Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology Self Study for Academic Program Review April, 2013 Prepared by Prof. S.E. Cabaniss, chair Table of Contents Page Executive Summary 4 I. Background A. History 5 B. Organization 8 C. External Accreditation 9 D. Previous Review 9 II. Program Goals 13 III. Curriculum 15 IV. Teaching and Learning 16 V. Students 17 VI. Faculty 21 VII. Resources and Planning 24 VIII. Facilities A. Space 25 B. Equipment 26 IX. Program Comparisons 27 X. Future Directions 31 Academic Program Review 2 Appendices A1. List of former CCB faculty A2. Handbook for Faculty Members A3. ACS Guidelines and Evaluation Procedures for Bachelor’s Degree Programs A4. Previous (2003) Graduate Review Committee report A5. UNM Mission statement A6. Academic Program Plans for Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes A7. Undergraduate degree requirements and example 4-year schedules A8. Graduate program handbook A9. CHEM 121 Parachute course A10. CHEM 122 course re-design proposal A11. Student graduation data A12. Faculty CVs A13. Staff position descriptions A14. Instrument Survey A15. CCB Annual report 2011-2012 A16. CCB Strategic Planning documents Academic Program Review 3 Executive Summary The department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology (CCB) at UNM has been in a period of transition and upheaval for several years. Historically, the department has had several overlapping missions and goals- service teaching for science and engineering majors, professional training of chemistry majors and graduate students and ambitions for a nationally-recognized research program. CCB teaches ~3% of the student credit hours taught on main campus, and at one point had over 20 tenured and tenure track faculty and ~80 graduate students. The department continues to teach a major service load, but the number of research active faculty, graduate students and funded research grants are at or near record low points. Several underlying problems have contributed to the current situation: CCB’s main teaching and research laboratory building, Clark Hall, has needed major renovations since at least 1988, and recurring problems with utilities and lab space may have contributed to faculty departures. As noted by the graduate review committee in 2003, governance issues have hampered smooth operations and led to a departmental atmosphere which does not necessarily focus on the common good. The department has had 4 different chairs since 2007, and has also had several changes to graduate and undergraduate programs which have contributed to confusion among students and faculty alike. For the last 10 years, CCB has had a poor track record of retaining junior faculty, and the number of tenure-track faculty recently reached a historic low of 13 in 2009 (it is now just 16). Real and potential improvements are underway, however. Ongoing facility improvements include a Science and Math Learning Center (SMLC), recently constructed and now scheduled for expansion, and $16 million in funds allocated for the renovation of Clark Hall. The SMLC now houses general chemistry teaching labs, and the expansion will accommodate organic chemistry teaching labs as well. The Clark Hall renovation should provide modern utilities and some refurbished lab space, although funds will not cover a complete renovation. Six new faculty hires over the last six years have brought new ideas and energy, and the first of these should receive tenure this year. Changes in faculty governance and in the graduate program are underway- a new faculty handbook has been approved and a new graduate program is being drafted. The ability of the department to recover stability and fulfill its mission will depend on several mutually dependent tasks- the successful design and renovation of Clark Hall, improved interactions with other units on campus, development of a collegial and productive departmental working environment, and the successful mentoring of junior faculty. Academic Program Review 4 I. Background A. History The modern version of the UNM Chemistry department (now the department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology) emerged in the 1980’s under the leadership of Riley Schaeffer. To quote W. Litchman’s departmental history, “Around 1980, the UNM chemistry faculty decided that to maintain currency in the mainstream of chemical education and research (with its trend towards biochemical specialties) a new direction in hiring, promotion, tenure, and pay was needed, one which emphasized the role of research over the role of undergraduate education as a determinant for tenure. To this end, they recruited a new department chairman to implement these changes: Riley Schaeffer, who came from the University of Indiana with a significant reputation in research