2004-2005 Institutional Effectiveness Plan

Unit: Chemistry

Unit head: Earl Pearson

Reports to: College of Basic and Applied Sciences

Mission statement: The department has a long tradition of excellence in teaching. It has a strong commitment to research in laboratory chemistry, teaching pedagogy and learning theory. The department is also dedicated to serving the community, the region and the state. The mission of the department is to:

1. prepare students for successful careers as industrial chemists through our American Chemical Society (ACS) accredited B.S. degree or with the M.S. degree in chemistry;
2. prepare students for successful careers in elementary, secondary and college teaching with degrees at the B.S., M.S, and D.A. (Ph.D.) levels;
3. provide training and advisement for students in all health science pre-professional areas;
4. provide courses that emphasize critical thinking for service to other majors and for general education in chemistry and physical science for all majors;
5. provide students with hands-on access to state-of-the-art equipment for instruction and research in all modern areas of chemistry;
6. provide students with the necessary thinking skills, technical knowledge and work ethic for entrance into high-quality graduate programs anywhere in the country.

General Goals

1. Faculty will provide meaningful instruction and be available and willing to assist students. This goal applies to both undergraduate and graduate instruction. (undergraduate instruction)
Related MTSU General Goals: 1 7
Related College of Basic and Applied Sciences General Goals:

Measurable Objective(s):

• Faculty in the department will have an average Favorable Rating of at least 80% as measured by (FR = 100% - %rarely - %never) in the four items:
  - instructor appears well prepared for class,
  - instructor is accessible to talk with students on course materials outside of class,
  - class sessions are relevant to the course subject matter, and
  - instructor treats students in a courteous and/or respectful manner,
  as measured by “MTSU Student Evaluation of Faculty Performance” administered by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, Planning and Research’s assessment schedule.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED: The average for the department in this question was 97.2!
  ACCOMPLISHED: The average for the department in this question was 92.8!
  ACCOMPLISHED: The average for the department in this question was 94.0!
  ACCOMPLISHED: The average for the department in this question was 95.4!
  
  
  

2. The Department will offer and maintain its ACS accredited B.S. program and will extend the program to include emphasis areas as permitted by ACS. (undergraduate instruction)
Related MTSU General Goals: 7
Related College of Basic and Applied Sciences General Goals:

Measurable Objective(s):

• The department will receive a favorable review of its undergraduate accredited program by each of the 5-year reviews.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 5/31/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED: The department was not reviewed this year but did receive re-accreditation on its last review.
  
  
• The department will seek a Chemical Education emphasis for the ACS B.S. degree by May 2005.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 5/31/2005
  
  Results: NOT ACCOMPLISHED: We are still discussing this option and will continue this goal until it is achieved.
  
  

3. Graduate Teaching Assistants will provide meaningful instruction and be available and willing to assist undergraduate students. (graduate instruction)
Related MTSU General Goals: 1 7
Related College of Basic and Applied Sciences General Goals:

Measurable Objective(s):

• GTAs in the department will have an average Favorable Rating of at least 80% as measured by (FR = 100% - %rarely - %never) in the four items:
  - instructor appears well prepared for class,
  - instructor is accessible to talk with students on course materials outside of class,
  - class sessions are relevant to the course subject matter, and
  - instructor treats students in a courteous and/or respectful manner,
  as measured by "MTSU Student Evaluation of Faculty Performance" administered by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, Planning and Research's assessment schedule
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED: These goals were achieved. However, we developed and administered a departmental review of GTA performance that was more related to laboratory instruction that the one that is used for faculty performance.
  
  

4. The Department will offer and maintain its M.S. and D.A. programs and continue conversion of the D.A. to a Ph.D. in i-Science. (graduate instruction)
Related MTSU General Goals: 7
Related College of Basic and Applied Sciences General Goals:

Measurable Objective(s):

• The department will receive a favorable review of its graduate programs by external reviewers in each of its 5-year reviews. (The M.S. program will be favorably reviewed in May 2005.)
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: The M.S. program was favorably reviewed by our external reviewer. The report to the administration is being completed at this time. However the preliminary review of the report indicates that we received a good report on the items related to departmental quality, quality of faculty and quality of the program. The only negative parts of the report related to the condition of the building and the level of stipend.
  
