College of Arts & Sciences
The College of Arts and Sciences at Florida Gulf Coast University is dedicated to providing a quality liberal arts education that is the foundation for a free and just society. As a community of scholars, we seek to foster intellectual breadth and depth, reasoned and civil inquiry, intercultural understanding, an ecological perspective, and civic engagement in order to prepare students for a life in the 21st century that is at once informed, examined, and engaged. We support scholarly activity that advances teaching and contributes to the broader intellectual, artistic, and professional communities. Our college faculty and administration share the belief that interdisciplinary collaboration and scholarship enhance our individual disciplines and benefit our students. We further acknowledge that service to the southwest Florida community is a public trust and a social responsibility. In all of our activities, we are committed to celebrating and nurturing human freedom and elevating the human spirit.
Founded on the university’s student learning goals and emphasizing the integration of knowledge across disciplines, our programs in the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences offer students the opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills, and values necessary for success in their professional careers along with the philosophical, scientific, and artistic habits of mind indispensable for a democratic society and a rewarding personal life. We challenge students to express informed convictions, exercise independent judgment, and make a lifelong commitment to learning. By encouraging tolerance, generosity, humility, wisdom, creativity, and courage, we strive to prepare students for a rapidly changing world, constructive engagement with diverse cultures and beliefs, responsible participation in their communities, and a deeper appreciation of the beauty and scope of human experience.
Scholarly activity provides a source for the creation and communication of artistic insights, fresh ideas, and current information related to our teaching, our individual disciplines, and to the integration of knowledge that lies at the heart of our liberal arts mission. Through scholarship, we interact with colleagues in the academic community and in the southwest Florida region. Likewise, in our service, we expand the boundaries of the university and join a wider community in nurturing a sustainable and enriched society. (Adopted December 2001)
 Goal 4 -- The College will recruit, retain, and support highly qualified faculty. Faculty Hiring -- Hire sufficient faculty to cover courses in undergraduate and graduate programs and to add new programs. Focus on adding depth and breadth to existing programs. Faculty Hiring -- Hire sufficient faculty to cover courses in undergraduate and graduate programs and in new programs. Faculty Hiring -- In order for our programs to be strong, and for us to attain national prominence in undergraduate education and to strengthen graduate education, we must have full time faculty teaching at high levels in the programs. Faculty Hiring -- On an annual basis, collect data on courses taught and on needs in programs; use data to make requests for faculty lines. Goal 4 -- The College will recruit, retain, and support highly qualified faculty. Faculty Support -- The College will create a new faculty mentoring program in order to nurture strong teaching, service, and scholarship; additionally, the College will develop support mechanisms for the faculty for scholarship. Faculty Support -- Create a new faculty mentoring program, including connecting new faculty with mentors and conducting workshops for new faculty. Provide support mechanisms for faculty, including staff support for grant work, grant initiatives through ORSP, and grant writing training. Faculty Support -- developing support mechanisms for new faculty and for scholarship will assist in faculty development. Faculty Support -- creating a new faculty mentoring program will be created in Fall 2007; providing support mechanisms for scholarship will occur on an annual basis. Goals 1 and 2 -- The College will provide a quality educational experience for its students.Undergraduate Programs -- The College will expand the number of undergraduate programs available to students, as resources allow.Undergraduate Programs -- As resources and needs allow, new undergraduate programs will be started in a timely way.Undergraduate Programs -- Expansion of existing programs and development of new programs meets the mission of the institution and serves the students; assessment of student needs and institutional resources will be used to determine how quickly programs will grow or be added.Undergraduate Programs -- New programs and expansion of programs will be explored for implementation as follows: 04-05: No new programs. 05-06: New Programs: Anthropology, Chemistry (BA). (Completed) 06-07: New Programs: Biology (BS), Chemistry (BS), Music, Philosophy, Sociology. (Completed) 07-08: New Program: History (MA). (Completed) 08-09: New Programs: Journalism (BA), Mathematics (BS), Environmental Studies (MA), Environmental Humanities (BA), Mathematics (MS). 09-10: New Programs: Biology (MS), Communication (MA). Goals 1 and 2 -- The College will provide a quality educational experience for its students. Graduate Programs -- The College will provide a quality educational experience for its students through expansion of its graduate programs and the development of the necessary resources and supporting infrastructure. See Graduate Enrollment Strategic Plan for more details. Graduate Programs -- As resources allow, including tuition waivers, graduate and teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and additional graduate faculty and staff, new graduate programs will be started in a timely way. Graduate Programs -- Expansion of graduate programs meets the mission of the institution, and provides increased learning opportunities for students. With adequate resources, students will be provided with the ability to matriculate into graduate programs at FGCU rather than transfer to another school. Graduate Programs -- New Graduate Programs will be started if resources allow as follows: 04-05: None 05-06: English (MA) (Completed) 07-08: History (MA) (Completed) 08-09: Environmental Studies (MA), Mathematics (MS) 09-10: Biology (MS), Communication (MA). Goal 4 -- The College will recruit, retain, and support highly qualified faculty who are outstanding teachers and scholars, in numbers adequate to fulfill the obligations of the College.Full Time/Part Time Faculty -- Hire faculty sufficient to have 80% of all CAS SCH and of General Education SCH taught by Full Time faculty, including at least 70% of SCH by Full Time faculty in Composition I and II and in Gen Ed Social Sciences.Full Time/Part Time Faculty -- Having reached the goal of 70% of SCH taught by full-time faculty in CAS and in General Education, we will work towards having full time faculty teach a minimum of 80% of all