2005 SFOS All-Faculty Meeting Summary
Evaluation Results:
Did we meet our objectives?
| OBJECTIVE | Strongly Agree (#/%) | Agree |
Disagree (#/%) |
Strongly Disagree (#/%) | Did not respond (#/%) |
| 1. To evaluate where we are and what progress we have made. | 11/37% | 19/63% | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
| 2. To enhance faculty understanding of key issues facing the School. | 13/43% | 17/57% | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
| 3. To encourage greater faculty participation and interaction in addressing these issues. | 15/50% | 14/47% | 1/3% | 0/0 | 0/0 |
| 4. To assist faculty members to get to know each other. | 14/47% | 16/53% | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
| 5. To discuss and identify ongoing issues for faculty development. | 5/16.5% | 20/67% | 5/16.5% | 0/0 | 0/0 |
| 6. To set goals for the School and expectations for faculty. | 3/10% | 20/67% | 6/20% | 1/3% | 0/0 |
| 7. To begin planning for new faculty hiring. | 6/20% | 15/50% | 8/27% | 1/3% | 0/0 |
How do you rate the individual sessions?
| INDIVIDUAL SESSION RATINGS | Excellent (#/%) |
Good (#/%) |
Fair (#/%) |
Poor (#/%) |
Did not respond (#/%) |
| 8. State of the School Address | 20/67% | 10/33% | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
| 9. Faculty of the Future Presentation | 12/40% | 15/50% | 3/10% | 0/0 | 0/0 |
| 10. Faculty Development Presentation | 3/10% | 9/30% | 14/47% | 3/10% | 1/3% |
| 11. Mentoring of Graduate Students Session | 6/20% | 16/54% | 6/20% | 1/3% | 0/0 |
| 12. Academic Issues | 6/20% | 19/64% | 4/13% | 1/3% | 0/0 |
| 13. Faculty Governance | 6/20% | 15/50% | 7/23% | 2/7% | 0/0 |
How do you rate the amenities?
| AMENITIES | Excellent (#) | Good (#) | Fair (#) | Poor (#) | Did not respond (#) |
| Transportation | 9 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| Lodging | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 14 |
| Reception | 15 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Meals | 12 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Meeting Rooms | 9 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Alaska Salmon Bake | 15 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
Evaluation Comments
What worked for you at this meeting?
- Open dialogue, Polite discussions, no blaming
- Frank, personable administrators
- Positive atmosphere about being one SFOS
- Meeting new/other faculty, Networking
- The focus on academic programs
- Great to see budget and others numbers for the first time
- Good schedule (including hallway conversation)
- Discussion of student survey
- Interaction, communication, focus of seminar
- Lots of breaks and socials to interact w/other faculty & staff
- We are feeling the most upbeat as a school than I have ever seen. That was good to see.
- Nice to see young faculty and effort to focus on discipline, not unit
- Overall the meeting was very good
- Good overview by the Dean
- Learning about the state of SFOS…where we are today
- Well organized
- Left with a sense of accomplishment which was very positive
- Great to hear real communication especially from Dean & Associate Dean
- It was a great opportunity to meet faculty and get up to speed on SFOS issues.
What would you suggest changing?
- The long discussion on integrating oceanography, fisheries, etc. which did not pertain to many of us, should have been saved to last so the rest of us could leave, or held separately.
- Breakout groups can provide more ideas more quickly because people tend to speak up more in smaller groups
- Less topics but more time for discussions of each of those
- More science discussions
- Eliminate faculty development & senate presentations
- Include student representative in some student issues
- Move meeting date to winter/spring
- Science session for program development
- Drop graduate student session, & faculty development- limited value
- Move the bigwig session (Provost & Chancellor) to second day
- Eliminate things that were political but wasted time (Chancellor & Provost) unless their presence is used for directed SFOS questions
- Meet on campus since many of us don’t get there
- Have meetings more often
- Break after lunch to walk around and stand in sun
- Minimize time for Senate, Grad. School Dean
- Get it out of Fairbanks
- Nametags on the first night
- Get a guest speaker from industry, other university, or advisory committee
- Get alumni involved
- Have more direct action items
- I felt compelled to say & listen to luncheon talk on Monday but would like to have had time to retreat to my room for a non-human interaction break
- Drop the “exercises” like groups making lists of faculty duties. Not useful, wastes time…would rather have a break to chat more with colleagues
- More specifics in graduate student mentoring
- Need concrete progress to employ post-docs as a formal job class
- Faculty attention
What directions would you like SFOS to go next?
