Dean's Message Spring 2018
March 26, 2018
Welcome to the spring 2018 edition of the enewsletter for alumni and friends!
SIU’s reorganization plan
SIUC is reorganizing its academic structure under the leadership of Chancellor Carlo Montemagno.
The university currently has programs offered through 42 academic departments in eight colleges and two professional schools (law and medicine). A new structure will have five colleges.
Departments will be eliminated as programs are merged into 19 schools. The new structure will reduce administrative costs and build synergy and collaboration. For more information please visit the Chancellor’s “Vision 2025” webpage.
CASA raises over $12,000 on Day of Giving
During the SIU Day of Giving on March 7, CASA raised $12,421 from 306 gifts! Among 28 participating units of the university, our college had the highest number of participants in the one-day fundraising event.
Our College’s participation increased by 170 percent and the total raised increased by 31.96 percent compared to last year. On behalf of the College, I would like to thank you for helping to make this year’s Day of Giving a great success.
Research Flash Talks a success
The College held the second Research Flash Talk on March 21 at the Varsity Theater in downtown Carbondale. There were 25 presentations by 33 faculty from multiple departments throughout the university.
This event brought many people from the local community. It was a great opportunity for faculty to start building research teams and collaborations under the newly proposed academic structure.
Aviation receives new plane
The first of three new Piper Arrow aircraft arrived at Southern Illinois Airport on March 20. The planes will replace some older Cessna models from the 1970s and 1980s. It is the first time our aviation program has purchased new planes since December 2011.
For a total of $1.2 million, these three new planes will help enhance our aviation flight program and help meet its educational objectives.
Detail Dawgs earn $15K grant
More good news from aviation is that the Aviation Technology Detail Dawgs just received a $15,000 grant from the Chicago Area Business Aviation Association (CABAA) to support their participation in the Aerospace Maintenance Competition (AMC) and scholarship program.
We will have two Detail Dawgs Teams competing this year at the AMC.
Alumni reunion April 14
We are planning a VTI-CASA Reunion on April 14, from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Garden Grove Event Center in Carbondale.
The event is to celebrate our rich history as a Vocational Technical Institute (VTI), School of Technical Careers (STC), College of Technical Careers (CTC), and College of Applied Sciences and Arts (CASA) over the past 68 years.
The event will underscore our intent to continue engaging our alumni and friends in campus life and our hope for their continuous support for our programs after the academic reorganization. Please visit the reunion website for more information and registration.
April 14 is SIU Honors Day as well, so please come and join us.
Tell us how we’re doing
We welcome your feedback. If you have suggestions about what you would like to see or what services you would like provided from my office, please send a note to awang@siu.edu.
In the meantime, I encourage you to share news and information to include in future issues of the newsletter.
Please also keep your contact information up to date so you can continue to receive our updates, invitations to events, and other publications. Thank you.
Andy Wang, Ph.D.
Professor and Dean