CECS Five-Year Strategic Plan
Welcome to the College of Engineering and Computer Science's (CECS) Five-Year Plan, a comprehensive roadmap that lays out our priorities, objectives, and strategies for the period spanning the next five years (2022 to 2027). This strategic plan embodies our commitment to excellence and our determination to propel CECS to new heights of success.
Undergraduate & Graduate Education
Undergraduate Priorities, Objectives, and Strategies
Priority 1
Foster an environment of academic success that enhances timely degree completion for a diverse student population.
- Increase 4-year graduation rate for first time freshmen to 12% and 6-year graduation rate for first time freshmen to 50%.
- Increase 2-year transfer student graduation rate to 20% and 4-year transfer student graduation rate to 70%.
- Increase Underrepresented Minoritized (URM) and female faculty by one-third (1/3) [base year 2021-2022].
- Increase graduation rates by enhancing advising, tutoring, and mentorship.
- Facilitate incoming first-time freshman students’ participation in the Early Start Mathematics (ESM) and Early STEM programs with particular emphasis on underserved communities.
- Mandate all transfer students to receive CECS advising (prior to their second semester before enrolling in classes) and to meet their advisor at least once a year.
- Provide resources to encourage all faculty to participate in college specific professional development related to quality of instruction.
- Recognize faculty for their teaching skills and performance.
- Work with stakeholders to develop programming for the Global Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Equity Innovation Hub specifically aimed at reducing the academic equity gaps in the College.
- Create a college-wide position to enhance career and major advisement.
- Increase faculty diversity by:
- proactively targeting candidates from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) doctoral granting institutions,
- advertise to demographic-specific organizations, e.g. SWE, SHPE, NSBE, etc., work closely with the College’s Faculty Equity and Compliance Representative to ensure compliance with Equal Employment Opportunity regulations in the hiring process, and retain faculty for their success in CECS.
- Increase awareness and understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) by all faculty members, and strive for continuous improvement as demonstrated in their commitment to using culturally responsive pedagogies to teach and mentor students from underrepresented minoritized populations.
Priority 2
Develop opportunities to support undergraduate students in professional activities.
- Increase number of internships, projects, and students in competitive entrepreneurial activities.
- Promote professional activities by engaging freshman and sophomore students in student club organizations and societies, and by establishing more partnerships with industry, professional organizations, and communities.
- Promote and expand the Honors Co-Op program to fifteen companies to coordinate internship opportunities.
- Provide resources to support student presentations at professional conferences.
- Promote and provide resources to student clubs and competition teams for their professional development activities.
- Encourage and engage students to participate in service-learning opportunities through the Office of Community Engagement and provide technological solutions that address problems in local communities.
Graduate Priorities, Objectives, and Strategies
Priority 1
Recruit, retain, and prepare students for future entry into industry and/or Ph.D. programs.
- Increase graduate student enrollment by 25% [compared with the rate of the base year 2021-2022].
- Increase 2-year graduation rate to 60%.
- Work with the Graduate Studies Office to offer workshops to encourage current senior undergraduate students and alumni to consider pursuing a graduate degree at the College of Engineering and Computer Science.
- Attract more international graduate students by increasing the College’s visibility (through increased innovative marketing and outreach activities, governmental partnerships, and outreach to universities CSUN has already had the partnership agreements with).
- Provide resources to encourage all faculty to participate in college specific professional development related to quality of instruction.
- Recognize faculty for their teaching skills and performance.
Research
Priorities, Objectives, and Strategies
Priority 1
Increase graduate and undergraduate student research involvement.
- Increase the number of students actively involved in research.
- Increase the number of students who author or co-author publications.
- Use at least 15% of start-up funds to support graduate students to do research.
- Provide resources to students working on projects that will result in publication.
- Publicize thesis defense and project presentations in the College and encourage graduate students to participate as audience members.
- Establish collaboration with Ph.D. granting institutions to encourage students to do research and pursue their Ph.D. degrees.
Priority 2
Increase research productivity [base year 2021-2022].
- Increase the number of submitted external grant proposals by 25%.
- Increase the number of faculty submitting grant proposals by 25%.
- Increase the number of peer reviewed conference and journal publications by 25%.
- Increase research expenditure to $2.0 million per year
- Secure and allocate funds to upgrade current research labs.
- Develop and update the College’s research web pages to include a list of research equipment, expertise areas, capabilities, publications, and active research centers and labs.
- Provide reassigned time for faculty scholarship activities and grant writing.
- Recognize faculty for research achievement.
- Host grant writing workshops in CECS.
Priority 3
Promote collaborations within CSUN and partnerships with other universities, industry, and government agencies.
- Establish distinguished guest-speaker series.
- Increase the number of industry sponsored projects.
- Pursue industry sponsors to support the distinguished guest-speaker series and invite guest-speakers whose backgrounds reflect CSUN diverse student body.
- Enhance partnerships with the College’s Industry Advisory Board (IAB) and department's Industry Liaison Council (ILC).
- Create College and department websites dedicated to research and update them regularly.
Community Engagement and Professional Development
Priorities, Objectives, and Strategies
Priority 1
Deepen Corporate/Industry Engagement.
- Boost industry partnership with CECS to increase activities around recruitment, research, and funding.
- Establish new endowed chairs, faculty fellowships, and scholarships.
- Increase the College’s visibility by offering service and facilities to industry.
- Enhance community collaborations and build robust and sustainable partnerships with industry.
- Create a sustainable revenue stream and opportunities through engagement with design clinics, Honors Co-Op, Industry Advisory Board (IAB), Industry Liaison Councils (ILCs), Senior Design Project Showcase (SDPS), and the Ernie Schaeffer Center.
- Encourage and engage students to participate in service-learning opportunities through the Office of Community Engagement and provide technological solutions that address problems in local communities.
Priority 2
Establish the Global Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Equity Innovation Hub (EIH).
- Secure funds to equip the engineering research labs within the Global HSI - EIH.
- Engage industry and alumni in planning and envisioning the Global HSI-EIH by holding small group meetings, in-person or virtual, with industry partners, community investors, and alumni prospects.
- Identify ways faculty can utilize the Global HSI-EIH for research and student activities, particularly with focus on students from the underserved communities.
- Make the Global HSI-EIH available to industry and community partners.
- Work with stakeholders to develop programing for the Global Hispanic Serving Institution Equity Innovation Hub (HSI-EIH) to reduce academic equity gaps that currently impact students from the underserved communities.