Strategic Plan

Our mission is to contribute to the economic and social prosperity of communities and to steward the human, environmental and physical resources committed to our care in Nebraska and the world. We strive to meet this mission by:

• Educating engineering professionals prepared for lifelong learning and personal growth;
• Discovering, creating, and applying new knowledge and technologies in civil and environmental engineering;
• Engaging with communities; and
• Safeguarding equity, inclusion, personal dignity, and respect for all.

To support its mission, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has established the following goals:

Research

• Sustain and enhance the natural and built environment through research with local, regional, and global impact
• Cultivate a collaborative research culture of discovery, creativity, and application.

Teaching and Learning

• Provide high-impact civil & environmental engineering education programs that produce prepared and engaged engineering leaders

Outreach and Engagement

• Advance departmental service-focused engagement activities to contribute to the built and natural environments of Nebraska communities
• Collaborate with industry and communities to meet societal needs and enable growth of the civil and environmental engineering profession and workforce.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

• To recruit diverse faculty/staff/students into the department represent the demographics of the state of Nebraska and then national demographics in terms of race/ethnicity and gender
• Provide an encouraging and supportive environment for students, faculty and staff
• Develop leaders and creating leadership opportunities for students, faculty and staff
• Complement the general education of undergraduate and graduate students with diversity-related expertise as it pertains to civil and environmental engineering

Goal #1: Sustain and enhance the natural and built environment through research with local, regional, and global impact

Strategy #1:
Facilitate and strengthen research collaborations with key partners, including industry, government agencies, and other research entities.

Tactics:

1. Investigate opportunities and form partnerships to create consortia with stakeholders.
2. Sustain and enhance existing partnerships.
3. Invest in opportunities to engage with funding agencies, key partners, and larger communities.
4. Encourage faculty to form teams and leverage existing resources.

Strategy #2:
Identify and support targeted and emerging areas of civil and environmental engineering research.

Tactics:

1. Facilitate formal and informal interactions between faculty from different subgroups, such as departmental seminars, invited speakers, social events, and mentoring discussions.
2. Inventory and publicize faculty expertise and strengths.
3. Hire faculty with expertise in targeted and emerging areas of CEE research.
4. Maintain and upgrade research facilities and hire support staff.

Goal #2: Cultivate a collaborative research culture of discovery, creativity, and application

Strategy #1:
Pursue team-based research activities

Tactics:

1. Facilitate formal and informal interactions between faculty from different subgroups, such as departmental seminars, invited speakers, social events, and mentoring discussions.
2. Leverage resources from the college and the university, such as seed funding, proposal development, mentoring programs, and re-initiation programs.
3. Acknowledge and reward team-based and collaborative efforts.

Strategy #2:
Disseminate and transfer ideas that benefit local, regional, and global communities.

Tactics:

1. Encourage faculty to disseminate ideas through effective communication outlets, such as journals, conferences, workshops, webinars, etc
2. Partner with governmental agencies, organizational bodies, and stakeholders in disseminating and transferring research findings to the community in practice.
3. Transfer ideas through UNL units (e.g., NUTECH and LTAP).

Goal: Provide high-impact civil & environmental engineering education programs that produce prepared and engaged engineering leaders Strategies:

1. Develop distinctive educational programs
2. Build and strengthen DEI in the curriculum
3. Improve student success
4. Continue excellence in co- and extra-curricular education
5. Share stories on the CEE Nebraska student experience
6. Sustain and expand robust extracurricular programs for students

Goal #1: Advance departmental service-focused engagement activities to contribute to the built and natural environments of Nebraska communities.

Strategy #1:
Leverage COE engagement infrastructure and increase department engagement activities

Tactics:

1. Seek external support for engagement projects
2. Track, report, and recognize engagement projects by faculty, staff, and students
3. Promote departmental use of the COE logic model to assist in identifying and implementing engagement activities

Strategy #2:
Promote collaboration and cooperation with industry and communities

Tactics:

1. Request engagement advisement from the departmental external advisory board
2. Promote mentoring relationships for students with local professionals and state agencies
3. Faculty presentations for state agencies and stakeholders
4. Encourage departmental involvement with state agency, oversight, and stakeholder committees

Goal #2: Collaborate with industry and communities to meet societal needs and enable growth of the civil and environmental engineering profession and workforce.

