Strategic Plan
2007 ­ 2012

Mission Statement

The mission of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering is to proactively utilize teaching, research, and service to educate baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral students so they can become competent, dynamic, and ethical engineers of the future.  

To complement the classroom experience, our students are encouraged to reinforce instruction by participating in cooperative education programs, assisting faculty with research, or becoming involved in professional societies.  Students are expected to develop an appreciation for life-long learning and pursue professional engineering licensure.  The ultimate goal is to prepare our students to be future leaders who will positively impact their profession and society.

Furthermore, our students should become prepared to combine research and classroom experiences to solve complex inter-disciplinary problems.  Our Master of Science students should develop expertise in an area of specialization within the civil engineering profession and be capable of applying their skills to resolve problems of interest in that area.  Our doctoral students are expected to achieve a standard of excellence in civil engineering by advancing the body of knowledge and creating solutions, applied or basic, for today’s challenges.  Our overall goal is to enable all of our students to study and innovatively solve the global sustainability challenges that they encounter.

Finally, our faculty, students, and staff will be engaged in professional organizations, campus committees, consultancy, student organizations, and continuing education. Through these service activities, our goal is to be a reliable professional resource for our institution, our alumni, and our society.

 

Vision

The  Department  of  Civil and  Environmental Engineering  will maintain  an  ABET­ accredited  undergraduate  program  that  is  recognized  nationally  for  producing well­qualified  graduates  prepared  for  engineering  practice  and  graduate education.  The  department  strives  to  develop  and  nurture  its  growing  graduate program and its externally funded research program. The graduate program  will attain  national  prominence  in  the  primary  areas  of  emphasis  and  regional prominence in all supported areas.

These  programmatic  activities  will  support,  and  be  supported  by,  an  active research  effort in  selected areas.    These  areas  will  be identified, in part,  by  the recourses made available to the department by internal and external sources in an  effort  to  develop  programs  of  excellence  rather  than  attempt  to  equally support  research  activities  in  all  of  the  technical  areas  that  relate  to  civil  and environmental  engineering.  Areas  of  research  focus  will  also  be  identified  by service  and  outreach  mission  opportunities  and  the  educational  needs  our students.

The service and outreach component of the department’s mission will support the efforts of the university and college to continue building on its land­grant tradition and  statewide  presence  through  partnerships  with  state  agencies,  business, industry,  and  organizations.    Opportunities  related  to  continuing  education, research, program develop and review, and technology transfer will be supported within the limits of resources available.

Departmental  resources  will  be  developed  in  a  way  to  support  the  vision summarized  above.  The  department  will  work  to  develop  and  maintain appropriate  office,  instructional,  and  research  facilities.  Allocation  of  resources will focus on targeted educational needs, diverse student activities, and selected research areas.

Strategic Plan

The  Department  of  Civil  and  Environmental  Engineering,  in  an  effort  to  support the  mission  and  realize  the  vision  outlined,  had  adopted  four  strategic components as part of a strategic plan:

  1. Provide  an  enriched  undergraduate  academic  program  that  prepares graduates for productive careers and life­long learning.
  2. Provide a vibrant graduate academic and research program that produces new discoveries and knowledge.
  3. Improve and maintain state­of­the­art teaching and research facilities that support the educational, research, outreach, and service objectives of the department, college, and university.
  4. Continue  to  recruit  and  develop  a  highly­qualified  and  motivated  faculty and staff.

Activities related to  these  four  strategic  points  will include,  but  not  be  limited  to,
the following actions and activities:

  1. Undergraduate program
    1. Increase the size of the undergraduate program through a program of  supporting  the  MSU  Admissions  Office  and  Bagley  College  of Engineering  recruiting  efforts  and  increasing  retention.    We  will develop materials and programs which clearly define the discipline and focus on attracting bright, dedicated students.  As appropriate and  when  possible,  we  will  provide  faculty,  staff  and  students  to support  university  recruiting  activities.    Contingent  upon  fiscal  and human  resource  availability,  the  goal  is  to  increase  enrollment  to 350 students by 2012.
    2. Develop  and  maintain  an  undergraduate  coordinator  position  with clearly  defined  responsibilities  and  implementation  resources, including  partial  summer  support  as  needed,  to  support  an organized information program.
    3. Tenure­track  faculty,  research  faculty  or  post­doctoral  assistants will  teach  all  undergraduate  courses  except  when  individuals reaching  the  competition  of  their  Ph.D.  are  provided  a  limited instructional opportunity as part of their professional development.
    4. Maintain a program of curriculum review and change as appropriate to insure graduates are technically and professionally prepared for the work place and which supports that ABET requirements of self­ study.
    5. Develop  and  maintain  the  best  possible  educational  facilities, including  the  construction  of  a  new  Civil  and  Environmental Engineering Complex to be completed in or before 2012.
    6. Develop  and  maintain  modern  laboratory  facilities  for  each  of  the technical areas supported by the department’s educational mission.
    7. Facilitate  the  activities  of  the  department’s  student  organizations; I.e., ASCE, Chi Epsilon, and ITE student chapters.
       
