Dear Alumni and Friends of the College of Engineering,

Every August for the past 29 years, I have experienced the excitement of a new academic year on a college campus. However, this year I’m sharing it from a new perspective, as a parent. This August, my wife and I moved our oldest son into his dorm to begin his college career, and saying goodbye was filled with many emotions.

Here at NDSU, I think all of us are viewing the start of a new year with some new perspective after the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. There is certainly excitement on campus about the more “normal” fall. Students and faculty are back in the classroom, events like Welcome Week, our Scholarship and Awards Reception and Homecoming are back on the schedule, and, of course, football is back at the Fargodome.

There is also some apprehension about what the next few months have in store, and the university has taken several steps to keep our campus community safe and healthy including encouraging everyone to get vaccinated, requiring masks in classrooms and reminding people to stay home if they feel sick.

COVID has not been the only challenge facing us over the past year, I am sure many of you have seen the news stories about declining enrollment at NDSU and I want you to know that increasing the number of students in the College of Engineering is a priority.

While overall enrollment in the College of Engineering and at NDSU is down compared to last year, we are seeing signs the trend is turning around. Our incoming class is the largest since 2018 and we are making significant gains in our efforts to increase diversity in the college. The number of women in our incoming class is up 44% and the number of persons of color is up 73% compared to Fall 2019.

We’re also proud to report a record number of graduates from the College of Engineering in the past academic year with more than 600 degrees awarded. We know that engineers, computer scientists and construction managers are in demand around our state and our region and have made it our mission to prepare the next generation of leaders in those key areas.

As North Dakota’s land-grant university, it’s also our mission to create new knowledge that makes lives better here and around the world. In fiscal year 2021 researchers in the College of Engineering were awarded more than $11.1 M in grant funding, a new record. That money is being used to find solutions to some of the greatest challenges facing our society.

Thank you for your support for the College of Engineering. Go Bison!

Michael R. Kessler

Dean, NDSU College of Engineering