I am pleased to pass along more great news for our college as we pass the fall term’s midway point. We just learned that we are receiving a $3 million gift earmarked for our transformation efforts in the advanced manufacturing arena. This generous gift will provide us the resources we need to put ideas into action. We are still working with the donor on using some of the funds for naming opportunities (e.g., lab, professorship), which should be announced soon.
First- and second-year experiences
Putting ideas into action is what we did one year ago when we began to build the Fall 2015 first-year experience with an expanded TECH 12000 course linked to and integrated with English and communications courses. This transformational initiative has received great reviews, and in some cases rave reviews. How rave? Last week a first-year student came to my office to inform me of two things: First, he wanted me to know how great he and his classmates think TECH 12000 is with respect to the active-learning approach and the integration with English and communications. Second, he wanted to submit a complaint because his other courses weren’t following a similar learning model. That’s pretty powerful stuff coming from a first-year student.
While we are seeing successes in the transformation of our first-year experience, Todd Kelley continues to build a design-thinking course that can be used to satisfy second-year requirements across all programs of study. I ask everyone to put transformational ideas into action. Todd is working with the Department of Anthropology as part of our model to integrate technology and humanities studies. We hope transformational curricula changes for Fall 2016 will include but not be limited to this new course, and the time to enact other transformational curricular changes for Fall 2016 programs is now. Departments are moving forward in this area, and I hope to share departmental updates with you in the November Tech Insider.
Admissions for Fall 2016
Admission for our Fall 2016 class has started, and as of October 23 our applications are down 8 percent from one year ago, compared to university-wide applications, which are up 7 percent. Our college’s overall decrease is due primarily to a decrease in applications within the Department of Computer and Information Technology, which are down 25 percent from one year ago. Applications for Construction Management Technology, Computer Graphics Technology, and Technology Leadership and Innovation are slightly higher than one year ago. Aviation and Transportation Technology and Engineering Technology applications are slightly lower than a year ago.
We have new initiatives that are poised for payoff: we are seeing record numbers of students and families scheduling visits, we welcomed 65 students and their parents for WOWiT, and more than 60 trained TechieREPS began flooding their hometown high schools during fall break to help recruit (department heads, please don’t forget about incentives for your TechieREPS). We are, of course, seeking quality applicants in all of these initiatives.
The great news is that our admits are up 45 percent from one year ago, compared to a university-wide increase of 21 percent. The Office of Admissions informed us that the process, criteria, and thresholds for being admitted to our college are the same from one year ago. They said our large improvement in admitted students comes from higher quality applicants. All six of our academic units are enjoying this trend. In the case of CIT, even though they have 25 fewer applicants, they actually have three more admits than this time a year ago. As a college, we have 48 more admits than we had a year ago. It’s still early, but it’s very encouraging.
Finally, at my recent Dean’s Advisory Council meeting, senior corporate members continued to provide strong support for what we are doing and brought positive feedback about our name change. To be sure, I occasionally come across an alumnus or student who does not fully embrace our name change, but their perspective often changes once they have a chance to consider all the factors. I encourage you to read the rationale if you have not had a chance to do so.
We are defining the Polytechnic of the 21st Century – I invite everyone to help define it well!
