First Annual Implementation Progress
Report
Progress on:
Progress on Objective 1
Become a Top 50 Public University
and a top 100 Research University
Strategic Plan Goals 1,4,5,6,7
Improving the six-year graduation rate
(See Tables OIS.1-OIS.10.)
-The UMaine six-year graduation rates show general improvement with time
(Table OIS.1), to the latest figure of 59% for the Fall 2001 cohort.
(The figure of 60% for the Fall 1997 cohort was somewhat of an anomaly,
having jumped from the Fall 1996 cohort's figure of 54%. The Fall 1997
cohort was smaller, and much higher in mean SAT, than other cohorts.)
-The trend in six-year graduation rates is generally positive for the
College of Business, Public Policy and Health (BPPH), the
College of
Education and Human Development (EHD) and the
College of Engineering
(Tables OIS.2,
OIS.3,
OIS.4), although somewhat uneven for the
College of
Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) and the
College of Natural Sciences,
Forestry and Agriculture (NSFA) (Tables
OIS.5 and
OIS.6).
-Although the
Explorations Program's six-year graduation rates (Table
OIS.7) are lower than those for the five colleges, the more significant
observation is the large difference between "directs" and "redirects"
(Tables OIS.8 and
OIS.9). The most recent six-year graduation rates have
been in the mid-50s for "directs," in contrast to the mid-30s for
"redirects."
-Six-year graduation rates are somewhat higher for females than for
males (Table OIS.10; this table shows a similar difference for four-year
graduation rates).
Additional info from college reports
-The College of Engineering is working on its admissions process as a
first step to improving the graduation rate.
Improving the first year retention rate
(See Tables OIS.1- OIS.9.)
-Retention rates are rather stable for the institution as a whole:
generally 78% to 80% (Table
OIS.1).
-BPPH Retention rates are somewhat uneven and a bit lower (Table
OIS.2);
and EHD, Engineering, and NSFA are generally higher (Tables
OIS.3,
OIS.4, and
OIS.6).
-Explorations retention rates are uneven (Table
OIS.7), although these
rates have been consistently in the low 70s for the last three
cohorts—lower than for the institution as a whole. Retention rates are
always lower for "redirects" than for "directs" (Tables
OIS.8 and
OIS.9).
Additional info from college reports
-In the College of Engineering, the Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering achieved its highest first-year retention in five
years. The college average is also at its highest level.
-Honors College students continue to be retained at a higher rate than
the overall population, even after controlling for standardized test
scores and high school performance.
Increasing the number of doctoral students and postdoctoral research
associates at UMaine
(See Tables OIS.11 - OIS.17.)
Enrolled Doctoral Students
-The number of enrolled UMaine doctoral students has consistently
increased from 380 in Fall 2003 to 467 in Fall 2007 (Table
OIS.11). This
represents a 23% increase in enrolled doctoral students
institution-wide.
-Across years, males and females alike are well represented in the
UMaine doctoral population, although the increase is markedly more
consistent for males (Table
OIS.11).
-The four doctorate-producing colleges—EDH, Engineering, LAS, and NSFA—each
show a generally consistent increase in enrolled doctoral students over
these five years (Table
OIS.11).
-EDH shows markedly more female doctoral students over these five years
(Table OIS.11).
-Engineering shows markedly more male doctoral students over these five
years (Table OIS.11). However, this difference is lessening: In Fall
2007, there are almost twice as many female doctoral students in
Engineering (16) than there were in Fall 2003 (9). (Table
OIS.14 shows
how each department in Engineering contributes to this trend.)
-LAS and NSFA show a generally balanced representation of males and
females across years at the college level (Table
OIS.11). As one would
expect, there is considerable variability in this regard among
departments within each of these two colleges (Tables
OIS.15 and
OIS.16).
Post-Doctoral Research Associates
-The number of post-docs was rather stable from Fall 2003 to Fall 2007
(16-18 post-docs), although Fall 2006 was somewhat higher (22).
Post-docs reside largely in Engineering, LAS, and NSFA (Table
OIS.17).
Additional info from college reports
- The College of Education and Human Development is proposing the
development of two new PhD programs as well as transitioning, where
appropriate, from an EdD degree to a PhD degree. These programs and
changes should increase the quantity and quality of doctoral students in
the College.
Systematically addressing recruitment and retention of highly
qualified and diverse faculty.
