SJSU Annual Program Assessment Form
Academic Year 2014-2015
Department: Moss Landing Marine Laboratories
Program: MS Marine Science
College: Science
Website: http://mlml.calstate.edu
X Check here if your website addresses the University Learning Goals.
http://gradprog.mlml.calstate.edu/program-assessment
Program Accreditation (if any):
Contact Person and Email: Jonathan Geller, geller@mlml.calstate.edu
Date of Report: May 31, 2015
Part A
No changes since last academic year.
Part B
PLEASE NOTE: The data provided below will not reflect that provided by the IEA website. Moss Landing
Marine Laboratories is a consortium of seven California State University campuses including: San Jose,
Monterey Bay, East Bay, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento and Stanislaus. The MS in Marine Science
degree program may have graduate students enrolled from all seven campuses. Therefore, while the
SJSU IEA Office provides data on students enrolled through SJSU, it does not report on students enrolled
through the other six campuses. The data below are for the entire MLML MS in Marine Science degree
program for matriculated students from all consortium campuses.
6. Graduation Rates for Total, Non URM and URM students (per program and degree)
Graduation rates for the MLML MS degree program are:
Cohort Semester
Fall
Spring
Fall
Fall
Fall
Fall
Fall
Fall
2008
2009
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Number
14
5
10
12
17
22
15
12
Entering
2-year
0%
0%
10%
0%
0%
5%
0%
graduation rate
3-year
14%
40%
20%
0%
12%
18%
graduation rate
4-year
50%
60%
30%
42%
41%
graduation rate
5-year
50%
80%
80%
67%
graduation rate
6-year
86%
80%
graduation rate
Data shown are for total populations. Data are not collected for URM nor Non-URM populations.
7. Headcounts of program majors and new students (per program and degree)
Fall 2010
76
Total number of graduate students matriculated in
MLML MS in Marine Science degree program
Fall 2011
Fall 2012
Fall 2013
Fall 2014
72
78
85
71
Spring 2015
67
MLML MS in Marine Science degree program applicants
Fall 2009
Fall 2010
Fall 2011
Fall 2012
Fall 2013
Fall 2014
Fall 2015
Applied
59
53
71
85
85
81
74
Admitted
16
16
28
36
25
19
23
8. SFR and average section size (per program)
9.
Student to Faculty Ratios
Fall 2010
Fall 2011
Fall 2012
Fall 2013
6.1
7
6.3
8.8
Enrolled
10
12
17
22
15
12
18
Fall 2014
10.8
Average Headcount per Section, Not Including Supervision
Courses (MS 180, MS 298, MS 299)
Fall 2010
Fall 2011
Fall 2012
Fall 2013
Fall 2014
8.8
13.2
11.8
12.5
8.7
3.6
4.0
7.2
9.3
6.8
Upper Division
Graduate
Division
Total
6.0
10.6
9.7
11.4
7.8
The nature of the MLML MS in Marine Science degree program is such that students are intensely
mentored by faculty. Therefore, student to faculty ratios and average headcount sections are low, and
do not reflect the overall effort of the faculty.
10. Percentage of tenured/tenure-track instructional faculty (per department)
Percentage of Tenured/Tenure-Track Instructional Faculty in the
MLML MS in Marine Science Degree Program
2010/2011
98%
2011/2012
85%
2012/2013
88%
2013/2014
97%
2014/2015
86%
Part C
11. Closing the Loop/Recommended Actions
Recommended actions include the development of rubrics and other assessment tools to be
regularly used for each PLO assessment on the 5-year assessment schedule. Development of these
tools would allow assessment to be easy and efficient, and would facilitate the evaluation of
program quality over large time scales. In addition, it was previously recommended that PLOs be
distilled to the simplest and most concise language possible. This year, our curriculum committee
and faculty continued discussions of changes to degree requirements that would streamline the
program and improve its quality, and reduce time to graduation. Timelines were set for addressing
specific changes to coursework.