- More national, international relevance-defense, homeland security, environment, food & starvation-addressing big picture problems (global warming, tsunami)
- Get freshwater teaching lab space- maybe more cost effective to hook up with ADFG hatchery than to convert space
- New faculty are a key
- Growth. Get out of the old discipline silos
- Keep fixing budget & then hire faculty
- Review Curriculum
- Restore faculty numbers
- Increase potential of surveying recent graduates on their experience. (positives & negatives)
- Joint science focus
- Increase availability of faculty to people in other locations
- Improve distance delivery
- Traveling short courses
- I’d like to see a strategic plan
- More student recruiting
- More presence at the state level
- Achieve excellence in our graduate & undergraduate (Fisheries) programs
- Reinvigorate Oceanography
- Focus on research
- Build Seafood Technology grad. Program
- Stay the course and deal with issues discussed, then move on after next meeting
- Solidity/separate distinct degrees, do not merge
- I am very worried about the state for the Oceanography program-hire new faculty, build critical mass
- Need to plan ahead for future directions in Marine Science
- Need to plan ahead for future retirement
- Completely dissolve administrative units. They are an archaic artifact of a system that did not work.
- We should strive harder to engage in interdisciplinary research from physics to fish. This will add cohesion to the school & take advantage of a new ship and unique ways to explore the ocean
- I think making sure we follow through with items discussed will be most beneficial.
What issues that were not discussed here would you like to have addressed?
- Extension of research results
- Increasing the use of team teaching, guest lectures, etc.
- Distance delivery, web-based curriculum, integrating UAF SFOS with more rural areas
- Field facilities- Seward and K Bay
- Research faculty promotion
- More hiring discussion
- Potential of a Marine Sciences undergrad in place of a failing Fisheries undergrad to include Marine Biology, Oceanography, & Fisheries. We already have courses that could be used of a Marine Science BS: Invert Zoology, Ecology, Oceans, Communities & Ecosystems, Ichthyology, Scientific Diving, etc.
- Space/facilities & funding
- New faculty priorities
- Technical aspects of distance delivery
- Where will next hires be? What discipline?
- What to do about non-productive faculty- deadwood
- Strategic plan overview
- More discussion on new research endeavors/opportunities
When should we meet next?
- Every two years (13 votes)
- Annually (10 votes)
- Every two to three years (2 votes)
- Three years (2 votes)
- Other comments:
- When it is warranted by issues needing attention, actions needing to be done
- In Anchorage
- January 2006
- January video conference
Should we try to have more regular SFOS meetings using telecommunication methods?
- Yes
- No
- Don’t know if this is feasible, not in favor
- Only if there is something that needs to be accomplished by a group or communicated. Don’t meet just to meet.
- Maybe yes for subgroups
- Face to face interaction is much more effective
- Good as is
- One per year
- Yes; weekly unit meetings, monthly school meetings
- This would be a good idea for focused discussions. I think you would lose attendance/attention if it covered too many items
Other comments or suggestions for improvement.
- Good meeting
- Excellent meeting. Thank you
- I think deleting the degree options would be a mistake.
- Workshops needed: distance delivery
- I would like further information on the student evaluations. I am concerned with many of the responses.
- Meeting room too dim-lit
- I enjoyed the meeting. It had a positive impact on my reaction to the school
- Review and restructure grad. Programs
- Undergraduate program in Fisheries is essential to our school
- This was obviously a positive group, happy with the new Dean
- Thanks to Jennifer
- The recent changes in Dean and Associate Dean positions have created a very positive momentum. SFOS is a much better place to be now. Thanks.
- Beer break
- I was very disappointed to see (and hear!) some of the older faculty working on computers (with volume on) and conversing during sessions. I thought this was very disrespectful to the speakers and participants. If they are disrespectful to peers-- how do they treat their students?
- Administration is much improved over recent-past. Keep it up!