CUE 2007 >> Features >> From the Dean

CUE 2007
From the Dean:
Investing to Meet Future Needs

The video wall in the college's Discovery Learning Center displays four areas selected for reallocation of college resources over a two-year period (clockwise from upper left): materials, space systems, energy, and pre-collegiate engineering.

If your vision is for one year, plant wheat.
If your vision is for ten years, plant trees.
If your vision is for a lifetime, plant people.
Chinese Proverb

An investment is the act of putting resources to use today so that they can meet a need tomorrow. Individuals invest financial resources to meet future needs such as college and retirement. Corporations invest in new technologies and facilities to later profit from sales of new products. Similarly, universities invest in faculty, staff, and facilities to educate future generations of students. Moreover, a university's investment has an even greater long-term payback, as its students go on to become society's future leaders.

Technological leadership, economic growth, and social well-being are particularly dependent on training engineers for tomorrow (see 'Last Words' by Richard Weingardt). That is why I launched Investment in CU Engineering (I-CUE) this past year. I-CUE is a strategic initiative to invest in the College of Engineering and Applied Science at CU-Boulder over a two-year period (July 2006–June 2008), so that we can do an even better job in training tomorrow's engineers. I-CUE is focused on the support of people, as we believe an investment in the very best faculty and students will yield the greatest return over the long term.

Funding for I-CUE has a tripartite approach:

• Re-allocation of college resources – Over a two-year period, we are committing $1.5 million in college funds to areas such as energy, materials, space systems, and pre-collegiate engineering education and preparation.


• Requests for campus resources – With new funds available from welcomed increases in state support and student enrollments, the CU-Boulder campus is considering a request to invest matching funds in I-CUE for new faculty, staff, and student support.


• Private fundraising – To further invest in our tradition of excellence in educating future engineers, we will be inviting individuals and corporations to partner with us in providing for selected undergraduate scholarships, student apprenticeships, and graduate and faculty fellowships.

I hope that you will enjoy reading the articles in this issue, and I ask that you keep an investment in CU Engineering in your sights.

Sincerely,

Robert H. Davis
Dean and Patten Professor
robert.davis@colorado.edu
http://engineering.colorado.edu