Our Mission & History
The mission of the Center for Workforce Development (CWD) is promoting excellence and innovation in science & engineering through research, evaluation, and programs to enhance diversity. In the late 1980’s the Women in Engineering (WIE) Initiative was established under the leadership of the dean of engineering. Shortly afterwards, WIE expanded to Women in Science & Engineering (WISE). Mentoring, tutoring, and the freshman intervention program were available to women of all ethnicities in the sciences and engineering. Programs were designed and implemented based on research and evaluation of their effectiveness. Conducting both research and evaluation of the programs that were implemented offered the opportunity to inform our practices.
In 1998 WISE received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) and the 1998 WEPAN National Women in Engineering Program Award. Both awards were directly related to increased retention, programmatic efforts, and the design, development, and dissemination of a Curriculum for Training Mentors and Mentees in Science and Engineering.
In 2004 the WISE Center was repositioned to the Center for Workforce Development and the focus became research, evaluation, and graduate student programs in STEM fields. CWD is a self-sustaining unit within the College of Engineering and the executive director reports to the dean of engineering.