Southeastern Section–56th Annual Meeting (29–30 March 2007)

Paper No. 2
Presentation Time: 10:20 AM

BUILDING A STRONG GEOSCIENCE PROGRAM FROM SCRATCH: PERSPECTIVES FROM A NEW PROGRAM AT A STATE-SUPPORTED PUI


ALLEN, Joseph L., Geology and Physical Sciences, Concord University, Campus Box 19, Athens, WV 24712 and MATCHEN, David L., Natural Sciences, Concord University, Po box 1000, Athens, WV 24712, allenj@concord.edu

Founding a new geoscience program at a primarily undergraduate institution with limited prior experience in the discipline of geology is challenging, yet provides an unusual opportunity to build a strong department from the ground up. Concord University is a state-supported institution with <3000 students; ~16% of these are science and mathematics majors. The institution developed an interdisciplinary studies concentration in environmental geosciences in 1995 as a collaborative effort between geology and geography faculty. Success with this pilot program led to approval to offer a formal major in 2002 – the institution awarded the first eight Bachelor of Science degrees in Environmental Geosciences in May 2003. A primary challenge associated with founding and sustaining the early program was a lack of an historical institutional culture that attracted students with interests in the geosciences. As a former state normal school for teachers from 1872 through the mid-1900's, one to two introductory geology courses were offered at the institution for teacher education. In the 1960's, the institution focused on a liberal-arts mission. During the past decade, most students with interest in science were drawn towards career-focused vocational fields such as pre-medicine and pre-pharmacy, and few students initially entered the sciences as a liberal-arts degree option. However, we quickly found that there was a modest yet solid interest in geosciences in our regional service area (southern West Virginia) as the program came on line. Part of this interest stems from a state economy dependent upon extractive natural resources, and a rural population with interests in the outdoors and nature. Factors associated with the early success of the geoscience program include the nature of the curriculum, student recruitment, and building a culture of faculty-student teamwork. These three factors represent measures of programmatic success that mirror results of a recent national survey by Richardson and Beck (2005; http://serc.carleton.edu/departments/survey_results.html). We will discuss specific student-centered components of these three measures that we have found successful at our institution.