LSU College of Science Strategic Plan

LSU College of Science

STRATEGIC PLAN 2017-2022

Go Further Together MOVING FORWARD FOR EDUCATION, INNOVATION, AND DISCOVERY

Dear Friends, For more than a century, the College of Science has been the primary research hub for LSU and for the state of Louisiana. As we look towards the future, I present our 2017-2022 strategic plan, Go Further Together: Moving Forward for Education, Innovation, and Discovery.

This five-year plan is guided by five overarching goals: Discovery, Learning, Diversity, Outreach, and Philanthropy. Within each of these goals are strategies and action items that will lead our academic and research efforts. This plan documents our commitment to enhancing our research initiatives and growing our teaching and learning programs. We are making diversity a priority as a building block for inclusion, broadening outreach and public engagement, and establishing a culture of philanthropy that will further advance the mission of the College of Science.

In addition to charting our path forward over the next five years, this document serves as a reminder of our ideals and aspirations.

Throughout you will find inserts titled Cornerstone and 2025 in which we highlight our support of the values and framework laid out by the LSU Strategic Plan 2025. These connections exemplify the ideas and objectives that distinguish who we are as a college and a university.

We invite you to take part in this ambitious agenda and support our efforts to provide quality education and research experiences for our students. We do not take this responsibility lightly. We fully understand our role in providing a world-class education and encourage you to support the initiatives put forth in this plan. We are nurturing future innovators, educators, and discovers who will be responsible for advancing our science and technology.

Sincerely,

Cynthia B. Peterson, Dean Seola Arnaud and Richard Vernon Edwards Jr. Professor

Our Foundation MISSION The LSU College of Science is the primary scientific intellectual resource for Louisiana and a leader in the nation, offering superior quality education and programs to create and disseminate knowledge through teaching, research, and discovery.

VISION The vision of the College of Science is to be an international leader in scientific research and instruction, elevating LSU to the highest level of excellence among major research universities in the United States and the world.

PHILANTHROPY Our vision is a sustainable future for the LSU College of Science that will ensure the success of future generations of scientists. We seek to foster a culture of philanthropy that engages stakeholders and inspires meaningful investments in scientific education, innovation, and research.

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Our Values SEEK EXCELLENCE BUILD BIG IDEAS INVITE COLLABORATION OFFER SUPPORT CULTIVATE CREATIVE APPROACHES INCLUDE DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE

CORNERSTONE: COLLABORATIVE We know that the most valuable discoveries can come from creative places and unexpected partnerships. We believe in the power of partnership and collaboration to create a better future.

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Our Strategic Goals DISCOVERY LEARNING DIVERSITY OUTREACH PHILANTHROPY

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Strategic Goal 1: DISCOVERY The College of Science will take a leadership role in advancing cutting-edge scientific research programs. We will build upon existing strengths and nurture new avenues of scientific inquiry, upholding high standards of excellence. We will foster interdisciplinary and collaborative research and identify unique partnerships within the college, across campus, and around the world – making an impact in our fields and beyond. We recognize the importance of effectively communicating our discoveries to disseminate knowledge, benefit our community, and build our national and international standing.

2025: GROW INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH We believe a culture that values collaboration, communication, and diverse perspectives is the key to fostering transformational science.

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Strategic Goal 1: DISCOVERY STRATEGIES •

Identify and enhance emerging areas of research and recruit faculty through targeted hires.

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Continue to implement effective student-centric academic advising, preparatory bootcamps, and career coaching services.

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Expand the “Geaux Science” program to an “Experience Science” program for both pre-majors and studens in the senior college, incorporating immersive undergraduate research opportunities, communication training, residential and extra-curricular programming, and an emphasis on experential learning methodologies.

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Foster a culture of collaboration and interdisciplinarity through improved policies and guidelines and by creating incentives for collaborative work and team building.

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Recruit exceptional graduate students and cultivate an environment that promotes student success, ensures student recognition, and creates greater career opportunities.

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Effectively communicate the research and achievements of faculty and students to increase the prominence of the LSU College of Science in the global academic marketplace.

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Build operational excellence by nurturing talented administrative, clerical, and technical support staff.

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Provide workshops and other opportunities for faculty, staff, and students to improve communication with peer academics and the general public.

CORNERSTONE: CREATIVE We are a community of fearless explorers taking on society’s grand challenges. We encourage risk-taking and creative approaches for innovation through discovery.

2025: ENCOURAGING CAREER EXCELLENCE We lead the way in welcoming, training, and supporting faculty and staff as they pursue career excellence and leadership.

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Strategic Goal 1: DISCOVERY EXPECTED OUTCOMES BY 2022 AND INDICATORS •

Increase number of faculty members by 10% and increase faculty salaries to national competitive levels.

