SACS Reaffirmation
| Objective | Assessment Of Success | |
| Qualitative assessments of how well our graduate programs have successfully transitioned MA graduates to the workforce will be solicited through questionnaires distributed in our annual newsletter. Associated Goals: Goal 1--Student Excellence |
| Indicator | Alumni Survey This questionnaire will be included, for the first time, in the fall 2007 Department of Biological Sciences newsletter. |
| Criteria | Alumni Survey Any deficiencies in our curriculum or graduate studetn preparation noted by at least three or more respondents in a given year will be evlauated by the Department''s Graduate Committee. |
| Finding | Alumni Survey No findings yet. |
| Action | Alumni Survey Actions will be deferred pending responses to first use of our questionnaire. |
| Objective | Instruction | |
| Provide rigorous instruction in our graduate courses allowing students to develop competence in their area of specialization. Associated Goals: Goal 1--Student Excellence |
| Indicator | Course Offerings Increase the number of graduate courses offered each semester. |
| Criteria | Course Offerings Encourage new tenure-track faculty to submit curriculum request for graduate courses in their area of specialty. |
| Finding | Course Offerings In the past year, 2 of 3 new tenure track faculty have developed a total of 3 new graduate courses. These courses were intially offered as special topics and curriculum requests for 2 of those courses have now passed the departmental curriculum review. |
| Indicator | Mastery Of Knowledge All graduate students will demonstrate mastery of graduate course content through a graduate comprehensive oral exam. |
| Criteria | Mastery of Knowledge Ninety percent of graduate students should pass their oral exam on their first attempt. |
| Indicator | Primary Literature Component Include a primary literature component in all graduate course syllabi. |
| Criteria | Primary Literature Component All graduate course syllabi should have a current (primary) literature component. |
| Finding | Primary Literature Component All graduate course offerings in the academic year 2006-2007 had a primary literature component in the corresponding syllabus. |
| Action | Instruction Ongoing. |
| Objective | Scientific Literacy And Critical Thinking Skills | |
| Build scientific literacy, enhance critical thinking and communication by involving graduate students in the scientific process from proposal development through publication in peer-reviewed journals. Associated Goals: Goal 1--Student Excellence |
| Indicator | Scholarly Engagement And Academic Progress Graduate students should take an active role in their own academic progress and should actively engage in scholarly activity early in their graduate program. |
| Criteria | Annual Meeting Graduate students should meet regularly with their academic advisor and at least annually with their scholarly paper advisory committee to discuss the student''s progress. |
| Finding | Annual Meeting Students and advisors work together, follwoing the annual meeting with the advisory committee, to complete the Departmental Annual Progress Report which is filed with the Departmental Graduate Committee. |
| Criteria | Completion of Outline for Scholarly Paper Graduate students must have a completed outline for their scholarly paper filed with the graduate commitee by the end of their second semester. |
| Finding | Completion of Outline for Scholarly Paper Students turn in a scholarly paper outline, accompanied by the appropriate signed form to the Departmental Graduate Committee by the end of their second semester. |
| Criteria | Formation of Advisory Committee Graduate students must have forms their scholarly paper advisory committee by the end of their first semester. |
| Finding | Formation of Advisory Committee Students turn in to the Departmental Graduate Committee a completed/signed scholarly paper advisory committee form by the end of their first semester. |
| Criteria | Orientation All incoming graduate students will attend an orientation session early in their first semester. In this meeting they will be given the Department of Biological Sciences Graduate Student Handbook. This document contains all departmental policies, forms and deadlines pertaining to the graduate program. |
| Finding | Orientation All incoming students sign a form indicating that they have received the Department of Biological Sciences Graduate Student Handbook and that they will comply with all policies and complete all forms by the specified deadlines. |
| Criteria | Selection of Advisor for Completing Scholarly Paper Graduate students seeking the MA degree will select a faculty advisor to guide them through the process of writing a scholarly paper by the end of their first semester after entering the graduate program. |
| Finding | Selection of Advisor for Completing Scholarly Pape Students turn in to the Departmental Graduate Committee a signed advisor form by the end of their first semester. |
| Indicator | Student Scientific Publications Graduate students are expected to submit their scholarly paper, or sections of their scholarly paper, for review and publication in a peer reviewed journal prior to, or soon after, graduating and leaving the program. |
| Criteria | Mentor Guidance Graduate advisors routinely meet with and mentor their graduate students to ensure that they are progressing toward communication of their scholarly activities through publication. |
