LUEE 2012 Self-Study Report (PDF) - Lamar University Electrical ...

C. Faculty SizeAs discussed above, the faculty size is adequate for coverage of the program, however,research output (and expectation) is minimal. The extent and quality of faculty involvementin interactions with students is extensive due to our small enrollment. By graduation all of thefaculty know the graduating class quite well, to the extent that they can recognize them byname. Student advising and counseling profits from this as students feel comfortable inconfiding in faculty as well as being mentored on career decisions. University serviceactivities are distributed equally across college departments, which vary in size, and so thereis no undue service burden placed on LUEE faculty. Professional development is restrictedbecause of recent budget cuts, but all faculty have the opportunity to travel at least once peryear.Faculty are members of the Department Advisory Board, which has no formal structure, andinteract with advisory board members twice yearly. many of the board members are alumniand employers of alumni. Faculty also interact with local industry and arrange site visits forclasses to local engineering facilities. The majority of the engineers in the region are LUgraduates, and so a close and regular contact is maintained between faculty and professionalpractitioners. The college has established various industrial interactive venues to include thetwice yearly "Breakfast of Champions" for local industrial plant managers as well as twiceyearlyAll College of Engineering lectures that faculty have access to.D. Professional DevelopmentLamar University has a strong commitment to student and faculty engagement and teachingand learning excellence. Under the direction of the Provost’s Office, the Center for Teachingand Learning Enhancement supports faculty, administrators, graduate students, and staff intheir academic pursuits and provides a range of instructional services to assist all members ofthe LU teaching community. In order to foster and sustain a culture that practices, values, andrewards teaching and learning as vital forms of scholarship at Lamar University, the Centerfor Teaching and Learning Enhancement takes as its mission to:• Promote deep understanding of the scholarship of teaching and learning by assistingboth individuals and groups of instructors to gather, analyze, and reflect oninformation about their own teaching and their students' learning.• Cultivate dialogue about teaching pedagogies and learning theories throughseminars, orientations, workshops, teaching and learning circles, and otherprogramming.• Foster the use of research-based best practices, models, and approaches to universityteaching and learning -- and facilitate access to resources that support them.Because our focus at Lamar University is both on student learning and creating anenvironment that stimulates the development of excellent teaching, our approach ismultifaceted. We realize that teaching is a means to an end and that our graduates need to be35