As the semester begins to wind down, many of the efforts in the college are focused on end-of-semester academic happenings: senior capstone presentations, course projects, papers, grading, and final exam preparations. Even though it is a very busy time of the year, there are still a number of significant events to report on as the college continues with its transformation.
Through May 2, the remaining unconfirmed admitted students for Fall 2016 will be making their decisions. The Purdue Polytechnic is up nearly 12 percent from a year ago in the number of students who have made their deposits! We are well on track to exceed our goal of increasing new beginners from 620 to 665. It will be the third year in a row of growth after a decade of declining enrollment. This success story has been a collective effort of our faculty, who have embraced the transformation through curriculum and changes in the teaching and learning methodologies, and our staff, who have planned and implemented innovative marketing and recruiting strategies that included targeted follow-up with applicants and admits, on-campus visit programs, phone calls, and many other behind-the-scenes efforts.
The college hosted the first Innovation Summit April 12-13 to engage with serial entrepreneurs and thought leaders on innovation and entrepreneurship and seek their thoughts and recommendations on the best way to integrate innovation into our curricula. The summit was organized by Matt McKillip and Lonnie Bentley and supported by Dan Hasler and Greg Deason from the Purdue Research Foundation. We had many great speakers, panels, and breakout sessions, and action items and recommendations for the college are being prepared by Matt and Lonnie as a follow up. (Photos)
On April 22, I had the pleasure of welcoming back to campus some of our most successful alumni as part of our alumni awards program. At breakfast we celebrated Early Career and Outstanding Technology Alumni. At dinner we celebrated two new Distinguished Technology Alumni: Mike Dilts (CMT ’81) and Rob McKinney (SATT ’91). This was not only a celebration of our successful alumni, but also a strong validation of the excellent faculty and staff in the college. Even more, it was a celebration of a successful college that continues to prepare graduates with the skills, knowledge, and grit to be leaders and successful professionals.