-The Office of Equal Opportunity has granted several faculty search
waivers based on UMaine's partner accommodation policy. Most of the
positions were tenure eligible and while others were for lecturers.
These opportunity hires will enhance the University of Maine and bring
diversity to the curriculum and to the campus.
-The Office of Equal Opportunity hired a research associate to conduct a
study focused on the retention of female faculty at the University of
Maine. It is expected that the report will be completed this year.
Other achievements toward top 50 status
-There has been an increase of 24% in National Science
Foundation-calculated research expenditures for 2006 (latest data
available). The total amount is $93.2M, which begins to approximate that
of the 100th position in publicly funded research institutions. Areas of
strength are engineering (particularly composites and advanced
materials), environmental sciences (oceanography), and life sciences
(agriculture).
-Fogler Library worked on a contract to acquire to ScienceDirect during
the summer of 2007, with access to the full-text online journals
beginning Fall 2007. This was made possible thanks to annual funding
from the University of Maine System, the University of Maine, and the
University of Southern Maine. The ScienceDirect license will provide
access to faculty, staff and students at all campuses through the end of
2011.
-The Maine Business School was ranked for the first time in 2006 by
US News and World Report at the 150th spot.
Higher academic standards for nursing, leading to improved success rate
on the Nursing Licensing Exam (NCLEX): the pass rate in December was
over 90%, and with half of the May graduating class confirmed, the pass
rate so far is 100%. It is expected that they will attain their 95% pass
rate goal. The national pass rate is 84%.
-The School of Policy and International Affairs held two high profile,
international conferences—one in cooperation with the National Defense
University (NDU) in Washington D.C. and the other with the Emirates
Center for Strategic Studies Research (ECSSR). There are two edited
books forthcoming from these conferences. SPIA has an agreement with
both NDU and ECSSR to engage in an additional conference with each of
them as a partner, and the Naval Post Graduate School as a result of
these meetings wishes to co-sponsor a conference with UMaine.
-The College of Education and Human Development has instituted higher
admissions standards for undergraduates, resulting in a stronger
applicant pool and greater interest in UMaine among the best students in
high schools. The athletic training curriculum- based program is
attracting very strong students who want to study at UMaine because of
the new Wes Jordan Complex and our Division I athletics programs. The
college continues to bring nationally known scholars to campus as
Shibles Visiting Professors.
-Honors College students won the following national competitions:
Two Goldwater Scholarships (one in NSFS and one double major in CLAS and
NSFA), one Udall Scholarship (double major in CLAS and NSFA), and one
Fulbright Fellowship (CLAS).
-College of Liberal Arts & Sciences CLAS graduate students were awarded
postdoctoral positions at Los Alamos National Laboratory and Oxford
University.
-A 2007 graduate of the College of Engineering and former President of
the Student Government has been elected as the sole winner of the 2007
Alton T. Zerby and Carl T. Koerner Outstanding Electrical or Computer
Engineering Student Award, given to the top electrical or computer
engineering student in the U.S.
-A researcher in the School of Forest Resources received two prestigious
awards: The Gottschalk Award given by the Forest Products Society in
recognition of those who serve the society with distinction and
dedication, and the Outstanding Alumni Award from the College of
Forestry at Oregon State University.
-A Libra Professor in Earth Sciences and the Climate Change Institute
received the first-ever Medal of Excellence in Antarctic Research. This
honor was bestowed by a committee of his peers gathered from more than
40 nations.
-A Food Science and Nutrition faculty member was named a Senior
Fulbright Specialist for 2007-2012, as was a faculty member in Modern
Languages and Classics.
-The chair-elect of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents is a
researcher in the School of Marine Sciences. This organization
represents 60 scientific federations and more than 1.4 million
scientists with the goal of supporting science education and fostering
wise science policy.
-A faculty member in the School of Economics received the Steven M.
Teutsch Prevention Effectiveness Program Appreciation Award, from the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
-The graduate programs in Plant Soil and Environmental Science were
ranked 5th nationally based on faculty scholarly activity. Academic
Analytics placed our graduate programs in agronomy and crop science in
the top tier with giants such as Cornell, University of Illinois
Champaign-Urbana and the University of California Davis.
-In the fall of 2006, the Dept. of Earth Sciences was honored by the
National Science Foundation as one of the top 100 geosciences
departments in the United States.
