The College of Arts and Sciences will provide the resources,support, and mechanisms to assist departments a nd faculty in their efforts to improve teaching throughout the college curriculum.
Objective
Recruit Highly Credentialed Faculty
The college will strive to hire faculty who posses the terminal degree from R1 universities.
KPI
Highly Credentialed Faculty
Eighty percent of new faculty hires will possess the terminal degree from R1 institutions
Result
Hiring Quality Credentialed Faculty
We hired 7 tenure-track faculty in 2012-2013, 100% of which possessed the terminal degree from a R1 institution.
Action
Hiring Of Faculty With Appropriate Credentials
We will use a variety of professional organizations and entities to advertise open faculty positions to obtain applications from qualified faculty.
Goal
To Promote Excellence In Creative Activities And Research
The College of Arts and Sciences will provide the resources and support to facilitate scientific inquiry and artistic expression among faculty and students in the college.
Objective
Provide Appropriate Faculty Travel Funds
The college will solicit travel requests from faculty members, then request, acquire and allocate appropriate funding for proposed travel.
KPI
Faculty Travel Funds
The college will solicit travel requests from faculty members, prioritize these requests, and acquire the necessary funds to facilitate the research and developmental goals of the faculty. Our goal will be to fund 75% of the requests.
Result
Funding For Faculty Travel
We received 46 requests for funding from faculty within the college of sciences, of which we funded 100% at $37,886.
Action
Funding Of Faculty Travel
We will publicize to faculty and chairs the policies and procedures to use to request funding from the Dean's Office for faculty travel.
Goal
To Bring Visibility To Programs In The College
The College of Arts and Sciences will actively publish faculty and student accomplishments through local and national media and increase public exposure to scholarly and artistic events on campus.
Objective
Visibility
The College of Sciences will publicize research and creative accomplishments of faculty and departments in the Heritage magazine, on the website, and in other publications.
KPI
Visibility
We will seek to have at least 10 publications of research and creative accomplishments in journals, newsletters, and on websites.
Result
Visibility Of College Of Science Programs
We received 15 mentions in the University front page web site, 6 mentions in the Heritage Magazine (Fall 2012, Spring 2013), and 10 news stories on the College web site.
Action
Visibility Of College Of Sciences Programs
We will work with John Holder to develop and publish news stories on the college web site and the university web site, with university relations to promote stories on the University Front Page, and with Alumni relations to develop stories for the Heritage magazine.
Goal
To Provide A Rigorous, Current Curriculum
The College of Arts and Sciences will encourage the development of new programs that reflect discpline specific and societal changes. The College will adhere to a formal, rigorous curriculum review process.
Objective
Accreditation Of Programs
The college will identify all programs that are eligible for accreditation through professional organizations and initiate the accreditation or reaccreditation in each case.
KPI
Program Accreditation
Programs that are eligible for accreditation from outside agencies will seek or renew accreditation. For 2012-2013, the goal is to obtain and complete the necessary paperwork for Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) accreditation for the BSN in Nursing.
Result
Accreditation
We hosted the computer science accrediting agency ABET and responded to their concerns. Their final review was to accredit the BS in Computing Science until September 2015. We hosted the nursing accrediting agency Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN, formerly NLNAC) and responded to their concerns. We received notification of accreditation for five years on August 1, 2013. We hosted the Texas Board of Nursing site visit and responded to their concerns. We contracted with CCNE to visit in the fall of 2013 to review the nursing program and offer additional accreditation.
Action
Programs With Accreditation
We will examine the possibility for ABET accreditation of the programs in Industrial Science once they are approved for conversion to Engineering Technology. Computer Science is implementing assessment for student learning outcomes identified as a concern in the ABET review.
Objective
Restructure College Curriculum Process
The college will establish fixed deadlines for submission of materials to the college curriculum committee and review items thoroughly in a timely manner.
KPI
College Curriculum Calendar
The calendar for the college curriculum process will be modified and strictly enforced. Our goal is that all proposals will be submitted by the deadline.
Result
College Deadlines For Curriculum
All curriculum proposals were completed within the deadline.
KPI
Approval Of Submitted Curriculum Proposals
At least 90% of curriculum proposals approved by the COS committee will be approved by the University curriculum committee.
Result
University Approval Of Curriculum Proposals
100% of curriculum revisions (new courses, revisions) were approved at the University Level.
Action
Curriculum Changes
We will provide information to all faculty and departments on timelines for curriculum proposals and will provide information at AAC meetings on curriculum proposals.
Goal
To Enhance The Quality Of Graduate Programs In The College
The College of Sciences will provide resources, planning and direction that will assist departments in growing quality graduate programs.
Objective
Provide Adequate Assistantships For Graduate Students
The college will allocate competitive assistantships in a manner that allows each program to recruit the quality and quantity of graduate students necessary to offer a viable graduate program.
KPI
Percentage Of Graduate Students On Assistantship
The college will produce a TA report that includes at least 85% full time graduate students who are receiving assistantships in COAS
Result
Percent Of Full Time Students Supported By Assistantships
There are 157 full-time graduate students in the College of Sciences, 73 of whom are supported by TA/GA/RA positions (47%).
Action
Percentage Of Full-time Graduate Students On TA's
In FY 14, We will seek additional funding for Graduate Assistanships from the Office of Graduate Studies, external grants, and contracts. Our short-term goal is to raise the stipend amount for MS in Agriculture students to an amount similar to that in the remaining departments.
Objective
Provide Adequate Graduate Scholarships
The college will provide an adequate number of $1500 scholarships to assist in the recruitment and retention of high caliber graduate students. Due to low overall stipends and an inability to waive tuition, merit scholarships are needed to attract out-of-state and international students to graduate programs.
KPI
Percentage Of Graduate Students On Scholarship
The college will produce a report of at least 30 scholarship recipients that includes the percentage of full time graduate students who receive scholarships through the COS office
Result
Scholarships For Graduate Students
We funded 37 scholarships of $1500. Not all students received scholarships as they are awarded on a merit review.
Action
Scholarships For Graduate Students
The COS office of the dean will publicize to graduate programs and students the application materials and deadlines for the scholarships. International students must apply the first semester they are admitted to qualify for in-state tuition. A fundraising plan that addresses graduate student scholarships will be developed with assistance of the Advancement office.