Virtually all programs in the Graduate Col lege include research components that result in theses (118 in FY04, 144 in FY05) or other scholarly products, reflecting collaboration between faculty and students. In support of this type of scholarship, the University provides research facilities and maintains access to primary literature through the library, and several established centers.

Additional venues illustrating graduate student scholarship include

• Publications in professional journals
• Presentations at professional meetings
• Presentations at the Graduate Interdisciplinary Forum; during 12 years of existence, the Forum has included a total of 920 student presentations from >all colleges.
• Preparation workshops prior to the Interdisciplinary Forum on how to write an abstract and how to create an effective poster or slide presentation
• Grant proposals and thesis funding requests
• Performances.

The Office of Sponsored Research and Programs provides training and programs open to faculty, staff and undergraduate as well as graduate students. These include

• Grant-writing workshops
• Access to up-to-date funding opportunity databases
• Training on compliance with federal regulations related to human subjects protection, animal care and use, bio-safety, and responsible conduct of research.

In spite of the strengths of the Graduate College and its support of scholarship, the Steering Committee recognizes through this Self-Study and the work of the Daring to Excel task force on the Graduate College that several challenges still exist:

• Outside competition is significant and includes institutions in and outside of Missouri, assisted by their use of new technologies, distance education, and satellite campuses.
• Rapid growth has occurred in graduate education without matching increases in resources.
• The unique workloads associated with graduate education have not been adequately recognized (e.g. thesis research mentoring is not credited as part of the teaching load).
• Other than graduate assistantships and student loans, little financial support via scholarships or fellowships is available.

As the University supports scholarship, it also asks for responsible conduct in all research and scholarly pursuits. These ethical standards are integral to the learning process for students. This is demonstrated by the work of several committees (Human Subjects Institutional Review Board, Biosafety Committee, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee) that review proposals to ensure compliance with federal regulations.

Performance Measure 15 in Countdown to the Centennial states that “SMSU-Springfield will join the Carnegie Foundation Teaching Academy Campus Program in order to further the ‘values of the scholarship of teaching and learning and will create an Academic Development Center (ADC) to oversee all faculty development efforts. After full implementation of the Academic Development Center, at least 30 percent of faculty will participate each year in an ADC-sponsored activity.”

As a result, the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) committee and the Academic Development Center (ADC) were created. The ADC serves the University purpose of developing educated persons and the Missouri State statewide mission in public affairs by supporting faculty and academic units with projects, seminars, workshops, networking, consultations, materials, and other resources to promote effective learning, teaching, research, and leadership.

The CASTL committee and the ADC encourage innovative and effective teaching in four ways:

• The Teaching Fellowship Program (TFP)—This program has sponsored 16 projects involving approximately 50 faculty and 20 departments to (1) create and implement innovations for improving student learning in a course or program, (2) assess whether and to what extent the implemented innovations improve student learning, (3) design and conduct studies for explaining how innovations influence student learning, and (4) make presentations and prepare publications that contribute to local and disciplinary knowledge for teaching and learning. The ADC during 2003-04 engaged 36 faculty in 11 departments who had eight projects funded by the Teaching Fellowship Program to document the impact of innovative practices at the course level on student learning. An additional eight projects involving 16 faculty in eight departments have been approved for FY2005.
• New faculty networks/discussion groups—In the last three years, groups of new faculty have participated in small discussion groups facilitated by senior faculty members. The goal is to encourage new faculty to share best practices, learn about research-based instructional methods, use testing guides, and seek funding opportunities for their research.
• Annual campus conversations and guest speakers—During the past five years, the CASTL Committee has brought four prominent scholars of teaching and learning to campus. Committee members also host campus conversations, which usually include two to three sessions on a particular topic, open to faculty and graduate students
• Revisions to the Faculty Handbook—The Committee has advocated for changes in how research on teaching and learning is counted in tenure and promotion decisions.

The Annual Report of the Academic Development Center for 2003 - 04 presents and discusses data on faculty and administrator participation in, and outcomes from, ADC-sponsored programs and events. The report includes results of a survey completed by participants during 2003-04. One-half or more of the respondents indicated that Center offerings “helped to inspire and/or renew my professional commitments or practices,” “stimulated me to actually implement an idea or practice that I learned,” and/or “contributed to improvement in my teaching, department, and/or student learning.” Ninety-six percent of the ratings reflected positive outcomes.

Numerous technology classes are offered to the campus community. In 2003, the University received a five-year, $1.8 million federal Title III grant. The major goals of this grant include providing training initiatives for faculty, students, and staff that focus on improving use of the online course-management system, Web-based student services, and assistive technologies. Some of these funds were also used to upgrade Computer Services’ centralized training center where faculty and staff are shown how to use computer and network resources effectively. For a discussion of these courses on technology for faculty and staff development, see Performance Measure 9 and the Computer Institute’s Web site.

• Support for international travel (University College)
• The Annual University and College Award system recognizes outstanding teaching by honoring faculty with monetary and public awards.
• An Institutional Priorities and Faculty Rewards survey was completed by 239 faculty and 37 academic administrators in October 2003. The results of this survey, located on the ADC Web site, contributed to specific recommendations considered by the Faculty Handbook Revision Committee and the Faculty Salary Committee and led to a series of Public Dialogues for continuing conversation about the meaning and implementation of the University’s mission in public affairs. Although the University supports the scholarship of teaching as well as other types of scholarship, according to Daring to Excel, “the present Faculty Roles and Rewards system is a source of considerable dissatisfaction among most faculty. The granting of one-time monetary awards to faculty has, over time, been one of the contributing factors to the decline in average faculty salaries compared to national averages.”
• Funding for Results (FFR) - FFR grants provide monetary support (up to $4,000) for faculty members pursuing innovative projects to enhance teaching and learning. Faculty members applying for these awards represent those at Missouri State who strive to be lifelong learners while they explore ways to improve their teaching and, subsequently, their students’ learning. A project evaluation report must be submitted before future FFR proposals will be accepted. Since 1995, nearly $400,000 has been awarded in support of 182 faculty projects.