2011 Site Visit Report
Health Sciences and Environmental Health Programs
Queensborough Community College
PROGRAM STRENGTHS OF HEALTH SCIENCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL
HEALTH
THE STRENGHTS OF THE BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT’S HEALTH
SCIENCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PROGRAMS ARE MANY
AND THE POSITIVES GREATLY EXCEED THE NEGATIVES
I.
GENERAL OVERVIEW OF STRENGTHS:
 The site team was very impressed by the high quality of the faculty and staff of the
Biology department.
 A high percentage of the Biology faculty has a PhD or terminal doctorate degree.
 There are 30 full time faculty plus 3 additional faculty that are on a temporary line.
There are 13 adjunct Biology faculty members including several that are former full
time Queensborough Professors.
 The student Biology laboratories have computer capabilities and are well equipped
with microscopes, white boards/blackboards and smart rooms.
 There were many models for the students to use in the Anatomy and Physiology
laboratories. The tutoring center had a duplicate set of models for students that
received tutoring. Thus students can reinforce what they learned in the course.
 The site team was extremely impressed by the research that was performed by the
faculty and the students. Numerous manuscripts and posters that were displayed by
the Biology department reflect the high standards of the QCC Biology department.
The fact that Biology students also did poster presentations at the college as well as at
various professional Biology meetings boosts the reputation of QCC. The research at
QCC far exceeds the research performed at most community colleges.
 Even though the course reductions for faculty that are performing research has been
union negotiated it offers an excellent mechanism to allow faculty more time to
perform research. The time spent on research obviously has to be in balance with the
teaching needs of the department.
 Equipment for performing research is adequate. Some Biology faculty travel off
campus to perform research at a senior college or Medical school.
 The amount of grant money from outside agencies such as NIH and NSF is very
substantial. Some 4 year Biology departments have less research funds.
 There are excellent opportunities for Biology, Health Sciences and Environmental
Health students to complete an internship at QCC. The department has both research
internships as well as shadowing internships.
 The cooperation between the Biology Department with both the Nursing and
Chemistry departments appears to be excellent. For example the Biology department
will be adding a Pathophysiology course that some Nursing and other Allied Health
students will take. The Nursing department is happy with the Anatomy and
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Physiology as well as the Microbiology courses that are taught by the Biology
Department.
The Biology Department has a mechanism in place that prevents students who have
received less than a C from repeating a course more than two times.
The Health Science and Environmental Health Students are required to complete at
least one chemistry course. Chemistry and Biology courses and programs are
interlinked and fortunately the standards and facilities of the Chemistry department
are very high and outstanding. The Chemistry student laboratories are excellent. The
research equipment that the chemistry department owns are truly outstanding even for
a 4 year college let alone a community college. The Chemistry faculty and staff are
excellent.
The new Biotechnology course in Molecular Biology (BI-453) introduces cutting
edge technology to the students in the new Biotechnology Program.
II.
Faculty and staff and faculty and staff development:
 The site team was very impressed by the high quality of the faculty and staff of the
Biology department.
 A high percentage of the Biology faculty has a PhD or terminal doctorate degree.
 The site team was extremely impressed by the research that was performed by the
faculty and the students. The many posters that were displayed by the Biology
department reflect the high standards of the QCC Biology department. The fact that
Biology students also did poster presentations at the college as well as at various
professional Biology meetings boosts the reputation of QCC. The research at QCC far
exceeds the research performed at most community colleges. The faculty is to be
congratulated on their high quality and quantity of their scholarly work. The
curriculum vitae of the faculty illustrates that both the teaching and scholarship areas
of faculty development are at high levels and are constantly being enhanced.
 The diversity and innovative nature of the Biology courses offered at QCC is reflects
well on the faculty. The new Biotechnology course in Molecular Biology (BI453)
introduces cutting edge technology to the students in the new Biotechnology
Program.
 Even though the course reductions for faculty that are performing research has been
union negotiated it offers an excellent mechanism to allow faculty more time to
perform research. The time spent on research obviously has to be in balance with the
teaching needs of the department.
III.
Curricular design:
 The curricular design of Health Sciences and Environmental Health contain the
important entry-level Biology courses, which at QCC include General Biology 201
and 202. The design also requires at least one chemistry course (CH 127 or151).
