Strategic Planning and Budget Advisory Committee (SPBAC)
Budget Increment Request Form
PURPOSE: Use this form to propose new UAS operating fund increments or initiatives (e.g. legislative requests for
programs or positions) which require either NEW resources or a major internal REALLOCATION of existing funding.
Individuals preparing proposals should consult with their dean or director prior to submitting to SPBAC.
For more routine and/or modest proposals affecting existing department or program budgets, please consult UAS
Personnel Budget Procedures & Practices (http://uas.alaska.edu/budget/docs/budget/uas-personnel-budgetprocedures-practices.pdf).
Increment Title: Assistant Professor of Biology
Campus/Department or Program: School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Natural Sciences, Biology Program
Fiscal Year/Time Frame Advertise in FY 15, faculty on site FY 16
Submitted by: Marsha Sousa
Date: 1-20-2014
A. Program/Position Description (Provide a description of the request and of its overall purpose)
We request approval to hire a tripartite, tenure-track faculty member in the Biology program. This tripartite faculty
member is expected to teach 18 credits of genetics, general biology, microbiology, and vertebrate biology (or similar)
courses; conduct research that expands our existing strengths in marine biology; and participate in service to the
university, the community, and the discipline.
B. Need & Justification for Program/Position (Explain why the request is needed, including enhancement of existing
programs, response to market demand, taking advantage of new opportunities. If applicable, include the number of
students affected and specific employer demand met.)
The UAS Biology Program is at a critical point in its history, with a number of important new opportunities. The recent
remodel of the Anderson Building brings together the majority of our teaching, research, learning, and office needs
under one roof. This improved infrastructure has boosted our ability to teach, conduct research, and mentor students.
The seawater system and dive locker establishes UAS as a functioning marine laboratory. Recent reports also
demonstrate that the Biology and Marine Biology Programs are, respectively, the most- and third-most inquired about
programs at UAS. In addition, program enrollments have increased over the past several years (Figure 1) and we reached
our goal of 20 graduates in spring of 2013 (Table 1).
Figure 1. Number of students majoring in all Biology Programs - BA Biology, BS Biology, BS Marine
Biology, including pre-majors. (Data from UAS IE, 2013 Spring Closing Factbook, Student Demographics,
retrieved 2-1-14, http://www.uas.alaska.edu/provost/ie/factbooks/Spring_2013_close1.html.)
ver. 6, revised 1/23/14
Request for Tenure Track Biology Faculty, FY 16
Table 1: Number of graduates with Biology Degrees.
BA, Biology
BS, Biology
BS, Marine
Biology
Total
2009
2
5
7
2010
2
2
6
2011
2
8
4
2012
0
3
4
2013
5
5
10
Total
11
23
31
14
10
14
7
20
65
A recent Biology program self-study and a retention study from the MacDowell Group suggest that to improve our
ability to recruit, retain, and graduate students we must consistently offer the courses needed by our students,
implement standardized advising models for all students, increase our ability to attract new students, and increase
student research and job opportunities. We seek to add stability and diversity to our course offerings to increase
retention and student success. We believe courses delivered annually to health sciences, environmental sciences, and
biology students require dedicated efforts and long-term commitment of tenure track faculty that temporary faculty are
not able to provide. At present, courses such as microbiology, anatomy and physiology labs, genetics, chemistry,
vertebrate zoology, ecology, plant biology, and non-majors biology are taught piecemeal by graduate students, adjuncts,
and term faculty. One of our term faculty, Johanna Fagen, who has taught ecology, plant biology, vertebrate zoology,
anatomy and physiology lab, and non-majors biology, has indicated that she will retire in spring 2015. Our genetics class
is a program requirement in biology; it is currently taught by a UAF graduate student. Stable faculty members with longterm commitments to UAS will provide consistent, high-quality teaching and advising to students, provide more research
opportunities for students, offer high-demand courses regularly, and increase our opportunity to offer multiple sections
to meet demand. These efforts are absolutely essential in getting students into and through our degree programs to
graduation on time.
