HR: 1330h
AN: ED12A-0117    [PDF]
TI: Strong Geoscience Departments in Research-Intensive Universities: How do you Know you are One and how Much Planning is Needed to Stay One?
AU: * Richardson, R M
EM: rmr@u.arizona.edu
AF: Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0077 United States
AU: Beck, S L
EM: beck@geo.arizona.edu
AF: Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0077 United States
AB: How do you know your geoscience department is strong? Can it stay that way without conscious planning, relying instead primarily upon day-to-day decisions? The University of Arizona is a member of the American Association of Universities (AAU), a self-selected group of 63 of the most research-intensive public and private institutions in the United States. We will present results of a concentrated look at our own department from both the perspective of the department head (SLB) and a newly reunited member of the department (RMR), returning from an extended stint in administration. In addition, we will present the results of a survey of selected geoscience departments at other AAU institutions. The survey will include demographic data on these departments in terms of numbers of faculty and students, and grant dollars if available, as well as what department heads see as the largest threats and opportunities for their departments in the next five years. We will also seek information on departmental efforts to recruit and retain both faculty and students, and efforts to integrate/balance research and education within the department and the institution. Finally, we will ask departments the extent to which they rely upon, or value, departmental planning efforts. As a beginning, the Department of Geosciences at the University currently has 27 tenure/tenure eligible faculty, 84 graduate students, and 68 undergraduate majors. Approximate annual grant dollars are on the order of \$4M. The department head (SLB) feels that faculty retention and lack of space are among the largest threats to the department. Faculty retention is critical in an environment where funding is chronically short, and budget cuts have been significant over the last two years. Retention efforts typically involve collaborative efforts with the dean and/or provost. Among the opportunities for the department are the ability to extend and diversify funding within and beyond the NSF, typically multi- and inter-disciplinary science projects, especially `bigger science.' Graduate recruitment efforts include early admission and financial aid decisions, partial reimbursement of visit costs, and faculty calls. Graduate retention efforts include having all first-year graduate students take the colloquium course together, an annual on-campus mini-conference for presenting papers, and the fact that all graduate students are guaranteed funding, subject to adequate progress. At the undergraduate level, the number of majors has decreased fairly steadily over the last decade, and the department has not been able to determine an effective strategy to reverse the trend. Finally, the department relies on an annual day-long retreat to both inform faculty members about the changing environment for the department and to seek input on future directions. The retreats have been useful on both fronts, but charting a future for the department is difficult given the large impact that unpredictable events can have, such as the national economy post 9-11-01.
UR: http://www.geo.arizona.edu
DE: 6309 Decision making under uncertainty
DE: 6605 Education
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting