College of
Sciences
2014 STATE OF THE COLLEGE ADDRESS
Overview

Presentation of College Awards

Recognition of Tenure and Promotion

Dean’s Office and College Staff Introductions

New Faculty and Staff Introductions

Year in Review
 Enrollment
 Research
and Teaching
and Scholarship
 Service
 Review
 Goals
of Goals for 2013-2014
for 2014-2015
Please join me in congratulating the winners:

Graduate Student Excellence in Research – Mr. Daniel
Haarman (Biological Sciences)

Student Excellence in Teaching – Ms. Kaylee Kerbs
(Agricultural Sciences and Engineering Technology)

Adjunct Faculty Excellence in Teaching – Ms. Sharon Frey
(Agricultural Sciences and Engineering Technology) and
Ms. Ava Fujimoto-Strait (Geography and Geology)

Faculty Excellence in Research – Dr. Madhusadan
Choudhary (Biological Sciences)

Faculty Excellence in Teaching – Dr. Martin Malandro
(Mathematics and Statistics)

Faculty Excellence in Service – Dr. Rick White (Chemistry)
College of Science
Excellence Awards
Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor
 Faruk Yildiz (Agricultural Sciences and Engineering
Technology)
 Sibyl Bucheli (Biological Sciences)
 Madhusudan Choudhary (Biological Sciences)
 Aaron Lynne (Biological Sciences)
 Donovan Haines (Chemistry)
 Hyuk Cho (Computer Science)
 Li-Jen Shannon (Computer Science)
 Damon Hay (Mathematics and Statistics)
 Martin Malandro (Mathematics and Statistics)
 Scott Miller (Physics)
 Promotion to Professor
 Ilona Petrikovics (Chemistry)

Faculty Tenure and Promotion
 Dean-Dr.
John Pascarella
 Associate Dean of Curriculum and
Assessment-Dr. Marcus Gillespie
 Associate Dean of Research and
Graduate Programs-Dr. Anne Gaillard
 Assistant to the Dean-Tammy Gray
 Senior Administrative Assistant-Rhonda
Baxter
 Administrative Assistant-Shellie Armstrong
 Staff Assistant- Susan Floyd
Dean’s Office
College Staff Associates
from DELTA

DELTA COS Web Content SpecialistJohn Holder (jmholder@shsu.edu)
New Faculty and Staff
 Agricultural
Sciences and
Engineering Technology
 Chemistry
 Mathematics and Statistics
Enrollment
Undergraduates in COS
Data as of 8/19/2014-compared to 2013, * moved/moving to
Health Sciences, stable enrollment at college level
4121/4101

Sciences
Biology
654/737

Engineering Technology
79/37

Animal Science
350/367

Geography
72/61

Forensic Chemistry
302/296

Agricultural Engineering Tech
67/69

Computing Science
289/269

General Studies

Agricultural Business
226/206

Interdisciplinary Ag
66/66

General Core
181/194

164/164
39/36

Applied Arts and Sciences
Design/Development
Geology
138/124

Plant and Soil Science
31/32

Mathematics
125/143

Agricultural Communications
12/0


Construction Management
121/117

Electronics
2/26

Chemistry
113/110

Industrial Safety Management
1/15

Physics
101/ 99

Elec. And Computer Eng. Tech
1/0

Biomedical Sciences

Nursing*

General Studies-Prenursing* 822/539

Sciences

79/32
4121/4101
66/115
0/141
Graduate Students in COS
Data as of 8/19/2014
Masters
Agriculture
Biology
Chemistry
Computing and Information Science
Digital Forensics
Geographic Information Systems
Information Assurance and Security
Mathematics
Statistics
Graduate Certificate
Digital Investigation
Geographic Information Systems
218
33
23
19
25
18
26
31
24
19
4
3
1
SCH-Fall 2014 to Fall 2013
Data from 8/19/2014, class day -7
College
2014
2013 Diff
Percent
Academic Affairs
2,699
2,739 -40
-1.46%
Business Administration
34,988 33,357 1,631 4.89%
Criminal Justice
22,987 20,525 2,462 12.00%
Education
20,632 30,595 -9,963 -32.56%
Fine Arts and Mass Comm. 17,557 17,114
443 2.59%
Health Sciences
12,393
0 12,393
Humanities/Social Sciences 65,992 63,210 2,712 4.29%
Sciences
51,494 55,101 -3,607 -6.55%
Grand Total
228,672 222,665 6,007
2.70%
Decline in Science Hours mostly due to move of Nursing credits to
Health Sciences. Education lost kinesiology and health.
Education and Science down (13,570 SCH) is more than gain in
Health Science SCH (12,393)-not yet seeing impact of new programs
College of Science
Graduates
Fall 2013/ Spring 2013/
Fall 2014 Spring 2014
Undergraduate 191/177
Summer 2013/
Summer 2014
279/237
109/96
20/11
Graduate
23/22
37/30
Total
214/199
316/267
129/107
Undergraduate down by 12%, graduate down by 21%
Teaching and
Curriculum

