GOALS & OBJECTS FOR DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL SCIENCES
2007-2008
1. Improve retention, advisement and marketability of students in Natural Sciences.
a. Improve advisement in each major program
i. Increase the number of faculty participating in workshops in academic advisement
ii. Use information tools to communicate with advisees
b. Improve the student learning outcomes
i. Improve the student performance in nationally standardized exams
ii. Increase the number of undergraduate students going to graduate programs
c. Graduate Program
i. Develop new graduate courses
ii. Increase the number of graduate thesis advisors
iii. Increase the extramural funding to support graduate students
2. Recruitment
a. Undergraduate Programs
i. Develop recruitment material
ii. Expand the services to high school students and teachers
iii. Establish articulation agreements with region Community Colleges
(articulation agreements for Forensic Science, Dual-degree programs for Biotechnology)
iv. Increase the number of majors in the Department
b. Graduate Program
i. Develop recruitment material
ii. Visit College campus throughout the State
iii. Increase enrollment in the Biology program
3. Ensure the academic programs that are relevant
a. Existing programs:
i. Review and revise academic programs
ii. Seek accreditation for each program for which accreditation is available
(Chemistry, Fire Science, Forensic Science, Biotechnology)
iii. Develop new courses to enhance the academic programs in the Department
iv. Develop new or existing science laboratories to support the academic programs
in the Department (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Biotechnology and Forensic
Science laboratories)
v. Conduct workshops for nationally standardized exams for majors
vi. Actively pursue opportunities for students to engage in internships, research,
summer enrichment programs and service learning activities and to increase the
number of student participation in these activities.
b. Develop new undergraduate programs in the Department
(Pre-Chiropractic Program, Comprehensive Science Education Program
General Engineering Program and Applied Physics Program)
4. Increase Scholarly Activities
a. Increase the number of Publications within the Department
b. Increase the number of research proposals within the Department
c. Increase the number of funded grants within the Department
d. Increase the number of faculty presenting at local, national or international conferences
e. Increase the number of faculty serving on professional organization and committees,
serving for book reviews or as referees for journal articles and grant proposals
5. Increase the use of technology in educational delivery
a. On-line course and degree program development
i. Explore implementation of science courses on-line.
ii. Increase the number of on-line courses within the Department
iii. Develop on-line degree programs within the Department
b. Improve the use of technology in teaching
i. Implement new ways of teaching with technology
ii. Increase the number of workshops or demonstrations for use of
technology in teaching within the Department
6. Improve the academic culture
a. Identify and develop scholarly activities that students may participate
(e.g. speaker series, research projects, brown bag discussion groups)
b. Support the (Bio Phi Chem) Science Club
c. Increase the number of senior faculty in leadership role within the department
7. Faculty Development
a. Increase the number of faculty attending workshops that focus on teaching and learning
b. Increase the number of faculty attending grant writing workshops
c. Increase the number of faculty attending local, national or international conferences
d. increase the number of faculty participating in extramural research internship programs
Departmental Goals and Objective have been approved by:
________________________________________ Date: ________________________
Ronald Johnston, Chair
Department of Natural Sciences
_______________________________________ Date: ________________________
David Barlow, Dean
College of Basic and Applied Sciences
_____________________________________ Date: ________________________
Juliette Bell, Provost
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs