September 2019: Strategic Vision Update

September 2019 Highlights

In less than three years, using this vision as a blue print, the team at CU Engineering and Applied Science has:

  • Grown the percentage of women engineers in our first-year class from 32% to 45%.
  • Grown the under-represented minority student population in our first-year class from 18% to 25%, matching our state’s demographics.
  • Increased the percentage of first-generation students entering our college from 16% to 20%.
  • Piloted an “early-alert system” to increase success for first- and second-year students in Fall 2017 that is now being used across the CU campus.
  • Accommodated the large growth in Colorado residents interested in CEAS degree programs, growing the total CEAS student population from approximately 6500 to more than 7500 students without significantly changing the ratio of in-state to out-of-state students.
  • Increased doctoral enrollment by 15% while increasing the number of under-represented minority applicants who have accepted our Ph.D. admissions offers by 30%.
  • Grown research awards to more than $100 million annually in AY17-18 and AY18-19 (28% higher than the prior year).
  • Added more than 250,000 square feet to our college footprint, including more than 100,000 square feet of research space and shared research facilities. Renovated an additional 100,000 square feet of our existing facility.
  • Hired more than 75 new tenured/tenure-track faculty with approximately 30% of these new faculty joining the college with tenure (mid-career faculty members).
  • Launched an Engineering Entrepreneurship minor for students who are creating the jobs of the future.
  • Created a new set of Biomedical Engineering B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. programs designed to grow collaboration with our medical campus.
  • Increased philanthropic fundraising from $19 million to more than $30 million annually and increased the number of endowed faculty positions across the college by 47%. Raised over $100M in three years.
  • Became the first academic unit in University of Colorado Boulder history to meet a building campaign goal when we surpassed our $45 million fiscal obligation towards construction of the new Aerospace Engineering Sciences building.
  • Launched a college-based alumni engagement team and developed CU Engineering Networks in Denver, Houston, San Francisco, Seattle and Southern California.
  • Increased the percentage of women and under-represented members of the college leadership team from 30% in 2015 to 48% today.
  • Created an engineering partnership program with Western Colorado University and grew our partnership with Colorado Mesa University such that CU Boulder engineering and computer science degrees are now offered on multiple campuses across our state.
  • Emerged as a leader on campus in graduate education and in online programs with launch of both the Computer Science Post-Baccalaureate degree and, in partnership with Coursera, the world’s first MOOC-based electrical engineering master’s degree.
  • Achieved successful ABET accreditation or re-accreditation of all 12 of the college’s undergraduate degree programs.
  • Had four members of our faculty elected to the National Academies.
  • Established the Engineering Center as the first plastic-free building on campus for beverages.
  • Created CEAS Values Statement that clearly prioritizes student needs, wellness and success.

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