Society of American Foresters Committee on Accreditation 5400 Grosvenor Lane Bethesda, Maryland (301)

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1 Society of American Foresters Committee on Accreditation 5400 Grosvenor Lane Bethesda, Maryland (301) Committee on Accreditation Summary Findings and Action New Mexico Highlands University 2013 Initial Candidacy: 2008 Current Candidate Degree Programs: Forestry: Forest Management and Wildland Fire Concentrations, Forestry Major leading to the Bachelor of Science degree. Candidacy Expires: Review: Forestry: Initial accreditation of the Forest Management and Wildland Fire Concentrations, Forestry Major, leading to the Bachelor of Science degree. INTRODUCTION A Society of American Foresters (SAF) Visiting Team was invited to New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU) on April 16-18, 2013 to review the undergraduate Forestry degree program in the Department of Natural Resources Management (NRM), College of Arts & Sciences. Candidacy was initially granted in Progress reports were filed in 2009, 2010, 2011, and In each instance the reports were accepted and candidacy continued through The following summary findings and action by the SAF Committee on Accreditation (COA) are based upon a review of the NMHU self-evaluation report, supplemental materials supplied by the faculty during the visit, the visiting team s June 2013 report, the NMHU written response to that report, and oral comments provided to the COA by Dr. David Hacker, Department Chair and Dr. David Newman, chair of the visiting team. SUMMARY FINDINGS STANDARD I: FORESTRY PROGRAM MISSION, GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES NMHU was first established as New Mexico Normal School and became New Mexico Highlands University in 1941, as it expanded its role beyond teacher education. Today, Highlands University in Las Vegas offers graduate and undergraduate programs in arts and sciences, business, education, and social work. The mission of NMHU is built upon a strong desire to provide quality education to serve the students and the constituents of State, to maintain and improve on a strong foundation for research, and to provide extension and outreach programs to all the people of the state. Page 1 of 7

2 The mission of the Forestry program in the NRM in collaboration with other programs in the college and university is to engage in teaching, research and university and public service in Forestry. The Forestry teaching program seeks to reflect the uniqueness of a regional public university combining education, research and service for the forestry profession. The undergraduate degree program is designed to educate broad based, technologically proficient, ecologically aware forest managers, providing them with a background sufficient to enable them to begin a professional career in forest management in the private sector or public agencies. Being part of a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), the Forestry program seeks to address the special need of capable students who as a group are underrepresented in the forestry profession. The mission, goals and objectives indicate a connection to SAF Accreditation Standards; the role of professional forestry in meeting diverse and changing environmental needs and values; and the professional and ethical behavior necessary to manage and use forest resources for the benefit of society. It is suggested that all public printed materials and web site materials reflect the Forestry Program mission statement. The specific mission of the Forestry program within the Department is clearly defined and consistent with the Department, and the Department mission and the Forestry program primary goal statement are found on the Department home page. The objectives for each of the Forestry concentrations are not presented in the NMHU Self-Evaluation Report. Although the concentration descriptions do appear on the Department home page, the objectives for each concentration do not. The standard is met. STANDARD II: CURRICULUM Accreditation is sought for the Bachelor of Science in Forestry concentrations in Forest Management and Wildland Fire offered by the College of Arts and Sciences at the New Mexico Highlands University. Neither the Forestry degree nor the two concentrations have been previously accredited by the SAF. The Forest Management concentration currently requires 128 semester credit hours. The Wildland Fire concentration currently requires semester credit hours. Curriculum and course revisions are an on-going activity. Small class sizes and the camaraderie among faculty and students foster an active learning environment. The small size of the Forestry faculty forces some required forestry courses to alternate-year scheduling. This lack of timely required course offerings creates extended time to graduation and added educational costs. The Department Chair responded to this issue in his response letter to the COA indicating that the NRM faculty is currently revising the curricula to streamline program requirements and reduce the number of required credit hours. The Department has also responded to the concern regarding the logical progression of courses with the proposed curriculum revisions. These proposed curricula now represent a logical progression to foster analytical and critical reasoning skills, including systematic problem solving and decision-making. These curriculum revisions must be approved by NMHU Academic Affairs before they go into effect. Page 2 of 7

