Mission, Vision, Goals
Vision
The College of Science (COS) envisions itself as a dynamic community of science and mathematics faculty and students engaged in innovative research and learning with global impact, recognizing our special role as a leader in this binational community.
Mission
- To recruit, inspire, and develop a new generation of scientists and mathematicians, dedicated to the highest principles of Science, and educated in the environmental, health and economic challenges of the border region.
- To lead by example, promoting effective and self sustaining research programs, encouraging student participation, and providing a national forum for addressing the special problems of our region.
- To work to educate all university students and the community at large, increasing the level of awareness of scientific issues, and providing a knowledge resource to citizens and government alike.
Goals
Goal I - Learning and Teaching
To improve education for undergraduates and graduates prepare future cadres of scientists, mathematicians, and technologically literate individuals who understand not only basic scientific concepts but also have a working knowledge of the latest scientific discoveries.
Graduates from UTEP's undergraduate and graduate science programs can be expected to enter diverse populations and use the power of science and its methodologies to solve multi-faceted and complex problems in a variety of fields.
Graduates of our undergraduate programs will have a quality undergraduate education, preparing them to enter graduate or professional schools and/or pursue entry level positions in a broad variety of fields.
The College has established benchmarks to encourage and measure the recruitment, retention, and graduation of math and science students at all levels.
In undergraduate education, goals are to increase the number of majors each year, improve the success rates in introductory math and science courses in all disciplines, and shorten the mean time to degree.
In graduate education, our goals are also to improve the recruitment and graduation of master's and doctoral students. The College will offer new undergraduate degrees in neuroscience, professional master's degree, graduate certificates, as well a new Ph.D. in Data Science.
Goal 2 - Research
To position the College of Science to lead the Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é beyond its recent status as a Carnegie RI: Doctoral Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é through increased research activity.
The College will support the Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é's research and scholarship by increasing external research funding and improving public visibility of student and faculty research success.
The College's ability to obtain external research funding is fundamental to its leadership and educational mission in math, science, and technology. A series of benchmarks have been established to measure improvements in obtaining external funding. These include more faculty engaged in funded research, more grants received, and more dollars awarded over the next five years. It also plans to translate these research findings into commercial ventures back to the community to stimulate regional economic growth and job creation.
In addition, the College will contribute to a professional scientific research posture by increasing the number of students conducting research, improving the record of faculty publishing in peer reviewed journals, and providing greater support for grants management at the faculty/departmental level.
Goal 3 - Public Service
To enhance service to the community and the university and support the Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é in its external partnerships by providing expertise and leadership in scientific and technological areas.
Enhancing the community's perception of UTEP as an excellent place to study math and science and to conduct research in these areas will support the College's research and educational goals as well as the overall mission of the Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é and increase the College's ability to improve the scientific knowledge of the citizenry.
Increase the College's dissemination of research generated by the faculty and translate the scientific achievements and key findings of its faculty and students into the community in a culturally and linguistically sensitive manner.
Goal 4 - Administration
To support the achievements of students and faculty in scholarship and research by providing and maintaining state-of-the-art teaching and research facilities, through efficient administration and staff services at the departmental and college level, improved grants administration support, and continued evaluation of the College's goals and objectives.