College and Department Priorities

STUDENT ENRICHMENT

Engineering and computer science education at West Virginia University has produced exceptional graduates because we encourage practical, hands-on activities and offer students multiple opportunities to work in teams. Student design teams provide the venue for these enrichment activities. Private support is needed for these enrichment activities, for endowed scholarships to attract and retain outstanding undergraduate students, and stipends for doctoral students who assist faculty members in teaching and research.

FACULTY SUPPORT

Endowed chairs and professorships bring tremendous prestige to the College and to the recipient of the award. Furthermore, these endowments enable the College to attract and retain outstanding teacher-scientists by providing supplemental salary income to the recipients and by supporting the teaching, research and service activities of the professorship. In addition, the College is seeking funds for new faculty members. Before achieving tenure, new faculty members must demonstrate an ability to perform relevant research and incorporate this into the classroom. To ensure the success of new faculty members, faculty start-up funds are needed for equipment, graduate assistants and travel for professional development.

LABORATORIES, FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT

The laboratory experience impacts every engineering student. With technology ever changing, the single greatest challenge facing engineering educators is maintaining a state-of-the-art laboratory experience for its students. To meet this challenge, the College is following a strategic plan to upgrade all of its laboratories through private support and to maintain their technical edge into perpetuity through endowments.


21ST CENTURY OPPORTUNITY FUNDS FOR PROGRAM INVESTMENT AND COLLABORATION

On the horizon are many new fields of study that will improve not only the quality of our lives but also will change the way that engineers and computer scientists are trained. Often, these new fields require the participation of diverse multidisciplinary teams of faculty. As part of its strategic planning, the College has identified and will invest in emerging fields that hold promise for our future including Bioengineering, Biometrics, Environmental Engineering, and Nanoscience. In addition, the Engineers of Tomorrow program is a major College initiative that focuses on attracting qualified students, particularly women and minority high school students, to engineering and science-oriented careers, and encourages improvement in mathematics scores for all students. Opportunity Funds help ensure that the College and its Departments will meet these challenges by providing a flexible, annual income that may be used to act upon new initiatives.