12. Assessment Data
Both PLOs 5 and 6 address skills that would be mastered at the culmination of the degree program
at the oral defense and thesis stage. Therefore, over academic year 2014/2015 we tracked student
success in the oral defense and written thesis. Success in the oral defense and thesis were
measured as the approval from all three (or more) committee members that the student passed
each. In addition, building blocks to these PLOs would be gained in classes MS 104, MS 204, MS 263,
MS 202, MS 206, and MS 105. We tracked enrollment numbers in these courses to determine how
many students utilized these opportunities, and the pass/fail rate to evaluate whether or not
enrolled students gained proficiency as described in the PLOs.
13. Analysis
Of the 13 students who attempted the oral defense and written thesis in academic year 2014/2015,
100% received approval from all committee members and passed the degree requirements. This
indicates that the students have mastered the skills and tools of data collection and analysis specific
to their field of study, and that they have demonstrated the ability to place their research within the
larger context of their relevant field of study and identify the implications of their work. We believe
that three parts of our degree program primarily contribute to this high rate of success: 1) the rigor
of coursework and the high-level, hands-on skills taught in required classes, 2) the intensive level of
mentoring and one-on-one help offered by faculty advisors, and 3) the thoroughness and breadth of
feedback and advising offered by the thesis committee.
In addition, of those classes that focus on mastery of skills and tools of data collection and analysis,
three were offered during academic year 2014/2015. Two of those three had high levels of
enrollment, relative to the normal MLML class size. In all three classes, 100% of graduate students
passed with a grade of “B” or better, indicating sufficient mastery of the curricula.
14. Proposed changes and goals (if any)
We suggest that a thesis committee form and rubric be developed to provide each student and the
MLML program useful and constructive feedback for areas of the oral defense and written thesis in
which improvements can be made. These forms can be assessed on an annual or 5-year cycle to
identify common weaknesses found in student performance, and make adjustments to the MLML
program. In addition, the MLML curriculum committee should take into account the frequency with
which MS 104, 105, 202, 204, and 206 are offered to ensure sufficient opportunities for students to
take classes in which they gain skills needed to master data collection and analysis.
Appendix A
Assessment Data – Student Success in Oral Defense and Written Thesis
Student Name
Degree Requirement
Oral Defense
Ryan Carle, Summer 2014 graduate
Thesis
Oral Defense
Jahnava Duryea, Summer 2014 graduate
Thesis
Outcome
Passed
Passed
Passed
Passed
Emily Golson, Summer 2014 graduate
Gillian Rhett, Summer 2014 graduate
Katherine Schmidt, Summer 2014 graduate
Scott Gabara, Fall 2014 graduate
Andrea Launer, Fall 2014 graduate
Melinda Nakagawa, Fall 2014 graduate
Jasmine Ruvalcaba, Fall 2014 graduate
Kelley van Hees, Fall 2014 graduate
Cheryl Barnes, pending Spring 2015 graduate
Jarred Klosinski, pending Spring 2015 graduate
Ashley Wheeler, pending Spring 2015 graduate
Oral Defense
Thesis
Oral Defense
Thesis
Oral Defense
Thesis
Oral Defense
Thesis
Oral Defense
Thesis
Oral Defense
Thesis
Oral Defense
Thesis
Oral Defense
Thesis
Oral Defense
Thesis
Oral Defense
Thesis
Oral Defense
Thesis
Assessment Data – Enrollment Numbers and Pass/Fail Rates
Course Number
Semester
Total Enrollment
MS 104
Fall 2014
12
MS 204
Not offered AY 14/15
MS 263
Not offered AY 14/15
MS 202
Fall 2014
4
MS 206
Not offered AY 14/15
MS 105
Fall 2014
10
Passed
Passed
Passed
Passed
Passed
Passed
Passed
Passed
Passed
Passed
Passed
Passed
Passed
Passed
Passed
Passed
Passed
Passed
Passed
Passed
Passed
Passed
Pass/Fail Rate
100% pass
100% pass
100% pass