HR: 10:20h
AN: ED11C-01    [PDF]
TI: Earth Sciences at Boston University: Reorientation and Renewal
AU: * Murray, R W
EM: rickm@bu.edu
AF: Dept of Earth Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215 United States
AU: Simpson, C
EM: csimpson@bu.edu
AF: Dept of Earth Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215 United States
AB: Beginning in 1994 with the renaming of its Department of Geology as the Department of Earth Sciences, Boston University has invested much effort into developing a modern, energetic department that excels in its dual research and teaching mission. These changes required strong leadership at the departmental and senior administrative level, but they have resulted in a moderately sized program (9.5 full time faculty) that is competing with "Top Ten" institutions for graduate students and faculty, and which is also placing its undergraduates in the leading graduate programs. Most of the revitalization was achieved over a 5-year period in which across the board changes occurred in our undergraduate curriculum and during which we recruited junior and mid-level faculty on the basis of their scholarly abilities and for their belief in the culture of our new mission and program. The undergraduate curriculum, which had been oriented towards traditional geologic offerings, was greatly increased in rigor (requiring a full year each of calculus, physics, and chemistry) and redesigned to expand flexibility in the broad field of earth sciences. During the evolution of the curriculum, it was extremely important not to confuse "tradition" with "rigor". Undergraduates became more critically involved with our research mission through senior theses, a formal Undergraduate Research Opportunities program, and by work-study participation in the laboratories. By making the program more challenging, over the period of 3 years we doubled the number of majors and minors and increased the average GPA by 0.5 units. Now, after 8 years, we have nearly tripled our overall number of students, with further improvements in quality and intellectual diversity. The opportunity to replace departing senior faculty was achieved through effectively arguing to the central administration that modern earth sciences are an essential component of any leading institution of higher education. By persuading the administration to take advantage of targets of opportunity in hiring, we were able to recruit about 1/3 highly visible mid- or senior-level faculty and 2/3 junior faculty. Recruitment of an external Chair was the single most critical action, and was taken near the outset of the rejuvenation. Further hires were staggered over 5-8 years, to ensure compatibility and minimize transitional issues, and are continuing. We did not replace departing expertise with that same expertise and, above all, faculty with quantitative approaches to earth sciences were welcomed. Once on-campus, all faculty are involved in the various aspects of the re-building process, so that all are enfranchised and invested in the program. Based on AGI statistics, critical mass in earth sciences only begins to be realized at the level of 13-15 full time faculty. We have not achieved that number yet, but have created an integrated program by ensuring cross-fertilization across the scientific methods used by the various faculty. The key strategy was to ensure that regardless of a professor's specific orientation, the approach taken is relevant to a variety of disciplines (e.g., chemical diffusion in metamorphism is analogous to diagenesis). As a result, our research productivity has increased by an order-of-magnitude as measured by external grants and journal citations, with each faculty member now supporting 2-3 graduate students and their associated research costs. In less than 8 years, the department has not only changed direction and dramatically increased in student size and quality, but in the process it has gained a national and international stature that speaks well of our efforts to date and serves as a stimulus for further gains.
DE: 6605 Education
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting