Guidelines for the Evaluation of Two-Year Undergraduate Biology

Evaluation Criteria: Faculty and Professional Development

Recommendations for Faculty Size and Composition

Full-time biology faculty members should all have at least a Masters degree in a
biological discipline. The faculty within the biology (or science) department
should be diverse enough to provide a well-rounded approach to the discipline.
This diversity includes: diversity in areas of domains, diversity in laboratory and
field study research, diversity in types of graduate training and professional
preparation, and diversity in sub-disciplines. Among the faculty, there should be
expertise in the organismal domain, in the ecologcial domain, in the cellular and
molecular domain, and in field studies.

Recommendations for Teaching Load

Faculty should teach a maximum of the equivalent of 12 semester hours per
term, with not more than 15 contact hours. The ratio of students to faculty
member for non-laboratory biology courses should be no greater than 30 to 1; for
laboratory courses, the ratio should be no greater than 24 to 1. Faculty members
directing independent student studies or research, or performing administrative
duties, should have their teaching load adjusted or be provided with
compensation.

Recommendations for Professional Development

All faculty members should be engaged in professional development. This
scholarship can be in either a biological discipline or pedagogical research. The
department should have a balance between the two. Evidence of faculty
scholarship includes, but is not limited to, presentations at regional and national
conferences, publications of books and refereed articles, participation in
professional development workshops, and procurement of external and internal
grants.

All faculty members involved in the biology program should maintain currency in
their field. Funds should be provided for each faculty member to attend a
minimum of one professional meeting each year.

Evaluation Criteria: Curriculum

General Recommendations

The following criteria describe a high quality program in biology. The goal of
these recommendations is to provide undergraduate students with the knowledge
and skills necessary to enter a career or bachelor's program in the biological
sciences. While each department offering a certificate program, biology courses,
or associates degree in biology should develop a curriculum that meets the
needs of its students and institution, it should consider including as many
aspects of these recommendations as possible.

Curriculum Requirements

This laboratory component should account for at least one quarter of the course
and include hands-on experimentation. Computer simulations should not replace
the laboratory experience.

The curriculum should be designed so that students develop skills in writing
scientific papers, performing statistical analysis of data, reading primary
literature, and designing and completing valid scientific experiments.

The curriculum should be developed so that the nature of science is stressed
and the investigative nature of science is infused throughout the curriculum.

Group and individual research projects should be incorporated into all courses.
The curriculum should be structured so that more extensive independent work
and data analysis is required as the student progresses from introductory to
upper level courses. These projects should be developed so that students are
exposed to library research, field-based research, and laboratory-based
research.

Evolution as the unifying theory of biology should be specifically addressed
within the curriculum and should be infused throughout the curriculum.

All aspects of the curriculum should adhere to state and federal safety

Evaluation Criteria: Support Staff

General Recommendations

All full- and part-time staff should undergo safety training before beginning
employment. This training should include the proper use of safety equipment,
and the proper handling, storage, and disposal of chemical, biological, and
microbiological materials.

Recommendations for Support Staff

It is not in the interest of the students or institution for faculty to spend significant
amounts of time performing clerical tasks or preparing materials for teaching
laboratories. For this reason, high quality programs in biology should have the
following:

1. All instructional faculty should be provided assistance by a full-time (or FTE)
laboratory coordinator. The minimum recommendation for a department of
four full-time faculty is one full-time (or FTE) laboratory coordinator. This
staff person should supply assistance in the preparation and maintenance of
materials and supplies for instructional laboratories. The person holding this
position should have at least a bachelor’s degree in a biological or chemical
discipline. Biology departments offering more than eight laboratory sessions
per week should supplement their laboratory coordinator with part-time
employees. These may be students. These individuals should work under
the direction of full-time faculty or the laboratory coordinator.

2. All faculty should have adequate access to a staff person who provides assistance with course handouts, departmental affairs, and accounting.

Evaluation Criteria: Technology

General Recommendations

Faculty and students should have easy access to Internet-enabled computers
that can functionally run all of the software and various computer peripherals
necessary for creating or viewing documents, multimedia presentations, and
communication needed for the courses and program. This includes peripherals
such as flat-bed scanners, digital cameras, digital projectors, and scanners.

