University of Delaware President Dennis Assanis highlighted his vision for the University during the Board of Trustees semiannual meeting, held Tuesday, Dec. 13, in the Trabant University Center.

Assanis also announced the hiring of a new football head coach, Danny Rocco, and joined Board Chairman John Cochran in congratulating the Fightin’ Blue Hens field hockey team on a brilliant season capped by a 3-2 national championship victory over the University of North Carolina in Norfolk, Virginia.

"I have to tell you that these are amazing students and that their performance on and off the field is truly spectacular," Assanis said. "They personify the spirit of our institution. They stand for academic excellence and athletic excellence."

Field hockey head coach Rolf van de Kerkhof and six members of the team accepted a special citation from the board.

"We wanted to dream big and work hard toward those dreams. Every game we got better, and that was our focus," van de Kerkhof said. "We had to fight every step of the way, and we had to play big time names. But we took care of business and won them one game at a time."

A promising future

Assanis began his presentation by thanking those who attended the inauguration ceremony and faculty symposium on Dec. 7.

"I would like to start by saying, deep from my heart, that I thank you for honoring myself and my family by your presence at the inauguration ceremony last Wednesday," Assanis said. "We had so many amazing speakers, and it was a great honor for the institution to have Vice President Joe Biden with us. He spoke so eloquently of his experiences as a student, as well as of the future of the University."

Both events will serve as a foundation for UD to move forward as the institution strives to meet five strategic priorities, Assanis said.

"First and foremost is student success. We have a number of fronts, starting with the work that we do for creating college pipelines as well as initiatives within and beyond the University," he said.

Examples for encouraging high school students to prepare for a college education at UD include the support of the Give Something Back Foundation, the UD Partnership for Public Education, the Near-Peer Program and the expanded College Readiness Scholars Institute in the state’s Christina and Capital school districts.

Assanis also lauded UD's award-winning Associate in Arts Program, the Blue Hen Success Collaborative and the soon-to-be-launched Blue Hen Success Grant program.

"This will provide financial support, especially for juniors and seniors who experience unexpected financial challenges," Assanis said. "The goal is that every undergraduate earns their degree in four years."

The University also must continue to build an environment of inclusive excellence, a process that includes strengthening diversity and improving the multicultural curriculum.

"Destination Delaware is an expanded program for accepted minority students to get them to enroll at UD," Assanis said. "We also have the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation, which supports 12 minority doctoral students in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields. There are currently seven students, and five more will be added in 2017."

Strengthening UD's interdisciplinary and global programs and growing its graduate programs will include the creation of a graduate college, Assanis said.

"We have several graduate programs that are among the nation's best, including a physical therapy program that is ranked number one in the nation," Assanis said. "Our chemical engineering program is ranked number nine, and we have many others in the top 50 that we would like to get into the top 25."

Assanis also noted that UD has several programs to foster the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship, including the recently announced participation in Manufacturing USA and the Rapid Advance in Process Intensification Deployment (RAPID) Manufacturing Institute of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

"UD will focus on catalysis and reactors," Assanis said. "This will have implications for clean water, the paper industry and the conversion of wood waste and other biomass into fuels and other useful chemicals."

The University also must invest in its intellectual and physical capital, particularly on its Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus, Assanis said.

Provost's report

University Provost Domenico Grasso discussed entrepreneurship and innovation efforts at UD, noting that this remains a top priority

"Here at UD, the concept of entrepreneurship and innovation is rapidly becoming one of our core values and a differentiator," Grasso said. "Our recent revisions of our general education requirements now identify the capacity of construction ideation as a major outcome expected of UD graduates. It has become part of our institutional DNA."

He cited the first class of Delaware Innovation Fellows, a group of young entrepreneurs who were attracted to UD by new affinity admissions programs spearheaded by Chris Lucier, vice president for enrollment management, and Doug Zander, director of admissions, in cooperation with UD's Horn Program in Entrepreneurship.

"Our Innovation Fellows program extends across all seven colleges so students bring a diverse perspective and have the opportunity to work across disciplines as they solve problems and generate new ideas," Grasso said. "Our Horn Program also began a new Summer Founders Program initiative that ran this past summer."

Also at the meeting, Debra Hess Norris, Unidel Henry Francis du Pont Chair in Fine Arts and chair of the Department of Art Conservation, discussed art conservation programs at UD, including the preservation of photographic materials.

Shannon A. Brogdon-Grantham, photograph and paper conservator at the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute, also spoke. Brogdon-Grantham, who received her undergraduate degree in art from Spelman College, received her master of science in art conservation (specialty in photograph conservation) from UD in 2015.

Board actions

In board action, the trustees

• ratified the actions taken at its meeting of May 17;

• authorized the administration to move forward on projects in Drake Laboratory, Pearson Hall, Worrilow Hall and on the STAR Campus;

• approved the STAR Phase III 10-story tower project; and

• recognized gifts to the University.

Click here for a link to Board of Trustees meeting materials.