Goal Achievements

41% of the class of 2009 reported that they had, or planned to, work with a professor on a research project in the A&S senior survey.
In 2008-2009 faculty/student research collaborations included:
- 99 A&S students presented at the Undergraduate Research Conference
- 19 A&S students presented at the Nursing Student Presentation Day
- 26 A&S student presented at Eastern Colleges Science Conference (ECSC) with 7 winning excellence awards.
- 12 A&S students presented at Undergraduate Research in Communcations conference in RIT
- 48 student honors theses.
- Several students were authors/co-authors with faculty on papers presented at national professional conferences
- 11 students co-authored 4 publications with one faculty member, and 3 more student/faculty papers were submitted for publication by another faculty member.
- 5 student/faculty teams were awarded summer research funding
Niagara University Students were featured on the cover of the Council on Undergraduate Research's The CUR Quarterly magazine 2009, which contained an article by Dr. Vaught, and a description of a student-faculty research project with Dr. Priefer.
The Dean established a Fund for Student Research to help promote further student research opportunities.
Websites were created to foster student research.

92% of seniors rate the quality of teaching by our faculty as excellent in our Senior Survey
25 A&S Faculty received grants in support of active learning in the classroom from the Fund for the Improvement of Teaching and Learning
44% of A&S Faculty were nominated by students for the A&S Excellence in Teaching award, with 25% of part-time instructors nominated for the part-time teaching award.
14 faculty gave presentations at the International Conference on Teaching and Learning

A new M.A. program was founded in Interdisciplinary Studies
New model majors were created for the Liberal Arts B.A. degree, including Multicultural Studies and Applied Fine Arts.
71% of the graduating class of 2009 had at least one minor or a double major.
Faculty and student collaborated on a number of interdisciplinary projects this year around issues such as: diversity related programming, Castellani's Metamorphosis exhibit, the Three Penny Opera play, and a poverty simulation.
Additional interdisciplinary studies minors were approved in Africana Studies, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, and Law and Jurisprudence (revised).
The Academic Center for Integrated Sciences (ACIS) was very active this year, earning several external grants (Cummings, HCON, NF Memorial Medical Center, Positron, NIH), supporting ofer 4 dozen student researchers and publishing papers with more being prepared or already submitted.

63% of the Class of 2009 planned to eventually apply for graduate school
60% of the Class of 2007 were enrolled in graduate school or had completed a graduate program, according to the Employment and Education Report (EER)
An additional 33% of the Class of 2007 planned to enroll in graduate school within the next 5 years, according to the EER
67% of graduating seniors, 67% agreed that advisement about career options is excellent according to the EER.

94.2% of the Class of 2007 were employed full or part time, in military service, or self employed according to the Employment and Education Report
Many departments have been actively increasing their internship offerings for students including Communication Studies, Criminal Justice, Political Science and Psychology.
80% of Seniors agreed that there were "hands on experiences" in their majors according to the senior survey.
The A&S dean's office is working closely with Career Development to develop the Career Planning for A&S Majors website, with more integration of services, and new pre-professional career pages.

All A&S majors have identified how profressional ethics is covered in the major.
The Philosophy department has implemented an assesment plan for Ethics for the general education requirement.
New topical ethics courses have been added (Biomedical Ethics, Animal Ethics, Environmental Ethics).

Faculty and staff in A&S are concerned with the rights and dignity of individuals. Students are treated with respect and student problems are handled with sensitivity.
88% of seniors agreed that the general education courses helped them "understand how to work effectively with diverse groups.
Several new interdisciplinary minors were formed around cultural themes including Africana Studies and Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies.
According to the Seniors in 2009
- 90% found their professors to be caring and supportive
- 88% found faculty are always accessible
- 84% found that their relationships with faculty were close
- 83% found their advisers were always helpful
The Dean’s Office works with academic advisors and appropriate services on campus to ensure that students receive the support and guidance necessary for success. According to Seniors in 2009:
- 90% felt service was prompt
- 91% felt service was courteous
- 89% felt service was knowledgeable
Students are offered opportunities to come in for student checks each semester, and senior checks are scheduled in the fall to help support students, answer questions, and make sure students are on track.

College of Arts & Sciences