Promod Vohra

Vohra recommended for acting dean of CEET

by Joe King

Promod Vohra has been recommended for the position of acting dean in the Northern Illinois University College of Engineering and Engineering Technology.

The recommendation was made Thursday by the Academic Affairs, Student Affairs and Personnel Committee of the NIU Board of Trustees. The full board will consider the recommendation at its meeting June 19.

Vohra came to NIU as a student and was the first graduate student ever in the electrical engineering program.

“My heart is at NIU,” Vohra says. “I feel emotionally and professionally connected to the university. One of my primary goals in this job will be to cultivate the same pride of ownership in all of our faculty, staff, students and alumni. I want them all to have a vested interest in the success of the college.”

Pending BOT approval, Vohra, who has been associate dean of the college since 1997, will officially become acting dean July 1. He succeeds Romualdas Kasuba, who has been dean of the college since its inception in 1986.

Vohra’s experience in that role will prove particularly useful as the college embarks upon re-accreditation efforts, a process expected to last up to three years. Vohra is not nervous about that process because he believes he is inheriting an outstanding college with outstanding faculty and students.

“I believe that we have an ideal mix of excellent faculty, outstanding students and facilities that are second to none,” Vohra says.

However, that does not mean there is any shortage of challenges.

During its first 16 years, the college has focused on student recruitment and retention, planning of facilities and developing programs. Moving forward, Vohra plans to focus on increasing funding for research, establishing relationships with industries across the region, enrollment management and image-building.

“I would like to provide leadership that will help the faculty secure more external funding to support their research,” Vohra says. “There are several initiatives under way that will come to fruition in the next couple of years that I believe will help tremendously in this respect. Finding ways to better serve industry, and attracting more projects from that sector, will also help.”

He also plans to work collaboratively with other colleges to establish inderdisciplinary research and funding opportunities.

As for enrollment, Vohra spearheaded recruitment efforts while he served as associate dean that boosted enrollment in the college by 45 percent over the last five years. The focus now, he says, must be to maintain those numbers while improving the caliber of students enrolled.

Achieving that ambition is closely tied to image-building efforts.

“I want to develop a unique niche for the college and build its image so that we are the first choice of more students,” Vohra says.

It will not be easy, he says, but believes it is entirely possible. “The most important element in attaining these goals will be securing the support of the faculty, staff and students. If we can achieve that, then all of the goals will be well within our reach.”

Vohra came to NIU as a graduate student in electrical engineering in 1986, after earning his B.S.E.E. in electrical engineering from the Delhi College of Engineering in his hometown of New Delhi, India.

He worked briefly as a technical product engineer in India before returning to NIU in 1988 as an instructor. He eventually attained the ranks of assistant, associate and full professor in the Department of Technology and received the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award in 1995. He earned his Ed.D degree from the College of Education at NIU in instructional technology in 1993.

In addition to his teaching assignments and course and laboratory development, he has served as a consultant and a resource for a variety of educational and public groups. He has received more than $8 million in external and internal equipment and other grants. He has presented more than 40 papers at regional, state, national and international professional conferences and meetings, and he has written or contributed more than 25 journal articles and proceedings.

Vohra, who also serves as a member of the NIU Alumni Board of Directors, lives in Sycamore with his wife and three children.

6-9-03