OATdb Archive

2013 - 2014

Chemistry, Department Of

Goal
Procure Appropriate Resources To Facilitate The Academic Mission Of The Department
The department will monitor the classroom, laboratory, research, and out-reach (service) needs of the unit. Budget requests will reflect these needs.

Objective
Recruitment Of Graduate Assistants
The department diligently recruits graduate assistants in an effort to reduce the number of undergraduates teaching laboratory sections.

KPI
Number Of Graduate Assistants
In an effort to lower the number of undergraduate assistants in the lab, there is a need for an increase in graduate assistants.

Result
Increase In Number Of Graduate Assistants
In the fall 2013 semester, there were 17 graduate assistants (Heather Coats, Justin Day, Sajini Hettiarachchi, Md Sarowar Hossain, James Huskey, Harshani Jayabahu, Nilan Kamathewatta, Chathuri Kombala Nanayakkara, Sanjaya Lokugama Widanelage, Desiré Lopez, Samitha Panangala, Nuwan Punchi Naide Acharige, Nuwan Rammawadu, Harshani Rathnaweera, Prajwol Tuladhar, Poorna Wansapura, Chamair Wijesooriya).  There were 18 graduate assistants (Justin Day, Todd Deyne, Sajini Hettiarachchi, Md Sarowar Hossain, James Huskey, Harshani Jayabahu, Nilan Kamathewatta, Chathuri Kombala Nanayakkara, Sanjaya Lokugama Widanelage, Desiré Lopez, Samitha Panangala, Nuwan Punchi Naide Acharige, Nuwan Rammawadu, Harshani Rathnaweera, Victoria Spenn, Prajwol Tuladhar, Poorna Wansapura, Chamair Wijesooriya) during the spring 2014 semester. Heather Coats left the program after a single semester to move to Texas Tech.  Justin Day, James Huskey, Desiré Lopez, Samitha Panangala, Poorna Wansapura and Chamari Wijesooriya graduated (6).  There were 10 new students, a net gain of 3.  This is, once again, an increase over previous years and needs to be maintained.

Action
Make Offers To New Students
Six of our graduate students completed their degrees this past year (3 in the spring semester and 3 during the summer).  We have made quite a few offers of admission and assistantship to qualified applicants and we expect up to 11 new graduate students to enter in the fall 2014 semester.

Goal
Provide Appropriate Personnel Resources For The Unit
The department will assess the personnel (staff and faculty) needs of the unit on an annual basis. Annual funding requests will reflect these needs and hiring decisions will be based on these needs. The department office will provide appropriate resources and encourage faculty and staff to participate in development opportunities.

Objective
Request Additional Faculty Lines
The department is still in need of additional faculty lines to meet the demands for upper level and core courses. A request will be submitted through the PBR process for new lines.

KPI
New Faculty Line(s)
While we requested new positions last year, none were forthcoming.  The need still exists, so new faculty lines will be sought even in economically bleak times.


Result
One New Position
We were given one new position!

Action
Filled Position
Ozcan Gulacar, a chemical educator, was hired.

Goal
Mentor Graduate Students In Research Publications
Faculty researchers will mentor graduate students in research publications.


Objective
Graduate Students Will Demonstrate Skills In Publishing Research
During the master's program, graduate students will demonstrate the research skills to publish their research findings.

KPI
Research Publications
The number of research publications with graduate student authors or co-authors will indicate departmental success in preparing students to report research findings in written form. We expect that all graduate students who complete their M.S. degrees will have one or more publications, and most will have more than one presentation.

Result
Graduate Research Publications
For 2013, there were 3 graduate co-authors on two peer-reviewed publications.  As always it is appropriate to remind the reader that publication often lags behind student completion.  The number of presentations with graduate co-authors is much larger (8 graduate students on 11 presentations).

Action
Research Communication
We will evaluate and direct our graduate students' progress in communicating their research results both at scientific meetings and in the peer-reviewed literature during 2014-2015.

