Responses

Hi everyone,

Jamestown College is my selected institution.  My program evaluation has yielded three areas of recommendation for continuous improvement.  It is suggested that five more sections of introductory-level engineering classes are added into the curriculum in order to improve graduation career prospects.  According to the text, “in 2012, 88 percent of respondents to the freshman survey conducted by the Cooperative Institutional Research Program indicated that “to be able to get a better job” was a very important reason for deciding to go to college …” (Banta, 2015, p. 145) and so we see that career prospects are important to students.  It is recommended that the Mathematics department roll out a strategic enrollment plan to increase the number of women and underrepresented minority groups to the major.  Lastly, it is recommended that the College create a stronger workforce development program by introducing an applied project, “…allowing students to practice problem-solving skills, communication skills, and if they are working in a group, teamwork skills as well” (Banta, 2015, p. 159). 

It will cost an average of $62,000 per year to hire a Ph.D. level Engineering adjunct professor to teach five sections of 100-level Engineering courses.  We have learned in previous modules that careers in Mathematics are looking for some working knowledge of Engineering and the curriculum, as it stands right now, does not offer that.       

The recommendation to increase enrollment is to specifically recruit women and underrepresented minority groups to the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics majors, also known as STEM.  Using the model described in Information Systems Education Journal, this growth in enrollment should come from a combination of faculty outreach to the community through classroom visits to community colleges, and by appointing these newly recruited students to a formal grant-funded “scholars” program.  My recommendation would be for Jamestown College to hire a contract grant writer to the Mathematics program for $35,000 per year with no benefits.  This grant writer should work to secure a grant from the National Science Foundation to fund a “scholars” program which will, “provide guidance and continued support to women and underrepresented minorities from the beginning of their experiences in higher education until they reach their goal of a career in science, technology, and mathematics” (Tupper, D.H., 2005, p. 4). 

Enhancing workforce development through an applied project is recommended for the Mathematics major at Jamestown College.  “Because applied projects include a product or report that is shared with clients, clients are generally involved in project evaluation” (Banta, 2015, p. 159 ).  I believe that forming employer-partner relationships could be done by hosting some “lunch and learn” style events on campus, where employers would come to campus for faculty to present the offer of their students completing this type of final project for the selected employers. For the “lunch and learn” event, I would suggest that Dean Keogh, Dr. Randall, and two faculty members attend.  On the employer side, I would suggest inviting three local employers to campus and request that each employer send a Human Resources representative, along with a department supervisor and assistant department supervisor, for a total of nine external attendees.  Hosting this on campus catering event will cost approximately $123 without gratuity (Fire Works Catering, n.d.).  For data collection, it is recommended that the College purchase Qualtrics and have the students evaluate themselves and have the employer evaluate the students.  

For all of my figures of the cost to implement this program evaluation, please see my spreadsheet.

Program Evaluation Line Item Budget

References