Over the years, the College of Engineering has continued to provide high-quality, accredited educational programs at an affordable cost, graduating professionals who are in high demand in the engineering, computer science and construction marketplaces. Our vision is to be the engineering college of choice for students, faculty and employers seeking to enhance society through leadership and innovation. To meet that vision, we have identified the following philanthropic priorities. 

A Lead Gift for a New Engineering Facility

As we look to meet the future needs of the engineering workforce, we need further investment in our aging infrastructure to provide students a world-class experience and drive transformative research. We envision a new building for the College of Engineering. This building will have provisions for a shared campus-wide makerspace to foster and facilitate innovation among our students and faculty, state-of-the-art teaching labs, collaborative space for student project work, and work space for student design and competition teams. The building will provide additional space for our cutting-edge research programs, which will help us to recruit and retain top quality faculty. The proposed 100,000 square-foot building will be centrally located within the engineering complex and serve as a focal point for the College of Engineering. 

Named Chairs and Professorships

The single most important asset of the College of Engineering is our people (faculty and staff). They define the quality of the educational experience offered by the college, they drive the innovation and impact of our research enterprise, and they serve as mentors for our students who will become the next generation of leaders to create new technology and solve the challenges facing society. Outstanding faculty attract other top faculty and great students. However, competition for top faculty is intense, and the college needs to add more named chairs and professorships to reach the level of its current and aspirational peers. In addition to the prestige of the position, these named chairs and professorships provide, in perpetuity, valuable salary supplements and vital discretionary funds for recipients to use to support students, research and professional travel. The cost for a deanship, an endowed chair, a professorship, and a fellowship is $3M, $3-6M, $1.5M, and $750,000 respectively.

Support for the Grand Challenges Scholars Program

In 2008, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) identified 14 Grand Challenges for Engineering in the 21st Century. These challenges are described by the NAE as a call to action and serve as a focal point for society's attention to opportunities and challenges affecting our quality of life. The NAE Grand Challenges Scholars Program (GCSP) is a combined curricular and extra-curricular program designed to prepare students to be part of the solution to solving these grand challenges. NDSU has been selected as one of nearly 50 engineering schools around the world to offer this program to undergraduate engineering students. We are targeting 20 students per cohort to join in their freshman year (60-80 students total). However this program requires resources (approximately $100,000 per year) to adequately support student research and student and faculty mentor travel to GCSP Workshops and Annual Meetings.

Teaching Laboratory Equipment

The College of Engineering continues to introduce new programs to meet the needs of industry and attract new students to NDSU. Starting in Fall 2020 we'll be offering a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering and a minor in robotics. Both programs will require new equipment to outfit teaching laboratories to ensure students have extensive opportunities for hands-on learning. 

Four Year Renewable Scholarships for College of Engineering Students

Due to increasing competition, scholarship awards for incoming College of Engineering students have never been more important. In addition to merit, we plan to target students with financial need to help us remain competitive with students who are low and middle income. Individual award amounts in the range of $2,000 to $5,000 are most effective in influencing a student's decision on where to attend college.