Our future in opportunistic and turbulent times
by Dean Dennis R. Depew
I hope each of you enjoyed a joyous holiday season with family and friends. As we head into a New Year, I have been reflecting on the excellent work of our faculty and staff in fulfilling our mission at Purdue University. We are a people-focused entity with outstanding faculty and staff serving our students and other constituents. You and your work continues to make us world class – I am extremely appreciative of your hard work and dedication.
As we begin the spring semester, I wanted to share some thoughts about two key topics of interest to all of us at Purdue: the upcoming budget process and the strategic planning process.
Let me begin with the issue on everyone’s mind today, which is the economy and Indiana’s budget for higher education. While Indiana is in better financial shape than most states, we do anticipate a tighter budget for the next several years as revenue from income and sales tax decreases. Though this presents notable challenges for us, it also creates an opportunity to evaluate department and college priorities and focus on innovative ways to improve our core operations of learning, discovery, and engagement. Of course increasing external support through sponsored programs and fundraising will continue to be very important components in our overall operational budget.
As you all know, the college has been actively engaged in developing our own strategic plan, which has involved more than 100 faculty and staff since the journey began. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the faculty and staff who have invested many hours in this process. Two of the three strategic planning white pages from the steering committee have been posted on the college's intranet for review and feedback (Log-in to the site with your career account username using the format "onepurdue\username" and then enter your password). And we hope to have our strategic plan completed and ready for a final review by spring break.
A major component of “New Synergies” and our own strategic plan will focus on student access and success. An outcome of this will be increasing the admission requirements for beginning freshmen on the West Lafayette campus. In the past several years, the College of Technology has experienced an increase of SAT/ACT scores and class rank within our own freshman class, and this trend will continue in the future. This will provide the College of Technology a great opportunity to consider math, science, and language requirements for admission to all of our degree programs. Faculty will also have an opportunity to evaluate our current four-year curricula and consider a freshman experience that will excite and motivate our students. A common freshman experience may help our students understand the breadth of technology and encourage them to graduate on time, which is another important priority for Purdue.
Given the present landscape, I have been giving a great deal of thought to the future of the college. The questions on my mind include:
- What is the right size and composition of the student body?
- How can we retain quality undergraduate programs while continuing to grow discovery and graduate education?
- How can we leverage our assets to continue to improve?
As we face these challenging times together, I am very confident in our ability to rise to the occasion and find thoughtful solutions. I welcome your input and look forward to meeting with you individually or in groups to discuss our challenges and opportunities.
All the best,
Dean Depew
Faculty Profile
Kari Clase
 Title: Assistant professor of IT and lead instructor for the biotechnology minor. Also holds an appointment in CIT; is the lead scientist for learning at Bindley Bioscience Center in Discovery Park; and has a courtesy appointment in the agricultural and biological engineering department.
Time at Purdue: Started in 2003.
What she's working on: One of the many projects she's working on is a study on the biochemical characterization of neural stem cells. The main goal of that project is to try to better predict the behavior of stem cells so they can more effectively be channeled for therapeutic medical use. Another study involves developing an inquiry-based biotechnology curriculum that will use emerging educational technologies to increase student content learning, creativity, and motivation in STEM. Also (along with Jenna Rickus in agricultural and biological engineering) she helps lead the Purdue team in the annual iGEM Competition Jamboree where student teams compete to design and assemble engineered machines using advanced genetic components and technologies.
Why she likes about her job: Kari loves the opportunity to work with professors from around the University. "Being able to work in a variety of areas, including Bindley, is a big strength of our college and university," she says. "Interdisciplinary collaboration makes for better teaching and research, and there's a real synergy between faculty. It's an exciting place to be."
When she's not teaching: You will find her cooking, hiking, biking, and spending time with family, which includes a 9-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son.
View Strategic Plan White Papers on CoT Intranet
The CoT strategic planning steering committee has been working hard on its planning white papers and would like to share them with the college for feedback. The white papers reflect the college’s goals and strategies for the next five years and have been based on a SWOT analysis undertaken by each group.
There are three working groups and three white papers. The working groups are:
1) Launching Tomorrow’s Leaders
2) Discovery with Delivery
3) Meeting Global Challenges
To date, two of the three white papers (Discovery with Delivery and Meeting Global Challenges) are complete and posted on the Intranet site. Log-in with your career account username and password. In the username dialog box, you must type in the onepurdue domain using the format "onepurdue\username."
The third white paper will be posted in a few weeks. The steering committee is asking that you review and comment on the white papers. The review and comment period for the first two white papers will be from January 12 to 24.
