Department of Health Science

Prepared February 28, 2006

By Stephen D. Arnold, Academic Department Head

Approved by Departmental Faculty on March 3, 2006

Updated  with faculty suggestions on March 8, 2006

 

2006 DEPARTMENTAL GOALS

  1. Complete the Environmental Health Option accreditation site visit (Spring)
  2. Prepare a comprehensive self study (summer) for the Bachelor of Community Health program in preparation for SABPAC re-approval review (Fall)
  3. Continue the development of MPH courses to an on-line format (in addition to the main campus versions)
  4. Explore how the department can become involved with the HEP network
  5. Advertise and recruit for a new tenure-line faculty member
  6. Begin preparations for compliance with new CEPH criteria
  7. Submit formal request to NMSU administration for new tenure-line and non-tenure-line faculty positions, new graduate assistantship positions, new exempt staff, and new non-exempt staff
  8. Modify all BCH and MPH syllabi to reflect new health education and public health competencies
  9. Modify BCH and MPH program goals, objectives, and assessment methods to reflect new health education and public health competencies

 

2007 DEPARTMENTAL GOALS

  1. Complete SABPAC re-approval process
  2. Complete development of MPH on-line including:
    1. Modifications to departmental web site
    2. Identification of professional staff support for management of the MPH on-line
    3. Initiate advertisement and recruitment for new students
    4. Identify new faculty members to teach MPH on-line courses and/or back fill to teach main campus versions
  3. Complete preparations for compliance with new CEPH criteria
  4. Initiate serious discussions on the development of a PHD program

 

2008 DEPARTMENTAL GOALS

  1. Begin comprehensive self-study for MPH program in preparation for CEPH site visit in 2009

 

KEY DEPARTMENTAL MEASURES OF SUCCESS

INDICATOR

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

BCH Enrollment

83

91

78

109

 

EOH Enrollment (converting to EH Option in 2006)

16

11

15

9

 

MPH Enrollment

32

28

36

37

44

BCH Degrees Awarded

19

16

26

25

 

EOH Degrees Awarded

0

2

4

3

 

MPH Degrees Awarded

3

10

7

13

 

SCH (TOTAL)

6,631

7,513

8,795

9,125

 

Dept Research Dollars

$960,948

$1,869,751

$1,787,867

$1,884,180

 

Dept Research Awards

7

13

16

17

 

Dept Research Proposals

11

20

20

24

 

G course offerings

 

 

 

 

33

Distance education course offerings

 

 

 

 

43

Number of part-time faculty

 

 

 

 

20

Number of adjunct faculty

 

 

 

 

23

Number of exempt staff

 

 

 

 

46

Number of non-exempt staff

 

 

 

 

6

Number of graduate assistantships

 

 

 

 

14

Number of student employees

 

 

 

 

5

 

KEY DEPARTMENTAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO NMSU

  1. Master of Public Health degree program (strong enrollment; growing; nationally accredited)
  2. Bachelor of Community Health degree program (strong enrollment; growing; nationally accredited)
  3. Environmental Health Option (for the Environmental Science degree program – pursuing national accreditation this year)
  4. Offering four (4) graduate minors
  5. Offering five (5) undergraduate minors
  6. Significant contribution to the BHCS on-line 2+2 degree completion program
  7. Significant contribution to Part III VAWW general education at NMSU
  8. Significant contribution to distance education at NMSU
  9. Currently developing a fully on-line version of the Master of Public Health degree program, which will result in an explosive increases of new graduate enrollment in the Department of Health Science
  10. Provide administrative oversight to two (2) progressive and active educational outreach and service centers
  11. Will soon be offering a combined MSW/MPH degree program
  12. NMSU is one of only 3 programs in the nation having a CEPH-accredited MPH program and a SABPAC-approved BCH program
  13. NMSU is one of only 17 undergraduate programs in the nation meeting the stringent approval requirements for SABPAC.
  14. NMSU is the only NCHEC-approved “Multiple Events Provider” of continuing education contact hours for Certified Health Education Specialists in New Mexico
  15. The MPH program has graduated 62 students since its inception in the Fall of 1996.  Of these, 27 have completed a thesis.

