Biology PROPOSAL Lab Coordinator Proposal Title: Biology Lab Coordinator position Point Person and Contact Information: Donna Vogler- 112a Science I. Donna.vogler@oneonta.edu X3705 Department(s)/Unit(s): Biology Amount Requested: $129,200 ($37K Salary and Fringe over 3 years) Proposal Summary This request is for an Instructional Support Technician (SL3-10 month) to develop, set up and prepare materials for weekly laboratories in each of the introductory courses in Biology (BIOL 100, 180 and 181). Duties include: ordering; maintaining inventory of supplies, biological materials and equipment; setting up and taking down laboratory preparations. The individual will maintain laboratory manuals and protocols, and assist in revisions and updates. A dedicated Lab Coordinator will facilitate consistent and efficient student experiences for the large number of undergraduates in first year Biology labs.
Section I Narrative Biology education has traditionally relied on active-learning pedagogies. The student laboratory experience in particular is essential to learning basic biological principles. Providing these experiences depends directly on use of various organisms, biochemicals and instrumentation. Learning exercises that involve use of these items are often complicated and require careful planning and time-consuming preparations; that is, the delivery, maintaining and ordering of live specimens, preparing chemical solutions and assembling and calibrating equipment. The Biology Department offers over 60 Biology laboratory sections each academic year. Nearly all of these are prepared by full-time faculty. The amount of time spent on setting up and dismantling these exercises has reduced the amount of time faculty devote to important activities such as: developing new laboratory exercises; updating course materials; procuring new teaching resources. The exponential growth in enrollment in the Biology Department has exacerbated this problem and has posed several unintended consequences that negatively impact students and faculty. Undergraduate laboratory exercises require students to work in small groups with multiple replicates of experiments. This devours an enormous amount of faculty time thereby reducing faculty productivity in areas such as revising and developing curriculum and scholarship. Ordering materials for laboratories is currently the responsibility of faculty members who have primary responsibility for courses. This is both time consuming and expensive. Faculty lack the time to seek the lowest prices for materials and frequently make duplicate orders that result in unnecessary shipping costs and unwanted surpluses of certain items. Student laboratory manuals or instructions are revised by multiple faculty members, making it difficult to maintain uniformity from year-to-year. The lack of laboratory coordination has resulted in loss of instructional resources. Multiple users frequently results in materials being misplaced. In addition, there is no one to take responsibility for repairing or replacing broken equipment. A. Proposal Significance and Goals: The goal of this proposal is to enhance both the efficiency and quality of laboratory instruction in Biology by creating and supporting a position for a Biology Laboratory Coordinator. The coordinator will have the primary responsibility of overseeing support and operation of laboratory exercises for introductory Biology courses. This approach is not unprecedented within the SUNY system. SUNY Delhi, SUNY Cortland and SUNY New Paltz each have at least one person in their Biology (or Science) department with this title and responsibilities. A professional staff member with a Masters degree in Biology would also have the expertise to understand the management of biological agents and cultures, and to write and edit procedural materials for a scientific audience. As needed a Lab Coordinator could cover for faculty absences. B. Contribution to the SP2010. Teaching Learning and Scholarship: The addition of a staff member dedicated to the smooth operations of the Introductory Biology laboratories will create a more enriching and consistent
learning experience for for: 1) students who enroll in Biol 100 as part of their general education requirement (about 25% of the student population); 2) students involved in a Biology or health science curriculum during their first or second year (an additional 10% of College enrollment ). Moreover, relieving faculty of the responsibilities associated with supplying, assembling and disassembling laboratory exercises will provide them with more time to devote to professional development and scholarship. Student Engagement: Biology courses require the use of a variety of biological specimens including live animals, fresh plant materials, and contained cultures of microorganisms. In addition these courses involve the use of delicate instruments (e.g., microscopes) that require constant maintenance and repair. The smooth coordination of these resources will ensure the success of laboratory exercises thereby providing enriching, active learning experiences for students. Sustainability: The Biology Department is committed to reducing waste, and promoting initiatives that favor conservation of our natural and financial resources. A Lab Coordinator will play a significant role in facilitating the most economical use of our laboratory budget, as well as seek out greener alternatives. Additionally, the Lab Coordinator will a point person in our efforts to reduce the generation of hazardous wastes as well as label and organize chemicals stored in the Biology Department laboratories. C. Linkage to College priorities: Experiential learning opportunities for students. Oneonta prides itself with a student experience that fosters close faculty-student interactions, hands-on experiential learning and the opportunity to learn the specific tools and skills necessary for a selected major and career path. Both majors and those seeking a general education experience benefit from well run and coordinated laboratory experiences. Because the Biology Department now runs so many lab sections (over 60 per year) the faculty have become increasingly aware of the need for additional staff devoted to the smooth operation of the introductory labs. Faculty growth, success, and retention. Each of the three introductory labs now has a faculty member who devotes 3-6 hours every week setting up the labs, revising lab exercise and running the weekly lab meetings. Release time is not normally granted, in part because those faculty are needed in the courses for which they prep. A staff lab coordinator would be able to take over each of the 3 major lab preps (15-20 hours weekly), take over the bulk of ordering (3-5 hours weekly), and in particular take over many of the routine repeated tasks of setting up labs, and revising lab manuals (10-15 hours weekly). Full time faculty would be able to devote more energy to overall lab design and learning objectives. Quality of undergraduate experience. We estimate that one of every three Oneonta students takes a Biology course with a lab. The materials of weekly labs each semester would be organized in Biol 100 (8-12 sections), Biol 180 (4-7 sections) and Biol 181 (4-7 sections). Each lab would have a consistent set up. Student TAs would have a regular go-to person when supplies run short during a lab session.
