"Strategic Approach to Innovation in Engineering Education"

M. Katherine Banks
Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Engineering and National Laboratories   
Texas A&M University

Reception to follow. 

Abstract
The Texas A&M College of Engineering has embarked on an ambitious plan to transform engineering education through an extensive growth and investment strategy. The plan, known as the 25 by 25 initiative, increases our student enrollment from 12,500 to 25,000 by 2025, increases our faculty size to 850, and expands our educational and research footprint by 1 million square feet. The changes in undergraduate education focuses on four primary areas: instructional innovation, multidisciplinary laboratory creation, entrepreneurial and leadership activities, and first-year curriculum modification. Also, instructional and tenure-track/tenured faculty hiring is a critically important component of success. The construction of appropriately designed and equipped facilities requires careful planning and unique timing constraints. The involvement of our faculty in a new student-centric technology-enhanced learning environment requires substantial training before implementation. The integration of art into the new facilities and linked with instruction is an unusual aspect of the project. Opportunities and challenges addressed during this initiative will be presented and discussed.