These are gateway courses that provide the students with a fundamental background
so that they can succeed in completing their degree.
Anatomy and Physiology courses serve as the gateway course in some tracts.
 The curricular design includes many articulation and or dual degree programs with
the upper division CUNY schools. The Health Science students can choose a specific
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Allied Health program that they are interested and complete the required courses for a
specific program.
Many of the Health Science tracts have courses that are specific for each Allied
Health program
The Environmental Health is designed so that A.S. graduates can continue at a CUNY
or SUNY college to obtain the Bachelors degree
IV.
Pedagogical practice:
 There is wide diversity of the teaching methodology employed by the Biology
department. Power point presentations as well as white/black board, overheads
presentations are utilized in lecture. Many of the laboratory sections such as Anatomy
and Microbiology have models, photographs, labeling of diagrams, slides,
microscopy studies etc to enhance student learning. Dissections of animals such as
the cat are a valuable teaching tool in anatomy and physiology. Many models are
available at the student learning center for reinforcement. State of the art equipment
such as thermo cyclers is utilized in the laboratory to further enhance teaching.
V.
Evidence of Student Learning:
 The site team received favorable student comments towards the Biology courses
when we visited a microbiology laboratory section.
 The site team also received favorable comments on student learning in the Biology
courses from the nursing department.
 The many posters that have been completed by the QCC Biology students are
evidence of scholarship.
 The assessment area of the Biology self-study confirms that student learning is
occurring in the biology courses
VI.
Instructional and student support and Resources:
 The counseling center headed by Brian Kerr gives excellent support to the students.
Mr. Kerr answered all of the team’s questions in a very thorough and precise fashion.
The academic counseling does reach the majority of the students.
 The Health Science Academy which advises Health Science and Environmental
students for the first year takes into account the different backgrounds of the students
and does advise the more advanced students to take more advanced courses.
 The Library is extremely well used by the student and we were surprised to learn that
students could utilize a Library lab top computer for up to two hours. The library is
not heavily utilized on Saturday and is closed on Sunday.
 The Academic Computing Center is well run and very busy. Students were waiting in
line to get access to a computer.
 The campus writing center was busy when we visited. It is a plus that the students are
required to successfully complete two writing intensive courses in order to graduate.
 The Technology Learning Center employed several graduates of BS programs as
tutors. The tutoring staff has excellent credentials and tutoring was one on one or
small groups. Occasionally, the Anatomy and Physiology groups could be up to 15 to
20 students. The presence of models to review/teaching A & P is a large plus.
VII.
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Quality and Substance of the self study:
The section on assessment of the Biology courses is good.
The program mission, faculty, curriculum, resources and priorities for the future are
clear for the Environmental Health and Health Sciences programs.
The course outlines for the Biology courses are clear and the course content is
excellent.
The major strengths of the Health Science and Environmental Health programs are
defined.
Very importantly the areas of weakness where corrective action is need are discussed
(pages 85, 86, 121 and 122).
The curriculum vitae of the Biology department members is extensive and complete
A self study should contain data for each of the 5 years covered in the academic
review. The self-study starts off well with colored graphs and tables in the
introduction that does cover a 5 year or longer period. However, the individual
programs that are being reviewed have very little information on individual
years.
Statistical data is scant.
A self study should contain some student information. A summary of student
course evaluation/instructor/evaluations is not part of the self-study.
Exit surveys of graduating students should be present in the self study.
WEAKNESSES THAT APPEAR TO BE CAMPUS WIDE
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The course numbering system for many departments needs to be simplified and follow
traditional standards. The Nursing and Chemistry departments numbering system follows
tradition in that the lower numbered 100 level courses are easier and are to be taken by
freshman students and the 200 level courses are generally taken by sophomores and more
advanced students. Their numbering system should be the model. Many departments
numbering system use 300,400,500, etc numbers. In some departments a 400 numbered
course is easier than a 100 numbered course. The current numbering system may confuse
students. Students that apply for transfer credits at an out of state school could have the
evaluation delayed because of the unusual numbering system used at QCC.
Many of the articulation agreements are old and out of date. Both the faculty and the
administration are aware of this problem and are working to update the agreements.
