ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND PROGRESS TOWARD GOALS, 2006-2007
College of Human Development and Education
North Dakota State University
Prepared by - Virginia Clark Johnson, Dean
March 2007
College Goals:
1. Nurture faculty, staff and student professional development
Funding for support of faculty, staff and student development was expanded again this year. Proposals were requested both semesters from faculty, graduate students, and student groups/organizations. Faculty proposals were to focus on developing research and external funding capacity, development of data/research and/or on building national/international program reputation. Students' proposals were to focus on understanding the research in their major/profession and/or building state/regional/national program reputation . Many students, both graduate and undergraduate, used support to help travel to professional meetings to give presentations on their own or with faculty. Match was required for each request; in many cases a one-to-one match was required to stretch dollars further.
Thirty two faculty proposals were funded for $8170.71 (this does not include proposals for buyouts); 22 graduate student proposals were funded for $4350; and four student organization proposals were funded for $2864.21.
Funded opportunities included:
- Buyouts were provided during the year for four faculty.
- Buyouts of one class, providing a graduate student, or summer salary with the requirement that the faculty member identify external support for their research and develop and submit one or more proposals for support during the semester of their buyout.
- Mini-grants were offered for the first time through Extension to faculty who wanted to share their research through Extension. $10,646.48 was provided through six grants. This was a pilot project, and because of the success, plans are to extend the opportunity to other colleges next year.
- Attendance at workshops and pre-conference sessions that focused on research methodology and/or funding opportunities; visits to potential research partners or identified experts in a specific field; funding for pilot studies; and displays and get-togethers for alumni at professional meetings were also funded for faculty, Students used their funds for attendance at professional meetings and workshops, presentations described previously, and special programs and field trips for their organizations. Both students and faculty were asked to assess the value of the experience in a written summary.
- The College Research and Graduate Committee peer-reviewed buyout proposals; and all faculty and graduate students could apply for up to $200 travel support if their proposal met the criteria specified. Changes were made in the process based on evaluations from the previous year, and changes have been identified for the coming year, as well.
For the sixth year we offered assistance in writing, library searches, etc., through a graduate assistant assigned to the Associate Dean. Two graduate assistants were provided during spring semester. In addition resources for grant writing and research are easily accessible to faculty and students through links on our web site; listing of our research successes are provided. Notices of possible grants are sent to the college faculty listserv.
A workshop was provided to faculty on advising new and transfer students and using student records via PeopleSoft (a workshop by the Registrar's Office.) In addition, the faculty and staff participated in the Walk ND program. Workshops are arranged as requested or when there seems to be a need for several people to have information or training in a specific area. Staff continue to work together on the challenges presented by PeopleSoft.
I have continued meetings with new faculty, and included "almost new faculty" (those who have been here one year) in some of the meetings. We had a special lunch meeting to begin the year, and to make sure all of our new faculty have had the chance to meet each other. Information on advising was provided for this group later in the first semester.
In addition to new faculty, I also met with other groups of faculty to discuss current issues and questions/concerns they might have. These groups included: assistant professors, associate professors, instructors and lecturers, full professors and staff. The discussions in these meetings were productive, and I plan to do this at least once each semester. The professors requested to meet on a regular basis throughout the year, and we have met every month to discuss university and college issues and questions/concerns they may have. I also meet once a month with a group of female faculty who have attended leadership workshops recently, we discuss articles/papers on leadership, goals for professional development, and challenges. The topic for our next meeting is selected by the group each month.
During the first college meeting of the year, faculty and staff had the opportunity to generate ideas that could help us identify strategies for building our reputation and marketing our programs. These ideas were summarized and used in planning for this year, as well in reorganizing our college web site and updating recruitment materials. Feedback was obtained from faculty during the development of the plan through department meetings, my meetings with groups of faculty and staff, and through discussions in the Dean's Advisory Committee as well as the Dean's Cabinet meetings. Our new web design is operational and we are now adding content and making changes based on feedback. We have a new "phrase", chosen by elimination/voting of all the groups mentioned above, to use in describing our College - "Programs that focus on people". It took several rounds of voting to break a tie of several favorite phrases. Three templates are available on the web for faculty and students to use for presentations that will promote NDSU and the College.