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Increased media highlights, increased number of honors and awards, and participation on editorial boards and review panels.

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Grow extramural research funding through increased number of grant awards and grant dollars per faculty member.

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Increase interdisciplinary and collaborative activity as evidenced by growth in multi-investigator funding and collaborative network mapping.

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Improve graduate student recruitment, increase enrollment, and promote student success through mechanisms for fellowship and stipend funding and professional development opportunities.

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Promote staff success and job satisfaction by increasing salaries to nationally competitive levels and supporting professional development.

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Strategic Goal 2: LEARNING The College of Science will provide challenging and rewarding learning experiences for students. Through excellence in teaching, we will ensure that our students are critical thinkers and adaptive learners, able to synthesize and communicate the most current and relevant scientific information. We will continue to support innovative approaches for student-centered learning and reward teaching excellence. We will develop student talent and incorporate research into the learning experience. We will ensure that our graduates have the tools and professional training needed to help them achieve their goals.

2025: TRANSFORMING EDUCATION We provide students with a supportive environment to help them imagine, pursue, and accomplish their goals. Our students apply science and math to embrace the world’s emerging opportunities and surmount its entrenched challenges.

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Strategic Goal 2: LEARNING STRATEGIES •

Grow student enrollment through proactive recruiting, strong partnership with the Office of Enrollment Management, K-12 outreach activities, and targeted communications strategies.

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Continue to implement effective student-centric academic advising, preparatory boot camps and career coaching services.

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Expand the “GeauxScience” premajors program to an “Experience Science” program for both pre-majors and students in the senior college, incorporating immersive undergraduate research opportunities, communication training, residential and extra-curricular programming, and an emphasis on experiential learning methodologie.

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Provide training and development opportunities for faculty to enhance classroom education and transform learning through evidence-based teaching methods that promote active learning, improve assessment, and integrate metacognitive learning strategies into instruction.

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Implement effective recruiting practices including early contact with prospective students and their families.

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Establish an Undergraduate Task Force to work on issues related to undergraduate retention and inclusion.

2025: SUPPORTING STUDENT SUCCESS We are LSU at its core. Every student passes through the college’s classrooms, supporting career development, critical thinking, and communication skills.

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Strategic Goal 2: LEARNING EXPECTED OUTCOMES BY 2022 AND INDICATORS •

Increase undergraduate enrollment in math and science disciplines.

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Improve retention and graduation rates in math and science majors.

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Expand REU opportunities and increase number of student participants in undergraduate research.

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Increase participation in the Science Residential College.

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Increase number of students completing the College Honors program.

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Expand collaborations with Communication across the Curriculum and increase the number of graduates that receive LSU Distinguished Communicator certification.

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Provide students with high quality advising as evidenced by the college’s student assessment surveys and the university’s exit survey results.

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Grow professional development opportunities for faculty and increase faculty attendance at the Gulf Coast Summer Institute.

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Strategic Goal 3: DIVERSITY The College of Science will promote excellence through a culture of diversity and inclusion. We will leverage funding opportunities and scholarship programs that allow us to recruit and mentor individuals from underrepresented racial, ethnic, gender, socioeconomic, and geographic groups. We will support underrepresented students, faculty, and staff as they pursue scientific excellence and leadership.

CORNERSTONE: CULTURALLY ADEPT We know that inviting new perspectives and working in partnership power new solutions and breakthroughs.

Though we hail from different disciplinary and personal backgrounds, we work together to break down silos and foster free and open communication.

2025: INSTITUTE FOR DIALOGUE, DIVERSITY, AND CULTURE The College of Science demands and is developing a more inclusive academy. We value diverse ideas and welcome new voices and unexpected viewpoints as we blaze new trails in science and math.

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Strategic Goal 3: DIVERSITY STRATEGIES •

Continue to strengthen our environment for diversity and inclusion through the College of Science Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the advisement of the college’s Diversity Committee by developing robust diversity programming for students, faculty, and staff and becoming a leader in culture, practices, and infrastructure that encourage inclusivity.

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Recruit and retain top faculty who will contribute to an increasingly diverse and academically distinguished faculty through targeted strategies such as policy revisions, improved transparency in personnel processes, partner hires, training for search committees, and mentoring.

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Establish a culture of excellence that increases our capacity to recruit and retain diverse and highly talented undergraduate and graduate students through scholarships, targeted recruiting, greater access to REUs, and strong partnership with the LSU Office of Diversity, the Office of Strategic Initiatives, and other units on campus.

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Advance awareness of issues surrounding diversity and inclusion within higher education by implementing an Inclusive Excellence Speaker Series and offering professional development opportunities through workshops and other venues.

