| Initiative Title | Full-Time Biology Faculty Position |
|---|
| Submitted in Previous Year(s) | 2019 |
|---|
| Critical Information, Notes, Justification, Rationale | A new faculty position is required to support expanding instructional offerings to accommodate student needs. This position would allow the Department to increase its offering of 'in-demand' courses such as 'Introduction to Biology' (BIO 110) and 'Human Biology' (BIO 115) as well as to offer more DL sections of departmental offerings. Additionally, the requested position would support new instructional initiatives such as offering flexibly scheduled, accelerated, half-semester courses to enable pre-Health Profession students to meet programmatic entrance requirements in a shorter period of time.
The Biology Department offers a Liberal Arts - AS degree in Natural Science in conjunction with SEA (Science, Engineering, Architecture) and Math. The Department also offers supporting coursework to a large cohort of students preparing for AAS degrees in a variety of Health Profession Programs. Additionally, the Biology Department offers a wide range of General Education courses taken as science electives by students pursuing various liberal arts degree programs.
Institutional Research ("Sections and Capacities Report") data spanning the years 2010-2019 shows constant high-level demand for our courses. In Fall 2018 there were 2237 registrants in Biology lectures and labs; in Spring 2019 there were 2315. To accommodate these students the department fielded 244 sections in AY 2018-2019 an increase of 16 sections (or 7.9%) over the previous year. In Spring 2019 slightly less that 50% of all Biology sections were taught by full-time faculty on load. Here, seventeen (17) adjuncts and eight (8) full-time faculty teaching for extra compensation shouldered the rest of the instructional need. The critical need for an additional faculty member in Biology is further highlighted by the recent retirement of Dr. Melody Festa (August 2019) whole 18 contact, full-time load must also be covered!
|
|---|
| Consequences of this initiative not being funded | At present there is existent demand for more coursework to be offered at Newburgh and during evening/Saturday periods at both campuses that can not be accommodated. Needs are particularly critical in areas of Anatomy and Physiology, Human Biology and General Biology I. Simply put, if more sections were offered they would fill. Due to the high-level of specific knowledge required to teach these classes it is difficult to recruit, mentor, train and retain qualified adjuncts (although we have 20-25 adjuncts teaching on a regular basis). Additionally, the requested position would allow the Department to develop and enhance curricular initiatives (flexible scheduling, Horticulture Certificate, DL, etc.) that otherwise will be more limited in scope. Furthermore, with key tenured faculty teaching maximal loads for extra compensation it would be improbable that effective and timely alternate coverage could be arranged should one of them experience a personal emergency. |
|---|
| Department Goals | |
|---|
| Programs | AS Math Science |
|---|
| Locations | |
|---|
| Estimated Completion Date | 08/01/2020 |
|---|
| Will this initiative span multiple budget years? | Yes |
|---|
| Importance | High |
|---|
| Funding Source | Request for Prioritization |
|---|
| Created | 11/19/2019 8:56 am |
|---|
| Updated | 11/21/2019 3:43 pm |
|---|
Institutional Goals
| Goal |
How will the initiative support this institutional goal? |
- COLLEGE GOALS as of 2011
- 1. To provide high quality academic courses and programs that prepare a diverse student population to achieve its educational, employment and enrichment goals.
|
Allow the department to offer more coursework to meet existent needs. Allow development of new initiatives: flexible scheduling, accelerated programming and DL coursework. |
Action Steps
| Action Step |
Responsible Party |
Order |
| 1. Develop and publish Position Description. 2. Form a Search Committee 3. Conduct the Search. 4. Identify and hire suitable Candidate and provide suitable mentoring. |
Biology Department Chair and Biology Search Committee |
1 |
Expected Outcomes
| Outcome |
Order |
| Enhanced student learning opportunities |
1 |
Assessment Methods
| Method |
Description |
Other Method |
Responsible Party |
| Other |
Enter other assessment method |
Student feedback from course evaluatiions and evaluations re the PRT process. *Analysis of Institutional data re impact of position on parameters related to flexible scheduling, DL offerings, FT vs PT and new institutional initiatives. |
Biology Department Chair and Biology PRT Committee |
Resources
| INITIAL YEAR COST: |
$0.00 |
| RECURRING COST: |
$72,816.00 |
Equipment
| Need |
Cost (Initial/Recurring) |
Supporting Departments |
| TOTAL: |
$0.00 / $0.00 |
|
Facility
| Need |
Cost (Initial/Recurring) |
Supporting Departments |
| TOTAL: |
$0.00 / $0.00 |
|
Supply
| Need |
Cost (Initial/Recurring) |
Supporting Departments |
| TOTAL: |
$0.00 / $0.00 |
|
Staffing
| Need |
Cost (Initial/Recurring) |
Supporting Departments |
| Salary per Table C-1 of Faculty Contract |
$72816.00
/ 72816.00
|
- Information Technology, CIO Office
- Human Resources, AVP Office
- Facilities
|
| TOTAL: |
$0.00 / $72,816.00 |
|
Training
| Need |
Cost (Initial/Recurring) |
Supporting Departments |
| TOTAL: |
$0.00 / $0.00 |
|
Marketing
| Need |
Cost (Initial/Recurring) |
Supporting Departments |
| TOTAL: |
$0.00 / $0.00 |
|
Other
| Need |
Cost (Initial/Recurring) |
Supporting Departments |
| TOTAL: |
$0.00 / $0.00 |
|
Prioritization
This is initiative is ready for prioritization.
Assessment
| Date | Department Name | Status | Cost to Date | Funding Source | |
| No results found. |