From the Dean: Our Progress Lays a Strong Foundation for the Future
Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s College of Engineering, Computing, Technology, and Mathematics brings together a public doctoral research university – and flagship of the Southern Illinois University System – with disciplines that are vital to the U.S. economy and its prosperity and offer exciting career opportunities.
Engineering and technology have been a part of Southern Illinois University since 1945. Our current college was formed by expanding the former College of Engineering with additional programs in computer science, information technology, mathematics and other programs from other colleges in a campuswide reorganization in 2021. Our college has six schools: School of Electrical and Biomedical Engineering; Schoaol of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Materials Engineering; School of Computing; School of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering; School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, and School of Applied Engineering and Technology.
We are proud to have 79 tenured/tenure-track faculty members, 24 non-tenure track teaching faculty members and many part-time faculty members. Our student population is 1,350, including 359 graduate students. We offer many high-quality academic programs, including 12 undergraduate degree programs, 11 master’s degree programs and 4 Ph.D. programs in engineering, technology, computer science and mathematics. Many of these programs have had solid rankings in the category of national universities with Ph.D. programs by the U.S. News & World Report.
Our focus is on student success. Our student/faculty ratio is very low, sizes of classes are small and students receive personal attention from instructors. Our living learning community (LLC) creates a supportive environment for students both academically and socially. Graduates from our college are well received by employers, and our career placement rate is high.
You may be familiar with the university’s overall enrollment growth for the first time since 2014. Enrollment of the College of Engineering, Computing, Technology, and Mathematics increased by 6.2% in fall 2023, the highest annual growth rate among all the colleges of our university with more than 300 students. Based on enrollments of all programs at our college before and after reorganization, our college’s annual enrollment growth this year has been the highest for more than a decade. Specifically, the number of undergraduate freshmen increased by 8.4%, new undergraduate transfer students increased by 34% and new graduate students increased by 58%.
Faculty at the College of Engineering, Computing, Technology, and Mathematics are outstanding, with both a national and international reputation. They conduct state-of-art research and have won many research awards. Our college received new research grants of $3.54 million in the first ten months of 2023, including nine NSF grants. In addition to funded research, our faculty and students published many high-quality technical papers in top journals and conferences.
We also did well in our development. Our college is actively engaged with our alumni, and the college Industrial Advisory Board has its meetings three times a year. Our college raised funds of $1.92 million from donations in fiscal year 2023, representing a growth of 487% compared with 2020.
In summary, the College of Engineering, Computing, Technology, and Mathematics at SIU Carbondale made excellent progress in all areas of teaching, research, development and service. Especially, our college turned around its enrollment, grew its sponsored research programs and increased its funds of donations from alumni and supporters in the past three years. This has laid a solid foundation for more growth in the future.
Xiaoqing "Frank" Liu
Dean of College of Engineering, Computing, Technology, and Mathematics
Southern Illinois University Carbondale