The primary role of the department is to provide quality general education courses for the arts and sciences and lower-division science courses for transfer by science majors to a baccalaureate program. Typical general education and transfer courses are CHEM 100 and 121, PHYS 100 and 151, GEOL 101, ENV 100, and BIOL 190. This role is currently being expanded by offering upperdivision courses for GBC’s bachelor’s degrees where needed, both for general education and for the needs of specific programs. This includes regularly offering an upper-division physical science course (AMS 320) for the BAS program, and rotating between the physical science and biology in offering the upper-division Integrative Science Seminar (INT 369). Coursework for a proposed natural resource management degree may be offered in the upper division, including courses in the areas of geomorphology and nonrenewable natural resources. The department also offers key pre-nursing biology courses: BIOL 190, 223, 224, and 251.

Another role of the department is to provide courses required for the needs of technical-vocational programs. In the past, PHYS 100 has been used for this purpose, but a new technical physics course, PHYS 107, has been developed and is now being offered regularly. The department also provides courses of more advanced or divergent nature, for general interest or professional development. These include special topics courses on a range of subjects, usually in geology or mining.

Faculty. The qualifications of the physical science faculty have been upgraded significantly. Ten years ago, there were two full-time faculty (both with master’s degrees) for all of the sciences. Now there are two full-time faculty with PhDs in physical science. One has a PhD in physics and covers physics and chemistry courses. One has a PhD in geology and covers earth science and physics; both collaborate on seminars. Also, a full time faculty member has been present in Winnemucca to help deliver chemistry courses to the centers outside of Elko. The number of biology faculty has also increased. There are now three full-time tenure track instructors, all with master’s degrees in biology. One of the three teaches at the Winnemucca branch campus. The Elko faculty alternate the curriculum schedule in such a way that each instructor is teaching a different set of courses each year, a practice designed to maintain instructional “freshness.”

There is an excellent core of physical science adjunct faculty who are invaluable for teaching courses, especially outside of Elko. They are qualified, reliable, and experienced. On the other hand, it is extremely difficult to recruit masters qualified instructors for biology courses in Elko and throughout the service area. The difference in recruiting is probably explained by the mining industry’s preponderance of professionals trained in the physical sciences (e.g., geology) who live in the region. There are simply more physical science graduates in northeastern Nevada than biology graduates.

FACULTY

Science faculty are involved directly with student advising. All students majoring in a field of science are encouraged to visit an adviser every semester to select their courses. One faculty from the science area also sits on the Teacher Education Committee. One of the science faculty has also been heavily involved in presenting the college student orientation at the beginning of each semester. The science faculty has demonstrated recent leadership through the work of Dr. McFarlane as the prime mover in the general education revision and as temporary lead faculty for the BAS program. Professor Peter Bagley is serving as the chair of the Faculty Senate for 2002-2003.

Students. Enrollment in physical science courses for general education has shifted in the last six years from less than 50 percent to over 60 percent of the total. Science transfer courses have remained about the same at about 12-14 percent, and vocational-related courses have dropped from as high as 16 percent in the past to 11 percent in the last year. Enrollment in “other” courses (general interest, professional development, etc.) has dropped from almost 30 percent six years ago to less than 15 percent in the last year.

Enrollment in biology courses has increased by 50-75 percent since the last accreditation study. For example, enrollment in the core biology courses (BIOL 100, 190, 191, 223, 224, 251) has increased from 183 students in 1996-1997 to 273 students in 2001-02. Nursing and elementary education students comprise a major percentage of students taking the core courses.

Resources. The facilities for teaching all sciences at GBC have improved over the last several years. A storage room has been constructed at the back of Lundberg Hall for better and safer chemical storage. This has, in turn, opened up more storage space for other equipment and supplies for the physical sciences. The sciences have acquired more equipment, especially physics, and now have more space to store it. The new microbiology lab in the High Tech Center is an excellent facility. Moving this lab from Lundberg Hall opened more space for the chemistry lab. In the future, it would be more efficient for instruction if separate facilities could be found for physics and the earth sciences, but space is adequate at the present. There has generally been an adequate budget for purchasing equipment and supplies in the physical sciences, although keeping up-to-date computers is hampered by a system policy that prevents the purchase of computers with departmental equipment funds.

The Biology Department currently uses the older lab in Lundberg Hall for the freshman courses and the new lab in the High Tech Center for the sophomore level courses. New microscopes were purchased in 2001 for microbiology and human anatomy and physiology. New computers and software are needed to replace outdated software and computers.

Another important personnel upgrade was adding the position of laboratory manager two years ago, a full-time professional staff member whose duties are lab management and lab prep. The lab manager works with physical science and biology professors, though the priority is biology. However, the service has been especially helpful for chemistry, with inventory and disposal control for the chemicals. The lab manager is also responsible for maintaining live cultures and the coordination of labs outside of Elko.

Significant Changes
Enrollment trends. There has been a definite shift in courses that are offered in the physical sciences at GBC over the last several years, shifts that have largely resulted from a downturn in the mining industry and the beginning of GBC’s baccalaureate degree programs. The drop in enrollment related to the decline in the local mining industry has been offset by increases in enrollment in the liberal arts-oriented courses, relating directly to the new four-year programs. The total enrollment in the physical sciences has remained relatively flat over the last six years.

