Division of Academic and Student Affairs

120 Pages·2016·1.19 MB·English

by  Almesha L. Campbell

Division of Academic and Student Affairs

2015-2016 ANNUAL REPORT

Instructions: Please click on the gray area to begin inserting information into this form.

Name of Unit: College of Science, Engineering, and Technology

Mission:

The College of Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) is a vibrant academic unit that supports the
threefold mission of JSU by addressing the teaching, research and service needs of all sectors of the
population. CSET mission is to educate students who are knowledgeable, articulate, critical thinkers and
effective problem-solvers who become teachers, scientists, engineers, mathematicians, technologists,
employees in industry and government, and entrepreneurs. The College conducts high quality research
and implements technology transfer in STEM.

Vision:

CSET envisions itself as a national leader in quality teaching, research and service in STEM, and a
leading producer of competitive graduates in the community, state, region, nation and the world. CSET
faculty will continue to provide innovative, high quality teaching to students. The College will further
enhance its national and international recognition for its scholarly endeavors by conducting high level
research, supported by competitive grantsmanship activities, and publishing in top tier regarded journals.
Our STEM graduates will continue to be nationally and internationally competitive thereby providing
evidence of the effectiveness of our excellent educational programs. CSET will further strengthen both
internal and external partnerships to maximize its impacts on the community, the region, the nation, and
internationally.

Introduction

The College of Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) has distinguished itself with an outstanding
faculty and staff who are dedicated to providing high quality education and a strong science and
engineering leadership necessary to achieve the highest possible level of excellence in science,
technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. CSET is committed to implementing the
University’s mission and to focusing its intellectual resources and academic infrastructure on improving
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the quality of life for students, the local community, state, nation and the global community. CSET carries
out its mission through nine academic units that include Aerospace Science; Biology; Chemistry and
Biochemistry; Civil and Environmental Engineering; Computer Science; Electrical and Computer
Engineering; Industrial Systems and Technology; Mathematics and Statistical Sciences; and Physics,
Atmospheric Sciences and Geosciences. During the 2015-2016 academic year a highly dedicated faculty
and staff as well as a strong leadership team composed of the following members have accomplished this
mission:
 Dr. Richard A. Alo, Dean
 Dr. Paul B. Tchounwou, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and International Programs, and Interim
Associate Dean for Research
 Dr. Wilbur Walters, Jr., Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs
 Lt. Col. Timothy Henderson, Chair, Department of Aerospace Science
 Dr. Timothy Turner, Chair, Department of Biology
 Dr. Hongtao Yu, Chair, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
 Dr. Farshad Amini, Chair, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
 Dr. Mahmoud A. Manzoul, Chair, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
 Dr. Jacqueline Jackson (Interim), Chair, Department of Computer Science
 Dr. Kamal Ali, Chair, Industrial Systems and Technology
 Dr. Tor A. Kwembe, Chair, Department of Mathematics and Statistical Sciences
 Dr. Mehri Fadavi, Chair, Department of Physics, Atmospheric Sciences, and Geosciences

Major Goals:

During the 2015-2016 academic year CSET fulfilled its mission through the achievement of four strategic goals
that included the following:

Goal 1: To provide high quality STEM education to our students
Goal 2: To strengthen the grantsmanship and research agenda of the College
Goal 3: To provide high quality STEM services to the local community, state, nation, and internationally
Goal 4: Increase diversity in the College.

I. MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS

During the 2015-16 academic year, the College progressed steadily toward achieving excellence in STEM
teaching, research and service. CSET has continued to provide a strong leadership in STEM education, as
well as its tradition of leading the University in garnering research funds. Below is a summary of the
CSET’s accomplishments during the year.