and graduate education. One of his first actions as chairman was to create a two-tier faculty: those who were significantly and successfully engaged in graduate education and research, and those who were more involved in the undergraduate curriculum. Emphasis on research productivity, funding, and graduate recruitment meant that departmental resources (funds, space, and personnel) were stretched tight, and caused friction through the following years.” Some faculty recall a decision to create two research foci- one in biological chemistry and one in materials. According to Litchman, in 1988 the department had “…22 tenure-track faculty members, plus lecturers, laboratory supervisors, and technicians.” Litchman goes on to describe the 1990’s as a period in which successful hires of senior faculty (Christie Enke, Patrick Mariano, Debra Dunaway-Mariano, Hua Guo, Richard Kemp) were counterbalanced by a failure to keep overall faculty hiring even with retirements and departures, and the departures of several faculty who have since reached positions of distinction (including Vincent Ortiz, Thomas Bein, Su-Moon Park, Richard Crooks, Mark Hampden-Smith, Peter Ogilby and Carlos Bustamonte). By 2002, the department had only 18 tenure-track faculty, two of whom were partially committed to university service in the offices of the Dean of Arts and Sciences and the Provost. The list of department chairs and graph of faculty numbers illustrate two of the problems that CCB has encountered since that time. Table 1. Chairs of Chemistry and Chemical Biology since 1988 Richard Willis Holder (1 Jan 1988 -- 31 Dec 1990) Cary Jacks Morrow (1 Jan 1991 -- 30 Jun 1995) Fritz Schreyer Allen (1 Jul 1995 -- 30 Jun 2000) Thomas M Niemczyk (1 Jul 2000 – 30 June 2006) Cary Jacks Morrow (1 Jul 2006 -- 30 Jun 2008) Martin L Kirk (acting) (1 Jul 2008 – 30 June 2009) David Bear (1 July 2009- July 15, 2012) Stephen Cabaniss (16 July, 2012-present) Academic Program Review 5 Although CCB had only 3 chairs for the 15-year period 1991-2006, it has had 4 chairs in the 7- year period 2006-2013. This instability in the chair’s position started during an acrimonious period which began with a divisive failed search and which ended with the retirement of two analytical chemistry faculty (Enke, Niemczyk) and the departure of a third (John Engen). The remaining faculty voted not to make re-hiring into the analytical division a priority. Morrow’s chairmanship of 2006-2008 (his second) was intended to allow the department to find and hire an external chair, but chair searches were not successful, and he was succeeded for one year (2008-2009) by Martin Kirk. During this time, the Provost and Dean, at the direction of the President, made a conscious decision to hire an external chair and dynamic young faculty to rejuvenate a shrinking department. Figure 1. CCB faculty since 2002. Tenure track faculty reached a low of 13 in 2009. In 2009, the Dean of A&S appointed David Bear, a professor and former chair of Cell Biology and Physiology at the School of Medicine, as department chair. Bear set out to simultaneously reform degree programs, increase faculty numbers and improve laboratory facilities. Bear persuaded the university to make renovations to Clark Hall a top priority, and although a bond request for renovation funds was rejected in the November 2010 election, he obtained several million dollars from the UNM Regents to upgrade labs and other space; the bond issue passed in 2012, and more extensive renovations are now planned (see section VIII, page 20). During Bear’s chairmanship, three new faculty (Yang Qin, Chad Melancon and Fu- Sen Liang) started in CCB and two more (Ramesh Giri and Terefe Habteyes) were hired. Academic Program Review 6 Several sets of changes were implemented to the BA, BS and PhD programs. However, internal disagreements within the department contributed to his decision to step down as chair in the summer of 2012. The current chair, Steve Cabaniss, has been in office since July 2012. B. Governance and Organization The department has remarkably few written records of organizational procedures on file, either because they have been lost or because until recently many procedures were perpetuated through the memory of senior faculty. The department traditionally has had a chair, an elected ‘executive committee’ of tenured faculty and a set of standing committees (graduate studies, undergraduate studies, etc.). It has not traditionally had an associate chair, formal mentoring arrangements for junior faculty or written rules for the conduct of faculty meetings. In view of the impending retirement of senior faculty and the perceived need for more stable rules and procedures, the department decided to create a written handbook this academic year (AY 12-13). Drafted by the chair and senior