  
• The Ph.D. in Natural Science Education Chemistry Option will receive a favorable review by an outside evaluator in 2004.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED: We submitted a packet of material describing the new revised D.A. program to Dr. Thomas Greenbowe, one of the former TBR reviewers for his evaluation for conversion to a Ph.D. His report indicated that we had made the necessary changes to the program for its conversion to a Ph.D. in chemical education. This program was then submitted as the nucleus of one of the options in the I-Science Ph.D. letter of intent that was approved at TBR. The full proposal is being submitted shortly.
  
  

5. The educational environment for the Chemistry Department will include appropriate equipment and technology for instruction and research in all its programs. (graduate instruction)
Related MTSU General Goals: 1 4
Related College of Basic and Applied Sciences General Goals:

Measurable Objective(s):

• The Department of Chemistry will secure a minimum of $500,000 per year through internal and external funding sources to support its undergraduate and graduate programs.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED? The department submitted almost $1.6 MILLION dollars in new external/internal grants. We actually received $445,777 in new, not duplicated, grants. We missed our goal by only $44,223 and we spent more that that on a new piece of equipment from the departmental budget. If the grant we submitted for TAF covering this equipment had been funded, or if we include the departmental (grant) for this item, we would have achieved our goal. Also, we had 3 people with funded NIAs this year, and if the value of these were included, we would have exceeded our goal. This goal is perhaps too optimistic but we will continue to list this as a departmental goal that is intended to stretch our capability.
  
  
• The Department of Chemistry will purchase at least one major piece of equipment costing $15,000 or more (new capability or replacement) per year.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED: We purchased a new Capillary Electrophoresis instrument for more than $47,000.
  
  
• The Department of Chemistry will maintain more than $1,000,000 in external/internal grants.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED: The continuing grants of Dr. Friedly and Dr. Dunlap alone, exceed this goal!
  
  
• The Department of Chemistry will identify one major piece of equipment and continue seeking external funding until the item is obtained.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED: We participated in the new Microscopy lab proposals. The team obtained both a transmission electron microscope and a scanning electron microscope. One was from external sources and the other was funded by Dr. Rao from overhead dollars.
  
  

6. Faculty will provide research experiences for undergraduate and graduate students. (research/creative activity)
Related MTSU General Goals: 4
Related College of Basic and Applied Sciences General Goals:

Measurable Objective(s):

• At least 33% of the faculty will direct undergraduate research with at least one student each year.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED: Fourty-three percent (43%) of those faculty reporting and 36% of the entire faculty had a total of 23 undergraduate research students this year.
  
  
• Every M.S. student will be accepted by a faculty mentor within 6 months of entrance into the program.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED
  
  
• Every D.A. student will be accepted by a faculty mentor within 1 year of entrance into the program.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED
  
  

7. Faculty will provide opportunities for students to present their research locally, regionally or nationally. (research/creative activity)
Related MTSU General Goals: 4
Related College of Basic and Applied Sciences General Goals:

Measurable Objective(s):

• At least 75% of students involved in research will present their work at a local, regional or national meeting each year.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED? 12 faculty members presented work with student authors/co-authors. (Actually this is only 48% of the total faculty. However, this is virtually ALL the faculty who actually published or presented their work this year.—This goal needs to be modified to only include faculty who publish or present papers.
  
  
• Each graduate student will present the thesis (dissertation) work prior to receiving the M.S. or D.A. (Ph.D.) degree.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED: This is a requirement for the degree.
  
  

8. Faculty will publish scholarly activity with undergraduate and graduate students. (research/creative activity)
Related MTSU General Goals: 4
Related College of Basic and Applied Sciences General Goals:

Measurable Objective(s):

• At least 25% of the students enrolled in research courses will be listed as co-authors or presenters on journal publications, oral presentations, or poster presentations each year.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED!!!: Actually all 28 students(100%) who did research were listed.
  
  
• The Department of Chemistry will produce at least 129 activities (5.2 per faculty member) for publication, presentations and grants. Another 50% increase in the goal over the goal for this year.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED!!: Actually we had 137 presentations and publications this year and 1.6 million dollars in grants submitted. I do not have a count of the number of grants that were submitted. This goal should be modified to remove number of grants since this is covered in another goal.
  
  

9. Faculty will seek non-departmental support for scholarly activity with undergraduate students, (research/creative activity)
Related MTSU General Goals: 4 5 6
Related College of Basic and Applied Sciences General Goals:

Measurable Objective(s):

• At least 50% the faculty involved in research will submit internal and/or external proposals for funding research with their undergraduate students.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED: Almost all the faculty who were engaged in undergraduate research have submitted grant applications for their work with undergraduate students.
  