  2. Graduate program
    1. Increase  the  size  of  the  graduate  program  through  a  program  of supporting  the  MSU  Graduate  School  and  Bagley  College  of Engineering recruiting efforts and undertaking a departmental­level program of  graduate  student  recruiting.   We will  develop  materials and  programs  which  clearly  define  the  research  and  educational opportunities  available  and  the  career  enhancements  of  an advanced  degree.    We  will  focus  on  attracting  bright,  dedicated students.    Contingent  upon  fiscal  and  human  resource  availability, the  goal  is  to  increase  enrollment  to  90  students  by  2012  with  at least one third of these being PhD candidates.
    2. Develop  and  maintain  a  graduate  coordinator  position  with  clearly defined  responsibilities  and  implementation  resources,  including partial  summer  support  as  needed,  to  support  an  organized information program.
    3. Maintain  a  uniform  departmental  guideline  regarding  graduate degree requirements.
    4. Develop  a  clearly  defined  departmental  policy  governing  faculty participation  in  the  graduate  program  and  externally  funded research that is  consistent  with  the  Bagley  College  of  Engineering goals and objectives.
    5. Increase  the  total  external  funding  to  the  department  for  research activities  to  a  level  of  $4.0M  annually  by  2012.  This  objective  is contingent upon a significant increase in faculty, staff, and graduate students.
    6. Develop  and  maintain  a  level  of  average  annual  proposal submission equivalent to about five per faculty with an emphasis on national and multi­year funding opportunities.
    7. Support  and  expand  the  off­campus  and  distance  education graduate programs by increasing resources and support for faculty involved  in  these  programs.  Identify  an  appropriate  support structure  and  the  level  of  resources  that  will be  allocated  to  these programs.
    8. Establish  post­doctoral  support  positions  in  each  of  the  identified areas  of  research  excellence  to  facilitate  growth  of  the  research program in these areas. If possible, allocate development funds to provide a foundation for this program.
    9. Utilized  development  and  endowment  funds,  as  augmented  by Bagley College of Engineering resources, to provide support for the best and brightest graduate students.
    10. Secure  E&G  funding  to  support  graduate  teaching  assistantships for individuals supporting undergraduate laboratory activities.
    11. Develop  effective  electronic  and  paper  graduate  recruiting materials.
    12. Develop  and  maintain  the  best  possible  educational  facilities, including  the  construction  of  a  new  Civil  and  Environmental Engineering  Complex  to  be  completed  in  or  before  2012.    This includes  modern  laboratory  and  office  facilities  dedicated  to  the graduate education and research activities for each of the technical areas  supported  by  the  department’s  educational  and  research missions.
    13. Increase  the  number  of  peer­reviewed  publications  per  faculty member to match the Bagley College of Engineering average each year.
    14. Establish  a  strategic  alliance  between  the  Department  of  Civil  and Environmental  Engineering  and  appropriate  research  centers  and academic units.
       
  3. Service and Professional Development
    1. All members of the faculty will be licensed professional engineers.
    2. Develop  and  maintain  a  substantial  level  of  faculty  participation in the  activities  of  local,  statewide,  and  national  professional organizations.    This  participation  is  to  include  participation  in technical  programs,  publication  in  organization  proceedings  and journals,  leadership  involvement  in  committees  and  society operations,  and  membership  in  appropriate  professional  and technical organizations.
    3. Maintain active ASCE, Chi Epsilon, and ITE student chapters.
    4. Support  the  continuing  educational  activities  of  individuals  in  the state,  including  providing  distance  education  offerings,  on­campus and  off­campus  workshops  and  seminars,  registration  review sessions  for  undergraduate  and  graduate  engineers,  and  select continuing and lifelong learning programs.
       
  4. Facilities
    1. Secure internal and external funds sufficient to construction a new Civil  and  Environmental  Engineering  Complex  suitable  to  support the strategic plan components outlined above.
    2. Develop  appropriate  laboratory  and  research  facilities  to  allow expansion  of  the  educational  and  research  program  activities  in existing technical areas and new areas as deemed appropriate for the human and external funding resources that are available.
    3. Provide  space  for  student  projects  and  team  activities  related  to instruction of student organization activities.
    4. Provide a positive environment for education and research.
    5. Provide a positive work environment for faculty and staff.
    6. Support  the  university  mission(s)  regarding  conferencing,  distance education, instruction, and regional identity.
       
  5. Economic Development
    1. Support  the  economic  development  missions  of  the  university  and the college through programs of education, research, outreach, and service.
    2. Support the educational and research needs of state agencies and private  entities  though  development  and  support  of  distance education and comprehensive research facilities.
    3. Promote and develop a level of endowment for the department that provides  significant  and  stable  financial  resources  to  augment  the funding allocated to the department from the state appropriation to the  university,  other  university  and  college  resources,  and  the donations  to  the  department  by  alumni,  faculty,  friends,  and corporations.

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