3 General Education The NMHU Pre-Core, Proficiency Courses and Core Curriculum are required of all NMHU students. The NMHU Board of Regents requires all Bachelor of Science degrees to include calculus to fulfill the mathematics general education requirement. Each of the general education components is covered and distribution of credit hours for the Forestry curricula is summarized in Table 1. Table 1. General Education Requirements: (semester hours) Communications Science and Social Sciences and Mathematics Humanities Total Credit Hours for Courses Required in All Curricular Options Professional Education The distribution of credit hours across the four professional forestry areas, per the updated B-1 document submitted May 1, 2013, is summarized in Table 2. Table 2. Professional Forest Resource Education: (semester hours) Ecology and Biology Measurement of Forest Resources Management of Forest Resources Policy, Economics, and Administration Total Credit Hours for Courses Required by Curricular Options Forest Management Wildland Fire The distribution is weighted somewhat to ecology and biology, but each concentration has a reasonable distribution of required credit hours across the 3 remaining professional forestry areas. Opportunities to address the Policy, Economics and Administration were responded to in the response to the visiting team report. The forestry curricula provide a variety of educational experiences. There is excellent fieldwork exposure in the program with the Forestry 200 Forestry Field Practices course introducing fieldwork early on in a student s academic career. At least 10 other courses in each concentration list fieldwork as significant content. The teaching of professional ethics is approached head-on through Forestry 426 Professional Ethics (1 credit) where the required text is SAF s Ethics Guide. STANDARD III: FORESTRY PROGRAM ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION The forestry program is coordinated and administered in the College of Arts and Sciences by the Department of Natural Resources Management (NRM). The department is comprised of the Forestry and Geology disciplines. Both of these disciplines offer academic programs that lead to a BS in their respective fields. The NRM Department is administered by a Chair who reports to the Dean of the Page 3 of 7

4 College of Arts and Sciences. The Dean, who is a member of the NRM faculty, was appointed Interim Dean in The administrative structure of the program is comparable to that for other professional degree programs in the College and University. The NRM Department Chair is directly responsible for the NMHU Forestry program and serves as the administrative and academic officer for the department. NRM faculty and staff report to the Department Chair, and he is responsible for: budgets; faculty appointments and evaluations; reports; development and strengthening of undergraduate and graduate teaching, research, extension programs, and faculty member competence within the department; construction of curricula; cooperation with and assistance to other departments; departmental morale; and contribution to the achievement of University diversity and equal opportunity goals. The Forestry degree was granted candidacy status for accreditation in 2008 and the department has been taking significant steps over the intervening years to be able to be considered for accreditation. They have hired several faculty members and as a result, the faculty structure is now fairly junior, with half of the faculty being in the department for less than 10 years. Although the program s development is still ongoing, the improvement in departmental organization with strong emphasis on teaching is acknowledged by faculty, students, alumni, and prospective employers. Current lack of assessment of curricular outcomes was responded to by the Department Chair in his response letter to the COA. With the help of the Institutional Effectiveness and Research Office, the development of learning outcomes assessments for all forestry courses is being revised to include both individual course assessments as well as a final exit exam for all graduating seniors. STANDARD IV: FACULTY The NRM department offers two degree programs each with multiple options: BS in Forestry Forestry, Wildland Fire options; BS in Environmental Geology Environmental Geology, Environmental Science, Water Resources options. The number of full-time-equivalent NRM faculty, plus those who directly support the forestry teaching program, but have appointments in other departments or in the College of Arts and Sciences, is currently eight. The SAF Accreditation standard is: The educational program for which accreditation is sought must show that a minimum of eight full-time equivalent (FTE) faculty members who participate in the program have their primary academic responsibilities in the forestry program and report to the responsible academic head. In his response to the visiting team report, the Department Chair noted plans for increasing faculty numbers within the Department. Faculty members received their education at a variety of institutions and represent a diversity of disciplines. Several have work experience outside academia. Department faculty help to maintain the visibility of the department by serving on university committees, developing programs such as ARMAS, and conducting and participating in continuing education programs and conferences, and public service activities. Most faculty members have published in peer reviewed or other journals in the past five years and presented research at conferences. Page 4 of 7