  

10. Faculty will provide professional service to the university, their profession or other public/private communities. (service)
Related MTSU General Goals: 4 6
Related College of Basic and Applied Sciences General Goals:

Measurable Objective(s):

• The department will supply members to at least one National ACS committee each year.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED: Dr. Amy Phelps and Dr. Iriarte-Gross each serve on a National ACS committee.
  
  
• At least one officer for TAS, one officer for ACS (National or Nashville Section) or one officer for Sigma-Xi (MTSU Chapter) will be a member of the Chemistry Department.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2004
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED: Drs. Howard and Stewart serve as officers in TAS; Drs. Iriarte-Gross (Chairperson), Stewart (Secretary), Howard (Treasurer) and MacDougall (publicity)
  
  
• At least 6 MTSU or CBAS committees and the Faculty Senate will have members from the Department of Chemistry.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED
  
  
• At least 20% of the faculty will review publications for refereed journals or textbook publishers each year.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED
  
  
• At least 30 community service activities will be accomplished by the faculty as evidence of partnership with community agencies or local businesses.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED: We had 55 community service activities this year.
  
  

11. The department will provide quality advisement for all health-related pre-professional programs. (service)
Related MTSU General Goals: 1
Related College of Basic and Applied Sciences General Goals:

Measurable Objective(s):

• Within one month of declaring a major in any health-related pre-professional program, each student will be assigned to a faculty advisor and/or advisement committee.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: Accomplished: Mrs. Jennifer Braswell keeps on top of advisement.
  
  
• Each student in any health-related pre-professional program will be given curriculum guides for the program of interest that, if followed, will meet entrance requirements to most professional schools.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED
  
  
• Every student will be notified to see advisors prior to registration every semester. Pre-Medical students will have registration holds set until they see their advisor each semester.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED
  
  
• Every student will be offered assistance in applying to the professional schools of their choice.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED: The coordinators of each program conducts mock interviews and assists students with application materials and recommendation letters.
  
  
• Pre-professional entrance exams (MCAT, PCAT, etc.) will be administered on campus and Kaplan (others) will be allowed to offer training courses on campus.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED
  
  

12. The department will provide quality courses that emphasize critical thinking to meet natural science general studies. (service)
Related MTSU General Goals: 1 7
Related College of Basic and Applied Sciences General Goals:

Measurable Objective(s):

• In collaboration with the Department of Physics and Astronomy, a sufficient number of sections of PSCI 1030 will be offered to meet student demand. (75% of the sections will be taught by Chemistry and 25% will be taught by Physics and Astronomy. Both departments shall be responsible for lecture and labs and night and weekend sections.)
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED
  
  
• A sufficient number of sections of CHEM 1030 will be offered to meet student demand and enrollment in CHEM 1030 will increase by 25% per year.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED: We have continued to grow these sections and introduced new topic areas.
  
  
• At least one additional faculty member will develop interest topics for CHEM 1030 each year.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED: Drs. Patterson and DiVincenzo developed new topics
  
  
• Section (laboratory) size shall be limited to a census date enrollment average of no more than 26 students per lab section.
  Responsible Person: chairperson. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED: Most labs started significantly above this level but by the time grades were assigned, most labs were at or below our target level.
  
  

13. Another emphasis areas under the ACS Accredited Major and/or departmental chemistry major. (Instruction)
Related MTSU General Goals:
Related College of Basic and Applied Sciences General Goals:

Measurable Objective(s):

• Another emphasis areas under the ACS Accredited Major and/or departmental chemistry major.
  Responsible Person: Department Chair. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED: The biochemistry option that was approved by ACS last year has been completed and approved at the department level.
  
  

14. Conversion of the D.A. Degree into a Ph.D. in Chemical (Natural Science) Education . (Instruction)
Related MTSU General Goals:
Related College of Basic and Applied Sciences General Goals:

Measurable Objective(s):

• Conversion of the D.A. Degree into a Ph.D. in Chemical (Natural Science) Education.
  Responsible Person: Chair of Department . Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: NOT ACCOMPLISHED: The letter of intent for the Natural Science Education conversion of the D.A. was not approved at TBR. However, the program has been resubmitted as an option under the I-Science Ph.D. and that letter of intent has been approved. We were able to get most (all significant) considerations for our ChemEduc. Ph.D. incorporated into the new degree option.
  
