New Program Proposal Bachelor Of Science Major In Discovery Informatics (Page 2 of 3) in pdf

the field of study). The remainder of the degree program will be composed of college

general education requirements and electives to meet the 122 credit hours necessary for

graduation.

Although no other undergraduate program major currently exists in South

Carolina, a similar program in academic intent is found at Wofford College as a

Certificate in Computational Mathematics for those students completing a major in one of

three natural sciences, psychology, or mathematics. (Cf., p. 132, Wofford College 2003-

2005 Catalogue)

A total of two faculty will begin to teach in the program in Fall 2005. Only in the

fourth year will a new faculty member, principally for the Discovery Informatics

program, be hired. By the fifth year, a total of 16 faculty members will be involved in the

program, teaching a total of nine courses per year in Discovery Informatics. This will

represent a commitment of 2.375 FTE per year who will constitute the core faculty for

the program.

The College has purposefully constructed the program to work with existing

majors at the institution, so that all students majoring in Discovery Informatics will be

required to take a cognate in a substantive discipline. Initially, there will be cognates in

six academic departments. This figure will grow over the course of the first five years of

the program’s implementation. Currently, an additional 14 academic departments are

contemplating the development of cognates for inclusion in the Discovery Informatics

program of study.

Enrollment in the proposed program is estimated to begin at eight students ( 5.4

FTE) in FY 2005-2006 and increase to 50 students (34.1 FTE) in FY 2009-2010. If

enrollment projections are met, the program will meet the current CHE program

productivity standards.

The program will not be required to seek accreditation through any national

accrediting body, since at this time, no accrediting body exists for this area of study.

No additional physical plant requirements will be required to implement the

proposed program. No additional equipment costs are needed to implement the new

program. The library will require an expenditure of $8,000 for new materials in order to

accommodate the Discovery Informatics major.

New costs for the program are estimated by the institution to begin at $15,500 in

year one and include program administration, supplies and materials, and new course

development.

This figure contains no costs for any of the 16 faculty members

participating in the program, based upon the assumption that they would be full-time at

the institution regardless of whether the Discovery Informatics program exists or not.

Estimated costs are to increase to $ 70,000 by the fifth year of the program and include

line items for one new faculty salary, program administration, supplies and materials and

New Program Proposal Bachelor Of Science Major In Discovery Informatics Page 2