Goal
Encourage Graduate Student Presentations At Professional Meetings
Mentoring graduate students in professional conference presentations is the goal.

Objective
Graduate Students Will Demonstrate Skills In Conference Presentations Of Research
During the master's program, graduate students will demonstrate the presentation skills to present their research findings at professional conferences.

KPI
Student Presentations
The number of presentations by graduate students at professional meetings will indicate the success of the department in preparing students to orally present their research results. We expect that every graduate student who completes their M.S. degree will have one or more publication, and most will have more than one presentation.

Result
Graduate Research Presentations
The number of presentations with graduate co-authors was 11.

Action
Research Presentations
We will evaluate and direct our graduate students' progress in communicating their research results both at scientific meetings and in the peer-reviewed literature during 2014-2015.

Goal
Chemistry-Related Careers Or Advanced Graduate Studies
The success of any program is whether its graduates find related work or pursue further graduate education.

Objective
After Degree Placement
Upon completion of the BS or MS program graduates will either find a chemistry-related job upon graduation (such as working in a research or analytical lab) or will go for graduate or advanced graduate studies.

KPI
Job Or Advanced Program Placement
The indicator will be the proportion of our graduating MS students who either find a chemistry-related job or go for advanced graduate studies. 

Result
Successful Graduate Placement
Six students completed their M.S. degrees this year.  Four of these are going on to Ph.D. programs (at Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University, the University of Texas at Dallas and Iowa State University), one has a job in industry and one will be teaching chemistry at a University this fall.

KPI
Job Or Graduate Program Place For BS Graduates
The indicator will be the proportion of our graduating BS students who either find a chemistry-related job or go for graduate studies.

Result
Undergraduate Placement
This past academic year 24 students graduated with chemistry majors and 13 students graduated with forensic chemistry majors.  Of the 24, 6 have gone on to graduate programs, 9 are employed in chemically related jobs, 1 is actively looking for a job, and we don't have any information on 8 of them.  Of the 13, 3 have gone on to graduate programs, 4 are employed in chemically related jobs, 2 are actively looking for jobs, and we don't have any information on 4 of them.

Action
Follow Former Students
We will continue to follow our former students as they seek employment and admission to graduate programs.  This is a continuous process.

Update to previous cycle's plan for continuous improvement A record number of graduate assistantship offers were made and accepted during the 2013-2014 year, so the fall semester 2014 group of graduate students is expected to be the largest group thus far.  However, improvements on the marketing of the offer can still be made, and we plan to work with the College of Sciences Dean's Office to improve this.  At the end of the spring semester of 2014, the graduate program director in chemistry changed (from Dr. Chasteen to Dr. Haines).

While we received an additional faculty line this year (and hired a chemical educator) we still lag behind the substantial growth that the program has experienced and we will continue to make the case that additional faculty lines are needed.

We continue to mentor our students--current and former, undergraduate and graduate--and encourage them to present their research.

We offered CHEM 3438 this past summer to 13 students--more than enough to justify the offering of the course.  We plan to offer in again during the summer of 2015 and will, once again, make sure that the appropriate advisors are aware of the offering.
Plan for continuous improvement In general, the situations that we are faced with continue.  The challenges continue to be challenges, and we try to address them in the best way that we can.

We will continue to make offers of admission and assistantship to qualified applicants to our graduate program.  We will work with the College of Sciences Dean's Office to better market the offer.  We discovered over the summer of 2014 that the cost of health insurance (which is required of international graduate students) increased substantially (from $993 to $1453) which effectively lowers the value of our graduate assistantship.  This emphasizes the need to better market the offer especially if the amount of the offer does not increase.

We will continue to make the case that addtional faculty lines are needed.  For the fall term 2014 we needed to hire a pool faculty member to cover all of our classes, and were only able to do so at the last minute.

We will continue to encourage our graduate students to present their research results in appropriate venues.

We will continue to follow our former students as they grow professionally and we will keep track of our newest graduates as they move on.

We will offer CHEM 3438 again next summer and we will make sure that the appropriate advisors are aware of this offering.

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