Dean of the College of Natural Resources's Letter

Christine Thomas

This has been a very exciting year in the UWSP Paper Science and Engineering program. Last year I outlined goals that we hoped to achieve and we are proud to report major success against those aspirations.

Our faculty put a great deal of effort into preparing for a visit from ABET, the engineering accreditation body. We completed our self-study. The visiting accreditation review team came to campus in September. We were very pleased with the show of support of our industry partners who participated in the visit. The team was impressed with our program and curriculum and has offered some suggestions for change in the way we assess our progress and structure our personnel. We will be working on those suggestions over the next few months.

Last year, I reported that we would be trying to internationalize our curriculum through a EU/US grant application to create a joint program with universities in Europe and NC State University. Our International Programs coordinator, Bobbi Kubish recently landed a $447,000 grant to do just that. As I write this letter, Gerry Ring is in Munich and headed to Finland to coordinate with our partners in this effort.

Also, last year, I reported that we were working on an institute, the Wisconsin Institute for Sustainable Technology that would focus initially on biofuels. Faculty in Paper Science and Engineering and the Biology Department have partnered on major grants to support that effort. There has been some initial success….and more on the way. Stay tuned for that news in the next letter.

Last, but certainly not least…our enrollment for this year's new class was full with 25 new students. The Paper Science Foundation supported every one of them with a generous scholarship.

We are very proud of our progress…and we thank you for all that you have done to help us move in positive directions. Fasten your seat belts. The best is yet to come.

Christine L. Thomas, Dean
College of Natural Resources
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point