Strategic Goal 3: DIVERSITY EXPECTED OUTCOMES BY 2022 AND INDICATORS •

Bring the proportion of women and URM faculty and students more in line with Louisiana population data.

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Increase grant funding for diversity related programming and initiatives.

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Leverage institutional support for partner hires and opportunity hires.

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Increase number of professional development opportunities, including conference participation, for faculty, students and staff.

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Increase number of students participating in international educational programs.

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Increase scholarships and recruitment supplements designed to improve diversity.

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Strategic Goal 4: OUTREACH The College of Science will cultivate a wide audience for our discoveries and innovative applications for research, and attract the next generation to science. We will advance STEM education in Louisiana and the nation. We will partner with K-12 programs, community colleges, and community organizations to foster STEM interest and an understanding of how our research solves real world challenges.

2025: IMPROVE PRE-K-12 EDUCATION The College of Science leads the way in STEM education.

From training teachers across the state, to developing K-12 curriculum, to helping students successfully transition to college, we support learning for all Louisiana youth.

2025: ENHANCE LOUISIANA HEALTH AND WELLBEING The College of Science is the pulse of a healthy Louisiana.

We’re working to make a better life for every Louisiana resident through research that drives the economy, programs that lead to better learning for our children, and preparation of our communities’ future doctors and health professionals.

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Strategic Goal 4: OUTREACH STRATEGIES •

Support K-12 STEM education and teacher preparation through successful programs such as Geaux Teach, the Master of Natural Sciences, and dual enrollment.

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Promote faculty and student engagement with the community to increase science literacy through outreach activities such as Super Science Saturday and Night at the Museum.

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Institute a standardized annual outreach reporting tool for departments.

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Enhance our communications efforts to inform the public about the breadth of faculty, staff, and student outreach activities, demonstrate how research at the LSU College of Science drives Louisiana’s economy and directly impacts the quality of life of our citizens, and increase media placements.

Strategic Goal 4: OUTREACH EXPECTED OUTCOMES BY 2022 AND INDICATORS •

Increase enrollment in the GeauxTeach teacher preparation program.

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Increase number of teachers successfully pursuing a Master of Natural Sciences degree.

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Grow dual enrollment programs and increase student participation.

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Grow numbers of people reached through College of Science outreach activities.

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Increase grant funding for teacher preparation programs and other outreach activities.

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Enhance science communication with a growing social media audience and increased blog traffic.

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Strategic Goal 5: PHILANTHROPY The College of Science will partner with alumni, friends, and the private corporate sector to seize emerging opportunities and increase philanthropic giving. We will work with donors to shape and steer the strategic direction of the college in ways that support our mission and bring value and fulfillment to donors.

2025: SCHOLARS ENDOWMENT INITIATIVE The College of Science has developed a strong network of alumni and friends who provide endowments and other resources necessary to attract the best and brightest young scholars.

Donor giving creates pathways to success for exceptional students who might otherwise not have the opportunity to attend LSU.

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Strategic Goal 5: PHILANTHROPY STRATEGIES •

Secure and grow endowed support vital to the recruitment of top faculty and students.

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Partner with the LSU Foundation to enhance alumni engagement and support through fundraising campaigns that are strongly aligned with the strategic plans of both the college and the university.

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Engage the college’s Executive Committee to grow giving and increase membership in the Dean’s Circle.

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Work collaboratively with LSU Corporate and Foundation Relations, the Office of Academic Affairs, and the Office of Research & Economic Development to foster partnerships with industry to support research and student success.

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Develop a compelling case statement and launch a fundraising campaign in support of strategic opportunities.

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Create communication pieces that incorporate the visual identity and messaging of the College of Science brand.

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Strategic Goal 5: PHILANTHROPY EXPECTED OUTCOMES BY 2022 AND INDICATORS •

Grow endowed support • • • • • • •

Undergraduate Scholarship Endowment ($1,000,000) Superior Graduate Student Scholarships ($5,000,000) Excellence & Innovation Fund and Endowment ($12,500,000) Freshman academic orientation and student retention programs ($5,000,000) Endowed chair for the College of Science Dean ($3,000,000) Endowed chairs and department naming opportunities Renovation and modernization of current facilities and construction of a new state-of-the-art Interdisciplinary Science Building

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Increase number of qualified major gift prospects by 50% to add 150 new potential donors to College of Science fundraising portfolios.

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Increase annual alumni donors by 20% to 1,000.

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Increase Dean’s Circle membership by 25% to 250.

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Grow corporate support through sponsored research and philanthropic giving.