The format of the self-study lacks significant statistical data for individual years. Below
is the type of Statistical data that could be included. Both the Administration as well as
the Biology department was surprised to learn that slightly over 1000 students selected
Health Sciences as their major.
Selected student data should appear in the self-study. They are a very major asset to QCC
and student information should be added to the self-study.
SUGGESTIONS:
1. THE TABLE BELOW IS JUST A SAMPLE OF THE STATISTICAL DATA THAT
COULD BE USED BY AN INDIVIDUAL DEPARTMENT
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
1.TOTAL ENROLLEMENT IN HEALTH
SCIENCES
A. Full time
B. Part time
2.Graduates in Health Sciences
3. Total Lecture Sections in Biology
4.Total Laboratory sections in Biology
5.Total Supply Budget for Labs
6. Number of sections taught by Full time
faculty
7.Number of Sections taught by adjunct
faculty
8.Number of Full Time Technical Assistants
9.Number of part time Technical assistants
10 External Grants funding
A. NSF
B. NIH
C. CUNY
D. MISC
11. Scholarship funds awarded to Biology
students
12.Student internships
A. Research
B.Shadowing
13.Student Poster Presentations
14.QCC Students transferring via an
articulation agreement
2. Some Student data should be added. The self-study states that the students filled out course
evaluation forms for each Biology course. Some type of summary of the completed student
evaluations could be placed in the self-study. The lack of student summary data appears is not
confined to one or two departments.
3. Student exit survey results are not in the self-study. For example a summary of the
approximately 20 graduates who earned a Health Sciences degree could be added to the self
study. The students can complete a simple 10-question survey during May of their last semester.
Two possible questions are listed below.
a. Overall, the Health Studies program at QCC was:
Poor Fair Good Very Good Excellent
b. What are your post graduation plans? (If attending an upper division college list
major and school, if working list position and company. If unknown write
undecided).
HEALTH SCIENCES WEAKNESSES AND RECOMMENDATION:
1. Both the administration and the Biology department are aware that the articulation
agreements with the upper division CUNY are outdated. The self-study clearly points this
out. Below are some suggestions for updating and strengthening the articulation
agreements.
Suggestions:
a. Since many departments at QCC have old agreements it might be possible to form
a Campus Wide Committee to accomplish the updating of the agreements. There
are both pros and cons to this idea. Obviously the chairperson of the department
would still play a major role.
b. After articulation agreements are signed the Biology department should invite a
faculty member from the specific Allied Health Program to the campus to speak
to the students that are interested in the Diagnostic Medical Imaging, Medical
Laboratory Technology Physician Assistant Programs, etc. The Biology
department could arrange a field trip for the students to visit the Allied Health
programs at the upper division schools. Interactions of the Biology department
with the upper division Allied Health Programs should be able to strengthen the
articulation agreement and make it easier for the Biology students to transfer to
these programs.
2. The self study clearly pointed out the major problem in the Health Sciences program is
that approximately 50% of the students do not achieve at least a C in the gateway Biology
course that is numbered BI201. This is a major reason that the graduation rate from the
Health Sciences Program is at a 2% rate (page 103). A major priority must be to
dramatically increase the percentage of students that receive a C or better in BI201. The
success rate of completing a Health Science program increases significantly for students
who have a C+ or better in the first course. Below we have given some suggestions or a
possible Plan A to start to solve this problem. It is likely that a Plan B and C may have to
be implemented to completely correct the problem.
SUGGESTIONS:
a. Put a prerequisite for BI201. This prerequisite can be passing a regents Biology
course in high school within the past 5 years or a C or better in the lower level
BI115 course offered by the department. Academic advisors can advise the
students of they meet the prerequisite requirments.
b. An alternative option that may be difficult to implement is to allow students the
option of entering the BI115 course if they receive a D or F on the first exam in
BI201. This is optional for the student but may allow for students that were not
properly prepared for BI201 to get the background information they need to help
them stay in the program.
c. Perform follow up analysis of students performing poorly in the class. A survey
can be administered to students that perform poorly on the first exam. A second
survey can also be performed by students that obtain poor final grades (D or F).
This may help identify similar academic deficiencies that these students have.
