Biology and Marine Biology

form of a manuscript for
publication in a scientific
journal. Link to UNCW
Learning Goal: thoughtful
expression, information
literacy, critical thinking,
inquiry.

quality of the thesis with a

form.

members. Data on the

quality of the writing,

mastery of the research,

and likelihood of being

published in a peer-review

journal are collected.

Department moved to

online forms in 2010- 2011

to improve faculty

participation.

performing at levels below

the only other year in which

we have data (2009). Thesis

quality was judged at 78%

(fraction of students

performing at level 4 or

above), mastery of research

was 67%, and likelihood of

publication was 78%. No

data were available for

2010 - 2011. In 2009, faculty

judged thesis quality as

quite good, with 88% of

students at level 4 or 5 in

thesis quality, 90% for

mastery of research, and

83% for likelihood of

publication.

some attention. Given the

small sample size for this

SLO, the Graduate

Assessment Coordinator

recommended that we

carefully monitor

performance for another

year before evaluating

whether any programmatic

changes are warranted. The

faculty discussed the results

of assessment to date at the

2012 retreat and decided to

adopt that suggestion.

University of North Carolina Wilmington

Educational Program Assessment Plan and Report

(PhD Program, Biology & Marine Biology –October 2012)

Assessment Plan Report for 2011-2012 (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

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 13 graduates in

the program as of August

2012, 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

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