Curriculum and Degree Programs
 THECB
approved name change of
 Program
in Industrial Technology to
Engineering Technology
 Program
in Horticulture and Crop Science to
Plant and Soil Sciences
 Removal
of all Interdisciplinary designations
from Agricultural Degrees
 Name
of Department from Agricultural and
Industrial Sciences to Agricultural Sciences
and Engineering Technology (ASET)
Curriculum

Curriculum and Degree Programs
 THECB
approved
 Bachelor
of Science with a major in Agricultural
Communications
 Bachelor
of Science with a major in Electronics
and Computer Engineering Technology
 Bachelor
of Science with a major in Software
Engineering Technology
 Received
preliminary approval from THECB for Full
Proposal for PhD in Digital Forensics
 Developing
an Online Master of Agriculture degree
in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Environment
(SAFE)
Woodlands and University
Park Campus Programs

Mostly Business, Education, CHSS, and Criminal Justice programs

College of Sciences

Fall 2012, 97 students, 348 credit hours

Spring 2013, 116 students, 348 credit hours

Primarily Geography, Math, and Statistics

Numbers will decrease as GIS moving from Woodlands campus
to University Park Spring 2015
Online Courses/Programs
Online Courses/Programs
Online Courses/Programs
Online Courses/Programs
Online Courses/Programs
ACE -Academic
Community Engagement

15 courses from College, Please consider adding
additional courses


None yet from Geography/Geology, Math/Stats, or
Physics
Dr. Li-Jen Shannon
Teaching Awards

SHSU Award of Excellence in Teaching
 Dr. Bobby Lane (Agricultural Sciences)
Dr. Kyle Stutts (Agricultural Sciences)
receives NACTA Teacher Fellow
Award and American Society of
Animal Science Outstanding Young
Animal Science in Education Award
 Dr. Foy Mills (Agricultural Sciences)
nominated for the NARRU
Distinguished Educator Award

Research and Scholarship
Faculty Research Grant: 4 out of
the 10 awards were to COS

Harper, James (Biological Sciences)
“Caloric restriction and aging in American
cockroaches”

Liang, Gan (Physics)
“Comprehensive study of Li2FeSi04-based Lithium
Ion Battery Materials”

Neudorf, Diane (Biological Sciences)
“Urbanization impacts on songbird alarm calls”

Primm, Todd (Biological Sciences)
“Effects of Antibiotic Therapy on the Microbiome”
Deadline to apply is Oct. 13, 2014
Enhancement Research Grants: 7 out
of the 10 awards were to COS
Bucheli, Sibyl (Biological Sciences)
“Ultra-fine scale bacterial sampling of human cadavers”
 Chen, Lei (Computer Science)
“Attacks and digital forensics in personal computer games”
 Leatherwood (Lucia), Jessica (Agricultural Sciences)
“Development of an equine non-contact thermography device”
 Randle, Chris (Biological Sciences)
“Parallel evolution of minimal plastomes in tropical
Orobanchaceae”
 Thies, Monte (Biological Sciences)
“A comparison of cranial morphology in fossorial reptiles using
contrast-enhanced micro-CT”
 Varol, Cihan (Computer Science)
“Extracting and mining web browser artifacts”
 Walker, Joel (Physics)
“Dynamically determining stable local minima in no-scale
supergravity”

Deadline to apply is Oct. 6, 2014
Professional Development
Leaves
Funded by the Provost

Dr. Chris Randle (Biological Sciences)

Dr. Todd Primm (Biological Sciences)

Dr. Lei Chen (Computer Sciences)
Funded by the College of Sciences

Dr. Ken Smith (Mathematics and Statistics)
COS Dean’s Office
Funding for Research

Funded three Associate Professors for Career
Advancement Awards for summer 2014

Provided additional funding to EURECA for 3.5
student-faculty summer research teams (FAST)

