Advisory Board Chair Notes | May 2014

I am proud to say that since 2007, the ISE department has seen a 106 percent growth in undergraduate enrollment compared to the national average of just 16 percent. Our 2013 incoming class was the largest in
recent history with 90 students and boasted an average GPA of 3.58 on a 4 point scale.

The 2014 class was nearly as large and equally accomplished (GPA of 3.61). Furthermore, the 2014 class includes two students with Park Scholarships, a prestigious four-year scholarship awarded on the basis of outstanding accomplishments and potential in scholarship, leadership, service and character. Only 44 were awarded university-wide. These trends are a direct result of the hard work by our ISE faculty and staff to keep our academic program relevant and cutting edge. Likewise, our graduate program has grown more than 75 percent over the same period.

I’m excited to announce that the advisory board has recently updated its charter to more clearly define ways in which we can support the department. We have identified three areas of focus:

  • To be ambassadors of the department
  • To foster strategic thinking, new directions, networking, new revenue sources, and alumni and corporate development
  • To support and advise the department head

With shrinking financial commitments from the state, the advisory board encourages all ISE alumni to help and support the department to realize its ambitious goal of being seen as an international thought leader in the field of industrial and systems engineering. Your financial support will fund scholarships, fellowships and professor endowments. A key metric in the U.S. News and World Report engineering rankings is alumni giving, and now more than ever, we need our alumni to help support our ISE department.

Tim Scronce, BSIE 1987
ISE Advisory Board Chair