5 Faculty members generally teach in their areas of expertise, or allied disciplines. In addition to scholarship and research expectations, each NRM faculty member is expected to teach an average of 12 credit hours per semester, which is higher than at any SAF-accredited professional forestry program. If one member is on research release or sabbatical, the remaining members must take on additional teaching responsibilities or adjuncts must be hired. With a minimum number of faculty positions, this can create short-term imbalances in scholarly and service activities relative to teaching and may occasionally lead to faculty members teaching outside their area of disciplinary expertise. Although faculty salaries are low compared to other forestry faculties in the US, faculty retention is strong, with six of the professors contributing to teaching in the forestry degree program having been with NMHU for seven years or more. Three positions have been added within the past four years. The NRM faculty shows genuine interest in teaching and student success. The faculty is held in high regard by the students. The faculty members work together as a team to make the best use of their expertise, mentor their colleagues, and develop responsive curricula. They encourage students to obtain practical experience and assist by providing internships and volunteer opportunities through their research projects. With modern computer labs and computing software, there are adequate opportunities to use technology in the delivery of courses and as an integral part of instruction when it is appropriate. The reasonable proximity of outdoor laboratories is an added benefit. STANDARD V: STUDENTS The Department encourages student participation in professional societies within the forestry profession. Students actively participate in the NMHU student chapter of the Society of American Foresters (SAF) and attend state and national SAF meetings. Currently, there are 61 students enrolled in the undergraduate forestry program. Enrollment has increased nearly 40 percent in the past three years. The university projects continued growth of nearly 30 percent through the academic year. The forestry program is served by the University Recruitment Office. There are opportunities for increasing recruitment efforts through improvement of web and social media resources that target prospective students. Current students are enthusiastic ambassadors and could be used to strengthen recruitment efforts. The demographics of the student population in the forestry program are diverse in both cultural and gender diversity. Within the undergraduate student population, 69 percent are Hispanic, 15 percent are White, non-hispanic, 11 percent are Native Americans, and 4 percent are African American. Twenty percent of the undergraduate students are female. The Department takes a proactive role in the retention of students, participating in the three major retention initiatives at NMHU: Early Alert, First Year Experience, and developmental courses. NMHU has a wide range of student support programs to address these issues and directly improve student success and retention. NMHU also provides a wide range of career counseling services to students. In addition, each student in the Forestry program is assigned a forestry faculty academic advisor and the faculty is committed to providing clear academic advice as well as making themselves available for consultation on the classes they teach and other professional issues. Page 5 of 7

6 The Department has entered into numerous partnerships with a variety of forestry and natural resource organizations to provide scholarship, internship, and post-graduation employment opportunities, which results in a high placement rate after graduation. The standard is met. STANDARD VI: PARENT INSTITUTION SUPPORT Overall, facilities provided at NMHU are very impressive. For a small college that is over 100 years old, the buildings are extremely modern and well maintained. The University recently constructed a new student center and the entire campus appears quite modern and accessible. There are classrooms, computer/gis labs, and research/teaching labs in the newly built Ivan Hilton Science Technology Building and the Lora Shields Science Building. The former is the home for the NRM Department. The library is an easily accessible, modern facility. The available literature resources including books and forest resources journals are comprehensive and easily searchable. No information on the Departmental budget was presented. As such, it is difficult to determine the budget trend, but declining state support for higher education in New Mexico (as at other state institutions nationwide) was identified as a clear and present danger to the Forestry program in the coming years. However, the Vice President for Academic Affairs appears supportive of the financing of the NRM department and has indicated support for increasing faculty lines in the Department. At present, NMHU receives no McIntire-Stennis funds, which could benefit the forestry program by providing funding that would support faculty and graduate student research. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS Since becoming a candidate for accreditation in 2008, the Department of Natural Resources Management and the University have made great strides in improving the quality of their Forestry program and taking the steps needed to achieve SAF accreditation. The positive response to the visiting team report and the planning that is underway for curricular changes to provide a course sequence that will build professional competencies in a more logical progression, development and implementation of an outcomes assessment to insure the professional competencies are being delivered within the curriculum, and increasing department faculty lines that will encompass further expertise in forestry is commended. COMMITTEE ACTION The SAF Committee on Accreditation grants provisional accreditation, under the forestry standard, of the Forestry degree program leading to a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry with concentrations in Forest Management and Wildland Fire as administered by the Department of Natural Resources Management, College of Arts and Sciences at New Mexico Highlands University, effective January 1, 2014 through December 31, Page 6 of 7

7 Provisional accreditation requires that the Department continue to progress toward full accreditation by: implementing the planned curricular changes that will result in a logical course progression and offering of courses frequently enough that students do not routinely have to delay graduation because of a course delay; and increasing FTE and forestry related expertise within the Department of Natural Resources Management. The SAF Committee on Accreditation requests a Progress Report be submitted by July 31, 2015 documenting implemented changes to the program. Continued accreditation beyond 2018 requires a full accreditation review, including submission of a selfevaluation report and on-site review by a visiting team not later than the spring semester of the academic year. The above summary findings and action by the SAF Committee on Accreditation are based upon a review of the NMHU self-evaluation report, supplemental materials supplied by the faculty during the visit, the visiting team s June 2013 report, the NMHU written response to that report, and oral comments provided to the COA by Dr. David Hacker, Department Chair, and Dr. David Newman, chair of the visiting team. By: Date: 12 December 2013 Steve Daniels, Chair Page 7 of 7