Funded undergraduate students through COS
Undergraduate Research Program

Keynote speaker and Sponsor of the SHSU Annual
Undergraduate Research Conference
External Funding
(7/1/13-8/1/14)
Department
Agricultural Sciences
and Engineering
Technology
Biology
Chemistry
Computer Science
Geography/Geology
Math and Statistics
Physics
# New
Apps
$ New Apps
# Grants
Awarded
$ New
Awards
# Active
Awards
$ spent active
grants
8
$1,876,354
6
$336,324
11
$89,827
10
$2,828,822
3
$151,532
9
$46,456
8
$979,682
3
$385,345
2
$173,029
4
$2,789,603
2
$262,997
4
2
$109,918
1
$100,000
1
4
$820,376
3
$584,102
8
$252,053
1
$110,133
1
$35,000
3
$44,539
34
$9,514,888
19
$1,855,390
38
$606,904
Total
Selected Awards and Active
Grants 2013-2014

Agriculture/Engineering Technology- Continued award for
renewable energy education from USDA

Biological Sciences-2 new awards > $100,000, 8 active
awards

Chemistry-Continued Army funding of Dr. Petrikovics on
cyanide antidotes; Dr. Williams received funding from SERDP

Computer Sciences-Dr. Liu received NSF grant

Geology-Dr. Acton brought NSF grant to SHSU

Math and Statistics-Began NSF REU for 3 years summer 2014
(Dr. Chapman, PI); continued PURE REU in Hawaii

Physics-2nd year of ASSET grant for K12 science teachers; Dr.
Pooley received Cottrell Award
Student presents at NASA conference
Dr. Petrikovics lab stays busy
Scholarship

Dr. Gary Acton (Geology) published in “Science”

Dr. Hui Fang (Physics) published in “Nature
Nanotechnology”

Dr. Renee James (Physics) new book from Johns Hopkins
Press “Science Unshackled” in fall catalog

Dr. Mark Leipnik (Geography) with 4 book chapters

Chemistry published 9 articles

Biology published 14 articles (9 had student coauthors)

Dr. Dusty Jones (Math) had 1 book and 2 articles published

Dr. Lei Chen (Computer Science) published book on
Wireless Network Security
SERVICE
COS Service Activities

Dr. Doug Ullrich (ASET), SHSU Faculty Excellence in
Service

Dr. Jerry Cook (Biology), Associate VP of Research

Dr. Tamara Cook (Biology) selected to lead
EURECA

Dr. Patrick Lewis (Biology) new Assistant Director of
Honors Program

Dr. Bill Lutterschmidt (Biology), Director of TRIES

Dr. Manish Dixit (ASET) selected as US participant
for International Energy Agency’s Annex 57

Dr. Renee James (Physics), Chair, Faculty Senate
 Hosted
the Conference on the
Teaching of Mathematics 6-12
 Hosted
the 2nd International
Symposium on Digital Forensics and
Security at the Woodlands Campus
 ASET
Faculty provided over 500 hours
service to community events
Hosted the Southeast
Texas BEST Competition
Oct. 26, 2013
Service Activities from
Dean’s Office
Outreach to Hispanic students

Dean’s Office and Computer Sciences
attended “Houston Hispanic Forum”

Dean Pascarella took 13 Hispanic
students to Washington DC for the HACU
spring meeting, including 3 COS students

Organized First College Career Fair
Other Service Contribution

Dr. Mary Swarthout (Math and Statistics) elected President,
Research Council on Mathematics Learning

Dr. Ed Swim and Dr. Beth Cory (Math and Statistics) hosted
mini-workshop on CLEAR Calculus Labs for local HS
teachers

Dr. Ken Smith and Dr. Martin Malandro (Math and Statistics)
hosted workshop on combinatorial graph theory at SHSU

Dr. Dusty Jones (Math and Statistics) serves as President of
Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators in Texas
and Chair of Association of Mathematics Teacher
Educators

Dr. Timothy McGuire (Computer Science) Membership
Secretary for National Board of the Consortium for
Computing Sciences in Colleges

Dr. Li-Jen Shannon hosted ACE workshop

Dr. Don Albert (Geography and Geology) serves as
editor of the International Journal of Applied
Geospatial Research

Dr. Scott Chapman (Math and Statistics) is editor of The
American Mathematical Monthly, the premier journal
of the Mathematical Association of America

Dr. Luis Garcia, (Math and Statistics), Associate Editor,
AMA and J. of Algebraic Statistics

Dr. Chris Randle (Biological Sciences) is Editor-in-Chief
of Castanea, the Journal of the Southern Appalachian
Botanical Society

Dr. Manish Dixit (Engineering Technology) on Editorial
Board – Journal of Energy

Dr. Art Wolfskill (Agricultural Sciences) serves on
Editorial Board – Journal of North American Colleges
and Teachers of Agriculture
Editorships
Review of Goals for 20132014

Goal 1-Develop strategic plans for managing
growth in classes required in the core and for
Health Sciences students

Hired three full-time mathematics lecturers;