Teaching:

The focal point of CSET’s vision is the preparation of high quality and competitive graduates.
Comprehensive, leading edge academic programs complemented by a faculty with a rich diversity of
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recognized scientists and engineers with established reputations throughout the world fulfill this vision.
CSET has competitive and comprehensive undergraduate and graduate programs, offering 13 B.S.
degrees and 14 graduate degrees in various STEM disciplines including the following:

Undergraduate Degrees
B.S. Biology
B.S. Biotechnology (New)
B.S. Chemistry
B.S. Civil Engineering
B.S. Computer Engineering
B.S. Computer Science
B.S. Earth System Science
B.S. Electrical Engineering
B.S. Industrial Technology
B.S. Mathematics
B.S. Physics
B.S. Statistics
B.S. Ed. Mathematics Education

Graduate Degrees
M.S. Biology
M.S. Chemistry
M.S. Computational and Data Enabled Science and Engineering (New)
M.S. Computer Science
M.S. Engineering
M.S. Environmental Science
M.S. Hazardous Material Management
M.S. Mathematics
M.S. Ed. Technology Education
M.S.T. Science and Mathematics Education
Ph.D. Chemistry
Ph.D. Computational and Data Enabled Science and Engineering
Ph.D. Engineering
Ph.D. Environmental Science

During the 2015-2016 academic year CSET implemented many strategic activities to sustain excellence in
STEM teaching and learning. The major accomplishments in the area of teaching included the following:
 Provided educational opportunities to about 2,500 STEM majors, and offered general biology, general
chemistry, and mathematics courses to several non-majors to help them fulfill their general
educational requirements
 Developed two new degree programs including the BS in Biotechnology and MS in Computational
and Data Enabled Science and Engineering approved by IHL
 Developed several new courses to strengthen the STEM curricula
 Revised several STEM courses to enhance their content
 Increased enrollment by 8.4% over the 2014 – 2015 academic year
 Produced 217 STEM graduates across CSET
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 Facilitated 129 student internships at other institutions of higher learning, national laboratories and
industry
 Implemented the new PhD in Engineering and PhD in Computational and Data Enabled Science and
Engineering
 The new B.S. in Electrical Engineering produced its first 3 graduates, and an application for ABET
accreditation has been submitted and is now been reviewed
 Department of Biology continued to be ranked 2nd in the nation in the production of African
Americans with B.S. degrees
 Department of Chemistry continued to be ranked No. 1 among chemistry departments in the
Southeastern region with regard to the number of publications per faculty
 Department of Physics has produced one-fourth of all African American meteorologists in the nation
Further evidence of teaching excellence is provided for each of the CSET’s academic departments as
follow:

Biology
New course for undergraduate curriculum for Spring 2016 schedule: Introduction to Virology, Bio 461
(M. Pacurari).
BIO 506 courses (Fall/2015) (H. M-Hwang)
Creation of the Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Core in the CDS&E Ph.D. The Program and
the curricula for the Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Core were developed.
Received authorization of a new B.S. Degree Program in Biotechnology in the Department – the
development of the curricula for the new program in biology is underway.
BIO202-80 – Online Existing BIO 202 course was further developed for online offering in spring
intersession 2015.
BIO 450 Biostat and SPSS New online course, with complete contents including text materials,
presentations, reference materials, critical thinking exercises, discussion boards, exams and portfolio
project, has been developed. Once formally approved by the respective curriculum committees, it will be
offered to JSU undergraduate population
Developed an online - Botany Lab Manual (testing and refinement stages)
In the progress of developing a General Biology on-line Lab Manual (collecting data, images, and
enhancing laboratory exercises.
Edited an e-book for BIO 101 and BIO 111-112. These books are being peer-reviewed.

Chemistry and Biochemistry
The department graduated 10 doctoral chemistry students, five of them are females. This marks a major
achievement for the department.

Civil Engineering
1. The Department developed 4 new graduate courses. They are listed below.
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A. CIV 681 Excavation Support Systems
B. CIV 682 Computational Geotechnics
C. CIV 683 Soil Structure Interaction
D. CIV 684 Computational Geotechnics

2. The Department completed the assessment of its undergraduate program, and several areas of needed
improvements were identified.

