University Goal 4: Enhance and Expand Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Within the University.

Research, scholarship, and creativity are fundamental to the College of Engineering as they support Goals 1 (undergraduate programs) and 3 (graduate programs). Most of the department missions, visions, or goal statements clearly state this. Research expenditures have increases since 1988, growing from $4.1 million in 1988 to over $10 million in 1996 (see Table 6).

TABLE 6. Research Expenditures (Fiscal Year, Dollars in Thousands: Chemical includes Chemistry 1988–1990).

	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Dean	20	13	116	147	0	0	70.2	77.1	73.3
Chemical	437	377	818	677	642	715	936.5	920.3	1,236
Civil/Env	887	708	741	863	1,132	1,593	2,465	3,310	3,205
Electrical	166	180	355	392	460	426	485	365	674
Geological	270	195	286	328	397	577	1,081	1,297	1,831
Mechanical	874	876	1,293	1,228	1,262	1,451	1,570	1,720	1,722
Metallurgy	1,203	1,207	1,240	1,577	1,290	1,555	1,405	1,647	1,547
Mining	201	241	28	167	355	215	111	216	160
Total	4,058	3,797	5,087	5,379	5,538	6,532	8,124	9,553	10,449

This amounts to about $75,000 per faculty for 1996. Some departments have maintained steady funding while others, such as Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geological Engineering and Sciences, have shown tremendous growth (see Table 7).

TABLE 7. Research Expenditures per Tenure-Track Faculty (Dollars in Thousands).

	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Chemical	54.6	47.1	102.3	75.2	71.3	59.6	78.0	70.8	83.5
Civil / Env	59.1	44.3	49.4	53.9	62.9	83.8	123.3	150.5	145.8
Electrical	8.3	7.8	18.7	18.7	20.9	18.5	21.1	15.8	27.2
Geological	30.0	21.7	31.8	32.8	36.1	52.5	90.1	108.2	157.6
Mechanical	23.0	23.1	34.9	30.0	31.6	33.7	35.7	37.4	37.5
Metallurgy	85.9	86.2	77.5	98.6	71.7	81.8	74.0	86.2	82.1
Mining	50.3	60.3	59.5	41.8	88.8	53.8	27.8	54.1	28.7

Strengths include the ability to attract and retain excellent faculty (Goal 2); a healthy balance of external research funding from Federal, State, and industrial sources; a breadth of research that ranges from basic research to applied problem solving; an increased amount of interdisciplinary research; and increased external visibility of College faculty. In fact, in 1995/6, 50% of the proposals submitted by College of Engineering faculty were interdisciplinary (with PI’s from different departments or colleges). Another College strength is faculty scholarly activity—measured by the number of faculty publications. Over the last five years, the faculty have generated over two publications per faculty member per year.

Weaknesses include inadequate research infrastructure (space and equipment) and inadequate library resources, problems that are currently being addressed via new buildings and capital campaign initiatives, and high undergraduate teaching loads in some of the departments (Chemical Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering/Engineering Mechanics). Progress has been made in most departments.

A number of internal opportunities have been identified by the departments of the College. The College affords many opportunities for faculty to be involved in educational research. Several projects have been funded during the past few years. The College also affords more opportunities for interdisciplinary research, especially given the economic necessity to share major equipment between departments. A major threat remains the uncertainty of external funding.

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