December 2012

COMMUNITIES: EDUCATION
Purdue Plans To Boost Hiring of Engineering Faculty

The President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness has called for the U.S. to graduate an additional 10,000 engineers a year. Purdue University is preparing to do its part with a plan to increase its engineering faculty by almost a third.

The addition of up to 107 faculty members over the next five years will help the school grow enrollment and produce more of the engineers that the U.S. needs for innovation and economic development.

From 2006 to 2011, undergraduate enrollment in Purdue's College of Engineering increased 17%, and graduate enrollment jumped 28%. According to Dean of Engineering Leah Jamieson, the quality of applications, as measured by SAT scores and GPA, has increased as well.

Jamieson credits recruiting staff and their use of the National Academy of Engineering's strategy to make engineering more attractive to students. The strategy emphasizes updated messages about engineering, including the importance of creativity and the profession's ability to change the world. "I think some of this has been growing the pool of students who are thinking engineering is a good match," she says.

Purdue has not determined yet which areas will receive new faculty members. In the short term, appointments will fill immediate and clear needs. But the dean explains that the college will take the next year to plan, because growth of such magnitude has the potential to shape the school's influence on factors such as preschool?12 education, research, economic development, and international and industry partnerships.

Jamieson has been talking with faculty about how to proceed. In addition, the college's 2009?14 strategic plan will act as a "pole star" to help provide guidance.

Funding for the additional faculty and the necessary office and lab space will come from both the university and philanthropic gifts. According to the dean, while Purdue experienced budget cuts like many other institutions, the school believes engineering is an important area to invest in again.

As Jamieson explains, engineering works with other fields to help tackle the country's huge challenges. And "engineering and innovation are the ways in which the economy grows, the ways in which quality of life grows."