Biology and Marine Biology

To ensure timely and appropriate action in response to our discussion at the faculty retreat, the following motion was presented to the faculty of the
department at our September 13 faculty meeting.

Motion 2014.05

Motion was made by Dr. Koopman, Graduate Assessment Coordinator and seconded by Dr. Kinsey.

Motion is to adopt the following graduate assessment goals for Academic Year 2013-2014.

Based on the assessment results for Academic Year 2012-2013 and discussion of these results at the annual department retreat, the Graduate Assessment

Coordinator proposes the following goals for the coming academic year:

1. That the Graduate assessment coordinator, working with the Graduate Advisory Committee (GAC), examine the oral exam guidance for our M.Sc.
   programs and generate a plan for making sure that students stay on schedule and are aware of the time required to prepare for this exam


2. That the Graduate Assessment Coordinator, in consultation with the GAC, will develop an alternating schedule for assessment of various aspects of the
   graduate programs over the 2013-14 academic year, for the next five year period (similar to the schedule developed for assessing undergraduate
   performance).


3. That the Graduate Assessment Coordinator work with the Graduate Secretary to better coordinate the teaching practicum evaluation for the Ph.D.
   program (SLO#5).

Following discussion the motion passed by unanimous vote with one proxy “abstain” vote on 9/13/2013.

University of North Carolina Wilmington

Educational Program Assessment Plan and Report

(PhD Program, Biology & Marine Biology –October 2013)

Assessment Plan Report for 2012-2013 (July 1 to June 30)

Primary Contact Name/Info: Heather Koopman, Biology & Marine Biology, [email protected]

Program Outcome

UNCW Strategic Goal

Tools Implementation Summary of Findings Actions Taken

PO 1: Graduation of PhD
students within 5-6 years.
Links to UNCW Strategic
Goal #1: Create the most
powerful learning
experience possible for our
students.

Several tools are used for

the assessment process of

this PO:

• solicitation of information
  from alumni


• meetings with graduate
  students and surveys of
  graduate student needs


• review of programs at
  other institutions


• monitoring of time to
  graduation

The Graduate Advisory

Committee (GAC) and the

Graduate coordinator are

largely responsible for

gathering this information.

Student members of the

GAC are important conduits

of information from the

student body to the GAC.

Based on 15 graduates in

the program as of August

2013, PhD students are

taking 4.5 years to graduate,

well within our expectation.

Financial concerns have

previously been identified

as a significant concern for

time to graduate. Based on

student comments and

comparisons with other

programs, a need to make

In previous years, the

Graduate School has

worked to incrementally

increase TA salaries. The

PhD core curriculum was

revised to be more flexible.

The progression from the

M.S. program to the PhD

program was made easier

through a Master’s bypass

option. Given our results

we feel that these actions