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Laura... Thanks for letting everyone know about the session that you and Janis are doing. I agree, there is definitely some complementary issues here. Cheers Frank G. On Apr 28, 2009, at 8:10 AM, Janis Treworgy wrote: > Dear fellow geoscience educators, > > This flurry of emails pertaining to the GSA session on community > college Earth scientists is exciting to see. As one of the emails > noted, there is more than one theme session for the GSA Annual > Meeting in Portland that will address the unique issues and > challenges for geologists that are not in a typical four-year degree > program. > > Janis Treworgy and I will be chairing a session for the “Lone > Rangers” out there – the solitary geologists on a college campus. > This session is designed to help generate discussion and formulate > connections for solo geoscience faculty that may be at community > colleges, two year colleges, or four year colleges. A solitary > geologist may be located in a department outside of the discipline, > such as biology or geography. How can the faculty member keep > engaged in their discipline on a campus where they are the only > member of the discipline? How are they able to meet the teaching/ > research requirements? What are strategies for faculty that need to > publish for P&T with limited-to-nonexistent lab space and > resources? How can they promote the creation of a geoscience- > literate society when they may only be teaching general education > courses? These and other issues will be highlighted and will > compliment much of what I am sure will be presented in Eric and > Frank’s session. It would be wonderful to see both sessions have > strong participation at GSA this fall. > > Below is the description for our theme session, #110. Please do not > hesitate to contact Janis ([log in to unmask]) or myself ([log in to unmask] > ) with any questions. > > > Title: Teaching and Research Challenges and Successes for Solitary > Geologists in Academia > Session Type: Oral > Sponsor: National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT); GSA > Geoscience Education Division; Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) > Rationale: Faculty who are at community colleges and small four-year > colleges may be a “lone ranger” in their program, being the only > faculty member teaching in their discipline. These faculty are > disconnected from teaching and research collaborations and > innovations in the geosciences. Currently, there does not exist any > professional organization, website, meeting, or journal dedicated to > helping geoscience faculty that are the only geoscience faculty on > their campus. This session will benefit faculty by providing the > support of others in similar institutional situations. The GSA > Portland meeting can serve as an initial attempt to bring this > community of professional geosciences educators together by > providing a forum for sharing their experiences in a topical session. > > > Thank you, > > Laura Guertin > > > ************************************************************************** > Dr. Laura Guertin, Associate Professor of Earth Sciences > Jane E. Cooper Honors Program and Campus Schreyer Honors College > Coordinator > Environmental Inquiry Minor Coordinator > > Penn State Brandywine > 25 Yearsley Mill Road, Media, PA 19063 > Office phone: (610) 892-1427 Fax: (610) 892-1490 > Email: [log in to unmask] ePortfolio: http://www.personal.psu.edu/uxg3/blogs/guertin/ > > > > > From: GEOEDUCATION RESEARCH INTEREST GROUP [mailto:[log in to unmask] > ] On Behalf Of PCC > Sent: Friday, April 24, 2009 11:23 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Community College Geoscience > > Hello everyone... > > Eric Baer (Highline Community College in Des Moines WA) and I will > be co-chairing what looks like a first time event at GSA, a topical > session on community college earth science programs. Our proposal > to do this was not only accepted by GSA, but is also sponsored by > both NAGT and GSA GED. Furthermore, the NSF GEO Diversity and > Education program is interested helping this session go forward by > providing funds that would subsidize presenter travel and expenses. > Many community college geoscience instructors don't attend > conferences like GSA due to lack of funds. The two caveats that > come with this offer are that the presenters and advocates meet with > NSF to discuss what they can do to aid community college earth > science and that we include a list of potential speakers for the > event. It is because of this second caveat that I am writing this > to all of you. I am looking to put together in the next three weeks > a list of community college instructors and university faculty > involved in community college / university collaborations who would > be interested in speaking at the session. See below for a > description of the session. If you have recommendations of community > college or university faculty that you think would be interested in > speaking and have experience in addressing the questions listed in > the description, please forward me their names or have them contact > me directly. If NSF accepts the proposal from my college (Portland > Community College) then we would pay for travel and conference > expenses for the presenter and a student of their choosing. > > Feel free to contact me if you need additional information. > I look forward to hearing from you. > > Frank D. Granshaw > Earth Science Instructor > Portland Community College > Sylvania Campus > Portland, OR > 503-977-8236 > --------------------------------------------- > Session #T104: Geoscience Programs at Community Colleges: Models > for Success and Innovation > Conveners > Frank D. Granshaw – Portland Community College, Portland Oregon > Eric M. Baer – Highline Community College, Seattle Washington > > Description for publication: > Community College programs are diverse and multifaceted. This > session will highlight a variety of programs and how they > successfully achieve their goals. > Rationale: > Community College Geoscience programs are a critical part of the > geoscience education system. Because they serve more than 10 > million students currently enrolled in these institutions, they play > a critical role in educating the general public and future graduates > of colleges, training future K-12 educators and recruiting > geoscience majors from a diverse and variable pool. This session > will look at the questions that community college geoscientists face > in fulfilling this mission. Chief among these are following: > · What makes for a strong community college earth science > program? > > · Given the student population of most community colleges, what > is the focus of these programs, career training, geoscience > literacy, or both? > > · What strategies are useful for helping students become > geoscience literate? > > · How do community college earth science department > successfully encourage and prepare geoscience majors? > > · What role does university - community college and high school- > community college collaborations play in making a strong program? > > · How do community college geoscience programs relate the > vocational programs in their own institutions? > > · What role do community college geoscience courses have in > providing science background for future teachers? > > · How do professional networks enhance the mission of community > college geoscience program? > > · Given the large number of adjunct faculty teaching community > college earth science courses, how do science departments mentor > these faculty to help them address these questions? > Frank D. Granshaw Earth Science Instructor Portland Community College Sylvania Campus Portland, OR 503-977-8236