Assessing Readiness to Offer New Degree Programs

Personnel

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  What additional personnel would be needed to make the proposed program successful for growth and development over a five-year period?
  

It is the intent to draw from existing teaching faculty and existing courses (but with additional focus on sustainability), to be offered within this degree program. The North Carolina Center for Sustainable Tourism’s (NCCST) strategic plan calls for an Associate Director for Academics to oversee the graduate program; this person will need the support of an administrative assistant to cover the administrative demands of a quality graduate program. Since the program draws upon existing faculty in several departments with existing full schedules and advising responsibilities, an Associate Director is clearly needed to recruit and advise students and to manage all related academic administrative activities including course scheduling. In addition, this person must build and support an active Tier I University research agenda and accommodate the research and external funding production of center affiliated faculty. The Associate Director will work under the supervision of the Director of North Carolina Center for Sustainable Tourism, who is a tenured full professor in the College of Business.

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  Faculty needs: Initially there is adequate faculty to construct and deliver select aspects of the proposed degree program. Currently, two of the colleges involved in the development and curriculum offerings in the MS-ST are conducting searches to hire new faculty members; although they will not be dedicated tourism scholars, they may possibly possess some competency in sustainable tourism. Over the next five years as the program develops and expands, additional faculty will be needed to both teach courses and conduct appropriate research. Two new jointly appointed faculty will be needed starting in the second year of the program when it is estimated that 22 students will be enrolled. New joint faculty positions interspersed in select departments would be needed as follows: 1 in the third year, 1 in the fourth year and another 1 in the fifth year. This would amount to five new faculty members in place to support the program in five years. Some additional faculty support may become available through partnering departmental faculty hires as a residual result of growth in the programs already in existence.
  
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  Post-doc associates: Participating departments/programs to determine, as needed.
  
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  Research technicians: Participating departments/programs to determine, as needed.
  
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  Graduate assistants: In order to effective recruit and retain excellent students, graduate assistantships will be needed for the program. While new grants, contracts, and gifts could support a number of students over time, assistantships will be needed for the program at its onset. It is estimated that eight graduate student assistantships will be required in the first year with an additional seven needed in the second year. Fifteen assistantships would provide a base for successful recruitment and provide about half of the support needed for a program of nearly 30 by the fourth year of program development. It is also critical that the program have access to at least six out-of-state remissions awards to assist incoming students with out of state tuition costs. .
  
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  Other staff: As stated above, it is anticipated that there should be one FTE administrative support position added before the onset of the program.
  

As the program matures over the five year time period, there may be need for an additional part-time faculty member who can address various specialized needs.

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  What will be needed to recruit such individuals and what is the recruitment market like?
  

Current regular recruitment procedures will be utilized including targeted mailings to departments and advertisements in the Chronicle of Higher Education as well as in specific discipline publications. It is expected that in the future there will be considerable competition for obtaining quality faculty in this fast emerging field. Financial support will be needed to fund the recruitment expenses for the proposed Associate Director for Academics and faculty hires.

Part Four: Assessing Financial Resources to Support the Program

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  Describe existing financial resources to be devoted to the proposed program.
  

There are no substantial financial resources currently dedicated to this degree program. What is available is the identification of faculty with expertise appropriate to establishing and moving this program forward. These faculty members initially would come from the Departments Hospitality Management, Recreation and Leisure Studies, Geography, and Economics, and the College of Business. Direct financial resources to support the program would come available through tuition paid by graduate students, and through new grants, contracts, and gifts.

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  Describe what additional financial resources would be needed over the next five years and their proposed sources of funding.
  

Additional funding will be sought from the tourism industry and secured through special fundraising efforts for scholarships and internships for students. As the student population grows, it should justify increases in the various departments’ contributions to the proposed program. Proposed sources of funding that are anticipated generate from the Graduate School increasing remissions and GA funding as appropriate. Also necessary is a commitment from Research and Graduate Studies to support the two positions of Associate Director for Academics and the administrative support person. It is viable that tourism industry members would gift corporate sponsorships to provide faculty positions, student scholarships, and/or related training materials/special equipment. Faculty members remunerated for special projects/papers may choose to donate earnings to the program.

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  What new financial resources will come to the university based on the projected increase in enrollment?
  

As the program increases so will scholarly activity, in the form of grants/contracts per se, that faculty and students will secure to provide a variety of hands-on learning experiences. Increased enrollment will increase state funding dollars as designated by the State.

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  Will the program students contribute to the financing of the program through teaching, research, and clinical practice?
  

Students enrolled in this degree program will indirectly contribute to the financing of the program via community-based and academic-based research and programmatic assignments.

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  What are your plans for the program if the financial resources anticipated for the program (enrollment, external support, etc.) are 25% lower and 50% lower than expected?
  

If the financial resources for the program are 25% lower than anticipated, the degree program Faculty Advisory Committee will immediately evaluate this situation to determine the right course of action. If the financial resources for the program are 50% lower than anticipated, again, an assessment will be made as to the viability of offering this degree program.

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cs-acad -> University Curriculum Committee Course Proposal Form for Courses Numbered 0001 – 4999
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