Computer Engineering

(79 courses with 1,204 students)

Regular Faculty
Dr. Khalid Abed: 69 students in 8 courses
Dr. Kamal Ali: 83 students in 6 courses
Dr. Shahrouz Aliabadi: 77 students in 4 courses
Dr. Tarek El-bawab: 47 students in 8 courses
Dr. Abdelnasser Eldek: 236 students in 10 courses
Dr. Mohammad Khan: 109 students in 6 courses
Dr. Mahmoud Manzoul: 26 students in 6 courses
Dr. Gordon Skelton: 74 students in 6 courses
Dr. Shuang Tu: 73 students in 6 courses

Adjunct Faculty
Dr. John Colonias: 8 students in 1 course
Dr. Gerald Morris: 43 students in 4 courses
Mr. Justin Shumaker: 39 students in 1 course
Mrs. Qing Pang: 303 students in 11 courses
Dr. Xiaomeng Bian: 17 students in 2 courses

Computer Science

The computer science department is actively engaged in the general core curriculum redesign project.
The department has been piloting an e-book for CSC 115 digital computer principles. Dr. Godwin Offiah
is leading this initiative. The department is also offering students the opportunity to gain hands-on real
world experience through the cisco-networking academy. Dr. Willie Brown is leading this initiative.

Mathematics & Statistical Sciences

Fall 2015 Summary Teaching Load Report
Number of Semester Hours Number of students
Faculty Offered Number of Courses enrolled

Regular 16 170 48 1273

Adjuncts 13 79 22 1009
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Overloads 7 0 0 0

Grad TAs 0 0 0 0

Subtotals 36 249 70 2282

Fall 2015 Teaching Load by Individual Regular Faculty
Faculty Semester Hours Number of Courses Total Students
Cotton, Herious 11 3 162
Davis, Renata 3 1 30
Etheredge, Yvonne 3 1 17
Gibson, E 3 1 65
Houston, Teresa 3 1 171
Jones, Mattie 8 2 130
Knighten, Brionna 4 1 33
Long-life Learning 6 2 35
McGinnis, Bessie 10 2 141
Middleton, Brenda 8 2 133
Math 111-100 3 1 30
Math 226-100 3 1 24
Math 403 3 1 2
Math 599-Thesis 3 1 2
Rop, David 3 1 21
Whalin, Robert 3 1 17
Total 79 22 1009

Spring 2016 Summary Teaching Load Report
Number of Semester Hours Number of Number of Students
Faculty Offered Courses Enrolled
Regular 14 160 47 1123
Adjuncts 11 97 29 783
Overload
s 6 19 7 168
Grad TAs 0 0 0 0
Subtotals 31 257 76 1906

Spring 2016 Teaching Load by Individual Regular Faculty
Faculty Semester Hours Number of Courses Total Students
Buckley, Lecretia 6 2 11
Chen, Daning 15 4 85
Davis, Renata 13 4 92
Diatta, Bassirou 17 5 114
Gentry, Roosevelt 15 4 153
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Jefferson, Alicia 12 3 149
Kwembe, Tor A. 9 3 49
Liu, Jun 7 2 36
Talley, Jana 11 3 57
Wang, Ningning 6 2 21
Wafo Soh, Celestin 12 4 85
Wright, Carmen 12 4 94
Yang, Xing 11 3 76
Zhang, Zhenbu 14 4 101
Total 160 47 1123
Spring 2016 Teaching Load by Individual Adjunct Faculty
Semester No. Of Total
Adjunct Hrs. Courses Students
Life Long
Lifelong Learning 3.00 1 21 Learning
Cotton, Herious 10.00 3 105
Etheredge, Yvonne 3.00 1 18
Gibson, Ethel 7.00 2 58
Gibson, Percy 3.00 1 11
Houston, Teresa 9.00 3 143
Jones, Mattie 8.00 2 71
Knighten, Brionna 4.00 1 31
McGinnis, Bessie 10.00 3 107
Middleton, Brenda 8.00 2 116
Rop, David 3.00 1 14
Whalin, Robert 5.00 1 22
MATH 599 - Thesis 3.00 1 2
MATH 111-100 3.00 1 42 Online Degree
MATH 226-100 3.00 1 16 Online Degree
Independent Study* 15.00 5 6
97.00 29 783
*Independent Study: MATH 501-Gentry, STAT 272-Yang, STAT 350-Yang, MATH 351-Kwembe, MATH 356-
Kwembe

