The Biology Interactome

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About a week ago, department chair, Jason Podrobsky, took me up on my annual offer to visit any department upon invitation.  A lively presentation was held in the Science Research Center Building, filled with Biology Department faculty. 

Jason started out with a basic question: How is Biology connected to other units across PSU?  

This was an intriguing topic for me given my blog post last month on complex systems and how we benefit from considering all of the relationships we have within the university.

Using DataMaster, a data warehouse solution used to run reports for strategic decisions and daily operations, and through the support of the Office of Institutional Research and Planning, Jason had mined course data from fall 2014 enrollment and the SCH generation by Biology majors for the 2013/2014 academic year.

He created a set of interactive maps to examine student flow and relevant data. In the elaborate diagrams, you will see:

•  Circles proportional to student FTE for colleges
•  Number of majors for departments
•  Lines directly proportional to the strength of the interaction

Take Home Messages

The interactome-style maps clearly show that Biology serves a large number of majors and plays an important service role at PSU.  They are highly interconnected and several other colleges and units depend heavily on their courses. In addition, because Biology is of central importance to the STEM disciplines, a strong and healthy Biology department is critical to the development and sustainment of the STEM education system at PSU.

I applaud the Biology Department for creating interactive maps to understand how Biology is connected to other units across PSU. With the appropriate data available in DataMaster, and now with Educational Advisory Board Student Success Collaborative tools (described below) , departments can also explore these critical questions and use data for strategic decision making and student success.

What does your department’s interactome look like? Where are the connections for your majors and students taking your classes?

More about the Educational Advisory Board Student Success Collaborative

The EAB Student Success Collaborative (SSC) is a new tool for PSU.  It combines technology, research, process improvement, and predictive analytics to positively inflect outcomes with at-risk and off-path students. By accessing and analyzing underutilized academic data, we can unlock hidden insights about patterns of student success (and failure). These insights allow advisors, faculty, and retention specialists who sit on the front lines of student engagement to have earlier, more proactive, and more data-driven conversations with at-risk, but savable students. SSC members have access not only to an innovative web-based retention platform, but also to a collection of services—from peer benchmarking to live webinars to national student success summits—designed to facilitate cross-membership learning and maximize the value of participation.

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How do we sustain and grow our sustainability efforts?

Sustainability has been part of PSU’s vision and strategic emphasis area since the 2005 adoption of the Declaration of Support for Sustainability. There are many of us, me included, who were not at Portland State when this declaration was made.  I suggest it is time for everyone to re-read (or read) the declaration.  It articulates a commitment that can only be realized if we work together.

A lot has taken place on sustainability at PSU that we can all be proud of.  Under Professor Jennifer Allen’s leadership, our Institute for Sustainable Solutions (ISS) has served as a hub for sustainability activities and actions.  ISS has a team of dedicated faculty, staff and students, but they cannot do this work alone.

Made possible by ISS support
ISS has been instrumental in the development of our Graduate Certificate in Sustainability, the Research to Action symposia, the Sustainable Neighborhoods Initiative, and the Ecosystem Services for Urbanizing Regions Graduate Research Traineeship (IGERT). The ISS administers the 10-year, $25 million challenge grant made to the University by the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation in September 2008.  The 2013-14 Annual Report for Sustainability provides much more detail on the sustainability accomplishments of PSU.

The work ahead

PSU is seven years into a 10-year, $25 million challenge grant from the Miller Foundation.  We have developed a set of goals and initiatives that has become known as the Sustainability Playbook. The playbook is divided into six sections: Education and Curriculum, Student Experience and Engagement, Research, Community Engagement, Campus Operations, and Institutional Policies and Administration.

I think of the playbook as both a blueprint and a challenge.  A blueprint in that it outlines the strategic initiatives needed to follow through on PSU’s commitments on what it means to be an institution dedicated to sustainability.  A challenge in that it is a call to all of us to help move this work forward.  Although individual and groups of faculty, staff and students can make things happen, it will require all of us to make PSU an institution known for sustainability. 

Portland has a national and international reputation as a sustainable city.  It goes to follow that we would be its university known for sustainability.  I would like to challenge everyone on campus to take just one page out of the playbook and think about what you can do to advance PSU’s efforts in sustainability.

Feel free to share your thoughts about the playbook below.

