Letter from the Provost

In my last letter, I shared what it was like to be provost at Lawrence Technological University and an overview of a few of the initiatives underway and planned at the time. With this letter, I am going to go deeper into several of the initiatives and how they fit the current growth and trajectory of the University.

The vision put forward by our President is for LTU to become a research-focused University. We want to grow our academic reputation, which is done through the production of quality, forward-looking research. Research efforts of the caliber I am describing contribute to the richness of the instructional efforts of the faculty as well as raising the academic reputation of the University. The lion’s share of effort within the Provost’s office is to encourage the growth of scholarship and to continue to enhance our well-respected teaching institution.

Moving the University from primarily a teaching institution to a more research-focused one requires changes to how certain things are done as well as to the expectations of our faculty, staff, and administrators. I often refer to this as changing our “culture” as an institution. It does take time and care since we all tend to be comfortable with our current environment, and change often feels disruptive. However, change can be good and often catalyzes movement to a more exciting and rewarding environment, and so it will be with LTU as we move forward with the President’s vision.

Concerning research, the addition of two new Ph.D. programs (Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering) to our two existing Ph.D. programs (Civil and Mechanical Engineering) along with more Ph.D. programs in the planning stages constitutes a significant change that will grow our research efforts tremendously. These efforts will also help change the culture of LTU by engaging more of our faculty and students in Ph.D.-level research, while also adjusting and creating new policies and procedures.

Similarly, the creation of new centers that emphasize applied research and encourage a strong connection to industry will add greatly to our scholarship and teaching growth within this new environment. For example, we are creating a Healthcare Worker Safety Research Center to better define and develop safety procedures and technology to protect healthcare workers. We already have a Construction Safety Research Center devoted to the same goals but with a focus on the construction industry. We are planning a research-intensive center encompassing simulation and design, which will bring together the many areas of digital innovation-related research occurring at LTU, such as gamification, VR/AR, real time 3D visualization, and AI, to name a few. All very exciting efforts to grow our research.

Growing our enrollment is part of the President’s vision, and so we are creating new, forward-looking degree programs that will produce technologically-savvy graduates to strengthen the workforce in a variety of key areas. In particular, our new College of Health Sciences, with our new founding dean, Mary C. Schutten, already has programs in nursing, physician assistant studies, cardiovascular perfusion, and healthcare administration. New programs being added are designed to produce surgical technicians, respiratory therapists, and radiologic technicians. New programs such as a Master’s and Doctorate in Occupational Therapy, a Doctorate in Healthcare Science, a Master’s and Doctorate in Nursing Practice, a Master’s in Public Health, and an MBA with a healthcare focus are being planned and developed. There are other efforts underway in this area, but this listing will give you an idea of the breadth and depth of our vision. These programs are designed to not only grow enrollment, but to also promote interdisciplinary research and collaboration across LTU.

We are also expanding our efforts in autonomy, robotics, data analytics, and other areas. We are excited about LTU's progression and its path to achieve our vision of becoming a research-focused institution!

by Richard Heist