We, also, continued to provide some opportunities for faculty and staff from across the college to interact with one another in a casual setting. We have breakfast from 8:30 to 10:30 once each semester for all faculty and staff, and also have a "time out" at the end of the day once each semester, complete with snacks. These meetings have no agenda but for faculty and staff to meet and visit with others in the college. They are always well attended. Prior to Halloween, the Center for Child Development conducted the Caring and Sharing Food Project to encourage units to collect items for the food pantry. Prizes were awarded by the children of the Center to all who participated. This was a service-learning opportunity for children enrolled in the Center.
The HDE Leadership Council planned the Wassail Tea, so that the campus, and friends in the community, could visit HDE and celebrate the holiday season with us. On the Friday prior to Thanksgiving, we had our third annual "begin the holidays" faculty and staff meeting with treats to get everyone in the holiday spirit. This meeting provided a time for questions and discussion in a forum format and, also, the workshop presented by the Office of Registration and Records (described previously).
This year the annual faculty and staff development day focused on "generations". College faculty and staff attended an interactive session that helped all of us learn more about the differences in values, work habits, and learning for various generations. It was interesting to hear the reactions from the different generations of faculty and staff, and to think about the impact this has on how our students learn. Topics for concurrent sessions that followed included: Security for technology; Podcasting; MySpace and FaceBook; and planning a wellness program for the new year.
The HDE Leadership Council planned and conducted the fourth fall leadership session for presidents (or representatives) of all the student organizations in the College. The goal of this program is to promote communication and cooperation (when appropriate) among the groups. A second meeting of the group was planned and held in March for the third year. One outcome of this workshop seems to be an increased interest in campus governance and representation of the College in campus leadership roles.
The College continued to provide technical help with technology through hiring a student technician to assist in meeting faculty and staff needs. This student is a part of the program ITS offers for student workers to provide training and guidance, as well as back-up help and assistance with our web page changes.
Goals have been set for "ideal" faculty workload (no more than two courses a semester) when there are research expectations, and College units have worked to identify ways to achieve those goals. Much discussion has occurred about the role of service, as well as ways that ALL faculty and staff can contribute to increased research productivity. For example, lecturers have discussed the supportive role they play even when they are not conducting research themselves. Full professors who are not involved in research have assumed higher teaching loads and/or serve on time intensive committees. We are exploring the possibility of hiring a "Professor of Practice" in our Educational Leadership masters (an applied graduate degree for most students).
Several of our faculty have leadership roles in campus efforts to build a campus environment that supports diversity. Discussion have been held with unit heads about including diversity in their plans, and the ideas they generated have results in a variety of learning opportunities for faculty, staff and students.
2. Maintain enrollment and retention in College majors and minors
Department chairs and faculty worked together to identify areas of resource needs and order of priority. The listing of priorities for new positions and rationale for the need was reviewed and updated. Goals (guidelines) were reviewed and revised for faculty and staff salaries. The need for space has been approached in the same manner, and priorities have been established for space needs, as well. Although our growth continues and is often the highest on campus, our College seems to lag behind in obtaining more space and needed faculty. The challenge to addressing all of these needs continues to be lack of additional funding.
Enrollment in undergraduate and graduate programs increased. We had an official count of 1286 undergraduate students and 361 graduate students in the fall of 2006. This is a total of 1647 students; enrollment in fall of 2005 was 1519. When one compares these numbers, it is important to know that in 2004 we were allowed to count the number of graduate students who were enrolled because of our classes although they had not declared a degree. This would include teachers working on courses for "lane changes" as well as students enrolled in our classes for the Great Plains IDEA programs. This enrollment is a significant number of the 117 graduate students listed as "non-degree seeking". HDE has 22% of all degree-seeking graduate students on campus, and 109 of the doctoral students are enrolled in programs in our college. This spring our College enrollment was up by 100 students; both semesters we had the largest increase of any College on campus. Last spring we had our first graduate from the Education doctoral program. This year we will have graduates from both of our doctoral programs.
