Dear Colleagues,
Graduation is here, students have (hopefully!) finished their projects, and our academic year is quickly coming to a close. As promised, we have finalized the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture (VCEA) Strategic Plan for 2015-2020. It will take one to two days next week to update the strategic plan website itself:
However this document can be accessed immediately at the following link:
Read the PDF of the strategic plan.
This last academic year has been a very eventful one. 2014-15 started with the renaming of the college and a wonderful celebration that included 800 people, 42 impressive student club displays, a visit from Gene and Linda Voiland, an all-college photo, a new sign, and even the Cougar Marching Band. Through the year our college continued its strong growth, both in enrollment and in research activity. The Voiland College has nearly doubled our undergraduate enrollment since 2010, and nearly doubled our research expenditures since 2007.
We started a new electrical engineering program in Everett, and are working to start a new construction engineering degree. We hired 19 new faculty members this year, and as you are all aware, we are in the process of hiring many more next year. The search committees have done great jobs in bringing in amazing candidates, and we are all looking forward to another faculty cohort joining us next academic year.
Your efforts are paying off in terms of increased awareness about the VCEA. At WSU’s inaugural Energy Summit, hosted by the Energy Systems Innovation Center, an all-star list of clean energy thought-leaders, including Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, and Pat Hoffman, assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Reliability participated. Research from the Laboratory for Atmospheric Research was featured in the Washington Post and The New York Times. I could mention another dozen examples of the national recognition and impact of the work of VCEA faculty! I’m proud to report that our U.S. News and World Report ranking for our engineering graduate programs improved by five spots.
We’re coming to the end of our successful Campaign for WSU. Outstanding support from our VCEA alumni and donors has created new labs and the Frank Innovation Zone, a place where students can tinker and get critical hands-on skills and experience. New professorships allow us to hire or retain outstanding faculty, and increased scholarship support means our students can more easily attend and stay in our programs.
With all the rapid expansion, many of you may be feeling some growing pains, including cramped classrooms, research labs, or office spaces. I understand that these changes, even though they are positive overall, can be stressful and challenging, and I greatly appreciate your patience during this time. We’re excited about seeing the completion later this year of our new PACCAR Environmental Technology Building. Once the PACCAR Building is occupied, that should give us all a little more breathing room.
I remain so proud of the work that we do here in the Voiland College. With our strong growth, we are doing a better job than ever of meeting our land-grant mission. We are educating our students to be technology leaders, bringing forward important new technologies, positively affecting the economy of our state and nation, and helping to solve our nation’s most critical challenges.
Thank you for all your hard work that makes our success possible, and have a great summer.
Sincerely,
Candis Claiborn, Dean
Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture