Mission

The Department of Geoscience advances and disseminates state-of-the-art knowledge on the earth system and its evolution. We offer unique historical perspective integrating the study of physical, chemical, and biological processes over geologic time. Our curriculum emphasizes field and quantitative components, and focuses in three areas: (1) Paleontology / Sedimentary Geology, (2) Quaternary / Environmental Geology, and (3) Tectonics / Petrology.

Goals and Objectives

1. Articulating, with pride and confidence, a vision of the liberal arts that is intellectually driven and that demonstrates the contribution of our research to our teaching.

Objectives-

• Increase the number of undergraduate majors in Geoscience and in the Environmental Sciences Program by at least 33%
• Enhance our GER curriculum, especially opportunities for small group learning (e.g., honors and majors lab/discussion sections), and actively recruit more geoscience and environmental sciences majors from our GER courses
• Increase undergraduate field opportunities and support our required summer field courses as 'capstone' courses
• Increase usage of our new computer and analytical facilities at all levels within our curriculum
• Expand undergraduate opportunities for independent and mentored research projects, promote senior and honors theses, and develop a departmental undergraduate colloquium
• Encourage faculty to apply for grants supporting undergraduate research opportunities (e.g., Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) grants from the National Science Foundation)

• Monitor numbers of geoscience and environmental sciences majors (target = 33% increase by 2005) and their reasons for selecting majors in geoscience or the environmental sciences
• Monitor scores on faculty/TA course evaluations (target = average dept ACE scores > 4 out of 6)
• Monitor course content for field activities and usage of computer/analytical facilities (target = all undergraduate courses should have a field and/or computer-analytical component by 2005)
• Monitor numbers of senior and honors theses (target = five per year)
• Monitor UI student performance in fieldcamp (12:113 Summer Field Course) (target = above average grades for UI students compared with other CIC schools)
• Monitor undergraduate outcome assessment questionnaires and career development (target = 75% employment in the Earth Sciences or engaged in further Earth Science studies)

2. Making the best use of our current faculty resources and of emerging educational technologies to shape, strengthen, and develop our undergraduate and graduate curricula.

Objectives-

• Increase the number and quality of our graduate students, and encourage faculty to apply for externally funded graduate training grants
• Encourage graduate students to apply for external funding, to publish peer-reviewed journal articles, and to attend and give presentations at regional, national, and international professional meetings
• Improve TA training (e.g., by adding workshops to 12:207 Geologic Orientation) and make greater use of facilities available at the Center for Teaching
• Ensure that teaching assignments are more equitably distributed among our faculty
• Increase enrollments within courses and eliminate low-enrollment courses
• Encourage opportunities for faculty and P&S staff development (e.g., developmental leaves)

• Monitor numbers of graduate students (target = 33% increase by 2005)
• Monitor course enrollments within all courses (target = 33% increase by 2005)
• Monitor indicators of the quality of our graduate program, including GRE scores (target = maintain a minimum average GRE of 1700 by 2005) and graduate student external grants (target = 50% of M.S. & Ph.D. students by 2005), submissions of manuscripts to peer-reviewed journals (target = 50% of M.S. students and 100% of Ph.D. students by 2005), and presentations at professional meetings (target = 100% of M.S. & Ph.D. students by 2005)
• Monitor graduate outcome assessment questionnaires and career development (target = 75% employment in the Earth Sciences or engaged in further Earth Science studies)

Objectives-

• Maintain critical mass in faculty numbers within each of our three areas of emphasis so that there is enough breadth to fulfill our teaching mission while providing focussed research groups that have national and international recognition
• Focus new hires in areas providing greatest opportunities for collaborative research, having strong potential applicant pools and significantly improving the research potential of one or more of our areas of emphasis
• Provide effective mentoring for faculty at all levels (e.g., grant proposal writing, promotion & tenure committees)
• Increase the numbers of submitted proposals, numbers of funded proposals, and numbers of publications by faculty overall in the department by 20%
• Work with the Foundation on fund-raising efforts for improving infrastructure (i.e., space, technical support staff, computer & analytical facilities), and devote endowment funds to infrastructure improvement

• Monitor numbers of submitted and funded proposals (target = 20% increase by 2005)
• Monitor faculty publications (target = 20% increase by 2005)
• Monitor citation index for faculty publications (target = 20% increase by 2005)
• Monitor national program rankings (target = move into the 2^nd quartile by 2005)

Objectives-

• With assistance from the College, assume responsibility for administering the Environmental Sciences Program
• Increase interdepartmental cooperation in course offerings, both through established mechanisms (e.g., the Environmental Sciences Program, the Quaternary Studies Program) and by exploring new opportunities
• Promote interdisciplinary research opportunities for faculty and students (e.g., involve more faculty in other departments on graduate committees)
• Increase numbers of non-geoscience TA's in cross-listed courses (target = at least one interdisciplinary TA per year)
• Increase the number of females and minorities at all levels
• Increase the visibility of our international research and teaching

• Monitor numbers of cross-listed courses (target = one new cross-listed course per year)
• Monitor course enrollments for non-Geoscience majors (target = a 10% increase by 2005)
• Monitor interdisciplinary publications (i.e., publications in non-geoscience journals), grants, and grant proposals (target = 10-20% increase by 2005)
• Monitor numbers of female and minority students (target = remain above average in our field)
• Monitor news reports in university publications and the popular media (target = a 20% increase by 2005)

Objectives-

• Maintain our tradition of collegiality and open communications between all department personnel
• Increase faculty participation in college, university, and professional committees or organizations
• Increase recognition of faculty achievement (i.e., fellows, medals, awards) in professional societies

• Monitor faculty service at all levels (target = ensure that all faculty are doing their allocated proportion of service)
• Monitor number of faculty fellows, medals, and awards in professional societies (target = 25% increase by 2005)

In the 1993 National Research Council Surveys of Doctoral programs, the UI Department of Geoscience placed in the third quartile of the top 100 programs in both quality of scholarly work (68th) and effectiveness in educating scholars and scientists (54th). Individual programs within our department rank higher. For example, in the 1999 US News & World Report survey, the graduate program in Paleontology ranked 7^th in the nation.

Even though the UI Department of Geoscience is relatively small compared to departments in CIC institutions, it is unique in that it focusses on research that combines quantitative and theoretical treatments with field-based observations. Few US geology departments integrate field and quantitative skills as effectively, and we believe that our national ranking will improve over the next decade (i.e., it will move into the 2^nd quartile) as a result of this special distinction.

Due to retirements and changes in the discipline, the UI Department of Geoscience is currently in a state of transition from a department that has emphasized a descriptive approach to one that combines field and state-of-the-art quantitative techniques. We are achieving excellence by focussing on niche opportunities in three specific areas: (1) Paleontology / Sedimentary Geology, (2) Quaternary / Environmental Geology, and (3) Tectonics / Petrology. Each of the three areas has national and international recognition, as evidenced by successful external funding from highly competitive sources such as the National Science Foundation and invitations to be keynote speakers at international conferences. We expect that all three groups will continue to gain stature over the next decade as retiring faculty are replaced by new hires.