All computers for faculty and student use should have the appropriate network
connections, hardware, and software for viewing documents or multimedia
presentations (which may include DVD/BluRay), and communicating via the
Internet.

This includes:

Hardware—adequate RAM, adequate sound and video cards, hard?drive space,
CD drives, and CPU

Software—programs for word processing, creating spreadsheets and graphs,
creating presentations, image processing, and Web page construction.

The institution should provide financial and technical support to regularly
maintain and improve the computer technology available on campus.

Recommendations for Faculty

All full-time faculty should have computers in their offices. These computers
should be replaced or upgraded every three years or less. The Biology
Department should have scanners available for easy use by the faculty. Faculty
who make regular use of scanners should have one in their office.

Instructors should have ready access to some method of showing multimedia
presentations. This should include a digital projector or some other form of
projecting digital images, a screen, and a computer. There should be a minimum
of one multimedia classroom or movable projection system (projector and laptop)
for every three faculty members. Faculty should have access to a computer
classroom with sufficient numbers of computers so that there is at minimum one
for every two students.

Training sessions on how to use the various computer technologies available and
follow?up support should be provided to faculty.

Recommendations for Students

Students graduating with an associates degree in biology should be computer
literate. They should be able to demonstrate an understanding of basic computer
operations, be able to utilize computer technology for the exchange of
information, and use computers to collect and analyze data, and produce
publications.

Students should have computer access in each biology lab for data collection
and analysis. There should be a minimum of one computer for every 4 students.

Students should have out-of-class access to a computer lab facility. The
computer facility should be open a minimum of 16 hours a day/5 days a week
and should provide technical support personnel for at least 10 of those hours.

Training sessions on how to use the various computer technologies available
should be provided to students.

Evaluation Criteria: Laboratory Instrumentation

General Recommendations

There are at least two purposes for equipment within a biology program: 1)
to prepare materials for instructional use and/or for research, and 2) to
provide opportunities to gain skills in the operation and application of
equipment.

1. Recommendations for the minimum equipment available for the
preparation of instructional materials and/or for faculty/student research.
Faculty should have easy access to the following:

• minimum of two incubators/growth chambers
• deionized/distilled water system
• minimum of three refrigerators/freezers, including at least one
?20? or ?80? freezer
• minimum of two water baths
• glassware washer
• autoclave
• aquarium
• greenhouse or plant growth area
• microwave
• microscope with camera
• stereo microscope with camera
• phase microscope
• fume hood

2. Recommendations for equipment that students should be able to use
properly upon graduation. Description of how this equipment is used in the
biology curriculum is acceptable as evidence of student acquisition of
these skills.

• light microscopes
• stereo microscopes
• micro-centrifuge
• low speed centrifuge/tabletop centrifuge
• hot plates and stirrers
• electrophoresis apparatus
• PCR thermocycler
• micropipettes and standard pipetting devices
• pH meters
• analytical balances/pan balances
• dissection tools
• basic water and soil analysis test kits
• binoculars or other field monitoring equipment
• digital cameras
• compass/GPS

Evaluation Criteria: Community Outreach

General Recommendation

A biology program should demonstrate evidence of community outreach. Recommendations for providing community outreach include providing human and physical resources.

Examples of Providing Human Resources

Biology programs may provide personnel, both faculty and students, to assist
community science activities such as science contests, Olympiads or fairs,
career days, advising/mentoring K?12 students, grant preparation assistance,
after-school clubs, and summer camps. Biology programs should promote
professional connections, involvement and development with K-12 biology/life
science teachers through local, state, or regional outreach programs (such as
NABT’s state, regional, and national outreach).

Programs may also choose to offer their scientific expertise to the community
through workshops, lectures, and demonstrations and by offering pre?college
student internships.

Finally members of the program can show evidence of community outreach
through participation in community service organizations and events.

Examples of Providing Physical Resources

Biology programs may offer community service through the loan of equipment and materials to pre-college teachers, including texts, laboratory procedures, software, visuals, and specimens.

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