Division: Math, Natural Science and Exercise
Science/Wellnes
Department: Earth Sciences
Director or Chair: Mark A. Goodman
Program Description: The Earth Sciences Department offers transfer courses in
geography, geology, meteorology, and oceanography. The department’s mix of
related disciplines offers General Education courses in both the physical and the
social sciences. All courses articulate with CSU and UC. Student enrollments are
particularly strong in Physical Geography and Oceanography and are expected
to grow. The department is committed to enhancing instruction by incorporating
the latest technology into the geography, geology, and oceanography curriculum,
in particular the field courses and labs, and to continue to develop new
application-oriented courses such as Geographic Information Systems and
Natural History of San Diego County. Looking ahead, the current course offerings
are expected to be maintained at least through the year 2010, but the department
expects to increase the number field sections, and offer new online and teacher
credentialling courses. Beginning in the Fall of 2005 as a result of new mandates
by the California State Office of Education, the department will begin to offer two
new courses: Earth Science and World Regional Geography. These courses are
designed for education majors in the teacher credentialing program at San Diego
State University.
Activities
Activity #1:
Mike Matherly, the department's senior geographer is retiring in June of 2005. It
is imperative to hire a replacement.
Benefits:
As a small department, this retirement--if left unstaffed--could lead to a significant
reduction in departmental course offerings. Obviously, hiring a replacement as
soon as possible will ensure that the quality and quantity of course offerings
available to students is maintained. Additionally, in order for the department to
grow a replacement is needed. As of this writing, we are unable to locate all of
the qualified part-time faculty we need to fill open positions--there are seven
unstaffed Fall 2005 Geography sections. (Some part-timers have refused our
offers in order to take higher paying positions at other colleges.) Failure to staff
these positions will result in NO benefit to students.
Requirements:
Curriculum Development? Y
Equipment? N
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Facilities? N
Marketing? N
Staffing – Classified? N
Staffing – Faculty? Y
Staff Development? N
Goals and Objectives: 4, 4.3
Activity #2:
Restore travel monies as a permanent line item in the budget ($6000.00).
Benefits:
Field classes are an essential component for any Earth Science departmental
offerings. Students will benefit greatly from the outdoor lab setting as they have
an opportunity to apply what they've learned in the classroom.
Requirements:
Curriculum Development? Y
Equipment? N
Facilities? N
Marketing? N
Staffing – Classified? N
Staffing – Faculty? N
Staff Development? N
Goals and Objectives: 6, 6.3
Activity #3:
Secure comparable office, workroom and storage spaces in the soon-to-be
refurbished 300 north building that allows the department to continue its
decades-long practice of keeping its faculty offices within conversational distance
of one another and connected by an ideal common workspace. If this is not
possible then the alternative is to remain in place (300-A).
Benefits:
The present departmental office/common workspace area setup is utilized as an
Earth Sciences student work center in which students can receive tutoring,
complete individual work projects and participate in review sessions. The
proximity of the student center workspace to the faculty offices allows for
immediate assistance to students in need. In addition the workspace houses the
departmental library, media archives, and equipment. Furthermore this space
serves as a staging area for our comprehensive field studies programs. The
office / workspace setup is vital in that it maintains the collaborative work
environment essential to the continued success of this department. I cannot
overemphasize the importance in maintaining our present department's layout--
this structure of being next to one another, having direct and immediate access
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to a common work space in conjuction with the personalities of the faculty create
THE ideal environment for a smooth running, active, up-to-date department.
When faculty continuously interact, information is shared--faculty grow and
students benefit!
Requirements:
Curriculum Development? N
Equipment? N
Facilities? Y
Marketing? N
Staffing – Classified? N
Staffing – Faculty? N
Staff Development? N
Goals and Objectives: 5, 5.3
Activity #4:
Hire a Earth Sciences lab/field course technician.
At present, the Earth Sciences department is the only science department
without a technician--an embarrassment. Over time our lab courses have evolved
so that they are academically more meaningful. This means that lab activities
have become more detailed, require greater set up and use more equipment
dependent and uses more high-tech equipment. Associated with this is an
increased maintenance of equipment. This is not a new problem. We have
managed so far due to the extra efforts of the Earth Sciences faculty and by
asking for and receiving help from the Physics and Chemistry departments.
However, with the retirement of our senior geographer (Mike Matherly)the
situation will become much more difficult. It is thus necessary to recruit and hire a
technician. If physics, chemistry, and biology have techs to set up labs and
maintain equipment, why don't we?
Benefits:
An Earth Sciences technician would set up labs, organize, store, clean and
maintain equipment. Additionally, this person could assist and tutor students in
lab and field courses.
Requirements:
Curriculum Development? Y
Equipment? Y
Facilities? N
Marketing? N
Staffing – Classified? Y
Staffing – Faculty? N
Staff Development? N
Goals and Objectives: 4, 4.1
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Activity #5:
Continue to upgrade and acquire lab and field course equipment (e.g. radiation
flux tower, new rock and mineral collection, new GIS software,
salinity/pH/temperature meters, etc.)
Benefits:
Curriculum in all Earth Sciences labs is transitioning from being mostly
\"worksheet\" driven to activities which emphasize the collection and
measurement and analysis of data, and the application of the scientific method.
Students in the field courses will benefit from instruction i the use of a more
diverse and technologically advanced array of instruments.
Requirements:
Curriculum Development? N
Equipment? Y
Facilities? N
Marketing? N
Staffing – Classified? N
Staffing – Faculty? N
Staff Development? N
Goals and Objectives: 1, 1.1
Additional Planning Activities
6. Work with the administration to find supplemental ways to fund field courses.
7. Provide faculty with opportunities to upgrade technical skills (e.g. move to new
version of GIS).
8. Find competent and qualified adjunct faculty.
Accomplishments
Accomplishment #1:
ASGC grant awarded to purchase Kestrel Pocket Weather Station--approximate
value of $300.00.
Goals and Objectives: 3, 3.6
Accomplishment #2:
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Received donation of extensive Earth Sciences materials / maps collection from
Payson Stevens, Ph.D.--approximate value of $4,800.00. (Dr. Stevens has more
material to donate to the department with an estimated value of $3,500.00.)
Goals and Objectives: 3, 3.1
Accomplishment #3:
Received a donation (minus shipping) from US Dept of Energy in the form of a
Thermal Anemometer--approximate value of $1000.00.
Goals and Objectives: 3, 3.1
Accomplishment #4:
New course offerings: GEOL 220, GEOL 170 series field trips, GEOL 160 series
field trips, GEOL 230, GEOL 104, GEOG 106.
Goals and Objectives: 1, 1.3
Accomplishment #5:
Gary Jacobson approved for sabbatical leave--produce an interactive real-time 3-
D geologic modeling of San Diego county.
Goals and Objectives: 4, 4.2
Accomplishment #6:
Stop wasting time filling out forms with predefined categories that don't make
sense!
Goals and Objectives: 0, 0
Accomplishment #7:
none
Goals and Objectives: 0, 0
Accomplishment #8:
none
Goals and Objectives: 0, 0
Accomplishment #9:
none
Goals and Objectives: 0, 0
Accomplishment 10:
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none
Goals and Objectives: 0, 0
Additional Accomplishments:
none
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