D. Impact on operational efficiency and effectiveness. Ordering and managing a course budget for the introductory labs would be more efficient by a single person. Incoming live shipments for the department could be managed by a single point person. Maintaining an inventory of common small supplies and knowledge of upcoming needs could save considerable dollars by more strategic ordering of bulk supplies. The annual equipment inventory required by the College could be conducted by a consistent individual with the knowledge of the quality of that equipment. The ability to expand Biol 100 with additional sections will become even more a priority when the Physical Science building is renovated and few (or no) sections of CHEM 100 and PHYS 100 (NL2 courses) will be able to be offered. E. Opportunity for Collaboration. The Biology Department has one part time Instructional Support Technician (15 hours/week) for washing glassware and preparation of the Microbiology media and classroom. If Biology gains a Laboratory Coordinator, that person would be able to work with the lab coordinator in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department to share materials and order in bulk for the items that are in common between these departments. A Biology Lab Coordinator could contact those in a similar position at the other SUNYs for ideas on how to run labs more efficiently and to improve student learning outcomes. Several venues for publication of laboratory activities are available, and a Lab Coordinator would have the opportunity to develop novel lab activities for undergraduates in collaboration with the teaching faculty. F. If applicable, description of how your unit's assessment process contributed to the decision to submit this request. Not directly applicable G. How the activity will be assessed, using measurable, documented outcomes. The Department would be able to increase in the number of Biol 100 sections offered, and increase faculty scholarly activities including research, professional collaborations, and departmental seminars (provided enrollments do not continue to expand). Cost per student in high enrollment introductory labs should stabilize at the current $8-$11 per student even with some inflationary increases and greater incorporation of live materials. H.Implementation strategy and timeline. If this line is approved, we would like to move towards a search as soon as possible, with a person in place for fall 2013. A Lab Coordinator who learns the job in AY 2013-2014 would then be better able to prepare for additional introductory Biology labs during the two years when the department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and the Department of Physics & Astronomy are less able to offer NL2 courses. In the first year there would be training by faculty, but by the second semester the Lab Coordinator would be expected to carry out duties with minimal supervision.
StAR Appendix A The Chief Information Officer has reviewed this proposal and verified potential costs as it relates to technology: [ ] Yes [] No [x] Not Applicable Comments: The Associate Vice President for Facilities has reviewed this proposal and verified potential costs as it relates to facilities: [ ] Yes [] No [x] Not Applicable Comments: The Budget Director has reviewed this proposal and verified potential costs: [ ] Yes [x ] No [ ] Not Applicable Comments: The Senior Executive Employee Services Officer has reviewed this proposal and verified potential costs as it relates to human resources: [x ] Yes [ ] No [ ] Not Applicable Comments: Donna Vogler met with Lisa Wenck on Dec. 12 to discuss this proposal from the HR and staffing perspectives. We discussed costs, workload and supervision. Other consultation (be specific):
Proposal Title: Biology Lab Coordinator position Point Person and contact information Name: Donna Vogler Campus Phone: 3705 Campus e mail: Donna.vogler@oneonta.edu Department/Unit: Biology FY12/13 StAR Proposal Budget Template Budget Detail please enter whole dollars; enter fractions of positions in decimals (e.g. 1/2 time = 0.50) Number of Recurring 1 time Costs by year Total 1 time Use of Funds Description Positions (ongoing) FY2013 14 FY2014 15 FY2015 16 Costs Personnel Costs: Ongoing Salaries (PSR) Instructional Support Tech * 1.00 $37,000 $37,000 $37,000 $111,000 Temporary Salaries (Temp Service) $0 Student Employment (Student Temp Service) $0 Other Than Personnel Costs (OTPS) and Campus Recharges: Materials & Supplies $0 Travel (not related to Professional Development) $0 Contractual Services $0 Professional Development (Trainings off campus) $0 General Equipment $0 Contracts related to Equipment Maintenance $0 Campus Storehouse $50 $50 $50 $150 Campus Telephone $200 $100 $100 $400 Campus Mail $0 Campus Print Shop $0 Capital Costs renovation $0 Capital Costs new construction $0 Total Costs: 1.00 $0 $37,250 $37,150 $37,150 $111,550 * Does not include any across the board negeotiated increases Other Funding Sources: New Funds (i.e. projected revenue generation) Savings (3 6 adjunct taught courses covered by this position over the 3 yrs) Reallocation of funds from existing resources (include account number, funding source) Projected Amount Available: Total Projected Other Funding Sources: $0