University Goal 1: Sustain and Enhance the Quality of Undergraduate Programs.

Subgoal 1: Continuous Improvement of Undergraduate Education.

For the College as a whole, approximately 40% of undergraduate teaching is devoted to majors, 60% to non-majors. However, this distribution varies widely from department to department. Continuous improvement of undergraduate programs has been a major goal of the College for the last ten years. Major curricular changes have taken place in many depatments. The changes in Biological Sciences and Mathematics provide two examples. Biological Sciences divided its introductory course work into two separate sequences—one for majors and another for non-majors—in recognition of the different needs of these two groups of students. The first term of General Biology was linked with the first term of First-Year English to emphasize that writing is an essential component of science education and that science makes various and diverse communication demands. Student-initiated, problem-based laboratories have been introduced to increase critical-thinking skills. Biological Sciences initiated MTU’s first honors program to facilitate undergraduate involvement in research.

A major effort of the Mathematics Department over the last three years was the integration of technology in the calculus curriculum. Because about 2000 students are enrolled in this sequence at any given time, this was a major undertaking with regard to training faculty, building computer laboratories, and developing appropriate lab exercises. At the precalculus level, courses now require extensive use of graphing calculators. At the calculus level, Mathematica, a powerful mathematical software package, has been integrated into courses.

In 1990, the College developed and successfully implemented a proposal for the central coordination of the University’s Learning Centers. These centers provide a diversity of learning environments that support student learning in different ways. The centers were one of the first initiatives designed to enhance undergraduate education by shifting the emphasis from teaching to learning. Currently, the College centrally supports the Writing Center, the Mathematics Learning Center, the Chemistry Learning Center, and the Physics Learning Center. These facilities and their staff promote learning in small groups. In addition, Learning Centers in Computer Science and Biology are in development and currently depend on student volunteers. The impact of the Learning Centers on retention will be discussed in the next section.

Several factors present obstacles to the continuing enhancement of undergraduate programs. Although Michigan Tech attracts top-quality high school students, the scores of the basic skills tests that we administer to beginning students give evidence of some basic skills erosion in high school graduates, especially in mathematics. This has a special impact in a technological university because mathematics is the basic language of all of science and engineering. In order to provide a good first-year experience, Michigan Tech must still find its own answer to a common first-year problem. The costs associated with buying technology and training students and faculty are increasing. Although the College successfully introduced technology in mathematics and in the sciences, we have a difficult time in continually providing state-of-the-art technology experiences (see also discussion of technology under Goals 6 and 7). The College has also gained national recognition for its integration of technology in the Humanities as evidenced by the placement of our graduates in tenure-track positions at nationally known universities and the 1996 EDUCOM award for the department chair.

Subgoal 2: Assure the Recruitment and Retention of a High-Quality, Diverse Student Body.

The recruitment of more Sciences and Arts majors is a University as well as a College goal. To accomplish this, the Associate Dean works actively with Enrollment Management. His initiatives include mailings, intensified contacts with high school counselors, development of summer internships and co-op opportunities, and active participation in job fairs. The College also supports departmental initiatives.

Undergraduate and graduate majors in the College have been fairly stable (see Table 1, below) and now represent 21% of Michigan Tech’s student body, up from 19% in 1988. Undergraduate majors constitute 20% of MTU enrollment.

TABLE 1. College of Sciences and Arts Enrollment since 1988 (Fall Count).

Major	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Biological Sciences	156	158	194	237	235	244	265	261	279
Chemistry	77	71	56	53	64	73	81	89	88
Computer Science	298	276	251	258	270	274	233	244	276
General Studies	133	164	139	163	114	64	40	27	15
Humanities	164	166	152	139	138	120	123	123	106
Mathematics	121	120	104	114	114	109	93	85	68
Medical Technology	85	78	82	82	89	94	91	89	84
Physics	59	67	68	64	53	58	49	38	34
Social Science	18	20	18	21	25	24	29	30	27
Undeclared	20	139	121	91	86	60	34	40	43
NonDegree Seeking						36	78	72	73
Total	1131	1259	1185	1222	1188	1156	1116	1098	1093

The number of Bachelors degrees granted by the college has declined slightly (Table 2).