  

15. Improvement of teaching, research and service in all our degree programs. (Instruction)
Related MTSU General Goals:
Related College of Basic and Applied Sciences General Goals:

Measurable Objective(s):

• Improvement of teaching, research and service in all our degree programs.
  Responsible Person: Department Chair. Completion Date: 6/30/2005
  
  Results: ACCOMPLISHED All areas of productivity in the department have improved as outlined below.
  
  

Impacts

The data was collected from a database created by Dean Cheatham. Each faculty member posted accomplishments and activities in the database and Dr. Linda Wilson provides a summary and a listing of individual faculty accomplishments from the database. Data was also collected form the reports submitted from the faculty on the Delaware Cost Study Report. Faculty submitted to me the totals in each of the 42 categories covered in the Delaware Cost Study. These data covered most of what was needed for this report. However, some of the categories were not easily separated. It is obvious that the duplication requested from faculty should be eliminated. Dr. Robert Carlton and I have agreed to work with Dr. Cheatham to modify the College Database to include all data necessary for all the “end-of-year” reports and to develop report generators that will process the data automatically in the format needed for each individual report.

While the results from the Major Field Exit Exams are within a standard error of the national mean, we would prefer that the absolute number be above the 50th percentile. The score was 1.29 below the norm and 2.94 below the national average. The standard error was 2.96 and our score was less that 1 standard error below national average and about 2/3 of one standard error below the norm. Scores are considered “Average” if they are within 2 standard errors (5.92) of the national average. The next higher score, “Above Average” requires a score two standard errors above the national average. To achieve “Above Average” status, would require an average score of 149 (56th percentile). It is unlikely that the average score for departmental majors can be increased to this level. A more realistic goal might be to increase the score each year over the preceding year until the national average is exceeded.

We have instituted a system of providing informal reviews for the exam and provided cash awards for good performance on the MFT exams. This system has been in place for three years and has not made a significant improvement in the scores. Since the graduate required hours was reduced from 132 to 120, it is not possible to institute a “capstone” course and still maintain the other requirements for the chemistry major. I have proposed a revision of the cash award system. The new system increased the awards for scores above the 50th percentile and eliminated rewards for scores below the national median. It focuses on significant awards in the 50th to 60th percentile range. More students may try harder if they think the award is within reach.

Another area of concern is the performance on the ACS standardized exam in the freshman chemistry courses. This year the scores were below the national mean. The exam we are using is the 1997 version of the test. It may be somewhat outdated now. We have ordered a more recent version of the test. The scores did not improve. I intend to use an additional grade reward for performance above the 50th percentile on the ACS exam and include that in my syllabus for CHEM 1110 and CHEM 1120. We have selected a new text and a homework grading system in the hope that scores will improve.

This study has also pointed to the need for a departmental employer survey. An Employer Survey would allow questions more closely targeted to departmental majors and also provide valuable contacts with employers of our graduates. Graduate and professional schools should also be included. In addition to providing useful planning information, these contacts can be used to create an External Advisory Committee and may provide contacts for partnerships with external agencies. Since most of our majors are pre-professional majors, Mrs. Jennifer Braswell is keeping records of students that are accepted into professional schools so we can contact these professional schools concerning the adequacy of training of our students for professional schools. The MTSU Employer Survey is not appropriate to gauge employer satisfaction with chemistry graduates. There is no way to identify a particular department’s majors within the data obtained. Thus, the department will have to do its own survey or delete this goal and measurable outcome.


Specific Changes for 2005-2006
 Modify goals and objectives to eliminate duplication and overlap.
 Continue to modify MFT reward system.
 Order new version of ACS Freshman Chemistry standardized exam.
 Develop a Chemistry Department Employer Survey.
 Obtain faculty evaluations in electronic format and improve communication to faculty and GTA’s.
 Increase grant activity to include continuing maintenance of more than $1,000,000 and at least $500,000 in new activity each year.
 Use equipment budget to replace aging lab equipment in the $15,000 to $40,000 range.
 Identify one major piece of needed equipment and continue seeking external support until that item is obtained.
 Modify the goal “At least 50% of the faculty of the department will present work at local, regional or national meetings that include at least one student coauthor and, where permitted and appropriate, the students will make be the presentation,” to read “At least 70% of the faculty of the department who present work at local, regional or national meetings will include at least one student coauthor and, where permitted and appropriate, the students will make be the presentation.”