The Department will attempt to maintain and improve the quality of its geology program in terms of curriculum offerings and methods of instruction.
Objective
G1 O1
The program will consistently strive to improve the quality of its program by making adjustments to its curriculum as needed.
Indicator
G1 O1 I1
The department will, as needed, seek input from a variety of sources, including Professional Advisory Councils and Student Advisory Councils, and will use that input as the basis for modifying the curriculum.
Criterion
G1 O1 I1 C1
Curriculum will be modified in response to input
Action
Advisory Council Input
No review conducted this year as we are just at the start of some major adjustments in terms of content and structure. We want to have better plans to submit for review before proceeding further.
Objective
G1 O2
The Department will seek to ensure that the quality of our instruction is rated as satisfactory or better by our students.
Indicator
G1 O2 I1
The Department uses the IDEA evaluation system as well as peer-evaluation.
Criterion
G1 O2 I1 C1
The scores on the IDEA form (summary score) must be rated consistently as "average" or above, and the peer evaluations must be deemed acceptable by departmental peers.
Action
IDEA Base Evaluations
Works very poorly as the systems as a whole is now being gamed by other departments. Faculty have little respect for this process.
Objective
G1 O3
The department will strive to enhance the quality of instruction through the use of appropriate technology in the classroom and during lab activities.
Indicator
G1 O3 I1
In the past 5 years, the department has spent about $100,000 on audiovisual teaching equipment for our classrooms, and more than $170,000 on field equipment. The remote sensing lab contains about 12 computers with monitors worth about $30,000. The GIS lab just received (2007) an upgrade in computers and software worth $30,000.
Action
Classroom Technology
Trying to get a new University-wide response to the timeliness of problem solving in this area. At the moment we are prisoners of a relatively insensitive University support system.
Objective
G1 O4
The department will strive to enhance the quality of instruction through the use of field trips.
Indicator
G1 O4 I1
The Department will seek to increase the number of field trips offered to our students
Action
Field Work
Planning and review meetings held. Field sites to be selected and fine tuned to class needs and enrollments.
Objective
G1 O5
The department will increase the availability of its courses and its visibility by offering web courses.
Indicator
G1 O5 I1
The Department will add to and/or maintain the number of its web-based courses
Indicator
G2 O1 I1
Successful completion of major requirements and major electives
Criterion
G2 O1 I1 C2
Almost all majors in the geology program will complete their field camp with a grade of B or better. * This is an external validation given that our students take field camp through other universities.
Action
Web Courses.
New GEL133 added.
Goal
Goal 2 - Understanding of Discipline
Provide students in our department with a comprehensive understanding of the range and depth of geology.
Objective
G2 O1
Geology students will successfully complete courses that encompass the breadth of the discipline.
Action
Course Breadth
We proposed to use the Texas Professional Geologists exam as a benchmark assessment. Further review suggests that this route is inappropriate and too narrow for our students. We will review other external/professional membership criteria as possible benchmarking tools.
Goal
Goal 3 - Professional and Technical Skills
The Department will seek to ensure that our geology students develop the professional and technical skills needed in order to be successful in their careers.
Objective
G3 O1
The Department will seek modify its curriculum as needed in order to meet this goal. Based on input from our advisory councils and other sources, the department determined that it needed to add the following courses to its curriculum: a) Added Remote Sensing - added 2005 b) Hired a new faculty line for purposes of teaching remote sensing c) Added course a Geochemistry course in 2006 d) Added course dealing with energy and the environment in 2006 e) Proposed a Forensic Geology course in 2007 f) Proposed a Basin Sea Level geology course in 2007 g) Proposed a Methods in Applied Geophysics course in 2007 h) Added new faculty line to teach geophysics
Indicator
G3 O1 I1
The success of our program, as defined in terms of the success of our graduates, is measured using an Alumni Survey that is given periodically.
Action
Professional And Technical Skills
Continued focus and refinement of petroleum geology foci.