CREATING STUDENT RESOURCES AND REVISING CURRICULUM TO DRIVE COURSE ENROLLMENT AND CAREER INTEREST IN THE GEOSCIENCES

In an effort to better serve students and increase awareness of geology as a college major and career, the geosciences faculty of Monroe Community College (MCC), a large two-year institution in western New York state, embarked on a strategic two- year revision of student resources and curriculum. The department website was updated with career information from AGI and the Occupational Outlook Handbook, an extensive list of employers in a 6-county region, and a transfer guide personalized for students researching regional colleges, while a departmental Facebook page was created as an avenue to communicate these changes with students. While field trips had previously been instituted in multiple classes, a separate field course and co-curricular student club were created. College funding and resources for the student club, in conjunction with fund-raising efforts, made travel affordable for nearly every student.

Faculty collaborated with college personnel and local transfer schools to streamline geology curriculum, including re-numbering specific courses and creating co-requisite laboratories, to better align with the State University of New York (SUNY) system. After researching national trends for Associate in Science (A.S.) geology degree requirements, data justified re-numbering four existing freshmen-level courses to the sophomore-level, once laboratory courses were created as co-requisites. Effective in-person and web-based promotion of new and experimental course offerings have resulted in sufficient enrollment to run a Mineralogy course at MCC for the first time in over 20 years and successful execution of a field course for three consecutive years.

Implemented changes have increased course offerings and made revision of the MCC geology advising sequence possible, as it transitions towards a stand-alone A.S. degree. Future connections to explore include college orientation, an on-campus career series, and local high schools.