February 12, 2007
TO:
Program Review Committee
FROM:
Bob Meyer, Dean
Listed below are CTEM’s responses to the recent program review of the Master of
Science Degree in Training and Development.
Program Director
Recommendation
Work with the department chair to ensure that the current two full-time faculty
search positions have the potential to attract qualified candidates to fill the
positions.
Response from the Program Director
The role and responsibility of the program director is to ensure students have
coursework available when needed. To do this requires collaborative effort with
the department chair. The Operations, Construction and Management department
has been responsive to the needs of the program. In that vein, the MSTD program
director is serving on the search & screen committee for the two full-time faculty.
Recommendation
Work with the department chair in identifying potential new off-sites for the
development of program cohort groups to meet with growing needs of students.
Response from the Program Director
This is something that CTEM is attentive towards. Residing at the Associate
Dean’s level, in consultation with the MSTD advisory board and OCM
department, all are supportive of efforts to grow in areas where there is need. The
department and college are mindful of balancing opportunity with capacity to
deliver. Personnel associated with distance education programs housed in CTEM
convene periodically to discuss plans for delivery.
Recommendation
With the department chair, review the thesis advising loads and determine an
appropriate load and identify what resources are needed to have the advisement
needs of all students in their thesis stage met.
Response from the Program Director
The new University policy guidelines for thesis release (6 theses = 3 credit
release), have been adopted by the OCM department. In addition to this policy,
hiring two new faculty will provide the resources needed for advisement.
Department Chair
Recommendation
Investigate with the program director the potential of offering more off-campus
cohort programs synchronically or through other delivery approaches to serve
larger populations with fewer needed faculty.
Response from the Department Chair
The department chair, in concert with the program director, will work to identify
emerging or continuing demand for the distance delivery of the Training and
Development program.
Recommendation
Investigate with the dean a solution to faculty and resource needs to meet the
current thesis advising concerns of students and to address the problem of over
reliance on full-time faculty overloads to cover program courses.
Response from the Department Chair
The OCM department will continue to utilize funding from the Provost’s office to
provide release time for faculty members serving as graduate advisors. The
department is conducting a search for two new faculty members to replace two
recent retirements in the behavioral science discipline. These faculty will
contribute to our ability to offer the necessary graduate level courses and to
provide assistance in the advisement of graduate research projects. In addition,
the department is conducting a search for another faculty position utilizing
customized tuition revenue, to reduce, in part, reliance on overloads to deliver
required program coursework.
Dean
Recommendation
If information validates the need, work with the program director and department
chair to submit a plan to central administration to obtain needed resources to
expand the off-campus cohort program to additional marketable sites using the
current delivery mode or new delivery modes.
Response from the Department Chair
The College of Technology, Engineering and Management has recently developed
a plan to recruit additional faculty using customized tuition revenues to support
the M.S. in Training & Development. The off-campus cohort program has relied
heavily on existing faculty to teach overloads for course delivery. Adequate
revenue has been generated by the MSTD cohort program to hire faculty against
the Training and Development account and the department chair has been charged
to begin the recruitment process. Bringing in additional faculty will allow for
continued delivery of the distance education cohort model, including the
investigation of new site development.
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Recommendation
Review with the program director and department chair the current concerns
regarding thesis advisement and over reliance on overloads to cover needed
MSTD courses. Also, identify and enact a solution to these concerns.
Response from the Department Chair
The College of Technology, Engineering and Management has adopted the new
university graduate education workload model and release for thesis advisement.
The College and its departments utilize the 6-theses-equals-3 credits-release
model. Regarding overloads, refer to the response #1. With the addition of new
faculty in the OCM department and an additional Training & Development
faculty member hired using customized tuition revenue, the use of overloads to
delivery courses for the MSTD program will decrease.
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