Building Strong Geoscience Departments:

A Workshop Report

Cathy Manduca, Carleton College

Heather Macdonald, Geoff Feiss, College of William and Mary

Randy Richardson, University of Arizona

With NSF funding (03-31930)

Supporting individual departments

Strengthening the geosciences as a whole

•Promoting communication and discussion

•Sharing information and resources

•Enabling collective action

Establishing interestStarting a discussion

Characterizing success

• Feb 05 Workshop at William and Mary • Survey of geoscience department chairs• Professional society sessions/town

meeting• Advisory Board meeting

First Order Outcomes

• Much in common that could learn from one another

• Time of challenge and opportunity• Collective action could be very helpful

Key Themes• A part of the institution: being central, effective

metrics/reporting, forging strategic partnerships,

• Exciting research opportunities: interdisciplinary

programs

• Teaching students: Program design, curriculum, mentoring,

professional development, student research, assessment,

accreditation

• Beyond the academic program: alumni relations, being

part of the community, K-12 outreach

• Developing a strong team: leadership development,

teamwork, planning, mergers/splits

• Recruitment, development, and retention: of

students, faculty, and staff

Sharing Information

•Letter to heads and chairs

•Professional society sessions

•Website: serc.carleton.edu/departments

http://serc.carleton.edu/departments

Advisory Board RecommendationsA Program for Departments to• Foster discussion and sharing around topics of high

interest to geoscience departments. • Collect, develop and disseminate resources that

assist departments in addressing the challenges and

opportunities they face • Foster improved leadership and team building within

geoscience departments and enhance their ability to

behave strategically.

Advisory Board RecommendationsWith Long-term Goals To: • improve leadership capacity of the profession broadly

defined• help geoscience departments/units thrive internally

and as members of their institutions• promote the ability of geoscience to contribute to

society and enhance recognition that geoscience is fundamental to society and academia

• develop longitudinal thinking about and approaches to the education of geoscientists

Advisory Board RecommendationsAnd several program elements• Thematic workshops on topics of high interest• Information gathering via interviews, surveys and

sessions• Community viewpoints developed by advisory

board• Continued website development• Training of consultants• Collaboration with professional societies

Next Steps

• Prepare proposal• Continue sharing and discussion

• this session and its poster session• website

• Build resource collection via contributions• Resources• Department profiles

• E-mail discussion list

serc.carleton.edu/departments

cmanduca@carleton.edu

Characteristics of Thriving Departments • Dynamic and upwardly mobile, managing change• Degrees are highly valued by students, institution,

employers• Student centered with loyal alumni• Know the rules and play by them

• Communicate excellence• Balance research, teaching and service• Students meet stated goals• Strong enrollments

• Congenial and collaborative• Diverse, balanced, happy faculty and staff