• Implementing an Enabling Research Environment

Implementing an Enabling Research Environment

Create a research environment that enables, enhances, and recognizes scholarship, and stimulates entrepreneurship and economic development within our state, our nation, and the world.

The University of Arkansas’ College of Engineering has a long history of being an integral part of the state's flagship research university. Over the years, the College has moved forward to meet the needs of our community, our state and the world through traditional basic and applied research, economic and technology development, and non-traditional interdisciplinary research. This is evidenced by the success of its students, faculty, and staff in well-established research laboratories and centers in all engineering departments, and by the success of its alumni who are in leadership positions in academia, industry, and the government. College-wide productivity currently includes annual research expenditures from external sources of over $15 million and the annual dissemination of research findings through refereed publications. To achieve its goals, these and other such numbers must continue to grow significantly, as they have in the recent past. Catalysts for this growth include a collaborative research environment, high-achieving graduate and undergraduate students, excellent facilities, active pursuit of economic development in addition to cutting-edge research. Our ability to adapt and compete nationally in emerging research areas (i.e. biomedical engineering, nanotechnology, alternative energy, sustainability, to name a few) is crucial to attaining high recognition and a ranking among the nation’s top research institutions.

Today, research involves teamwork, multi-disciplinary approaches involving individuals, departments, colleges, and universities, collaborative partnerships among faculty and students with industry and there are expectations of entrepreneurial pursuits. To support this broad spectrum of research, it is of vital importance to create an enabling environment in which such activities are promoted and rewarded. The college will champion the idea that collaborative successes are as important as individual successes and to attract and retain the very best faculty, the College will ensure that it’s faculty salaries and support become and remain competitive with top-80 doctoral degree awarding engineering programs and that teaching loads are commensurate with research output, and that intellectual property is easily protected and commercialized.

We intend to build on our historical strength and heritage of mentoring students through small classes and hands-on learning in the arena of undergraduate engineering education programs. Preparing students to meet the demands of the engineering profession requires highly integrated research and technology experience, from the freshman year through the doctoral degree. Students in the College gain experience with project design, management, and the technologies employed in their respective fields through design-based curricula and through research experiences with faculty mentors. We will enhance this linkage between teaching and research in the College by providing more undergraduate students the opportunity  of research experiences, by supporting innovative design-instruction methods and facilities, and by recognizing the role of faculty mentorship as first-tier scholarship. Graduate research and education is a part of this continuum and a nationally recognized graduate research program is the culmination of a successful student-centered research and education program. In order to recruit nationally competitive students for MS and PhD programs, we will continue to provide a robust research environment, promote the accomplishments of our students and faculty, and provide competitive stipend support. We will also encourage the exchange of faculty and students as ambassadors for our program by supporting international experience for our students and by being hosts to students from other countries.

Finally, research within the College provides a foundation for expanding economic growth within the state by fostering knowledge-based industry. We educate engineering professionals that are in high demand in a technology and knowledge-based economy and develop the knowledge, the tools, and the engineering solutions needed within such an economy. In order to enhance our research mission, we will continue to develop streamlined methods for capturing and protecting intellectual capital, which facilitate agreements between industry and research sponsors. In addition, we will strive to increase the recognition of researchers engaged in developing the commercial potential of the products resulting from research activities. The College will develop mechanisms to identify and actively pursue high-demand research areas with significant potential for impacting economic development in Arkansas, including competing for national centers within targeted areas. We view the communication of our research innovations as a critical component of our research mission; to that end, we will increase the awareness of our efforts within the community. The technology transfer activities of our faculty, staff, and students will be an integral part of enabling our research efforts to serve Arkansas and the world.

Implementation Plan Details:

 The Strategic Plan envisions providing competitive faculty and staff salaries in line with top-80 Ph.D. granting engineering programs and promoting the awareness of this issue with the administration, alumni, industry, and the public. The list that follows provides actions identified as necessary to the successful implementation of the Strategic Plan. Table 2 summarizes the metrics (measurable outcomes) that will be used to assess our progress in meeting our goals.

Implementation Actions

• Continue to offer competitive faculty startup packages commensurate with expectations in research and teaching excellence.
• Strengthen the mentor system for new faculty that will facilitate their development in research and teaching, and reward them for their contributions.
• Develop and execute a plan to ensure that there is adequate support for faculty members to enable balance between family and career.
• Increase the percentage of outstanding women and minority faculty above national averages across engineering departments to augment diversity and provide role models for our women and minority engineering students.
• Increase campus and public awareness of our accomplishments through more active communication. The Strategic Plan recognizes the necessity for developing mechanisms by which initiatives in multi-disciplinary and collaborative research in priority areas within the College and the University can be nurtured, grown, and valued. Specific implementation issues related to this effort are given in the list that follows.
• Recognize and reward teamwork, interdisciplinary research, entrepreneurial activities, and teaching innovation within the promotion and tenure process.
• Identify and target high-demand research areas with significant potential for impacting economic development in Arkansas, and compete for national centers within targeted areas.
• Assist College researchers in recognizing / developing the commercial potential of products resulting from research activities.
• Develop a streamlined method for capturing, protecting and transferring intellectual properties through patenting and licensing of technological innovations.
• Create a mechanism whereby faculty investigators (a) can easily engage and craft memoranda of agreement between industries and institutions, or (b) can pursue entrepreneurship goals without adverse impact on their careers.
• Continue to promote undergraduate research throughout the undergraduate curriculum in support of the Honors College.
• Realization of the research-related goals contained in the Strategic Plan will require growth in physical plant/infrastructure to provide high quality research space comparable to peer institutions.

Table 2.  Research-Related Metrics for Implementation