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An upstream view of advising

As of November 1, 2014, the Learning Center, Advising and Career Services, and the Registrar’s Office have been successfully transferred from Enrollment Management and Student Affairs (EMSA) to Academic Affairs.  While there are details still to be worked out, I want to thank all involved for their mutual respect and collaboration during the transition. You might ask, How will this change allow us to better serve students?   What about this change makes it possible, as one colleague put it to me “to realize opportunities to elevate and improve advising practices?”   

Allow me to use a metaphor and a few examples to share some of my thoughts about advising.     

Metaphor

Advising is one of many successful student retention and student success strategies at PSU. Advisors help students navigate the rapids, rocks, and still water in the long journey down a complex river. They give advice on the equipment a student needs; they call out when there is danger, help correct course, and yes, even sometimes provide the bucket for bailing when the boat takes on too much water, ride it when it capsizes, or toss out a life preserver when someone goes overboard.  

We have recently provided advisors with powerful predictive analytics to give them hidden insights into the patterns of academic success. But I see advising as more than guiding, navigating and tossing out a life preserver.  We have the ability and opportunity to change the characteristics of the river our students travel by constantly examining and adjusting the quality, content and delivery of our curriculum.  

Examples

Think about it, advisors have a holistic view of a student.  An advisor knows how well (or not well) a student did in not only Professor X's class, but in subsequent courses the student had with Professors Y and Z. Through our powerful data analytics an advisor can see that even though many students earn a B in Professor X's class, a majority of them fail Professor's Y class. 

With this knowledge a department can ask: Is Professor X an easy grader? Is Professor Y too hard a grader?  Is there a gap in the curriculum between what Professor X teaches and what Professor Y expects students to know?  Do Professors X and Y have such different perspectives that what a student learns from Professor X is refuted by Professor Y?  The latter resonates with me.  When I was an undergraduate student one of my professors believed in the emerging theory of plate tectonics (and yes, it was an EMERGING theory at that time!) and another thought it was rubbish.  What I learned in one class was considered "wrong" in another. 

Imagine a steady flow of information coming from advisors feeding into curricular conversations that faculty members have in their department or between departments. Imagine not merely calling out to a student when there is a rock or a rapid ahead, but getting rid of the obstacle or calming the dangerous waters through curricular change. Imagine an advisor being able to focus attention on how a student makes a smooth trip down the river rather than a rough one. 

Advising, while an activity in and of itself adds value by guiding students, is a powerful tool to help us see how faculty might change and innovate the curriculum—a means by which we can make sure that we are not responsible for creating the rock, rapid, or conditions that capsize the boat.

I certainly would be interested in your thoughts on this topic.  

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Changes in OAA and EMSA

I do not believe in change for the sake of change alone.  In my two years at Portland State I occasionally have asked if our structures optimize the accomplishment of our goals and mission.  With the opportunity presented by the search for a new Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs (EMSA), I, along with the guidance of the Academic Leadership Team (ALT-comprised of the deans, vice provosts and myself), assessed some of the services in EMSA that are most aligned with our academic functions and wrote a white paper with a set of recommendations.  EMSA provided their perspectives and conversations took place between the two divisions, with final recommendations reviewed and discussed with President Wiewel. 

As a result, President Wiewel made a decision that we should move Advising & Career Services, the Learning Center, the Office of the Registrar, and graduate student recruitment and admissions from EMSA to the Office of Academic Affairs (OAA).  There are many details to work out in making these moves that will involve the participation of numerous individuals and groups over the next few months.

It is important to note: 1)  Certain reporting structures will change to better align with the university’s academic priorities, and that will require reorganizing some functions. However, there are no plans to eliminate positions as a result of the change in reporting lines, and 2) this change is not in criticism of the great work that EMSA has done, but rather to better align and implement the strategies critical to our academic programs and student success. For example, PSU faces increasing competition for graduate students and we need to develop a comprehensive graduate admissions system that is separate from undergraduate admissions and coordinated closely with our schools and colleges.   

This is not the first time, nor will it be the last that we ask if our structures serve our current and future needs. I asked that question in “my own back yard” when I first arrived at PSU by taking a critical look at the functions of the provost office.  In that case, I merged and reduced leadership positions.

Last year when the dean position in the School of Social Work (SSW) was vacated, I asked SSW faculty and staff about their structure and leadership. There were some initial concerns that I might have already made up my mind to merge the school with another college.  I assured them that was not the case. As a result of SSW’s thoughtful and deliberate conversations it was determined that their current status as a school, with a dean, was critical to the success of their programs.