 

DEPARTMENTAL NEEDS

  1. No less than four (4) additional full-time regularized instructors to continue offering main campus and distance education Part III VAWW courses.  Each instructor will teach four courses per semester.  With the one (1) existing full-time regularized instructor, this will increase our departmental offerings of G courses to 20 sections per semester.
  2. No less than three (3) additional full-time tenure-line faculty in order for the department to begin offering the MPH degree program on-line.  The Council on Education for Public Health requires a minimum of three faculty for an accredited  MPH program.  Our existing faculty lines are essential to cover the main campus version of the MPH program.
  3. An additional 0.5 FTE non-exempt staff position.  The tremendous growth in the department has resulted in significant new administrative responsibilities.  This new position will be essential in assisting with the administrative management of our on-line degree programs and courses, and with the increasing requirements for programmatic outcomes assessment, tracking, and reporting.
  4. No less than one additional full-time tenure-line faculty EQUIVALENT to cover the increasing administrative responsibilities as a result of the significant growth in the department:
    1. 0.25 FTE Graduate Program Coordinator
    2. 0.25 FTE Undergraduate Program Coordinator
    3. 0.25 FTE BCH and MPH Field Experience Coordinator
    4. 0.25 FTE EH Option Coordinator and Internship Supervisor
  5. No less than five (5) additional 20 hr/week graduate assistantships.  The continued growth and success of our graduate degree program is directly proportional to the number of graduate assistantships that we have to offer.  The vast majority of our new incoming students are from out-of-state or out-of-country.  It is extremely rare for any graduate student to have the financial resources to pay out-of-state tuition.  Further, these graduate assistantships will be a key factor in the department’s ability to continue meeting the significant demands of our lower-division undergraduate service courses, which enroll countless students from across the University.
  6. No less than a 25% increase in the departmental operating budget.  Increasing enrollments, majors, students, faculty, staff, and graduate students has resulted in tremendous demands on basic operational expenses including telephones, computer support, equipment needs, photocopying, travel, continuing education, etc.  The departmental operating budgets have been stagnant for years.  Further impacting our I&G budgets has been the declining IDC returns in recent years.

 

THE FACTS

The following tenure-line faculty positions in the Department of Health Science are I&G funded.  Below is a table which summarizes how many core required courses each person is available to teach per year.

 

NAME

# COURSES PER YEAR

Arnold

3

Buckingham

6

Forster Cox

6

Kozel

6

Mondragon

6

Rao

6

Smith

2

TOTAL

37

 

POINT: With our existing I&G funded tenure-line positions, our teaching capacity is 37 courses per year.

 

Below is a list of the degrees and minors that the department currently offers, and the number of core required courses per year needed to make each run.  Since there is some overlap (courses that count in several areas), each course was only counted one time, to present a fair and accurate estimate of how many courses need to be offered per year.  Cross-listed courses were counted as one course, not two.  Field experience courses were NOT included in the count:

 

DEGREE OR MINOR

# COURSES PER YEAR

MPH degree program

16

BCH degree program

21

EOH Option

2

Graduate BH minor

0

Undergraduate BH minor

2

Graduate EOH minor

0

Undergraduate EOH minor

1

Graduate GERO minor

6

Undergraduate GERO minor

0

Graduate ADC minor

0

Undergraduate Admin minor

0

Undergraduate CH minor

1

TOTAL

49

 

POINT: With our existing degree programs and minors, the department needs to offer a minimum of 49 core and significant elective courses per year.

 

SHORTAGE = 12 courses per year, or 2.0 FTE tenure-line positions

 

This deficit is currently being “made up” by various part-time instructors paid for by weekend college and distance education funds.  Additionally, our Associate Dean teaches one core required graduate course, twice per year. 

 

However, the programs would be better-served by full-time tenure line faculty assigned to teach all core required courses.

 

In addition to core required and significant elective courses, the department also offers 33 general education “G” courses per semester.