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Message from
Dr. Craig W. Van Kirk
In my entire 26 years as PE’s Department Head, I can say in many ways the
program is healthier and stronger now than ever, and it is well poised for a
significant and positive future. PE’s program is very healthy in many ways. Recruiting for our
students is strong, several job offers per student, 100% job placement
before graduation, BS starting salaries approaching $70,000 per year,
Masters and Ph.D. salaries in the neighborhood of $100,000 per year, with
some exceeding that number. This year’s PE senior class size is 40, while
our junior class is 70 and our sophomore class is over 100. Our graduate student enrollment of 74 is our largest
ever. Our International student enrollment is healthy at both the undergrad
and graduate levels, with excellent quality students from around the world.
The long established success and popularity of our PE program
continues to attract non-Colorado residents and international students at
the highest rates on campus. Also, our global activities continue to not
only attract more students, but also more partners, sponsors, and
opportunities for joint ventures around the world. For examples: the Abu
Dhabi Petroleum Institute (ADPI) continues to prosper; Egypt’s invitation
for us to open CSM’s first and only branch campus in Egypt as an open coed
international campus is maturing nicely, and even though we don’t have a
final agreement yet, we started teaching graduate-level courses in Egypt
in 2004.
CSM’s PE Department is among the highest ranked, best
recognized, and most respected such program in the world. PE focuses
internally on providing the best possible quality education to our students,
and externally we focus our efforts on our competition among our peer
universities. We compete successfully with other top-rated engineering
programs domestically and globally, at both the undergraduate and graduate
levels. The Program purposefully emphasizes an open learning environment,
where education is balanced between teaching and research. The result of
this strategy continues to promote the long-standing reputation of the
Program; we enjoy domestic and global high-profile recognition.
One of our PE alumni has stepped forward recently with a
multimillion dollar gift to enable construction of a new state-of-the-art
building for PE's globally engaged Department! This generous grant will form the foundation
for attracting additional contributions which will generate the ultimate new
home for PE. Also, our research activities associated with acquiring
sponsorship from industry and government agencies are growing rapidly.
Annual student evaluations of faculty teaching classes rank
PE’s profs well above campus averages. Also, graduate student surveys
indicate a very high level of satisfaction with our program. Our current
students and our alumni are quite satisfied and dedicated to CSM. Our alumni
are campus leaders in fund raising for CSM and PE support. Clearly, the
primary reasons that CSM’s PE Program enjoys so much success is the
excellent quality of the students and the staff. The current faculty are
outstanding. They are dedicated to the students; through teaching, research,
and service.
One final comment on the PE Program’s accomplishments to date
and attractiveness for further investment: the measure of the value of the
PE Program is evidenced by feedback from our graduates and our industry and
research partners, the excellent performance of our graduates in other
graduate school programs and in private industry, solid accreditation
reviews and assessment, and strong financial support from off-campus
sources. In short, we have many customers, partners, and supporters.
Alumni and other friends of the Program provide continuing
financial support, which enables us to provide many exceptional educational
experiences for our students; such as, the annual SPE Conference, their off
campus meetings, our outstanding computer lab facilities and coordinator,
our two Summer Field Sessions off campus, and many others. The result of the
healthy partnership among our supporters, our staff, and our students is the
continuing excellent yearly graduates who enjoy successful careers in our
global petroleum industry.
Our program emphasizes multidisciplinary teams in classroom courses and on
research projects. Professors and graduate students from our
Department work closely with those from the Departments of Geology and Geophysics almost daily. Some of our projects also
include other
departments across campus. Opportunities are unlimited. My own areas of
emphasis and research cover multidisciplinary reservoir development and
management projects, reservoir engineering, simulation, and economics.
Graduation day brings mixed emotions; we're sad to see students leave,
but proud and happy for them and for their exciting futures. Two of the great pleasures I get from being a professor in our program are
forming close ties with students and keeping in touch throughout their careers. The Department Head has administrative responsibilities,
but I most enjoy teaching and working with students on research projects.
I look forward to welcoming you to our petroleum engineering program here at the Colorado School of Mines.
Feel free to contact me any time for further information.
-Craig
