Tag: Enrollment

Fall Semester 2023 Heats Up in October

Greetings from the College of Sciences and Arts at Michigan Tech!

Michigan Tech trees with yellow foliage
October and fall foliage arrive

As I write today the temperatures are soaring into the upper 80s with humidity that would make any orchid happy. Unprecedented! The colorful foliage is making its ascent up the vibrancy charts. And those are not the only things that have been elevated around the Tech campus. 

Large Class Enrolls for Fall Semester 2023

The College of Sciences and Arts welcomed its largest incoming class in years, 255 undergraduates, up 27% from the prior year, building on many years of undergraduate growth. Total College enrollment stands at 1,147, a 3.2% increase, and our first-time transfer increase is 48%, mostly thanks to the nursing program. This is in line with the university welcoming the largest class of new first-year students since 1983.

More Accolades for Michigan Tech

On top of these numbers, The Wall Street Journal named Michigan Tech the nation’s second most influential public university for salary impact — how much a college boosts salaries earned by students after graduation. Tech also made the Journal’s list of Best U.S. Colleges in 2024, ranking 16th overall among U.S. public universities.

We pride ourselves in CSA on our outstanding classroom instruction and on our world-class research and creative activities. CSA faculty brought in $8.7 million in new external research awards last year, up 17% over the previous year! We do have 2 faculty members in a million-dollar club in external research spending, Raymond Shaw who makes his own clouds in a cloud chamber, and Stephen Techtmann who converts plastics to food via microbes. 

Ravindra Pandey and Neetu Goel
Dean Pandey and Neetu Goel

Research Highlights for Fall Semester 2023

And there are new developments in the College when it comes to research, too.

  • Professor Neetu Goel is a Fulbright senior scholar from Panjab University, India visiting my physics research group to investigate the interaction of biomolecules with quantum materials.
  • Yan Zhang (Biological Sciences and Health Research Institute) received a $469,500 R&D grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to study the impacts of high levels of urinary phosphate in polycystic kidney disease.
  • Tatyana Karabencheva-Christova (Chemistry) received a $427,001 R&D grant from NIH looking into structure-function relationships of matrix metalloproteinase-1 from computational and experimental studies.

Other Items of Note For Fall Semester 2023

Jared Anderson and his faculty in Visual and Performing Arts continue to create a vibrant lineup of art shows, performances, and technical theatre, with students at the forefront as performers, designers, creators, audio producers, etc. This week it is New Music in the Mine.  Next week the opera The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage debuts in the McArdle Theatre and the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra plays in the Rosza Center. And at the end of the month, you can elevate your fright at The Haunted Smelter. There’s always something to do with the arts.

We welcomed three new inductees into our College of Sciences and Arts Academy. Emily Prehoda, Linda Kennedy, and Upendra Puntambekar. They have become successful leaders and practitioners in their chosen fields and have excelled in leadership roles. Their achievements and skillsets: Linda’s legal acumen, Emily’s energy policy and sustainability expertise, and Upendra’s technology and market leadership span across a number of diverse subjects. A diversity reflective of the variety of subjects housed within the College of Sciences and Arts here at Michigan Tech. They join the ranks of 65 distinguished members who have made a difference for their communities—professional, academic, or geographic, or sometimes all 3. 

Thanks for reading! I am sure the first snowfall is just around the corner. Ah, the snowfall total for the winter! Another thing many of us look forward to seeing grow on the Tech campus over the course of this academic year.

Best wishes.

Ravi Pandey

Dean – College of Sciences and Arts

Fall 2022 Off to A Great Start

Greetings from the College of Sciences and Arts at Michigan Tech!

Second Largest 1st Year Class Ever!

The fall semester is off to a wonderful start on our campus! The arrival of the second largest first-year class in 35 years (2nd only to last year!) left us scrambling to find housing for everyone. Our new international graduate student numbers have also returned to pre-pandemic normal. The weather has been mostly beautiful. Fall colors are starting to pop. And the main campus mall was lined each day with tents hosting employers eager to hire our students. Our first fully in-person career fair since before the pandemic followed, and a record 370+ employers recruited on campus.

Academy of Sciences and Arts Inducts Two New Members

Image of Michigan Tech alumnus and Academy of Sciences and Arts Inductee Sarah Carlson
2022 Academy of Sciences and Arts Inductee Dr. Sarah Carlson

Thursday, September 15th, was our annual induction ceremony for the Academy of Sciences and Arts. You may recall the Academy recognizes our most distinguished alumni. I was honored to induct two amazing Tech alums. The first, Dr. Sarah Carlson, is a 2003 graduate of our chemistry department. She is now a vascular surgeon and Associate Chief of Surgery for Operations at the VA Boston Medical Center. Dr. Carlson completed prestigious research and training appointments at both Harvard and Dartmouth earlier in her career.

The second, Steve Yang, is a 1991 graduate of Biological Sciences. He is now co-CEO of WuXi AppTec, a leading global pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, and medical device R&D capability and technology open access platform company with operations in China, the US, and Europe. While Sarah is a native of the UP, this was Steve’s first visit back to campus since graduation. We were honored that Steve could make the stop in Houghton while traveling between Europe and Asia. Both gave gracious and inspiring remarks at the ceremony.

Image of Michigan Tech alumnus and Academy of Sciences and Arts Inductee Steve Yang
2022 Academy of Sciences and Arts Inductee Steve Yang

Undergraduates Continue to Amaze

There is no shortage of students here at Michigan Tech choosing to follow Sarah and Steve on the path to improving patient health outcomes. Two that come to mind are Jenna and Colleen. Jenna Disser ’22 completed her BS in Medical Lab Science and Minor in Pre-Health Professions in April. Her experience doing research at Tech as an undergraduate led her to pursue an MS in Biological Science, and continue her research. Hear her talk about her experiences in research, the community she found at Tech, and her love for the outdoors.

Colleen Toorongian ’20 graduated from Tech with a BS in Exercise Science. Colleen did research in the Clinical and Applied Human Physiology Lab, volunteered in hospice, worked as a Student Athletic Trainer, shadowed various healthcare providers, and assisted with outreach projects. She recently completed an MS at Purdue University Northwest (PNW), in the Biological Sciences department. Her next stop is New York to start the Cardiovascular Science and Perfusion Medicine program at Hofstra University. Read more about Colleen and her journey.

And our social sciences students worked over the summer engaged in fieldwork documenting everyday buildings and their cultural meanings for people in the Keweenaw—past, and present. Dr. Sarah Scarlett and her students are working on publishing a 2024 Vernacular Architecture Forum conference guidebook featuring local architecture and conference tour sites. Themes include exploring cultural identity, environmental change, industrial communities, and contemporary heritage practice. Read more about the fieldwork school on the Social Sciences blog.

External Research Funding Record and Academic Program Growth!

Finally, in late September we hosted our annual college-wide faculty and staff meeting and social. And we had much to celebrate. CSA faculty smashed the previous record, with $12 million in new external research funding in the past fiscal year! The physics department led the way with $5 million, much of it in support of our amazing cloud chamber on campus. The College launched several new degree programs too, including a BS degree in Policy and Community Development, an MS degree in Sustainable Communities, and a BS degree in Business Analytics, in partnership with the College of Business. And we now offer fifty different minors and eight certificates.

Come Visit

If you are ever back in town I hope you will stop by, say hello, and share with me your MTU story. Please do not hesitate to email me any time at djhemmer@mtu.edu to share your MTU experience or offer suggestions.