In the last issue of Auburn Engineering I announced that the College of
Engineering was beginning an ambitious renovation
of Wilmore Laboratories. That work has now begun.
As you read this issue, the college will have taken
the first step towards renovation of the 65,000
square-foot facility, the presentation of
schematic plans to the university's board of trustees.
Following board approval, site preparation will begin on the
transformation of this landmark structure, which
has served generations of Auburn engineers in constantly evolving ways.
Retaining accreditation for the College of Engineering has played no
small part in the impetus behind this $10 million-plus project. Simply put,
accreditation teams who visited chemical and materials engineering last year
expressed strong concerns about the substandard condition of Wilmore Labs.
Had it been time for Aero or ME visitations, much the same would
have been said by those team members.
We are not going to lose our accreditation. I can think of no greater
disservice to our students, whose careers are on the line; our alumni, whose pride
is on the line; or our faculty, too many of whom have given Auburn far more
than they have received in salary in comparison to peer institutions.
We don't need your help if you don't want to give it, because for approval
to go ahead with our plans, we had to pledge student fees as a
contingency against alumni giving. These fees,
which amount to $5 per credit hour for every engineering course, were initiated
during the summer quarter.
But what if you do donate toward Wilmore's renovation? Then I can
take those dollars, which are really allocated toward laboratory equipment, and
give them to my department heads so that they can replace, maintain, and
upgrade their laboratory facilities.
That is, put those dollars where they were meant to be used. It would mean that up-to-date equipment would be
in place when Wilmore goes on line again and elsewhere in the college as well.
In planning for Wilmore, we put in a base line of $2.5 million for alumni giving, and $1.6 million for student fees. (State funds add another $2.3 million;
a National Science Foundation grant, $2 million; and the university, $2 million.)
You can do the math; we really need something a little over $4 million
from our alumni, and we're working hard to make headway on that goal. I'd like
to ask you to be a part of that goal now because it's important to us; and
by 'us' I mean students, alumni and faculty, for the reasons mentioned at
the beginning of this column.
If we were renovating Ramsay Hall, I couldn't and wouldn't ask you for
a dime it's becoming a collection of administrative offices. But Wilmore
has, is, and will continue to be the heart of Auburn Engineering . . . the pulse of our future and yours, as engineering alumni. Please make your commitment to
the college a reality.
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