As you review the white papers, we are especially interested in your feedback on the goals and strategies, i.e., how will the college be better in one, three, and five years as a result of these goals and strategies? Are there goals and strategies that you feel are missing?
The strategic planning steering committee greatly appreciates and anxiously awaits your input.
CoT News Submissions
Report your CoT news through the online reporting form. Feel free to use this form to notify the communications team of your college-related news, events, and achievements. This information will be distributed to the team for potential use in news releases, the dean's e-newsletter, Innovation magazine and updating information on the college's Web site. The next e-newsletter is scheduled for distribution on Monday, January 26.
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Faculty Endeavors
Michael O'Hair, associate dean for engagement, received the Indiana Project Lead the Way Service Award and the Bell Ringer Award during the Project Lead the Way guidance counselor conference held December 9 in Indianapolis. The PLTW award, which is presented jointly by the Indiana Department of Education, the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, and Purdue, is given to those who provide outstanding service to Indiana education. Also receiving the award was Suellen Reed, Indiana superintendent of public instruction. The Bell Ringer Award, the highest education award given by Indiana, honors those who make significant contributions to schools in the state. Richard Blaise, founder and vice president for state and corporate relations for the national Project Lead the Way, also received a Bell Ringer Award.
Marc Rogers, professor of CIT and University Faculty Scholar, received a certificate of appreciation from the Indiana Public Defender Council on Dec. 12. Rogers was honored for his efforts in education, research and training of defense counsel and work with the public defenders office.
New CoT Web Design Launched
The CoT marketing communications department recently updated the public Web site with a new design and navigation. The new design complements the new Purdue.edu site and structure and is targeted to our primary visitor audience – prospective students. The new navigation is intended to funnel visitor traffic to the appropriate audience pages where visitors can get the information they need with greater ease and speed.
Since the launch of the new CoT Web site in late December, our Web analytics software is already indicating increases in Web traffic to strategic pages, longer visits, and lower site exit rates:
- Visitors to the prospective student page are up 327%
- Visitors to the statewide page are up 428%
- Bounce Rate (people leaving immediately after viewing 1st page) is down 146%
- Exits from the home page are down 89%
The previous CoT front page had 116 links, many of which were making the site complex to view and getting very minimal visits. The new approach to the site is aimed at customizing content based on the visitor needs, providing better service, and increasing the value of our Web site.
Visit the site now Note: The Web content most pertinent to faculty and staff can be accessed on the “faculty and staff” audience path in the right sidebar area.
We’re finalizing the updates to the public site now, and will soon be implementing new templates on the Statewide and department Web sites. Stay tuned for more!
Sponsored Search Activity
Visit the applied research section of the CoT Web site for an updated look at the sponsored research projects within the college.
New Appointments
Robert Moffat has joined the New Albany location as a clinical assistant professor.
Robb McKinney has joined the MET department as a systems technologist.
Angeline Delworth is the college's new director of financial affairs.
Fritz Muelhausen will return to BCM for teaching this spring semester.
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In the News
Herrick to give presentation on teaching Jan. 21
Robert Herrick, professor and ECET department head, will give a presentation on "How to Teach at Purdue and Preserve Your (And Your Students') Sanity" from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. Jan. 21 in Stewart Center, Room 322. He will share his insights learned during his 40 years in academia and engineering. His talk is part of the College Teaching Workshop series offered by the Center for Instructional Excellence.
College sponsoring career fair on Feb. 4
The College of Technology will offer students an opportunity to explore employment opportunities with a wide variety of companies during its eighth annual career fair on Feb. 4.
The fair will be 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Purdue Memorial Union north and south ballrooms. Representatives from more than 75 companies are expected to attend to offer information on career and internship employment opportunities. Students from all majors are welcome to attend.
Companies that would like to take part in the career fair can contact Betty Cottrell at (765) 494-1088 or bgcottrell@purdue.edu.
Purdue offering technology camp geared toward girls Feb. 19-21
High school juniors interested in learning about careers in technology-related fields are invited to attend a three-day residential camp sponsored by the College of Technology Diversity Program.
The DOiT camp, which stands for Discovering Opportunities in Technology, will be held February 19 to 21 at Purdue. It is open to all high school juniors, but the content is developed especially to reach out to girls, according to Toni Munguia, director of diversity in the college.
Participants will take part in hands-on activities that will be of interest to girls in each of the eight majors in the College of Technology, learn the types of degree programs that Purdue offers in each area, and learn about the types of careers offered and the academic preparation needed to pursue those goals. Sessions and activities will be led by faculty in the college and members of the Women in Technology student organization.