student credit hours generated in the college and in General Education in order to be in line with other colleges at FGCU, including at least 70% of SCH by Full Time faculty in Composition I and II and in Gen Ed Social Sciences.Full Time/Part Time Faculty -- Analyzing the level to which our courses are taught by full time faculty will allow us to ensure that our students will receive the attention they need to be successful and engaged. This will increase retention and provide a strong foundation of learning.Full Time/Part Time Faculty -- By Fall 2010, 80% of all SCH generated in the College and in General Education will be by Full Time faculty and at least 70% of SCH generated in Composition I and II and in Gen Ed Social Science will be taught by Full Time faculty. Goals 4 and 8 -- The College will create a sustainable organizational structure and work to garner necessary resources that will nurture the faculty and staff and the culture of assessment that is the foundation for high quality educational experiences. Staff -- Attain sufficient staff resources to meet the obligations of the college, and review staff appointments on a regular basis to determine if positions are accurately described. Staff -- The following criteria will be used: One executive secretary for every chair, and sufficient staff for the Dean's office. Sufficient staff to assist with advising. Sufficient staff to assist with labs and with scale up classrooms. Review of staff positions will be complete, and appropriate changes will be made. Staff -- Staff are central to the functioning of the college, including providing support for faculty and chairs and to provide information and data to the Dean's Office. In addition, staff are crucial in advising and in teaching. Assessment will be used to ascertain if appropriate staffing exists in the College; changes will allow us to fulfill our obligations. Staff -- Ongoing, with requests to the Provost's office in the fall and spring for additional staff lines. Goals 4 and 8 -- The College will create a sustainable organizational structure and work to garner necessary resources that will nurture the faculty and staff and the culture of assessment that is the foundation for high quality educational experiences. Organizational Structure -- Continuously review the organizational structure of the college, including the Dean's office and the departmental structure Organizational Structure -- Continuous review that includes task assignment in the Dean's office, number of faculty and majors in each department, and number of staff assigned to faculty. Organizational Structure -- ascertain that the work of the college, including developing schedules, completing faculty reviews, FARs, and other paperwork, is being accomplished in a timely fashion. Providing stronger oversight of the college's programs will allow for an increase in such activities as assessment and continuous improvement. Organizational Structure -- Review organizational structure on an on going basis in order to assess how to respond to growth. Goal 1 -- The College will provide a quality educational experience for its students.Program Reviews -- Programs with more than 40 majors will complete biennial Program Reviews, targeting 1-2 learning outcomes. Programs with fewer than 40 majors will complete Program Reviews on a 3 or 4 year cycle.Program Reviews -- 100% of programs will complete the Program Review in a timely way. Approximately 6-10 programs will complete Program Reviews in a given year.Program Reviews -- Assessment of student learning will be used to determine areas of strength and areas that need improvement within academic programs; results will guide curricular and other changes to academic programs to ensure continuous improvement.Program Reviews -- to be completed by February 1, using direct and indirect measures from Spring, Summer, and Fall in the previous year. Goal 1 -- The college will provide a quality educational experience for its students. Seven Year Program Reviews -- Long term program reviews will be completed as determined by the state. Seven Year Program Reviews -- 100% of programs will complete Seven Year Program Reviews in a timely way. Seven Year Program Reviews -- Long term reviews will be used to describe the state of a program, including an analysis of how the annual program reviews have led to the improvement of learning, an analysis of the way in which the program has offered opportunities to meet the ALCs, and an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Seven Year Program Reviews -- Will be completed as follows: Feb 04: Mathematics (Completed) June 04: History (Completed) June 05: Art, Theatre, Spanish (Completed) June 06: No Reviews due June 07: Environmental Studies (BA), Biology (BA), Communication (BA) (Completed) June 08: No reviews are due. June 09: English (BA), Marine Science (BA) June 10: Psychology (BA) June 11: Anthropology (BA), Biotechnology (BS), Environmental Science (MS), History (BA), Mathematics (BA), Music (BA) Goal 1 -- The College will provide a quality educational experience for its students. Academic Learning Compacts (ALCs) -- ALCs will be developed and reviewed by the Program Review Team and then revised. ALCs will include Learning Outcomes, methods for Assessment of Students, and methods for Program Assessment that will be used to validate the individual Student Assessments. Academic Learning Compacts -- 100% of programs will complete an Academic Learning Compact, which will be reviewed and approved by the Program Review Team. Academic Learning Compacts -- Faculty will work to develop, revise, and finalize ALCs. Academic Learning Compacts: As the Program Review Team completes their review of ALCs, faculty in programs will work to revise and finalize ALCs. Goals 1 and 2 -- The College will provide a quality educational experience for its students. General Education -- Working with the General Education Director, faculty in CAS will provide assistance as requested to develop learning outcomes and assessment strategies for the General Education Program and to participate in the assessment and review of General Education. General Education Review -- Faculty will participate as requested to work towards defining the philosophy and goals of General Education at FGCU, along with refining specific learning outcomes and refining and implementing assessment strategies. General Education Review -- Because over 95% of the General Education Program is taught in the College of Arts and Sciences, the faculty in the College will participate in the oversight and administration of the General Education Curriculum. Additionally, because the General Education Program provides the foundation for all majors at FGCU, a strong program will increase student learning in key skill areas (such as critical thinking, effective communication, and collaborative learning) and provide a foundation in essential content areas. General Education Review -- Faculty will participate as requested in the development, review, and refinement of the General Education Program.