Dear Colleagues,

Have a wonderful holiday and a happy new year!

Many things have happened this semester and this is the traditional time to review what we have accomplished. Since my area is academics, I’ll concentrate on that. Here goes . . .

We started the year with a two-day start-up for the first time. The new academic calendar goes into place in January 2012 and will also have a two-day start-up. We’ll have a Wentworth Community Meeting on Monday morning, 09 January followed by a colloquium and workshop on building community on Tuesday, 10 January. All faculty are expected to be at both events.

The Fall 2011 entering class was the largest in many years. We also started five new engineering programs: biomedical, civil, electrical, mechanical and a unique general engineering program.

Junot Diaz spoke to our new students on 13 September at a standing room only event. While controversial to some, it was both interesting and intriguing to many.

Construction of the Center for the Sciences and Biomedical Engineering and the Flanagan Student Center are progressing on schedule. These projects will change the campus in dramatic ways.

A community-wide workshop on campus climate was held. This is the first step in developing a more vibrant and welcoming community for all.

Ken Reardon visited campus and spoke with many about interdisciplinary, project-based learning. His presentation of the work he has done in East St. Louis was captivating and inspiring.

James O’Brien and Ron Bernier presented the Distinguished Faculty Lecture. This interdisciplinary collaboration was between one of our science faculty and one of our Humanities Social Science faculty.

An open forum was held to discuss the NEASC 2011 visit. The NEASC itself visit went very well with Dr. Lisa Rosbacher, the president of Southern Polytechnic State University saying that the Institute was a special place, “grounded in the past, but looking toward the future.”

Associate Provost Chuck Hotchkiss led us through the singing of “The Twelve Days of NEASC” at the celebration ceremony.

The topping off ceremony for the Center for the Science and Biomedical Engineering was held on 19 October.

An open house to celebrate the opening of the new Manufacturing Center was held on 03 November. The Center has generated interest and congratulations state-wide with articles about it appearing in the Boston Globe.

The provosts, deans and department chairs accepted a proposal from the HSS faculty to change our current general education approach to seven courses of four credits each, with specific expectations for reading and writing in each course.

The topping off ceremny for the Flanagan Student Center was held on 18 November.

A Board of Trustees meeting was held in at the Seaport Hotel in conjunction with Build Boston and a get-together with our alumni.

The Strategic Planning Steering Committee reviewed 41 white papers that were submitted as part of the current strategic planning process. Recommendations of white papers that should be submitted as full proposals will be sent to the authors.

A visiting team from the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education reviewed our application for establishing a Master of Science in Facility Management. We hope to offer this degree in Fall 2012 for the first time.

NEASC approved three off-campus sites as venues for College of Professional and Continuing Education programs. We have also applied for four other sites that may be approved after a visit in January.

A freshmen survey conducted by Robert Yee and Jamie Kelly showed that the top reasons students choose to attend Wentworth are our academic programs, co-ops, location in Boston and cost.

The Board of Trustees approved a three-year degree program in Applied Mathematics and a B.S. in Computer Engineering. Both programs will begin in Fall 2012.

This is an incredible list of achievements and I congratulate all of you! When I joined the Institute, I said that my job was to remove as many barriers as I could so that you could achieve everything you wanted to do. I knew that there were many things that were just waiting to be done. This incomplete list is proof that all of you have stepped up and delivered.

Best Regards,
Russ