The major change has been a heavier emphasis on the delivery of general education courses. PHYS 100 now serves as a program requirement for the elementary education program; the acceptance of the GEOL 101-102 sequence as an option in the elementary education science endorsement has made Historical Geology, GEOL 102 a viable course for the first time. The department has also begun offering Technical Physics, PHYS 107 regularly for vocational areas, providing an option for these programs other than PHYS 100 (oriented toward the liberal arts). There is now an upper-division physical science course (AMS 320) for the BAS program as a program requirement. As mentioned, the physical science and biology professors rotate in offering integrative seminars.

Part of the change in course offerings in the physical sciences is that some courses that used to provide strong enrollments rarely can be taught now due to low enrollment. These include Rocks and Minerals, GEOL 130; Basic Prospecting, GEOL 135; Geology of Nevada, GEOL 201; Basic Ore Deposits, GEOL 210; Introduction to Mining, MINE 101; Mining Law, MINE 251; and Environmental Law, MINE 253. These reflect a general decline in the local mining industry. This department also oversaw a mining technology program (AAS with laboratory and engineering technician emphases) as of the last accreditation visit, which was dropped because of low enrollment. This once successful program saturated the local market for these technicians.

Biology enrollment has significantly increased due primarily to the education bachelor’s degree, a robust number of students wanting to enter the nursing program, and an overall increase in general education students. Enrollment in the core courses, as mentioned, has increased 50 percent. There are some interesting and troubling dynamics in the courses. Failure to complete these courses remains a problem as each course loses 20-35 percent of enrolled students before the end of the course, with a particularly high rate of loss (32 percent) in Human Anatomy and Physiology I, BIOL 223. One example of correcting this dropout rate is the new requirement of BIOL 190 before a student can enroll in the more difficult BIOL 223. Because of the bachelor’s degree requirements, there has been a shift from BIOL 100 to BIOL190. But there is a failure to capture BIOL 190 non-majors for BIOL 191.

Another enrollment trend shown in the table below is toward more full-time students with declared science majors. The table also shows that nearly 60 percent of our declared science majors are female.

Design and implementation of curriculum. In Spring 2002, the Science Department reviewed its broad curricular goals. These four major goals were selected and are listed below:
• Students majoring in science fields will learn the principles of physical and life sciences to successfully transfer into upper-division bachelor’s programs.
• Students within applied fields will gain sufficient competency in scientific disciplines that principles can be used in technological applications.
• Students will acquire awareness and ability within the general education objectives, with a special emphasis on critical thinking.
• Students in GBC’s bachelor’s programs will acquire an interdisciplinary foundation in appropriate sciences to succeed in their chosen fields.
(Exhibit 2.33 contains sample student outcomes for these four broad goals.)

Student outcomes and evaluation. In addressing the expectations listed above, some of the science curriculum is being presented in a slightly different format than before. This is primarily because of the new general education objectives. All courses listed in the general education “list” must meet all of the general education objectives listed in the catalog. While maintaining the same standards for the presentation of science (e.g., using the scientific method), the courses now include elements relating to the social sciences, humanities, etc., including computational and strong communications components. Those courses counting toward general education requirements now include more outside reading and oral presentations. Determining the effectiveness of the general education courses in the physical sciences will be vital. However, early response from the students has been positive. They are putting out good effort and appreciate having topics that overlap into areas outside of science.

Another effect from the change in the general education format has been to focus on the delivery of fewer, higher quality courses. As a small college, GBC cannot afford to offer a large number of courses with small enrollments. The College is opting to put more students into fewer courses and maintaining high standards within those courses. The addition of new faculty with better qualifications is also strengthening the quality of the courses.

Analysis
There are major challenges teaching physical science at GBC. It is difficult to predict enrollment trends and which courses are going to attract enrollment. With the new general education objectives, it takes more time to prepare and evaluate work in these courses. Also, new upper-division courses require more time to prepare and evaluate to an even greater degree. Faculty workload does not take into consideration these factors, and faculty hit “burn-out” every semester. To cover the diversity of science courses needed for academic integrity, two physical science instructors teach within the departmental prefixes of astronomy, chemistry, geography, geology, physics, as well as the integrative seminars; in addition, both instructors back-fill their schedules with math courses. Similarly, the biology faculty carry a significant number of preparations, including standard lower-division courses as well as the new upper-division offerings in environmental science, integrative seminars, and, in the near future, a zoology course. The teaching loads have implications for future faculty recruiting. Attracting highly qualified instructors to Elko can be difficult in light of the work load and the wide range of courses that must be taught.

STRENGTHS
• Physical science instructors with the background to teach a range of topics, able to see the connections between and among the physical science disciplines.
• Biology faculty with broad experience and strong teaching background with the ability to teach a range of subjects successfully.
• Instructors not narrowly focused and driven by research, but participate in individual research on their own as a source of invigoration.
• Relatively small class sizes, allowing time for attention to individual students.
• Labs taught by the instructors, not teaching assistants.
• Instructors readily accessible for helping students.
• Improved facilities, particularly the new laboratory in the High Tech Center.

CHALLENGES
• Instructors sometimes strung out too thin by teaching too many topics, and not able to keep on top of all recent developments.
• The present work load hampers adequate preparation for upper-division courses.
• More lab/storage space is needed to separate physics from earth sciences.
• Computing capacity for department is not fully developed.
• Lack of adequate materials and equipment for biology.

RECOMMENDATIONS/ACTION ITEMS
• Adjust the workload policy and budgeting formula in light of the new mission for bachelor’s degrees.
• Acquire new space for a physics lab and the storage of equipment.
• Acquire more computers for use in all science labs.
• Increase funds for new equipment and computers for laboratory use.
• Increase the number of 300-400 level courses to accommodate the bachelor’s program needs.