LETTER FROM DEAN MOLLY GRIBB
LETTER FROM DEAN MOLLY GRIBB
December 23 , 2016
Greetings from the College of EMS !
As we approach the holiday season and the end of the year , it ’ s appropriate to reflect on our accomplishments of the past year and look forward to the year ahead .
One of our proudest moments this year was the recognition of the College ’ s Women in Engineering , Math , and Science ( WEMS ) program with the prestigious Claire L . Felbinger Award for Diversity by ABET . This award honors institutions that have achieved extraordinary success in fostering diversity within the technology sector .
UW-Platteville ’ s WEMS program grew from humble beginnings over twenty years ago , with a single part-time director , Rachel Mahun , who , incidentally , was the first woman faculty member at UW-Platteville to earn tenure . The WEMS program now includes the Center for Projects , Opportunities , Instruction , Networking and Teamwork ( CenterPOINT ), pre-college outreach , living / learning communities , and much , much more . WEMS , which has been instrumental in growing the number of women enrolled in the College of EMS by 72 percent since 2010 , is supported almost entirely by grants and donations , such as the wonderfully generous $ 20,000 donation from Dr . Jane McLamarrah , who is featured in this issue ’ s Donor Spotlight .
In other exciting news , the UW System Board of Regents included in its 2017-19 capital project request a new engineering building for UW-Platteville , in addition to a funding request to enable the completion of the Boebel Hall remodel . The new engineering building is the only new construction on the UW System-wide list .
Investment in UWP engineering infrastructure is an investment in the future success of Wisconsin companies , communities , and families like yours . Last year , UWP graduated 23 % of the total number engineering degrees in the UW System , and the second highest number of engineering grads in the state . We also know that over 76 % of our graduates stay in Wisconsin , and work at Wisconsin companies and contribute to the economic development of their communities .
But , our new engineering building for UW-Platteveille is far from a done deal – the state legislature and governor will have to weigh in , and we won ’ t know the outcome until next spring . Please take a moment to