For both Mimi Wagner and Mira Engler, this semester marks their first as graduate program directors at the College of Design. Both intend to take their respective graduate programs to the next level.

Wagner oversees the sustainable environments graduate program and Engler is director of the urban design graduate program.

Each of these women know what they can bring to the programs to keep the College of Design flourishing here at Iowa State.

“My goals are to help strengthen the sustainable environment degree program by making more undergraduate students, in particular, aware of it while attracting top international students to the program,” Wagner said.

There is a wide diversity of students involved in the program which is mutually beneficial as it offers learning experiences not only for the students but for the faculty as well.

Wagner is confident she has the knowledge to help the students and faculty succeed in this particular field and develop the program as a whole.

The sustainable environment program is fairly new, beginning four years ago. Since the start Wagner has been a part of deciding classes, content within classes and the program’s faculty.

Being a part of this program since the beginning, Wagner expressed how honored she is to have a position that helps to administer the program.

“The sustainable environment program works with students with undergraduate degrees in disciplines such as design, art or engineering and then students go much deeper within their own discipline relative to sustainability,” Wagner said. “They look at things from theoretical or context standpoint such as how did we get to the place we are today from economic, social or environmental standpoint.”

This allows students to move forward and discover how, as designers, planners, artists and engineers, they can become agents for social change, Wagner said.

Wagner has a great passion for her work and explained how she loves being apart of student learning and she feels as though she is a lifelong learner herself.

“I enjoy interacting with the really interesting people both faculty and students on campus,” Wagner said.

Engler has a passion for her urban design program because she has always been interested in physically designing the environment, such as urban landscape. This has been her passion for a very long time.

“Urban designers’ roles include deciding how the city looks, how it works, how it fulfills our needs, how it impacts our well-being, how it creates or does not create a just environment,” Engler said.

Designers are very conscious about what the people want, making designers responsible for designing quality cities. Engler takes her role as a designer earnestly as she wants to make cities look, function, fulfill needs and impact well-being to benefit the people.

In order to provide cities with what they need Engler has many goals for the urban design program here at Iowa State.

“My goal is to have a class of 15 and have students taking urban design as a double degree along with other degrees they’re pursuing,” Engler said.

Engler’s emphasis on improving the program by allowing students to gain more attention in classrooms translates to other departments.

“We are finding that students are very interested to expand the scope of their degree by tapping into a second degree that is an interdisciplinary degree. I want to promote this program as a second degree,” Engler said.

Engler and Wagner both want to bring a focus and their own passion to their respective programs.