Physics, Atmospheric Sciences and Geoscience

1. Fadavi, M., Napolion, B., revived PHY151 to improve freshmen knowledge in math and science to
prepare them for higher level gate keeper courses
2. Greene, K. developed a new course, Broadcast Meteorology I, Communicate weather to the general
public, Spring 2016
3. Greene, K. developed a new course, Broadcast Meteorology II, e-learning course to prepare students
for becoming AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist, Spring 2016
4. Greene, K. developed a new course, Broadcast Meteorology Practicum, Hands-on experience and
evaluation of communicating weather to the general public, Spring 2016
5. Heydari, E. served on Doctoral Dissertation of Natalie Samai-Odegaaden, project Title: “Petrographic
analysis of microbial thrombolite build up in Oxfodian Smackover Formation, Alabama”, Department
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of Geoscience, Mississippi State University
6. Heydari, E., mentored David Austin, Marcus Sidney, Spencer Williams, Kory White, Laura Mathews,
Jacory Anderson, Danny Kimble
7. Khan, A. developed a new course, Discovery Based Physics Lab, A lab course for students of General
Physics Lab I in which the students will learn application of the background concepts taught in lecture
classes through an inquiry-based approach. They will not have a cook-book-manual, but will explore
(using instruments and simulation) how to find an answer to a question through experimentation.
Spring 2016
8. Khan, A. revised Basic and General Physics I Lab Manual, Fall 2015 and Spring 2016
9. Reddy, R.S., taught 19 high school students at the University of Maryland at East Shore for one week
in Summer 2015
10. Reddy, R.S., revised the course MET 487, Physical and Dynamical Climatology, Fall 2015
11. Reddy, R.S., mentored Justin Bond, Mariama Feaster and Robert Garrett
12. Reddy, R.S., Served on Master’s Thesis of two students,
a. Shanah Sharpe, Analytical Analysis and Computer Simulations of Energy Balance Models
(EBMs) to Improve the Prediction of Climate Change, Math, Spring 2016
b. Vijay Shankar, Water and Air Qualities, Physics, Fall 2015/spring 2016
13. Reddy, R.S., organized student research program, NASA Climate Literacy Program, summer and fall
2015
14. White, L., Funded Student Research Program (Jaylond Harvey)
15. Zhou, J. developed a new course, Discovery based Physics 212 Lab, which is a discovery based lab
course, students have to design some circuits for certain purposes, and figure out some setups to
measure some properties of lens and spherical mirrors, Spring 2016

Table I: Accomplishments highlighting the 2015 – 2016 Academic Year
Accomplishment By Whom
The 40th Anniversary of the Meteorology Program was celebrated CSET, DPASGS and
Meteorology Alumni
Four major active grants, MAST, ICFAIM, MAT-PD and NÇAS
Dr. Mehri Fadavi
100 teachers received professional development through two
grants, ($8.7M) and (1.5M) in summer of 2015. Dr. Mehri Fadavi
Listed among the top 10 producers of African American B.S.
degrees in Physics – AIP DPASGS
Listed among the top 10 producers of African American B.S.
degrees in Geoscience – AIP DPASGS
High number of majors (50) DPASGS
High number of peer-reviewed publications (10) DPASGS
Three (3) publications in Physics Review B Dr. Tigran Shahbazyan
One (1) Publication in Physics Review B Dr. Serguei Goupalov
One (1) Publication in Physics Review B Dr. Shan Yang
Hosted a High School Summer Weather Camp in June 2014 Dr. Loren D. White
Hosted a Middle School Weather Camp in July Dr. Kantave Greene
Twelve Teacher participants presented at Mississippi Science Project MAST
Teachers Association, October 25-27, 2015.
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One of our MAST teacher participants was an award winner at James Brownlow, Fred W.
Mississippi Science Teachers Association. Brown
High School Award

Three courses were developed in Meteorology Dr. Kantave Greene
Dr. Mehri Fadavi was selected to be part of executive Board for the
first Charter School in Mississippi Midtown Charter School
Provided PD for faculty through IC FAIM
Drs. McGuire (LSU), Mestre
(UI Urbana), Avi Ben-Zeev
(San Francisco State
University), Arlene Russell
(University of California,
Kermin J. Martínez-
Hernández (St. John Fisher
College, Rochester),
WMS from New Hampshire
Highest # of freshman students (18) DPASGS