Alternatively this class can be added to the IBM project for electronic monitoring
by the college advisors (as is done with certain STEM courses). This will allow
counselors to identify students that are struggling in the course and possibly
developing a profile of the students that are successful (as well as those that are
not).
3. The Biology Department as well as Institutional Research and Assessment should better
tract the Health Science students. Multiple individuals told us that a significant number of
students transfer to Liberal Arts and Sciences but no statistics are available.
SUGGESTIONS
a. The Institutional Research and Assessment department should be able to obtain
hard statistics as to the number of Health Science students that transfer to Liberal
Arts and Sciences and other Curricula at QCC
b. An exit survey of the Health Science graduating students given by the Biology
department should give significant information on where and what the graduates
will be doing after QCC.
c. A quick survey could be given by the Biology department to students taking the
high attrition courses such as BI201, BI202, BI301, BI302, and BI311. The data
then could be submitted to the Institutional Research and Assessment department
for statistical analysis. Alternately, the Institutional Research and Assessment
department could formulate the survey and ask the Biology department to
administer the quick survey in a Biology course.
4. When the site team visited the Academic Computing Center we were informed that there
was a shortage of smart rooms during peak teaching times and the college was adding
approximately 10 to 12 smart rooms per year. The Biology department is short computers
and microscopes for s the Anatomy and Physiology Laboratories. These shortages are
being addressed as money becomes available.
5. The number of laboratories available to the biology department is limited. Labs such as
Anatomy and Physiology have courses running from morning to evening non-stop.
Although some faculty members perform research off campus, the biology department
also needs more space for faculty research.
6. The articulation agreement descriptions in the catalog imply that the students will obtain
a professional degree after completion of the bachelors program. ( ie PA and
Occupational Therapy). Also, the Master’s program for Physical Therapy no longer
applies as a doctorate is now required in this field.
7. Many of the Health sciences curricula do not require a second semester of a dual
semester course (such as BI202 or CH152). The lack of the second course may present
problems for transferability of the first couse in the sequence (BI201 or CH 151), as
schools often prefer (and sometimes require) that both semesters of two-semester courses
are taken at the same school.
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH WEAKNESSES AND SUGGESTIONS:
1. The low enrollment and low retention rates for this program are a major concern. There
have been no graduates in both good and bad economic time periods.
SUGGESTIONS:
a. Rename the program Environmental Science to give a more brad name that does not
limit the program to health sciences.
b. The gateway course of Biology 201, as mentioned with Health Sciences, needs to
have a greater proportion of the students receive a C/C+ for the course grade for this
program to succeed. See previous suggestions under Health Sciences.
c. The self study suggested that the scope of this program should be broadened to
become Environmental Sciences so that it will attract more students. The site team
agrees with this premise. The broadened area could include taking more chemistry
classes. There are several local companies that are testing soil for petroleum and
heavy metal contamination. Multiple chemistry courses are required for students to
become employable in this area. The Biology department should think about making
the program more flexible. Even though Physics is required for this type of program
the students could have the option of taking it at the upper division college and
concentrate on Biology and chemistry at Queensborough. The environmental science
courses will broaden the curriculum and should include courses such as Ecology,
Geology and/or environmental law. The site team suggests talking with several
Environmental Science companies to get their input in how the program should
be modified in reference to the course selection.
d. Internship opportunities should be made available to the students as early as practical
in this program so that they become encouraged to complete the program.
RECOMMENDATIONS: There are two major recommendations for the Biology
Department. The department is already aware of these issues.
1. Update the Articulation Agreements with the upper division colleges. Once this
is accomplished both the college catalogue and the college biology web site can
be revised.
2. The self study clearly pointed out the major problem in the Health Sciences
program is that approximately 50% of the students do not achieve at least a C in
the gateway Biology course that is numbered BI201. The site team has made
several suggestions on this problem. Obviously the QCC Biology department will
have suggestions as how to correct this major problem. Corrective action should
be initiated as soon as practical. Since this is a substantial problem it may take
several attempts until the problem is completely corrected.
OVERALL SUMMARY:
The Biology Department at QCC maintains high standards, the faculty and staff are
excellent, and the students are receiving a high quality education.