The DOiT program has been offered since 2005. Munguia said that the program is helping attract women and underrepresented students to Purdue. Of the 10 participants in the program in 2005, five enrolled. In 2006, eight of the 21 students in the program enrolled at Purdue. In 2008, 51 students participated in DOiT.
Students participating in DOiT will stay in the Purdue Memorial Union Hotel. The cost to attend is $50, which includes all accommodations, meals and activities. Some scholarships are available.
Registration and parental authorization forms can be found online. Forms must be submitted by Feb. 3.
Purdue students headed to Sweden for computing contest
Computer and information technology student Zhanibek Datbayev will travel with his teammates to Stockholm, Sweden, in April to compete in the world finals of the ACM-International Collegiate Programming Contest.
It will mark the first time a Purdue team has been to the finals since the 1980s.
Purdue Cheburashka placed third among colleges and fourth among all teams in the ACM-International Collegiate Programming Contest east central North America regional held November 1.
Other members of the Purdue Cheburashka team were Nathan Claus, a mathematics major, and Arman Suleimenov, a computer science major.
The contest is a five-hour event in which teams of three students work together to solve eight programming puzzles. Ranking among teams is based first on how many problems are solved correctly, then on how many minutes it takes to solve each problem. A 20-minute penalty on solved problems is added for each submission that fails to pass the judges' test cases. Programming is done in Java or C/C++.
More Info.
Nanotechnology to be introduced into courses at South Bend
Beginning this semester, students at the Purdue College of Technology at South Bend will learn about nanomanufacturing, which could one day have far-reaching applications in industry.
Sarah Leach, an associate professor of mechanical engineering technology at South Bend, is one of 25 faculty nationwide selected as a field-test instructor as part of a National Science Foundation project to develop curriculum modules about nanomanufacturing for students at associate-degree granting institutions.
Leach attended a workshop in Las Vegas from January 7 to 9 and will begin incorporating what she learned into College of Technology at South Bend courses this semester.
University News Service
Divide and conquer: Distributed graphics rendering
The Distributed Rendering Environment, or DRE, developed at Purdue University five years ago for computer graphics students, draws on the Purdue Condor pool, a system for sharing unused computing time on more than 20,000 linked processors in computers at Purdue and its partner campuses. This pool is part of both the TeraGrid and the Open Science Grid.
DRE has become a staple in the courses from Purdue's computer graphics technology department. It allows instructors to present students with more challenging assignments without fear of a bottleneck. The load sharing system lets scientists and animators refine what they're creating almost instantly.
"Now when you press the 'Render' button, you have a huge pool of resources out there," said Gary Bertoline, professor of computer graphics and founding director of Purdue's Envision Center for Data Perceptualization.
International Science Grid This Week
Purdue will offer professional building designations
Purdue students in the residential construction management specialization will be able to earn professional designations while pursuing bachelor's degrees.
The three designations — certified aging-in-place specialist, certified green professional and residential construction superintendent — were developed by the National Association of Home Builders.
Indianapolis Star
Calling in 'sick' can be harmful to your career
As a manager at a wholesale warehouse, Julie Caldwell of Lafayette suspects that some of her employees abuse sick days. Once employees use their vacation time, she notices that they tend to request more sick days.
"It makes it hard to offer lenient sick policies when they are abused," the 34-year-old said.
Linda Naimi, an assistant professor of organizational leadership and supervision at Purdue, said sick leave is a privilege and should be used with discretion.
Journal and Courier
First two bachelor's degree students in IT graduate at South Bend
Two students at the College of Technology at South Bend became the first two bachelor's degree recipients in the Department of Industrial Technology.
Susan Edwards and Whitne Pittman received their degrees at the end of the fall semester. They will be eligible to participate in Purdue's annual graduation ceremonies, which will be held in May in South Bend.
Purdue began offering the bachelor's degree in industrial technology in fall 2006. There were 33 students enrolled in the program in fall 2008. Four of those students were females, including Edwards and Pittman.
Edwards is a graduate of Wawasee High School in Syracuse, Ind., and was a former industrial engineering technology student at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. After working in industry for several years and moving to the Goshen, Ind., area, she began taking courses at Purdue in South Bend in fall 2006.
Pittman is a graduate of Washington High School in South Bend and began her college career as a freshman engineering student at Purdue in West Lafayette. After changing her major to industrial technology, she returned to the South Bend area and began taking courses at the College of Technology at South Bend.
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