UPDATES FROM THE DEAN
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday season. As we get ready for a busy springsemester,belowaresomeadditionalupdates.
Ph.D.MaterialScience:TheproposaltoestablishthePhDprograminmaterialscienceisonthe agenda for the January 14, 2025 meeting We are very optimistic that the degree will be approved for a Fall, 2026 start The program will still require final approval by the SACSCOC whichwillnotbecompletedintimeforanearlierstart Thereisachancethata“soft”launchin spring,2026willbepossible,butitdependsonthelengthoftimeforapprovalbytheSACSCOC
New Faculty Lines: COSM has received three new faculty lines supported by growth in the incomingfreshmanstudents.Theselinesarefundedforthecurrentfiscalyearandwillsupport new lecturers in mathematics to ensure we have adequate capacity for the large incoming freshman classes. The target freshman class for Fall 2025 is 5,450 students. The positions will initially be filled as visiting instructors for Fall 2025 as we develop a longer term plan for conversiontopermanentlecturers.
Additionally, we have received preliminary approval for a new faculty line in biomedical sciences to support the creation of the Ph.D. program and other strategic initiatives in the biomedicalsciences.Thislinewillbefundedinfiscalyear2025-2026withasearchexpected tostartinFall,2025.
Enrollment Updates: As of Friday, January 3, COSM’s student credit hour production for the spring semester is up 76% as compared to spring 2024 - up more than 4,000 SCH The headcount of students in COSM majors is up by 88% as compared to spring 2024 At the moment, we have slightly over 1,600 COSM majors nearing the level of Spring 2022 This continuesthetrendofenrollmentgrowthwehaveseenforthepastseveralsemesters-spring will be four consecutive semesters of enrollment growth as measured by student headcount andfiveconsecutivesemestersasmeasuredbystudentcredithours.
Graduateenrollmentisdownforthespringsemesterascomparedtolastspring,butonlybyafew students.Inaddition,headcountenrollmentinCOSMprogramsontheArmstrongcampusisdown slightlyascomparedtolastspringsemester.
Iwillhavemoredetailsontheseandothertopicsatnextweek’sCOSMCollegeWidemeetingat2 PMonJanuary9th.IfyoudidnotreceivethecalendarinvitationwiththeZoomlink,pleasecontact Ashley.
Seeyounextweek!
Sincerely,
Mike
COSM ADMINISTRATIVE POOL
Inanefforttodevelopamoreefficientandeffectiveapproachtoprovidingadministrative supporttoCOSMdepartments,faculty,staff,andstudents,wehavelaunchedanewmodelfor deployingadministrativesupportstaffintheCollege.Thenewmodelcreatestwocategories ofadministrativesupportstaff-departmentadministrativestaffandadministrativepool staff Forfacultyandstaff,thedepartmentadministrativestaffwillbeyourprimarypointof contact Asyoumightexpect,therewilllikelybesomeobstaclesandissuesthatare encounteredaswedeploythenewmodel Weaskforyourpatienceandunderstandingas wellasfeedbacktohelpensureweprovidethebestsupportpossibletotheentireCollege
Theworkassignmentsforbothgroupshavebeenreconfiguredasshowninthetablebelow.
Whiledepartmentadministrativestaffwillbededicatedtosupportinganindividual departmentorschool,theadministrativepoolstaffwillprovidesupportfortheentireCollege. Thesupporttaskshavebeensplitwithsomefunctionsremaininginthedepartmentand othersbeingassignedtotheadministrativepool.Thelistoftasksisafluid,workinglistthatwill beadjustedovertimeasweworkthroughthetransitiongainingabetterunderstandingofthe volumeandcomplexityoftheworkloadinthisnewmodel
ThefollowingtaskswillbecompletedbytheCOSMAdministrativePoolwitheachtaskhaving aprimarypointofcontactaswellasasecondarypointofcontactwhowillprovidebackup supportforthespecifictask.
COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS
