Monday, October 31, 2016

GEOS Student/Faculty Ratios

These graphs relate to graduate student advising. The big picture is that faculty have three kinds of advising loads: (1) honors, (2) Masters and (3) PhD. 

Figure 1. Number of graduate students per faculty member. An important graph that shows the average number of graduate students each faculty member must advise to avoid stranding students without an advisor.

Figure 2. Environmental Dynamics (ENDY) PhD graduate students with GEOS advisor.
Figure 3. Ten year GEOS undergraduate-student/faculty ratio. 

Figure 4. Ten year history of GEOS faculty head count broken down into geology and geography.

Geoscience Enrollment History

Total Enrollment

Figure 1. Historical total GEOS enrollment (fall/spring)


Graduate Students

Figure 2. Historical chart of Geoscience graduate students (fall/spring)

Undergraduate Students


Figure 3. Historical chart of Geoscience undergraduate majors/minors (fall/spring).
Figure 4. Historical chart of Geoscience undergraduate majors/minors (summer).
Figure 5. Geology field camp enrollments. Before 2016 all students paid in-state tuition.
Figure 6. General Geology I 10-yr history
Figure 7. General Geology I detailed 10 yr history

Figure 6. Plan codes that appear in the chart legends.
(ARSC = Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences)

Data source: ARSC Dean's Office, Donna Bell Draper (may 2016)

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Undergrad Course Prerequisites

Many undergraduate courses depend on previously-taken courses (prerequisites) as described in the UArk undergraduate course catalog Here the interrelationships are shows as directed graphs created online at Ajax/Graphviz

These graphs allow quick resolution of prerequisite questions without digging through the full course catalog. They are hard to see and read in a browser, but can be downloaded as gif files for full resolution viewing. 


Geology undergraduate course prerequisites as a directed graph. 


Geography undergraduate course prerequisites as a directed graph. 

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

GEOL/GEOG MS Thesis Committee notes

Update note on composition rule to achieve a valid committee:

"We require a minimum of three UA faculty with the appropriate graduate faculty status.  Others may serve on committees in an ex officio capacity, as long as this minimum is met."
Patricia R. Koski, Associate Dean Graduate School

This means, for example, a valid MS committee can be composed as follows:
Advisor    Group II or III adjunct
Member    Group II or III adjunct
Member    Group II or III adjunct

A current list of graduate faculty and their group status can be found here.

---- original post 6/21/2016 ---- 
With respect to the Geology MS Thesis Committee, the GEOS Department website states:

All course work, a thesis topic, and the final thesis must be approved by the student’s thesis committee. This committee is selected by the student and the student’s thesis director and will consist of a minimum of three members. At least two of the committee members will be chosen from the geology faculty whose areas of expertise coincide with the research interests of the student.
(accessed 6/21/2016)

The key issue considered here is the highlighted phrase 'geology faculty' (same language for Geography case). In particular, what is the 'geology faculty' status of emeritus and adjunct faculty who often populate GEOS thesis committees? The UA Graduate School maintains four Groups (I-IV) of Graduate Faculty Status with authority roles for each.

A current list of graduate faculty and their group status can be found here.

For GEOS:

  • Group I 
    • Can chair or serve on PhD committee
    • Can chair or serve on MS committee
    • All tenure-line faculty
    • Emeritus faculty who were Group I at retirement
      • Geology: Brahana, Guccione, Konig, Manger, Steele, Zachry
      • Geography: Cleveland, Graff
  • Group II
    • Can serve on PhD committee 
    • Can chair or serve on MS committee
    • Group I and adjunct faculty with PhD degree
      • Geology: Macgilvery, Paillet
      • Geography: Bragg, Burnett, Fye, Oglesby, Patton
  • Group III
    • Can chair or serve on MS committee
    • Group II and adjunct faculty with MS degree
      • Geology: R. Liner, Melton, Milligan, Moyer, Pollock, Quick

Friday, May 20, 2016

World Energy and CO2 Outlook

Selected figures from U.S. Energy Information Administration (eia.gov) report International Energy Outlook 2016 (full report PDF expected May 23).

Arkansas state profile and energy estimates from EIA can be found via this link.

World energy consumption by energy source 1990-2040.
CPP = Clean Power Plan

World energy-related carbon dioxide emissions by fuel type 1990-2040.
Oil combustion and CO2 from Union of Concerned Scientists

World net electricity generation by energy source 2012-2040.

U.S. electricity generation by primary fuel 1990-2040.

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

MS Thesis Proposal

Current practice in the GEOS department concerning the MS thesis proposal seems to be:
  1. Advisor works with candidate to define thesis. Candidate prepares
    1. proposal document (up to 10 pages including figures and references; should include timeline)
    2. presentation (about 20 min; should include hypothesis or research question, background, etc.)
  2. Candidate, advisor and advisory committee members attend proposal
    1. Proposal is public and may be attended by any interested student or faculty
    2. The advisor presides over the proposal meeting, introduces the candidate, etc.
  3. At the proposal meeting, the candidate...
    1. gives brief overview of his/her background (home town, undergrad, etc.)
    2. gives presentation (about 20 min) on proposed research
    3. answers committee questions
  4. Committee asks questions to clarify or set scope on proposed research.
  5. No committee vote is taken. Committee members either 
    1. approve the proposal by remaining on the committee, or 
    2. disapprove the proposal by stepping off the committee