Other Highlights within the Department
Mississippi Academy for Science Teaching (MAST)
Dr. Mehri Fadavi, Professor of Physics, established MAST with a grant from the Mississippi Department
of Education in 2004. The Mississippi Academy for Science Teaching (Project MAST) is a teacher
professional development program and pre-service teacher scholarship program housed in the Department
of Physics, Atmospheric Sciences and Geosciences at Jackson State University. We have been providing
470 Mississippi public school teachers with professional development workshops since 2004 with funding
from the Mississippi Department of Education.

In 2008, with new funding provided by the National Science Foundation, we began to provide Mississippi
high school science teachers with professional development in the physical sciences, Earth and space
science. In addition, we established physics and physical science education concentration at JSU within
the Department of Physics, Atmospheric Sciences and Geoscience. The Physical Science concentration is
one of a kind in the state. The physical science PRAXIS test was validated through this program by
Mississippi Department of Education. We began to offer a competitive scholarship for students interested
in becoming Physics or Physical Science teachers committed to teaching in a public school in Mississippi.
Over the last five years, our program has begun to reshape the science education landscape in the state of
Mississippi from individual classrooms to state science education policy. Through these program more
than 240 high school teachers, 200 administrators, 10 undergraduate faculty and 12,000 high school
students have been impacted.
Institutional Change through Faculty Advancement in Instruction and Mentoring-IC FAIM

Institutional Change through Faculty Advancement in Instruction and Mentoring (ICFAIM) is an
implementation project at Jackson State University (JSU) that builds on six successful previous
implementation projects, the Mississippi Academy for Science Teaching Project MAST, which provided
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professional development for K-12 science teachers from more than forty districts in Mississippi over a
period of 10 years. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), ICFAIM’s goal is to increase the
retention of undergraduate students in the College of Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) by
helping its faculty members and graduate students improve their teaching and mentoring. This program
focuses its initial efforts on the Department of Physics, Atmospheric Sciences and Geoscience (PASGS)
by providing faculty professional development workshops in student-centered pedagogy and delivering
professional development and mentoring. This program also works to support the department’s efforts to
revise the content of entry-level physics courses and their respective labs.
By improving the efficacy of faculty mentoring and developing a research methods course, ICFAIM will
increase the number of research opportunities both on campus during the academic year and with
partnering institutions year round; the program hopes that this will help increase undergraduate research
participation. Specifically, ICFAIM’s objectives are to:
 Increase STEM faculty capacity for learner centered pedagogy, research mentoring, and build
collaborative infrastructure, and,
 Increase enrollment, retention and graduation rate of students through curricular change, improved
pedagogy and formal research experiences coupled with strong mentoring

Mathematics Advancement in teaching through Professional development MAT-PD

Dr. Mehri Fadavi, Professor of Physics, has also established MAT-PD with a grant from the Mississippi
Department of Education in 2013. This outreach program is intended to raise the content knowledge of
Mississippi’s 4-8 grades mathematics teachers. In-service teachers are provided with activities for
teaching implementing Common Core State Standards in Mathematics. They are provided ways to help
prepare their students for the MS State Science Assessment for grades 5 and 8 and are shown new ways to
use technology as a tool for instruction. Teachers receive course credit to help gain middle school
certification and content knowledge through two courses. At the conclusion of the program, instructional
materials for use in classrooms are provided to the teacher participants.

Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with UCAR

Howard University, Jackson State University, North Carolina A&T University, Hampton University,
University of Wyoming (the “parties”) and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
(UCAR), acting on behalf of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), support and carry
out many research and educational activities in the atmospheric and related sciences. The parties share a
common vision of promoting education in the atmospheric and related sciences, integrating education and
research, developing measurement and modeling tools which support improved understanding and
prediction of climate change and extreme weather events, and using such tools to assess and mitigate the
possible impacts of climate change and extreme weather on ecosystems and human society.

The purpose of the MOA is to define a framework for scientific and educational cooperation between the
parties and NCAR to create a mechanism for the regular exchange of information about ongoing and

newly developing plans and activities.

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