| Action | Scholarly Engagement and Academic Progress Students not completing requirements above risk losing their teaching assistantship and/or standing as students. Mentors and students are encouraged to work closely with the Graduate Program Coordinator. |
| Objective | External Funding For Research | |
| Build support for our research programs through increased external funding. Associated Goals: Goal 2--Faculty Excellence |
| Indicator | External Funding For Research All faculty are expected to seek external funding. |
| Criteria | External Grant Expectations Each faculty member should, in any given year, have one or more projects supported by external funding or hsould submit a grant to seek such support. |
| Finding | Research Funding Approximately 75% of Biology faculty currently have research projects funded through external sources. A consensus among our faculty is that increased levels of external funding would be facilitated by coninued growth in, and professional development of, the staff in the Office of Research and Special Programs (ORSP) and in the Office of Contracts and Grants. |
| Action | External Funding Support the efforts of ORSP and the Office of Contracts and Grants to hire additional staff and enhance their proessional development. Continue to encourage all faculty to seek external funding. |
| Objective | Faculty Research Activity | |
| Encourage a more active research program and increase research excellence. Associated Goals: Goal 2--Faculty Excellence |
| Indicator | Faculty Scholarly Products All faculty are expected to produce scholarly products. |
| Criteria | Faculty Scholarly Products All faculty will produce scholarly products. |
| Finding | Faculty Scholarly Products All tenured and tenure-track faculty in the Department of Biological Sciences are actively engaged in producing scholarly products. |
| Indicator | Faculty Time For Research Enhance stategies/mechanisms that provide additional time for research. TIme is the one resource in shortest supply among the faculty; a reduction in teaching loads would contribute significantly to increased publications rates and successful applications to external funding agencies. |
| Criteria | FTE parity Achieve parity regarding FTE credit for laboratories. |
| Finding | FTE parity A particularly difficult constraing for science faculty at SHSU is that lab courses carry half the credit, per contact hour, of lecture courses. For science faculty at comparable institutions in other states, labs carry full credit. Such discrepancies put science faculty at SHSU at a competitive disadvantage. |
| Indicator | Peer-reviewed Publications Maintain and increase the number of peer-reviewed publications produced annually by faculty in the Department of Biological Sciences. |
| Criteria | Publication Rate Meet or exceed the national average publication rate for Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUI''s). |
| Finding | Publication Rate Publication rates are PUI''s are approximately 0.5-0.6 publications per faculty member per year. The publication rate in the Department of Biological Sciences is over one publication per faculty member per year. |
| Action | FTE parity Identify and implement creative mechanisms for reducing teaching loads without reducing teaching efficacy. |
| Action | Faculty Scholarly Products No action needed. |
| Action | Publication Rate No action needed. |
| Objective | Visibility Of Research Programs | |
| Increase the visibility and national reputation of our research programs. Associated Goals: Goal 2--Faculty Excellence |
| Indicator | Presentation Of Research Results Encourage and support all faculty members to present their research results at local, regional, and national/international professional meetings. |
| Criteria | Funding for Conference Travel Provide sufficient funds to support every faculty member to present their research at a minimum of one regional and one national/international conference per year. |
| Finding | Travel Budgets Travel budgets are currently insufficient to meet this indicator. |
| Indicator | Support Mechanisms For Professional Service Enhance support mechanisms for faculty who have been asked to provide external scholarly service, including, but not limited to, serving as editors and associate editors of peer-reviewed scientific journals. |
| Criteria | Policies for Supporting Professional Service Establish policies and incentives for such serive: e.g., providing a one course reduction per semester for serving as editor for a national peer-reviewed journal. |
| Finding | Policies for Supporting Professional Service Without meaningful reductions in load, faculty have declined invitations to serve as editors or as officers in their professional societies. While understandable, mechanisms must be sought to permit these individuals to serve their organizations; SHSU students benefit by the experiences brought back into the lab and classroom by these faculty, and the university benefits by increases exposure of our programs. |
| Action | Policies for supporting professional service Continue to lobby the College and the University for meaningful incentives for faculty to serve as editors, officers, and in other professional capacities that enhance the University but require significant investment by said faculty member. |
| Action | Travel Budgets Continue to lobby the College and the University for larger allocations to professional travel. Seek creative sources of funding to permit such travel. |