Oregon State University recognised by National Education Group

A national education group is honoring the Oregon State University College of Engineering for its work in recruiting and supporting women and underrepresented minorities within the college.

The American Society of Engineering Education’s Diversity Recognition Program has conferred a silver award on the college for making significant, measurable progress in increasing the diversity, inclusion and degree attainment outcomes of its programs.

The OSU College of Engineering was one of three institutions nationwide to receive a silver award out of 53 that applied. The other silver award winners are Dartmouth University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The college received the silver award after being judged an “exemplar” bronze award winner in 2019, the highest award given at the time. Under the program format, an institution must attain the bronze level before applying for silver and must have the silver level before applying for gold.

The college and this year’s other silver award winners were determined to have had made significant gains since 2019 in alignment with their DEI plan, including the representation of women and underrepresented minorities in enrollment and degrees awarded.

“We could not have achieved this recognition without our entire community’s dedication and hard work,” said Scott Ashford, Kearney Dean of Engineering. “I am so proud of our college and what we have been able to do together. But there is more work to do, and I hope everyone sees this accomplishment as a challenge to keep the momentum going.”

The OSU College of Engineering has 57 women among its tenured or tenure track faculty, up from 24 in fall 2014. OSU ranks fifth in the nation among R1 universities for the percentage of engineering faculty who are women.