UAS offers opportunities in biology and marine biology that few universities can match. UAS is one of three 4-year
universities along the entire West Coast of the US that offers an undergraduate degree in Marine Biology. UAS supports
a marine laboratory with a flow-through seawater system that allows undergraduate students to conduct laboratory
studies on diverse marine organisms (algae, invertebrates, fish). We also have an unsurpassed natural laboratory within
feet of our classrooms where students study costal ecology and wild marine mammals, other vertebrates, and
invertebrates. Whereas other universities can offer field marine courses only to those students who opt to travel to a
distant site or only during special summer programs, we offer marine courses to all of our students throughout the year
in our local marine laboratory. Unlike most universities, UAS students can maintain their housing, their jobs, and pursue
other required courses while they study marine biology.
Our program is strengthened through mutually positive associations with local agencies such as NOAA, the Alaska
Department of Fish and Game, and Glacier Bay National Park, and through our faculty connections and appointments
with the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Professionals associated with such agencies and institutions provide avenues for
undergraduate research experiences on projects more diverse than could be offered through UAS along. Our students
enjoy seasonal employment and internships in exciting field research and learn practical techniques, clearly a
mechanism for student retention at UAS. In addition, our graduates are hired into permanent positions with these
agencies.
With declining budgets and a need to focus our work on areas of excellence, investment in the Biology program should
be a priority for the university. Our stellar setting in Southeast Alaska, the excellent and unique laboratory facilities, and
the lack of competing programs in Alaska and on the entire west coast make us a destination campus for
undergraduates to earn their Marine Biology degree. Strengthening the program through the addition of committed
faculty is a smart move because it plays to a fundamental strength of UAS.
UAS Mission & Core Themes (Identify which aspects of the UAS Mission and Core Themes this request supports and
explain how it advances the mission and themes.)
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Request for Tenure Track Biology Faculty, FY 16
The Biology Program, which includes options for degrees in Biology or Marine Biology, supports the university’s mission
statement and strategic plan. Specifically, the Biology Program will continue to provide “student learning enhanced by
faculty scholarship, undergraduate research and creative activities, community engagement, and the cultures and
environment of Southeast Alaska,” (UAS Mission Statement).
Student learning: Student learning requires consistent instruction by highly qualified faculty members who are
committed to UAS for the long term. These faculty will be critical, not just in instruction, but in building relationships
with students through advising, mentoring, provision of undergraduate research opportunities, placement in
internships, regular course offerings, and assistance with finding jobs or graduate programs after graduation. These
relationships are key factors in retaining and graduating students as shown by recent MacDowell Group surveys.
Faculty Scholarship: We need faculty who are committed to teaching and learning that enhance our understanding of SE
Alaska ecosystems and provide novel opportunities for students. Faculty need the time to commit to the labor-intensive
work that goes into research on biological and environmental issues. Recent interest in building a robust research
community in SE Alaska, and the formation of the Juneau Economic Development Council’s Research Cluster, of which
UAS is a part, indicate that the timing is right to add faculty depth in the areas of biology, marine biology, and/or
terrestrial ecology.
Undergraduate Research: Another faculty member actively pursuing research will provide yet another opportunity to
include students in research. Undergraduate research experiences lead to greater student retention, provide students
with practical research skills, and lead to relevant employment after graduation. At present, our biology faculty cannot
support all the students who want to conduct research (BIOL 498), despite taking on teaching overloads every year. An
additional permanent faculty member will allow us enhance research opportunities for our eager students. Term and
adjunct faculty do not provide the student learning opportunities that permanent faculty do.
Community Engagement: Biology faculty routinely collaborate with scientists in state and federal agencies to conduct
research and interact with the community through talks, tours, presentations, and mentoring. They are increasingly
engaged with JEDC partners to enhance the economic climate for research in Southeast Alaska. Because of the
accessibility of their discipline, biology faculty are some of the most active UAS faculty in mentoring high school students
on science fair projects, participating in BioBlitz, volunteering for intertidal walks as fundraisers, donating their time to
“I’m going to College,” mentoring the Girl Scouts, participating in the regional Ocean Sciences Bowl, and any number of
other community engagement activities.
Cultures of Southeast Alaska: With our new ANSEP program for marine biology students in place and becoming
increasingly active, the Biology Department is attracting increasing numbers of Alaska Native students. We are confident
this is an area of substantial growth in coming years.