Obtained additional pool faculty funding for freshman
course demand;

Obtained new initiatives funding for :

Anatomy and Physiology Lecturer (Biological Sciences)

TT Biology Science Educator (Assistant Professor) to teach
Foundations of Science courses and core biology courses

TT Mathematics Assistant Professor
Goal 2: Review existing space allocation in
Lee Drain and Farrington to accommodate
needed lab space for teaching and research

Obtained funding for renovation of teaching lab
in Farrington and Math grad space in Lee Drain

Department Chairs in Lee Drain reviewed space
allocation and priority agreements

Repurposed underused spaces to accommodate
faculty offices and research space
Improved Infrastructure

Converted old Vivarium to Geology faculty
and student research space
Improved Infrastructure

Outfitted Geology “CORE” facility on Sycamore
street
Improved Infrastructure

Renovated facilities and new research equipment
at SHSU Biological Field Station

Al
Alan Byboth, Field Station Manager,
In front of renovated Research Lab
New Vivarium under
Construction
Major Completion Date by Mid-December 2014
New Planetarium
Projector
Mediaglobe III to replace 10 year old Mediaglobe II
New Vehicles
New Street
Legal Cart for
Geology
Core Lab
and Vivarium
Plan on
acquiring
new van in
FY15 to
replace 21
year old van
New Diesel
4x4 Pickup
for Towing
and Field
Work
Future Academic Buildings

Fred Pirkle Engineering Technology
Building Design has been
completed, in final design phase.
Break Ground Spring 2015, open
January 2017
7
named rooms already!

Planning completed for new
Equestrian Facility at Gibbs Ranch

TRB request to fund New Biology
Building may occur next year
Goal 3-Review possibility of reviving the
Environmental Science program as a
true interdisciplinary degree from BS to
PhD
 Faculty
led committee
presented plan for BS proposal
with three tracks; Proposal is on
University master list of future
degree programs
Goal 4-Examine cross-cutting research
strengths to identify areas for enhanced
research and programmatic growth
 Faculty
Committee identified three areas:
 Forensic
related research in Biology, Chemistry, and
Computer Science to partner with Forensic Science
and Criminal Justice;
 Science
Education at multiple levels and preparing
K-12 Science Educators;
 Energy
and Energy Systems, including both
conventional and renewable
Goal 5- Enhance international
collaborations

Jinggangshan University for Physics
 Continuing
review of curriculum for future 3+1 program

Beijing Mining and Technology for Mathematics and Statistics1st Grad Student coming to SHSU

Zhejiang Police College and Ocean University, China-Visiting
this fall to explore possible programs in Computer Science

Firat University (Elazig, Turkey) for Computer Science
 First

students arrive fall 2015 for 2+2 degree program
Kafkas University (Turkey) and Patna University (Biology)
 Exploring
2+2 programs and faculty exchange
International Activities

Vallarta Botanical Gardens and UNIBE (Costa Rica)
(Biology) and France and Italy-Agricultural Sciences,
Thailand-Geography
 Faculty
led summer programs

Firat University for Geology-future summer field course
site

University of Applied Science-Trier (Germany) for
Engineering Technology
 Possible
Future Summer Field Program in Engineering
Technology

Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe
 Research

and study abroad opportunities
Hosted or will be hosting international faculty visitors from
Chile, China, Germany, Hungary, Singapore, and Libya
International
Activities
Provost Hebert and Dean
Pascarella visited Firat
University in Elazig, Turkey
First Group of Turkish Students
Arrive fall 2015 for Software
Engineering Technology Program
Predator or
Dr. Williams?
At Puerto Vallarta Botanical Gardens
Dean Pascarella
explored opportunities
with German universities
through “Germany Today”
program
University of Applied Science-Trier Birkenfeld Sustainability Campus
Increased International
Opportunities
Goals for FY15

Begin Assessing Core Curriculum Courses

Analyze opportunities/threats from Lone Star and partners
entering local market


ie., SFA approved to offer a Biology degree at LS Montgomery

Can and should we offer select undergraduate degrees at LS
campuses or satellite campuses (Woodlands, University Park)?
Continue developing international partnerships



Diversify countries of origin, increase international students in
Biology and Agriculture, develop new study abroad destinations in
Turkey and Germany
Develop and Support new programs

Submit proposal for Environmental Science BS degree

Funding for Computer Science and Engineering Technology
Faculty
Support Fundraising efforts for new facilities
Have a great year!
 Please
provide your input into all of these
areas through your departmental
meetings, faculty senate representatives,
and other venues
 I will be visiting with each department
during the year to discuss how we can
improve teaching, research and
scholarship within the COS