TABLE 2. Bachelors Degrees Granted by the College of Sciences and Arts.

Degree Earned	1990/1	1991/2	1992/3	1993/4	1994/5	1995/6	1996/7
Applied Physics	7	6	5	6	4	2	4
Biological Sciences	25	27	33	46	36	37	47
Chemistry	14	11	12	9	9	14	19
Clinical Lab Science						7	22
Computer Science	62	34	41	52	38	49	35
Liberal Arts	3	3	5	2	3	1	5
Liberal Arts w/History			0	1	0	0	2
Mathematics	36	21	40	24	30	25	28
Medical Technology	16	11	18	15	14	20
Physics	3	2	5	8	4	3	6
Social Sciences	1	2	4	1	2	2	3
Scientific and Technical Communication (BA)	1	2	0	6	4	4	12
Scientific and Technical Communication (BS)	35	28	21	25	19	25	24
Total	203	147	184	195	163	189	207

Student retention is enhanced by the development and implementation of centrally coordinated Learning Centers. Supported by external grants, these centers spearhead new initiatives in collaborative team learning and provide alternative learning environments. The University Task Force on Retention found considerable evidence that Learning Center efforts are important to academic success and retention at Michigan Tech. In a student satisfaction survey developed by American College Testing, the MTU Learning Centers received the second highest rating of the 23 items named in the survey, second only to recreation and intramural services—another College achievement which contributes to retention. In 1995, 60.5% of students used the learning center services compared to 19.5% in 1988. The centers contribute to a high national profile for the University. Last year, the central coordinator, who also served as director of the Writing Center, was invited to give two keynote addresses at national writing-center conferences.

Another factor which may contribute to rentention is the declining student-faculty ratio (Table 3).

TABLE 3. Student-Faculty Ratio History in the College of Sciences and Arts.

The College is making efforts to recruit a diverse student body. Figure 1 shows the enrollment of women students. The percentage of women enrolled in the College increased from 43.2% in 1990 to 45.5% in 1995, this reveals that the College has been able to attract and retain women.

FIGURE 1. Enrollment in the College of Sciences and Arts by Gender.

The percentage of students from underrepresented ethnic groups has increased slightly from 4.4% in 1990 to 5.3% in 1995 (Figure 2).

FIGURE 2. Percentage of Students from Underrepresented Groups Enrolled in the College of Sciences and Arts.

The small percentage of students from culturally diverse backgrounds and the small increase in the last five years illustrates that the College of Sciences and Arts does not yet have a diverse student body. However, it has worked hard to develop the following initiatives which improves recruitment and retention of a diverse student body:

• One of the most effective departmental programs for promoting diversity and retaining minority students—the ECHOES from Heaven Gospel Choir. Founded by the Black Students Association in 1990, it was first offered for credit in 1992. The Department of Fine Arts has provided administrative and production assistance, limited funding support, academic credit, and, since Fall 1994, a full-time faculty to direct the ensemble.
• The Fine Arts Department has begun to establish relationships, through the past several years, with high schools that have significant minority enrollments as well as strong arts programs. For example, the Cass Tech (Detroit) Harp and Vocal Ensemble has appeared on campus with the MTU Chamber Chorus in 1992 and in 1995.
• The Chemistry Department has "adopted" the chemistry laboratories of Martin Luther King Senior High School and Redford High School in the Detroit area to improve the teaching and learning of chemistry in these high schools. This also creates new possibilities for student recruitment.
• The Mathematics Department has initiated successful interactions with Hampton University, a traditionally black university. Students from Hampton University have participated in summer research programs at Michigan Tech. Currently, a faculty from Hampton University is a visiting faculty at Michigan Tech.
• The Department of Computer Science participates extensively in Women in Engineering, Minorities in Engineering, and the summer program for American Indian junior high school students.

Intramurals are an integral part of the educational system. Through intramural participation, an individual has the opportunity to develop physically, mentally, and socially. The intramural program enhances students’ university life and provides a base for lifelong activity. In support of lifelong fitness, a wellness course (PE100) has been developed and introduced. Recreational nights, especially designed for international students, have been have been organized since 1995. Twenty seven percent of all students participate in intramurals.

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