Board of Curators discusses STEM courses
The Board of Curators reconvened in Rolla to discuss bolstering the UM System’s science, technology, engineering and math courses Tuesday morning.
“Today we’re going to focus on the many ways our campuses are advancing Missouri’s competiveness in the areas of science, technology, engineering, math and across our mission’s of teaching research and economic development,” Chairman Warren Erdman said.
A video, which can be accessed on the UM System’s website, featured four faculty members and students advancing STEM courses now. The video included J. David Robinson who works with MU’s Research Reactor.
“We are the largest reactor on a campus making us more like a national research facility than another university,” Robertson in the video.
MURR is the only reactor able to integrate with nanotechnology, which allows researchers to work with gold particles as a way to treat prostrate cancer Robertson said.
Interim President Steve Owens also said the U.S. is 47th in preparing STEM majors,boar and Missouri falls in the bottom 25 percent among the states.
“Rather than eliminating STEM programs, we must strengthen them,” Owens said.
Owens also commended the university on dealing with the economic downturn creatively. Some of the ways the UM System is coping is by seeking partnerships with other colleges outside of the system, expanding online learning and carefully looking over positions to see if they can either be filled at a lower cost or not at all.
Most other universities have not gone these lengths to deal with the economic crisis Owens said.
“We should be further discomforted that most strategies focus on the expense side rather than the revenue side,” Owens said.
Owens also announced the system is working to build 80,000 square feet of high tech business and lab space at MU’s Discovery Ridge by late 2012 or early 2013. No costs to the university or tax payers would be incurred.