Happy New Year and welcome back to another semester in the Purdue Polytechnic Institute at Purdue University! 2015 was a remarkable year of progress in the transformation of the college as we work to better align ourselves with the digital age; 2016 promises to be even better! There are many transformation activities underway or planned in the coming year. Although too numerous to mention all of them, I would like to highlight a few.
- Todd Kelley, associate professor of technology leadership and innovation, and Sherri Briller, associate professor of anthropology, will co-teach a new course that embodies many of the attributes of the transformed learning experience. The course (TLI 367 (Teaching Design and Innovation I)) is focused on learning by doing human-centered design or design thinking. Students will work in teams to hone their critical thinking skills, develop creative solutions, mock-up design ideas, and engage with a community of experts.
- All departments are undertaking crucial initiatives. They are making measured progress, particularly with curriculum and course redesigns, a full transition to the 10 key elements of the Polytechnic learning environment, and/or a complete transformation like that being done in our School of Construction Management Technology under the leadership of Bryan Hubbard and the faculty. Additional key initiatives include finalizing internship and senior capstone requirements and solutions in each department and formalizing the faculty’s role in a college-wide student mentoring program.
- Purdue’s Physical Facilities, an external contractor, and Tom Frooninckx, managing director of the Purdue Polytechnic, have been studying our space needs, and their final report and proposed master plan is expected later in January or early February. As many of you know, we are very constrained on space because of the huge growth in students during the 1990s, the growth in research that occurred in the 2000s, and our current growth in students and research. We are expecting the report to validate our perceived need for new space and to recommend possible solutions within the broader context of current University space plans. Once that report is complete, we will mobilize efforts to seek funding and approval to act on the recommendations.
- Last fall, the president announced Ever True, a new capital campaign with a goal to raise $2.019 billion by June 30, 2019. Donations to the Purdue Polytechnic have been steadily increasing over the past few years under the leadership of Shari Schrader and the Office of Advancement. This year, we will increase our efforts to reach out to alumni and friends in key cities in the U.S., submissions to foundations for gifts of support, and gifts-in-kind to support our many laboratories.
As I reflect on 2015 and look forward to 2016, I would also like to acknowledge the extraordinary efforts of our marketing and communications and recruiting teams at the college and departmental levels. While our academic units are charged with the challenging work of planning and implementing the transformation, these groups have strengthened and spread our new brand, won high praise from across the country, and, based on the latest Fall 2016 admissions data, brought us more admitted students than we have ever had at this stage in the cycle.
Everyone’s efforts are needed during the next few months to yield these admitted students and turn our Class of 2020 into the largest ever.
One example of the Office of Marketing and Communciations’ work is a video titled "Technology Legends & Polytechnic Leaders," which I suggest you watch:
The video reminds me of the term commonly used today to describe an important attribute of graduates (as defined by industry): grit. The Wright Brothers by David McCullough described how Orville and Wilbur became successful and the first to fly. It is an amazing story of grit, and they soon became legends.
The transformation will be successful, but we all need to have grit in our character. It is too easy to fall back into our comfort zones or to simply engage in incremental change. If we are to stay true to our vision to be “Pioneers of Learn-by-Doing and Use-Inspired Research,” then we need to stay focused on our long-term goals. When we succeed, the graduates of our program will also be transformed through their learning experiences and possess the grit necessary to be legends and leaders in the digital age.
Let’s make 2016 another year to remember in our transformation efforts.
