College Of Arts And Sciences:

The largest and most complex of the university’s colleges, the College of Arts and Sciences houses the Departments of Biology, Chemistry/Physics, Geology, English and Modern Languages, History, Nursing, Political Science, Psychology and Sociology/Social Work/Criminal Justice. Additionally it houses the University Writing Center, the Center for International Studies, and the Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences (BAAS) program. The College teaches 35 percent of all university classes and 70 percent of all general education courses, generates 43.7 percent of all SCH, and houses 25 percent of all majors. Historically the college has suffered the largest budget cuts and reductions of full-time doctoral-level faculty of any the university’s other colleges. College-wide shortages of qualified faculty and a chronic lack of classroom and facilities space persist and these problems cut deeply the university’s ability to meet both its core curriculum and its teacher preparation obligations in Southeast Texas. Overall the 14 academic disciplines represented in the college’s nine departments and their several diverse programs are in desperate and immediate need of 16 full-time tenure-track positions, eight new non-tenure positions, and three staff positions over the next five years. Faculties throughout the college routinely teach overloads (some during each long term and in summer terms) and increasingly oversized classes (in some cases two to three times larger than three years ago), and many faculty must teach outside their areas of specialization in order to meet the instructional needs at all levels of the curriculum. In departments bearing the largest numbers of core curriculum courses, the large majority of these classes are now taught by M.A. level faculty. The college’s intensive in-depth review of all its programs has been painstakingly documented in the supporting report of its individual departments and programs, over one hundred pages in length. The college identified one program to recommend as a Program of Nationally Recognized Excellence (Pre-Professional Programs: Pre-medicine/dentistry) and several others as proposed Programs Targeted for Enhancement. Because the faculty and facilities crisis cuts across all the college’s programs, the College Committee initially set forth its needs so as to gradually address all its programs over a five-year period rather than set these programs in competition with one another as has been done in the past. Although the College Committee believes all its programs would be better served in this manner, at the urging of the AMP Steering Committee, it has restructured its recommendations into five priority areas.

Priority 1: Nursing. The Nursing Department has experienced a 33 percent increase in majors in the past 2 years. Because of the critical nursing shortage in Southeast Texas, it is important to graduate as many nursing students as possible. The Department of Nursing accepts students who meet the minimum requirements for university admission (GPA 2.0), unlike the majority of nursing programs that are more selective. Thus, Lamar University provides more students with the opportunity to study nursing, but experiences a high level of attrition. However, many of the students accepted are capable of success with additional assistance. The department proposes an innovative approach to help high- risk and disadvantaged students by creating a Caring Place in the department that uses a case management retention program. Additionally the department seeks to address significant healthcare issues in Southeast Texas by creating a Center for Nursing Excellence that will enable faculty and students to promote healthcare delivery by collaborating with the healthcare industry and community stakeholders. Providing support for attracting and retaining nursing students meets an identified need at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and also addresses Closing the Gaps recruitment and retention initiatives. Significant challenges exist in the area of faculty qualifications and salary. The College of Arts and Sciences has been assisting nursing faculty to obtain doctoral degrees, with three recent doctorates awarded and one other faculty member currently ABD. Providing competitive salaries is also a tremendous problem, with master’s prepared clinicians earning $55-60,000 per year and with LSC-O and LSC-PA offering salaries $8-12,000 higher than our levels.

Priority 2: Pre-Professional Program. Cutting across and drawing from all science majors, the Pre-Professional Program continues to be successful in the college, with 250 students enrolled in pre-medical, pre-dental, pre-pharmacy, pre-veterinary, and pre-optometry tracks which provide both course work and experiences necessary for acceptance into professional schools. Over the past three years, students in the Pre-Professional Program have enjoyed an 80 percent acceptance rate into medical and dental schools. Currently the program needs funding for a biochemist, biotechnology laboratory materials, and recruitment materials.

Priority 3: Teacher Preparation for Secondary Schools. In Texas, students preparing to teach in secondary schools are required to major in their subject areas, and the overwhelming majority of these subject areas are in the college: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, English, Spanish, French, English as a Second Language (an endorsement program, not a complete major), History, Political Science and Psychology. It has become increasingly difficult to meet this major primary educational mission because large numbers of doctoral-level faculty have never been replaced following retirements, deaths, resignations, and/or budget cuts. Many students desiring to prepare for secondary teaching either go elsewhere or secure emergency teaching jobs, completing teacher certification requirements on “deficiency plans,” and thus begin teaching before they are sufficiently prepared. This situation undermines the university’s educational mission and its academic integrity in the community. In order to meet state requirements, the college needs four doctoral-level faculty in the social sciences, one in English, one in English as a Second Language and one in Spanish.

Priority 4: Master in Applied Criminal Justice. This area shows great potential for continued growth. There are several large correctional facilities in the Southeast Texas area which can benefit from the services of the College’s Center for Criminal Justice Education and Training (CCJET) activities. Many local correctional and enforcement employees have undergraduate degrees and are beginning to seek graduate degrees. To meet this increasing need, the program needs funding for accreditation and two additional doctorally prepared faculty to teach in the graduate program.

Priority 5: Psychology Education and Clinical Experience. Psychology continues to be a high demand major at the university, yet we are turning away students seeking graduate education. Faculty and staff are needed to provide depth and breadth to the discipline. The department has begun to reactivate its clinical program, but needs to hire a full-time clinic director who can provide additional supervision of students and also direct services to both university and community clients. The clinic will be seeking reinstatement as a member of the National Registry of Health Services Providers in Psychology.