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Strategic Opportunities

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Center for Advanced Mathematics and Science The integration of concepts and theories from multiple disciplines or bodies of knowledge is often necessary in order to address the most important problems confronting science and society. The College of Science seeks to enhance and foster interdisciplinary research through the creation of an interdisciplinary research center in the theoretical sciences and mathematics at LSU. The center will identify topics that are of interest to faculty in multiple departments and organize “special topic years� during which students and faculty will participate in workshops and seminars that address research in the selected topic. The center will be modeled after existing, highly successful centers and institutes that champion the importance of fundamental, interdisciplinary research. This initiative will place LSU at the forefront of theoretical interdisciplinary research.

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Institute for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Innovation in materials and manufacturing is multifaceted and complex, requiring teams of researchers with diverse areas of expertise and a robust infrastructure to support large-scale research efforts. The College of Science supports an initiative to establish an inclusive research, development, and education program in Materials Science & Engineering and Manufacturing.

The institute will transform the connections between fundamental science, applied science, and engineering to enable a wide range of materials related research and manufacturing on the LSU campus. The institute will also facilitate research commercialization – transitioning discovery and innovation to the market, opening the door for new collaborations with industrial partners, and catalyzing economic development.

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LSU Space-Time Institute Gravitational wave detection and related research gained worldwide attention with the first discovery of gravitational waves announced by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration in 2016. LSU had a pivotal role in this historic announcement. The LIGO group at LSU possesses expertise uniquely situated at the intersection of fundamental research and instrument technology and engineering. Innovation in science and engineering is essential for the design and development of technology for future gravitational wave detectors and in computational science to address the big data challenges now faced by astronomy. The creation of a Space-Time Institute will ensure that LSU continues to lead the way in gravitational wave science and relativistic astrophysics.

Institute for Integrative Data Science Modern scientific research now relies on massive data sets generated from a nearly endless array of sources. Scientists are grappling with the challenge of how to effectively and efficiently analyze large-scale, diverse data to address society’s grand challenges. The College of Science is spearheading an initiative to establish an Institute for Integrative Data Science (IDS). The IDS will facilitate “big data” science research and create an integrated set of classes, resources, and synergistic activities that will produce graduates prepared for today’s data-rich research landscape. The IDS will leverage and expand upon existing strengths in data science and computing resources to establish LSU as a center of excellence for data-enabled research, with world-class research programs and unique training opportunities.

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SciArt: LSU Communicating the value of fundamental research to the general public is a well-known challenge in the science community.

To address this challenge, the College of Science seeks to enhance opportunities for collaborative activities among LSU faculty, students, and staff in the STEM and arts disciplines. SciArt collaborations enable scientists to draw upon established methodologies in the arts in order to more effectively communicate their work and further public engagement. This initiative expands upon successful collaborations among LSU faculty, such as the NSF-funded SciArt project, “Persistence of Vision: Antarctica,� which engaged current scientists and staff at McMurdo Station to recreate portraits of Antarctic exploration and research in the late 19th and early 20th century.

SciArt: LSU will take advantage of existing strengths to foster significant enhancement, productivity, and national recognition in this area.

Molecular Networks Center Expanding biomedical research at LSU has the potential to contribute to economic development and improvements in human health at both the state and national levels. The College of Science supports the formation of a research center to bring together diverse scientists whose

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research in structural biology contributes to the development of molecular therapeutics to ameliorate disease. The center will foster research in structural and computational biology with application to drug discovery. This initiative will leverage existing expertise and resources to establish a world-class research center at LSU and advance LSU’s profile as a leader in biomedical research.

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Planetary Initiative to Explore Mars and Beyond Concerns about the viability of our own planet have sparked a global interest in planetary exploration, particularly Mars. Privately held companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin now supplement traditional governmental public funding for space exploration, and the increase in exploratory missions has produced vast amounts of data that are now available for study and analysis. The LSU College of Science is pursuing an initiative to characterize Martian soil resources and habitability to determine the feasibility of human colonization and bio-manufacturing for food production. Our faculty possess a deep collective knowledge of terrestrial geo- and bio- science, enabling rigorous research outcomes and expanded planetary and space science education for students at LSU and throughout Louisiana. As a Space Grant institution, LSU is well-positioned to lead the nation at this exploratory frontier of science.

Facilities Plan The College of Science has a long-term plan to align infrastructure and space utilization to the strategic mission and goals of the college and accommodate projected growth. The plan will result in the creation of a College of Science precinct by relocating isolated facilities and constructing a new Interdisciplinary Science Building. The new building will highlight team-based interdisciplinary research and will provide a dynamic space where students can actively engage with the sciences. The College of Science Facilities Plan will result in new, state-of-the-art learning and research facilities to enable greater collaboration and advanced learning and research.

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