REGENTS REPORT

Spotlight on Faculty: Leadership and Quality Service for South Dakota's Public Universities

Quality teaching and quality teachers are essential for the development of our students and the preservation of our institutions, as dramatically underscored by the hit movie Mr. Holland's Opus. In South Dakota, more than 1,250 men and women provide quality instruction in the public university system. For the investments made by the state and students, our faculty provide an outstanding return through their teaching, research, and service, both to the system and to the state as a whole. The information below offers a glimpse of the instructional and other contributions made by public university faculty in South Dakota.

Public University Faculty...A Good Investment in a Great Future.

The percentage of faculty with a terminal degree (highest degree awarded in a given faculty member's field) is an important indicator of instructional quality. In the 1995-96 academic year, 75% of the faculty members at South Dakota's public universities hold a terminal degree, a 5% increase over the proportion reported five years ago.

Another indicator of faculty quality is the percentage of faculty with doctorates hired. Over the past five years, 87.5% of the tenure-track faculty hired in the state university system hold a Ph.D.

In addition to their classroom contributions, state university faculty members are providing their leadership and expertise to improvement projects throughout the university system. Over the course of the 1995-96 academic year, system faculty have helped to:

• Develop minimum GPA standards for student progression toward a degree
• Revise the core curriculum for university students
• Develop and implement the general education proficiency testing in written communication, problem-solving, quantitative reasoning, and critical thinking
• Review certain K-12 earth science and physical science courses for college prep content
• Establish a systemwide common course numbering system for most disciplines at the baccalaureate level
• Redesign enrollment management service throughout the university system, including recruitment/admissions, financial aid, registration/records, and student billing
• Develop 15 shared courses in areas ranging from thermodynamics to tourism using distance education technology
• Create a Joint Teaching Initiative to pool instructional resources between Black Hills State University and the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
• Participate in and facilitate Pew Higher Education Roundtables, which engage internal and external constituencies in a dialogue on change in higher education
• Evaluate student placement programs in mathematics and English with an eye toward greater coordination among universities
• Conduct academic assessment programs at each university, providing information on program quality/student performance
• Offer 3 university-level courses to high school students
• Deliver 122 courses to off-campus locations through telecommunications (RDTN, Public Broadcasting, Internet, videotape, etc.)

One of the major strengths of South Dakota's public university system is its faculty. The information above underscores the point that our state universities have well-trained, quality faculty members who are actively engaged in improving opportunities for their students and institutions.