge graduate courses that will strengthen the
academic component of Ph.D. education while reducing lower-level course
requirements.
- Focus on integrated B.S.-M.S. programs to entice top students into the graduate programs.
- Measures:
-
- Number of M.S. (no thesis), M.S. (thesis), and Ph.D. students by program and by undergraduate origins
- Number of journal and conference papers with graduate students as co-authors
Theme 2: Provide
outstanding and diverse faculty and technological facilities so
students receive quality teaching and advising, enabling them to become
problem solvers, leaders, and critical thinkers highly sought after by
universities, industry, and the government.
Action Items for Theme 2:
- Recruit and retain outstanding faculty with teaching and scholastic excellence.
- Provide incentives and opportunities for continuous teaching and advising development of faculty.
- Promote a dual-career system for hiring faculty with academic
spouses to allow recruitment of more faculty with proven teaching and
research/scholarship excellence.
- Work with the university to provide tuition remission for faculty children and spouses to attract new faculty.
- Hire faculty who are superb teachers (research/scholarship excellence must not compensate for mediocre teaching skills).
- Employ assistants (e.g., graders, lab instructors) to provide
faculty with ample time to focus on the complementary need for
scholarship and research excellence.
- Fund continuous technology upgrades for classrooms and provide
grants for educational activities that enhance students' educational
experience.
- Invest in facility upgrades, expansions, and new construction.
- Mandate stringent P&T teaching standards and employ a unified
evaluation process with annual feedback on teaching; use methods other
than Tevals to assess teaching effectiveness.
Measures:
- Retention rate of high-achieving students
- National teaching recognition: number of teaching awards,
educational publications, national committee memberships, national
education grants, national fellowship scholars, etc.
- Faculty evaluations by alums who graduated five years earlier
Theme 3: Establish
focused, high-impact, nationally recognized research programs and build
a prominent faculty that will enhance the college's national and
international reputation.
Action Items for Theme 3:
- Establish and promote high-impact research programs by building on
existing strengths and hire faculty whose expertise complements these
strengths.
- Allocate resources to invest in high-impact research areas.
- Secure a substantial number of tenure-track faculty positions to
embark upon proactive searches for nationally prominent faculty;
attract them with high salaries (through endowed chairs), competitive
start-up packages, and other inducements.
- Maintain lists of potential faculty who are about to achieve
national prominence so rapid recruitment can be undertaken when open
lines become available.
- Reward highly productive research faculty and faculty who effectively mentor weaker faculty in research.
- Provide funds and other inducements to retain top-quality faculty.
- Establish efforts for faculty to gain national honors and to
contribute national service to government agencies and professional
societies.
- Require strong P&T research/scholarship criteria; excellence in
teaching must not compensate for mediocre scholarship/research programs.
- Advocate a policy that departments should include six semesters of
Ph.D. support in every start-up package for a new assistant professor.
- Provide existing faculty/staff with opportunities for research development.
- Encourage use of sabbaticals to develop new research skills and collaborations.
- Fund faculty/staff attendance at short courses and other research development programs.
- Fund faculty visits/collaborations from other campuses.
- Provide funding for outside research speakers.
- Establish and maintain a diverse faculty.
Measures:
- M.S. (with thesis) and Ph.D. graduation rates (number/year and number/faculty)
- Scholarly publication rates in top-tier journals
- Annual national competitive funding received and annual research
expenditures per faculty member compared to other engineering colleges
- Number of honors, fellows, offices, editors, and significant national/international activities
Theme 4: Establish
lifelong connections with alumni and capitalize on this network,
corporate partnerships, and related research/scholarship within the
college to strengthen the education experience, research/scholarship
quality, and financial support of the college.
Action Items for Theme 4:
- Establish and maintain an alumni email system, a list of alumni contacts by company, and a "facebook" for engineers.
- Require each department to send a minimum of one newsletter a year to its alumni.
- Schedule more alumni events such as reunions, scholarship
recognition banquets, invitations to student events, etc., and use Open
House to establish strong bonds with alumni.
- Provide incentives for faculty involvement that establish ties to
industry and alumni for the purpose of developing research,
scholarship, and educational experiences for students and faculty.
- Work with development staff to strengthen ties with alumni and industries to garner funding.
- Encourage collaboration between the college and state agencies or industries.
- Promote student connections with the college that foster long-term relationships after graduation.
- Provide opportunities for faculty to meet with industry leaders.
- Implement and maintain a comprehensive marketing and communication plan.
- Use Career Planning and Placement services to identify growth areas.
Measures:
- Annual philanthropic gift totals in comparison to other institutions
- Number of endowed chairs compared to other engineering colleges
- Number of alumni participating in off-campus programs, e.g., senior design projects, distance education courses, etc.
Theme 5: Prepare
students and faculty for the changing global environment to create a
culture of diversity, creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
Action Items for Theme 5:
- Promote international experience for undergraduates through the Study Abroad Scholarship Program.
- Promote international research and scholarly collaborations, and attendance at international meetings.
- Establish an evaluation/reward system that values a global perspective.
- Link U.S. students with international students to broaden cultural diversity.
- Facilitate a path for high-quality international students to come to K-State.
- Conduct college-wide multicultural competency training.
- Expand the curriculum to support study abroad.
- Engage domestic students in cross-cultural events.
Measures:
- Number of students with international experience (exchange
programs, Study Abroad scholarships, cultural trips during semester
breaks, etc.)
- Number of students and faculty from under-represented groups
- Number of faculty participating in foreign travel
Theme 6: Disseminate new knowledge to a global society and the citizens of Kansas to meet the land-grant mission.
Action Items for Theme 6:
- Identify and respond to critical needs for technical assistance and
educational outreach that complement research and scholarly activities
within the college and have a direct impact on government
organizations/agencies and the private sector in Kansas.
- Identify and tap into state and national funding sources, both
public and private, which will be sustainable and will complement
existing university funding.
- Know the latest techniques utilized by other land-grant
institutions for conducting large-scale information dissemination in
order to increase the efficiency of delivering and receiving
information.
- Network with selected state-level public and private entities to
determine their short- and medium-term needs for data and information.
Measures:
- Number of requests for technical assistance and educational outreach from within Kansas and the U.S., and from outside the U.S.
- Response rate from public and private entities to technical assistance and educational outreach programs offered by the college
Strategic Planning Committee for the College of Engineering
2008
ARE/CNSM: Carl Riblett and Ray Yunk
BAE: Kyle Mankin and Donghai Wang
CHE: Jim Edgar and Krista Walton
CIS: Scott DeLoach and Gurdip Singh
CE: Brian Coon and Alex Mathews
ECE: Dave Soldan and Dwight Day
IMSE: David Ben-Arieh and Todd Easton
MNE: Ken Shultis and Steve Eckels
Dean's Office: Byron Jones
Development: Kelly Levi Sartorious
Staff: Reid Christianson, Vicky Geyer, Olga Lease, and Jodi Milliner
Alumi: Larry Strecker
Facilitator: Greg Parnell, systems engineering professor, West Point
