Architectural drawings update

After a marathon session today, I am pleased to say that Phase I of the architectural drawings project is COMPLETED! 

You may remember from last month that I shared my initial work on a lengthy project to make sense of DSU's architectural drawings. Formerly, the drawings were tossed haphazardly into one of our building's basements and had been neglected for decades. After this room came onto my radar, I volunteered to use my powers of librarianship to process the drawings the same way that I would any archival collection.  It is to be hoped that when I am done, the Office of Capital Planning and Environment Sustainability will be able to utilize the drawings with greater ease.

As the project stands today, I have now gained physical control over the drawings thus completing the first phase of processing.  At the very least, I can say that each drawing has been identified by building.  Moving into Phase II tomorrow, I will begin to identify each drawing by electrical, fire systems, structural, furniture plans, etc.  All of this data will be logged into an excel spreadsheet and soon (I hope) passed onto our campus planning managers. 

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these photographs showing the very drastic improvements from those of last month.  Stay tuned for more later!

Although it still looks chaotic, these drawings are separated by building and
identified by the little blue notes. 

Look! We can now see the floor! 

Happy 25th Anniversary Delaware State University

This month we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the name change from Delaware State College to Delaware State University.

In May of 1993 President DeLauder's administration submitted to the Delaware Legislature a document to request a name change from "college" to "university." The request inspired Senate Bill 138 which was sponsored by Senator Herman M. Holloway Sr.  The bill passed unanimously in the Senate and House, and by July 1, 1993 Governor Thomas R. Carper signed the bill into law.


In the twenty-five years since our name change, the university has continued to grow tremendously. By comparison, the fall 1993 enrollment was 3,301 and in 2017 the enrollment was 4.648. In 1993 the college had 178 faculty members, of whom 61% held doctorates. Today the university has 212 faculty members and 89% hold doctorates. In terms of infrastructure the campus grew from 21 buildings to 33 and today comprises 3 campuses.  Lastly, in twenty-five years we grew from having no doctoral programs to five!

In short, remarkable achievements have been accomplished in such a brief time.  As we embark on a new presidency under Dr. Wilma Mishoe, I look forward to seeing how much further this university will go.

To read the university's statement on our anniversary, check out this article: https://www.desu.edu/news/2018/07/25-years-ago-delaware-state-college-became-delaware-state-university