TRUCKEE MEADOWS COMMUNITY COLLEGE
PROGRAM/UNIT REVIEW
VICE PRESIDENT'S RECOMMENDATION
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Date Submitted to the President: August 1. 2013
Vice President's findings of strengths and weaknesses of the program/unit:
Strengths: This department demonstrates faculty excellence in teaching and commitment to student learning. All
courses have student learning outcomes and measures and are listed on the assessment schedule. Faculty have developed
good transfer tracks for students and communicate with other NSHE institutions to ensure transferability of courses and
programs. They have a student retention rate of 73.3%. Most courses are offered with an integrated class period with Jab
and lecture together. This department provides courses for meeting general education credit and for degree requirements
in other disciplines. With only four tenured or tenure track faculty, faculty carry a heavy service burden for departmental
responsibilities.
Weaknesses: With few tenure-track or tenured faculty and a large number of disciplines, faculty are generally stretched
thin. lfthere is only one faculty in a discipline, it is difficult to adequately cover oversight of part-time faculty teaching in
that discipline, professional responsibilities, and quality assurance in all courses. Sabbaticals create more problems. The
Q umber of graduates is too low, compared to the number of students who declare a field of emphasis within the
department. No evidence of effective use of co-admission or reverse transfer exists. Lab fees appear not to be set at the
level needed to cover the cost of consumable material needed in the Jabs. More storage space is needed for labs.
Summary action recommended for program/unit: Continue
Recommendations for development strategies and anticipated time lines:
Successfully complete faculty tenure-track searches and put in place mentoring programs for new hires. Time line: 201314 and ongoing
Develop specific faculty advisement strategies by discipline for students in 200-Jevel physical science courses seeking an
emphasis in a department discipline to increase transfer and graduation numbers. Timeline: Ongoing
Continue to monitor low transfer data and develop solutions to increase transfer rate. Implement strategies to increase
graduation rates, including co-admission program with UNR and reverse transfers. Timeline: Ongoing
Within constrained resources, design and implement programs to recruit more women and minorities into the physical
science disciplines. Timeline: Ongoing
Set specific goals and monitor increased external funding for innovative STEM programs designed to meet the needs of
students and employers within Nevada. Timeline: Ongoing
Review and revise Student Leaming Outcomes and Measures as required by Office of Assessment. TimeIine: 2013-14
velop an annual process within each discipline to use data to develop and analyze strategies for improving student
Vice President's Recommendation
...
success in retention, transfer and graduation. Timeline: Ongoing
Within institutional space planning study, identify and implement solutions to lab and storage space inadequacies.
Timeline: 201 3-14
dentify additional resources and/or actions necessary from each administrative unit for implementation of
recommended development strategies:
Academic Affairs: Replace temporary one-year faculty with tenure-track faculty. Support review and revision
of Student Learning Outcomes and Measures as required.
Student Services: Support for more advising by faculty for students with emphases in Physical Sciences.
Finance: Remodel and update laboratory spaces.
Human Resources: Support for multiple searches over the next two years as needed.
Faculty Senate: None
Other: None
Executive Summary:
The Department of Phys ical Sciences has an excellent record of delivering quality instruction to students in academic
programs which require physical science courses and in physical science emphasis programs designed primarily for
NSHE transfer. This department plays a critical role in general education at TMCC for all students. Students who plan
to seek a bachelor's degree in the fields within physical sciences generally have pathways defined to seek those degrees at
UNR. The small number of graduates in physical sciences may reflect the general practice that many students transfer
Q rior to receiving the associate degree, but atte ntion to more degree or certificate completion, as well as successful
transfer, is essential. The department must improve its numbers of successful transfer and graduates, but with faculty
vacancies over the past six years, it has been difficult to develop programs to support student success. Searches for
tenure-track faculty in 201 3-14 should help. A Civil Engineering Practitioner AAS degree was recently created as the
first specific workforce degree within the department. Only 25% of students in Physical Sciences are female, and
recruitment of more women is an important goal going forward. Improved laboratory and storage space is needed for this
program, and currently planning is being done through institutional space planning.
Vice P resident of Academic Affairs:
Signature
Name
Date
Dr. Jane Nichols
7/3 1/2013