I again asked a structure question this spring when the CLAS dean position was vacated.  At the suggestion of faculty and staff in CLAS we administered a poll to see if they wanted to have a discussion about the structure of their college.  Seventy-one percent (248 out of 349) of the full-time faculty and staff responding to the poll indicated a desire to do so.  That conversation is taking place now--again with no predetermined outcome. 

Change for the sake of change is never a good idea.  But we need to remember that throughout PSU’s history we have been an institution that has been willing to look at how our structure serves our students, faculty, staff and community.  Today, we have seven schools/colleges (and maybe an 8^th if the Faculty Senate recommends creation of a School of Public Health), a division for Research and Strategic Partnerships, a division of EMSA, and an office of Global Diversity and Inclusion (GDI) – all a result of a willingness on the part of this university to occasionally change our organizational structure. 

I am interested in your thoughts on the topic of structural change and on any specific changes that have taken place or are under consideration.   

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PSU’s Future Commitment to Diversity?

This afternoon I attended an informational meeting hosted by some of our students regarding the soon to be vacant Chief Diversity Officer position currently occupied by Jilma Meneses.  For those that may have missed it, it was announced on September 22^nd that Jilma has accepted a position with Concordia University (congratulations to Jilma!). 

There were approximately 15 students in attendance including our ASPSU President, Eric Noll.  The conversation was a productive one.  The students were concerned that they had not directly received the announcement of Jilma’s pending departure.  They wondered, was President Wiewel’s decision to not immediately call for a search committee an indication of big changes? Would the Chief Diversity Officer position be eliminated? Would there no longer be someone or an office to conduct investigations? Would PSU scale back on our engagement with diverse communities—both internal and external?

I was glad that our students were asking these important questions.  I interpreted their concerns to imply that they thought the university might be backing away from our commitment to ensure an inclusive campus environment. Our conversation lasted close to 2 hours. During that time I was able to listen to their ideas.  I was also able to tell those present that President Wiewel has not waivered one bit from the commitment to support access, diversity and inclusion that he has shown since his arrival at PSU.  He made a decision early in his presidency to change the Diversity Directorship from a half to a full-time position and expand the department to become the Office of Global Diversity and Inclusion (OGDI). He elevated its leadership by hiring Jilma, PSU’s first Chief Diversity Officer, with a seat on the President’s Executive Committee.

Although we should celebrate the successes achieved at PSU since President Wiewel’s arrival in terms of the 10 percentage point increase in the number of minority faculty and staff; the over 40% increase in minority student enrollment; and the attention paid to our Latina/o, Native American, Multi-Cultural, International, Women’s, Veteran, and LGBTQ student experience-- we all know there is still much work to do.  I know for a fact that President Wiewel and the entire leadership team are as committed as ever to continue to make progress on PSU’s diversity efforts.

It is only natural that Jilma’s departure has our students (and I am guessing others) wondering what changes will be made.  Times of transition not only generate healthy concerns that need attention, but also force us to assess where we are and how we can improve the future.  I thank our students for engaging in this important dialog as to how the university can continue these important efforts and initiatives.

I hope you will see this blog as a space for this conversation.

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Reducing Student Textbook Costs

Reducing Student Costs: Textbooks and Course Materials

One of the goals of reTHINK PSU is to reduce what it costs students to get a degree.  I am guessing it is not news to anyone that around the country, the cost of textbooks and other course materials have become a major contributing factor to the financial barriers faced by students.  Students at PSU are not immune to this. The College Board estimated the 2013-14 cost for textbooks and supplies for the average undergraduate to be $1207.

We at PSU think it is important to address textbook affordability as one more piece of the puzzle of reducing the cost of a degree.  Through the urging and leadership of our Library Dean, Marilyn Moody, and in collaboration with the Faculty Senate and ASPSU, we will be creating a task force in the fall to determine how PSU can lower course material costs for PSU students.

We know there are many questions as we open up the textbook/course materials cost can of worms: Can we really reduce costs when so much of the cost of published material is out of our hands?  What role will faculty need to play?  Will this be an effort to tell faculty what books/resources they can and cannot assign for their courses? Are open source materials any good? What are the technical and policy barriers to reducing textbook cost? And, I am sure there are other concerns and questions.

Our task force will be jointly appointed by the Provost, Faculty Senate and ASPSU to make sure we have all perspectives represented.  We plan to launch the task force this fall.  We will provide regular updates and a variety of ways for you to share your ideas and comments. 

Thank you and I welcome any comments or suggestions.

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