Undergraduate and graduate recruitment materials and strategies have been developed and/or updated as needed. We continue to do more aggressive recruitment for graduate programs outside the immediate area. For example, we have done several displays about our graduate programs at professional meetings and have worked to make our website more "student friendly". Ads were developed for a statewide teacher newsletter, to market our education masters.
Retention of students continues to be important, and we are continually looking for strategies that can increase our retention success. At the end of each semester I invite graduating seniors to complete a senior exit survey. We have made the survey electronic, and I attend the classes where we have graduating seniors and encourage their participation. Students are invited to come visit me and some actually do come by! The HDE Leadership Council members have provided some excellent suggestions that we think will increase the number of seniors participating. The information these graduates provide is summarized and used to identify successful (and not so successful) recruitment and retention strategies, and also to recognize faculty and staff who have been particularly helpful.
The presentation of data from the campus Student Satisfaction Survey lead to much concern and discussion in the College. Discussions were held with undergraduate and graduate groups to determine best ways to follow up with students. Based on these ideas, information was gathered from students and compiled. We were pleased to see that for most questions on the original survey our students were more satisfied that the campus as a whole, However, HDE student input was helpful in visiting with faculty and student groups. This input did lead to some suggestions we are using for improvements.
This year a Graduate Student Advisory Council was created. The group serves as liaisons from graduate programs to my office, and helps to provide a graduate student point of view. A spring survey has been used for the past two years, and the survey was recently reviewed by the Council and will be distributed soon after Spring Break. Students are nominated for this role, and are representative of all Masters and Doctoral programs. One meeting is held each semester.
We have seen an increase in the diversity of our student population, and have been excited about the added opportunity to host exchange students throughout the year. We are conscious of the images that our program materials project, and work to assure they are projecting an image that would be welcoming to all students. According to a count of diversity in students by college, we have the most diverse group of undergraduate students on campus.
Web pages are under continual review and change. We have launched a new college web page and are encouraging departments to move to the university format and meet accessibility standards. We continue to use feedback from students, faculty and staff to complete our new web presence.
We have developed three templates that can be used by all faculty who make presentations. The goal is to increase visibility of our programs and NDSU, which should increase name recognition and awareness of the programs we offer.
Providing the resources needed for all the work we do continues to be a challenge. As we work with potential donors, our top priority is funding for graduate students and renovation/remodeling to provide additional needed space for faculty and graduate student offices. I continue to work with Department Heads to encourage the identification of other sources of funding for programs to help meet needs. We have established program fees for programs where a fee seemed to be an appropriate way to provide support; we use class fees when needed; and our income from courses taught through Continuing Education has helped pay for graduate assistantships.
3. Identify areas for focus in teaching, research and service for the future
Several of the items that were listed under this goal have been discussed in previous sections. In some cases, work is in process, but there are no specific results to report.
More courses have been delivered through the web. A retailing graduate program with the GP IDEA Consortium began in the fall of 2006, and proposals are in the approval process for GPIDEA programs in Family and Consumer Science Education and Dietetics. Once these are approved, we will have a web-based Masters program in every unit in the College.
As discussed previously, most units have managed to adjust workloads and schedules to allow faculty more time to work with graduate students and to focus on research activities. A workshop has been offered on advising doctoral students, and materials for working with graduate students (handbooks, web sites, program of study) are continually being revised as we learn more about offering doctoral programs and as we assess the needs of our students.
We began offering classes at the "teaching" hotel this fall and it is a tremendous asset to our Hospitality and Tourism Management Program. Faculty and students continue to be excited about the possibilities, and this seems to be a real asset in student recruitment for the program. A contract has been put together for use if the space is requested when the program is not using it. Several students have been hired for part-time positions in the hotel, and some of the staff are our alumni.