Strategy #1:
Expand departmental outreach and engagement activities for people at all stages of their career and life

Tactics:

1. Partner with K12 teachers and the COE Coordinator of Engineering Education & Outreach
2. Partner with local engineering firms and professional societies
3. Partner with university-wide engagement programs such as Nebraska State Museum and Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

Strategy #2:
Do impactful engagement projects

Tactics:

1. Support faculty/staff/student nominations for local, regional, and national engagement awards and attainment of leadership and fellow roles in professional societies
2. Adopt COE yearly review process and recommendations for engagement recognition in the departmental annual review
3. Communicate stories and impact with the public/targeted audiences

Goal #1: To recruit diverse faculty/staff/students into the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering to represent the demographics of the state of Nebraska and then national demographics in terms of race/ethnicity and gender.

Strategy #1:
Outreach to middle and high school students

Tactics:

1. Discover Engineering Days
2. Big Red Academic Summer Camp
3. Add’l activities

Strategy #2:
Develop pipelines with high schools and community colleges in target demographics

Tactics:

1. Dedicate scholarship funds
2. Work with COE Recruitment Office to identify target high schools and implement outreach/recruitment
3. Expand and/or formalize community college transfer programs

Strategy #3:
Develop pipelines with PUIs and MSIs for graduate school

Tactics:

1. Develop MOUs with institutions
2. Targeted advertising campaigns
3. Invited students day/visit campus day

Strategy #4:
Advertise CEE to 1st/2nd year students (COE and beyond)

Tactics:

1. Work with ESS to identify students looking to transfer out of other ENG programs.
2. Presentations to general ENG and other RSOs

Strategy #5:
Ensure diverse applicant pools for faculty and staff positions

Tactics:

1. Broadly advertise staff positions beyond UNL website
2. Targeted email campaigns for faculty positions (personalized emails)
3. Advertise faculty positions to organizations serving underrepresented groups (AWIS, NSBE, etc.)

Strategy #6:
Ensure a welcoming and inclusive interview process for faculty and staff

Tactics:

1. Ensure diversity of search committees
2. Ensure diversity of interviewers and meetings throughout the interview day(s). (e.g., ensure balance of meeting attendees beyond availability)
3. Incorporate a non-CEE UNL affiliate during interviews to discuss complicated topics that interviewees may not wish to disclose/ask to search committee

Goal #2: The department of Civil and Environmental Engineering will provide an encouraging and supportive environment for students, faculty and staff.

Strategy #1:
Training and professional development opportunities in diversity, equity and inclusion for the department

Tactics:

1. Bystander Intervention Training
2. Culturally Relevant Pedagogy Training
3. Identity & Culture Workshops Implicit Bias Workshops
4. Virtual workshop on diversity

Strategy #2:
Social/co-curricular/curricular events

Tactics:

1. Seminars/guest lecturers from diverse speakers
2. Potluck/Socials

Strategy #3:
Regular opportunities for student, faculty and staff dialogue

Tactics:

1. Regularly scheduled Listening sessions/dept ‘office hours’ Town Hall
2. Anonymous comment/email -way to contact the department

Goal #3: Leadership development and creating leadership opportunities for students, faculty and staff.

Strategy #1:
Mentoring programs for students, faculty and staff

Tactics:

1. Create mentoring program with industry partners

Strategy #2:
Peer mentoring programs for students

Tactics:

1. Promoting RSO engagement/ Inclusion of RSO projects into coursework
2. Undergraduate/Graduate teaching assistants creating study hours to support students
3. Partnering new graduate students with existing graduate students (tiers of student support)

Goal #4: The department will complement the general education of undergraduate and graduate students with diversity-related expertise as it pertains to civil and environmental engineering.

Strategy #1:
Teaching inclusively and create inclusive classroom environment

Tactics:

1. Structured Interactions
2. Diversify teaching methods
3. Flexibility
4. Affirmation and welcoming environment

Strategy #2:
Inclusive pedagogies and course curriculum

Tactics:

1. Transparency
2. Diversify course content
3. Diversify assignments/exams
4. Connection with students experience outside of classroom
5. Self-reflections
6. Flexibility