Environment of Southeast Alaska: The strength of the Biology program is its immersion in the environment of SE Alaska
and the location of our marine laboratory on Auke Bay. With the intertidal zone just steps from the classroom and a
seawater lab inside the building, biology students cannot avoid becoming knowledgeable about and engaged in the
environment of SE Alaska. Students have additional opportunities to attend WhaleFest in Sitka and the Bald Eagle
Festival in Haines, to spend extended field time in the area, and to participate in research in the marine and terrestrial
environments of SE Alaska.
C. UA Statewide Priorities: Shaping Alaska’s Future (Identify which of the five themes and issues this request supports
and explain how.)
Theme 1: Student Achievement and Attainment: Students learn best, and are retained and persist to graduation when
they develop relationships with faculty mentors. Full-time faculty members are positioned to be those consistent
mentors throughout a student’s education. Term and adjunct faculty do not provide the consistency and enhanced
learning opportunities through student research and scholarship that our tenure track Biology faculty provide.
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Request for Tenure Track Biology Faculty, FY 16
Theme 4: Research and Development (R&D) to Sustain Alaska’s Communities and Economic Growth: Tripartite faculty
members who are responsible for conducting research will engage in a meaningful way with industry partners. Our
current faculty have already demonstrated this with ongoing effective partnerships with NOAA, NMFS, ADF&G, Glacier
Bay National Park, and others.
Theme 5: Accountability to the People of Alaska: Faculty members with a commitment to the University are more likely
to fulfill the long-term goals of the university and be accountable to the students and the people of Alaska for providing
a high quality, consistent, meaningful education for Alaskan students.
D. Other Strategic Priorities (Explain how this request relates to any other local, regional, or statewide priorities)
The state has asked us to focus on some specific areas, to avoid duplication of programs, and to decrease our budgets by
fine-tuning our programs for efficiency. Given that there is no other undergraduate marine biology program in the state,
and only three on the west coast, growing the Marine Biology program at UAS where the resources and opportunity
exists is appropriate and efficient. We have infrastructure on campus that no other university in Alaska can claim or
leverage. By strengthening what we already do well, we set ourselves up to become a center of excellence in marine
biology. Further, the state has invested heavily in the seafood - maritime initiatives as a growth industry in Alaska. The
research, teaching, and training that we do at UAS in Biology and Marine Biology not only complements the industry’s
needs, it directly supports it through research applicable to crab fisheries, salmon fisheries, sea otter depredation on
shellfish beds, marine algal growth, mariculture, genetic diversity and change in the face of climate change, and
numerous other areas of research.
In addition, as indicated above, Southeast Alaska is in the midst of efforts to grow research productivity and
infrastructure. This is the time to capitalize on that effort and increase the visibility of UAS in this realm.
E. OMB Performance Measures (Identify the anticipated positive impact of the request on each performance measure
or the negative impact of not receiving a replacement funding request.
See: http://uas.alaska.edu/provost/ie/docs/OMB_performance_measures.pdf)
Student success: high demand career pathways
INCREASE: Additional faculty will lead to additional recruitment and retention of biology students who will enter high
demand jobs in fisheries and natural resource management in the State. Another faculty member will form new and
stronger partnerships with the agencies that hire our graduates. Temporary faculty cannot provide this advantage.
Student Success: Success in entry level college courses
INCREASE: Students recruited to the biology program are more likely to be ready and able to succeed in college,
particularly if we begin marketing to students in selected areas of the west coast. In addition, faculty mentoring in
combination with the ANSEP program is improving student study skills and student-mentor relationships that lead to
greater student success.
Student Success: Full enrollment
INCREASE: Expert advising of our program students by faculty advisors and by our staff advisors will lead to more
students completing 30 credits in a year. Further, the types of students we recruit for the Biology major are more likely
to have the college-level skills to maintain a full 15 credits per semester.
Student Success: Undergraduate retention and persistence
INCREASE: Students in biology are here specifically for our program. They are more likely to be retained and graduate
than undeclared students are, as they are committed not only to complete their general education requirements and
transfer to the lower 48, but also to complete the baccalaureate degree. Adding a faculty member will stabilize our
course offerings and provide predictable instruction that students use to plan their coursework. These are key elements
in student retention and success.
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Request for Tenure Track Biology Faculty, FY 16
Student Success: Degree attainment
INCREASE: Full-time faculty will increase our ability to offer enough courses and enough sections for students to
graduate on time. In addition, they will advise and mentor students effectively. Graduation rates increase when courses
are offered predictably, consistently, and by tenure track faculty.