The College continues to lead the campus in number of hours of service learning for students.
Word was received that programs in Athletic Training, Human Performance and Fitness, and Interior Design (CIDA) were accredited for the maximum length of time.
The Facility Management major is being "phased out", as it has been determined that faculty are not available for the program. Students enrolled in the program will be able to graduate, but no new students will be admitted.
Planning is in process for expansion of the capacity of the Center for Child Development. A new room for infants and toddlers will be added, and the priority will shift to child care and education for the children of faculty and staff. The Center will be open for 12 months beginning July 1 st . A three-phrase proposal has been developed that will allow for additional expansion if needed.
The First HDE Research Day will be held on March 23 rd . Faculty and students will have the chance to display their research, and graduate presentations will be reviewed and award winners selected. Invitations will be sent to the campus. A brown bag panel presentation will be given at noon by faculty who have been exceptionally successful with referreed publications.
4. Increase external support for the College
Several facts that could be reported in this area are not available at this time. For example, we do not have a report on external funding through grants and contracts, or final totals from gifts to the Development Foundation for the College.
Funding priorities were reviewed and identified for this year. Feedback was obtained from faculty as well as administrators in the College.
The number of scholarships we awarded for last year increased, with a 27% increase in dollars awarded. Our scholarship endowment had reached $1,758,688 at the end of last year. Information is not currently available for this year.
I have made several visits to alumni and friends during the year, and have done updates, birthday greetings, congratulations, thank yous and holiday letters to alumni and friends as appropriate. Each graduating senior receives a congratulations letter from me with a "new" dollar. We hope this is the beginning of a positive relationship with them as alumni. We continue to have more alumni than any other college on campus.
Plans are underway for our College Board of Visitors to be on campus at the end of March. We have also identified our "first" College Master, Dr. Mary Gregoire, who will be here at the end of April.
PERSONAL GOALS FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
1. Building for the Future - Accomplishments toward College Goals have been described.
2. Shared Governance - Faculty and staff had the opportunity to review College goals, as well as those I had set for myself, and offer suggestions for change at the beginning of the year. Once these were finalized, Department Heads used them in setting goals for each unit. Meeting with various groups of faculty and advisory groups gives me a chance to gain new ideas and to often address concerns in a timely manner. Faculty have been providing the leadership for the review and revision of College and Unit PTE documents. All these documents were submitted.
3. Expansion of External Support - See information in College Goal, #4.
4. Professional Development - I have attended several meetings and workshops that have offered information and opportunities for professional growth and networking with colleagues. I will be a part of an NCATE team this month.
I, also, have had the opportunity to finish up the work for a Task Force that planned and offered a one-week workshop this summer for Emerging and New Administrators/Leaders. This effort was co-sponsored by several professional associations and honor societies, and is partially funded by a Kellogg Foundation grant. I am, also, Program Chair of the Women in the Deanship Special Interest Group of AACTE. This role requires that I plan and make arrangements for the summer meeting and the program that we offer at AACTE. I will serve in this role for one more year, and then become the chair of the organization.
During the year I have had the opportunity to visit with several faculty in their classes, and have spoken to several classes. I have attended student events when it has been possible.
5. Building Networks - The activities I have mentioned previously have allowed me to continue to build, as well as maintain, professional networks locally as well as across the state and country. I am serving as the co-chair, representing the Human Science administrators, of the Joint Extension/BoHS Task Force for EFNEP. I am trying to provide opportunities and support for faculty interested in leadership to build networks (currently the focus is on female faculty).
6. Leadership Development - My job allows me to learn something about leadership everyday! Several of the meetings I have attended have focused on leadership, and I read a great deal in this area. In addition, serving as Vice-Chair of the Airport Authority Board allows me the opportunity to contribute to the community while learning more about leadership.