Student Success: Post-graduation employment
INCREASE: Biology students generally go directly to jobs in the state and federal agencies or to graduate school. Our
record of success is good already, and should only increase with additional stability in the program. Our students who
are provided independent research opportunities have the greatest employment success after leaving UAS. Another
faculty member will increase student research opportunities that adjuncts and term cannot provide.
Teaching and Learning: Instructional expenditures per student FTE
NO EFFECT: Addition of this tenure tract faculty member will decrease the number of term and adjunct employees each
year. Financially this will likely have no effect.
Teaching and Learning: Faculty to completers
DECREASE: With an increase in stable tenure track faculty, we should see an increase in graduation rates within the
program. We can offer courses more often and increase the diversity of offerings. Currently all of our electives are
offered every two years. Popular electives such as invertebrate zoology and marine mammalogy could be offered each
year.
Teaching and Learning: Structured experiential learning
INCREASE: Since the program already has a high focus on experiential learning, additional faculty will immediately
increase the opportunities through classroom, laboratory, field trip, and undergraduate research experiences.
Teaching and Learning: Honors Program
INCREASE: Additional faculty advising and research opportunities for biology students will lead to additional honorseligible students. Honors courses require faculty to provide opportunities outside of the regular coursework. Additional
faculty will help meet that need.
Community Engagement: Workforce Credentials
NO EFFECT: While the Biology Program engages routinely in partnerships and services throughout the community, UAS
does not have a metric that would measure this effort. The Program does not offer non-credit activities leading to
workforce credentials but does place students into internships with agencies that hire our graduates.
Research and Creative Expression: Research proposals
INCREASE: Highly qualified biology faculty will secure grant funding that provides student research opportunities.
Research and Creative Expression: Research assistants
INCREASE: All faculty are asked to fund undergraduate research assistants in the grant proposals that they write, as long
as that is not prohibited by the grant. Successful faculty routinely hire undergraduate assistants to assist in laboratory
and field research. These are opportunities that term faculty, bipartite faculty, and adjuncts cannot provide.
F. How does the increment promote academic excellence, optimize existing capacity, and/or create efficiencies or
cost savings?
It is optimal to teach a program with fulltime faculty who are committed to the students, the university, the research,
the teaching, and to the SE Alaska community. This is efficient because it creates consistent advising, course offerings,
and program development, providing students with a stable faculty and providing the university with the ability to plan
for the future. It eliminates the drain on administrators and staff of constantly identifying and hiring adjunct and term
5
Request for Tenure Track Biology Faculty, FY 16
faculty who teach for a semester or two. Short-term faculty members do not provide research opportunities for
students or service to the university and community. Full-time faculty build research programs that bring funding and
prestige to the university and provide opportunities to students to conduct research. Full-time faculty develop
partnerships with state and federal agencies that expand our capacity and leverage resources for the betterment of the
institution, our students, and our graduates.
G. Budget (Explain the amount of funds requested for non-personal services expenses such as travel, contractual,
commodities, and capital expenditures. Provide a brief description of the expenditures.)
FTE:
1
positions of
tripartite, tenure-track type
(Provide the number/fraction of full-time equivalent positions requested and type, e.g. faculty or staff.)
Category
Travel
Contractual
Commodities
Capital Expenditures
Salary & Benefits
Total Requested:
Amount
3,000
2,000
2,000
0
84,000
91,000
Description
Professional Development
Technical Support
Project Supplies
H. Facilities or other resources (Explain what facilities needs might be associated with this request—e.g. office space,
lab, shop, IT infrastructure, larger equipment)
A Full-time faculty member will require a permanent, private office and a lab. The office space exists in the recently
remodeled Anderson building. Lab space, depending on the particular discipline of the successful applicant, would be
shared with other faculty either in Anderson or in NSRL. No major renovations are anticipated.
I. Review by Dean/Director
___________________________________________________________________
Dean/Director signature reflecting consultation about proposed increment/initiative
SPBAC Recommendation to Executive Cabinet:
Pursue funding through:
Legislative Request
Do not pursue funding at this time
SPBAC comments to Executive Cabinet:
Institutional reallocation
6
School reallocation
Other