I.E. Describe How Each of the Relevant Strategic Goals for the University and College are Being Promoted within the Program

I.E. Describe How Each of the Relevant Strategic Goals for the University and College are Being Promoted within the Program

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  Goal I: Maintain and strengthen an outstanding academic and student life on the Ellensburg campus. PBE students are enriched by the opportunity to work with a variety of faculty representing different disciplines and perspectives, sometimes in the same course! Employers increasingly seek employees who can make connections between different fields, speak to a diversity of audiences, and adopt a variety of perspectives. The PBE program accomplishes these through the students’ research opportunities and the formal curriculum. The program also provides multiple opportunities for students to become activists on behalf of nonhuman animals. The recently formed (winter 2006) Wildlife Conservation Group has been active in organizing field trips (e.g., a trip to Pullman, WA to hear a lecture by Dr. Jane Goodall) and in helping sponsor scholars visiting Central’s campus (e.g., Dr. Birute Galdikas in March 2007). PBE students benefit from the program’s connection to the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute, and most students attend Chimposiums, which are lectures that describe the ground-breaking research being conducted with chimpanzee Washoe and other members of her family. Many PBE students also work as volunteers or docents at the Institute, and program faculty and students are kept informed of events (such as lectures) sponsored by the Institute. One program faculty member, Megan Matheson, is the chair of the campus’ Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, which assists and facilitates all students’ research on nonhuman animals. Two additional faculty (Lori Sheeran and Steve Wagner) are members of this committee. Dr. Matheson also volunteers time to maintain the PBE program’s webpage (http://www.cwu.edu/~primate/), which provides students with information about advising and upcoming program events.
  
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  Goal II. Provide for an outstanding academic and student life at the university centers. The PBE program currently does not offer courses or have program components that take place at the university centers.
  
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  Goal III: Strengthen and further diversify our funding base and strengthen infrastructure to support academic and student programs. PBE program faculty have been very effective at forming collaborations that cross department boundaries and result in enhanced researcher and publication opportunities for program faculty and students. Five examples are detailed here: 1) Lori Sheeran (anthropology) and Mary Lee Jensvold (assistant director of the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute) were awarded a National Institutes of Health Bridges to the Baccalaureate grant in 2006. This three-year grant is intended to strengthen ties between Central and a partner institution (in this case, Yakima Valley Community College) while increasing the numbers of underrepresented ethnic minorities earning BS degrees in the sciences. The grant includes financial support for students to attend job fairs and conduct research at the community college—and most notably to participate in the summer apprentice program hosted by the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute. The Bridges grant will significantly enhance the diversity of the PBE program and of the College of the Sciences. 2) Megan Matheson (psychology) and Steve Wagner (biology) collaborated to submit a Research Experience for Undergraduates grant to the National Science Foundation in support of the summer field school in China; these same two professors were joined by Lori Sheeran (anthropology) to write an Improvements in Facilities, Communications, and Equipment at Biological Field Stations and Marine Laboratories grant submitted to the National Science Foundation to build a field station in China. The former NSF grant is being revised based on reviewer commentary and will be resubmitted during summer 2007. 3) The Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute regularly hosts apprentices and, up until recently, Earthwatch volunteers whose presence impacts the PBE program in two major ways. First, these individuals are often recruited into the program as students. Second, these beginning researchers assist more advanced student researchers on their projects. 4) The co- and assistant directors of the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute, Roger and Debbie Fouts and Mary Lee Jensvold, are frequently asked to provide information to the broader community on the care and conservation of chimpanzees and other primates. Their expert recommendations have included legal cases, advice on enrichment, recommendations to federal and state governments on appropriate housing of nonhuman primates, and keeper/ape interactions (Mary Lee Jensvold was a visiting researcher in this latter regard at Zoo Northwest in Florida during summer 2006). 5) Program faculty have successfully competed for intramural grants including Study Abroad travel grants, SEED grants, and equipment grants that enable the purchase of equipment and software and/or facilitate faculty and student research. This past year, intramural and extramural support enabled the purchase of The Observer software (for analysis of behavioral data), new computers to house the software program, two video cameras, one still camera, and a TV/VCR for the primate reading room.
  
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  Goal IV: Build mutually beneficial partnerships with the public sector, industry, professional groups, institutions, and the communities surrounding our campuses. Faculty have formed a number of partnerships that directly or indirectly enhance the PBE program, and these vary in their scope. On an international level, Central has a signed Memorandum of Understanding with Anhui University, enabling the use of the field site in China for the Conservation and Biodiversity Field School. PBE students conduct internships at Woodland Park Zoo and other zoos. Some PBE faculty and students have professional associations that may include: Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Northwest Anthropological Association, American Society of Primatologists, and the International Primatological Society; students and faculty frequently present at annual meetings hosted by these entities. The Bridges to the Baccalaureate grant awarded by the National Institutes of Health (described in Goal III above) established a partnership between Yakima Valley Community College and Central, and positively influences the transfer ease and rates of all science students. Friends of Washoe (a 501c.3 agency) is responsible for the care of the chimpanzees at the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute and generously allows the educational opportunities that occur there as part of the PBE program; additionally, the Institute is an important venue for community outreach and often is where community members first hear about the existence of the PBE program. At least three PBE professors, Mary Lee Jensvold, Lori Sheeran, and Megan Matheson, have participated in the annual Expanding Your Horizons event, which brings girls from nearby campuses to Central to explore careers in the sciences.
  
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  Goal V: Achieve regional and national prominence for the university. The PBE program is unique in North America and, as a consequence, attracts more international and out-of-state students than appears to be typical of the campus as a whole. Although primatologists are located within anthropology, psychology, and biology departments across the United States, Central’s PBE program is unique in: 1) offering a BS degree in primatology, 2) the amount of primate-specific coursework, 3) the many opportunities for faculty-mentored research and internships that focus on primates, 4) the program’s collaboration with the world-famous Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute, which gives PBE students faculty-mentored access to a family of chimpanzees living on the Central campus, and 5) the program’s emphasis on humane, non-invasive behavioral research. This latter point is in counter distinction to programs based at regional primate centers and is often what initially attracts students to Central’s program.
  
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  Goal VI: Build inclusive and diverse campus communities that promote intellectual inquiry and encourage civility, mutual respect, and cooperation. The PBE program benefits from diversity recruitment that occurs through the National Institutes of Health Bridges to the Baccalaureate grant (described in Goal III above). As part of the grant, Mary Lee Jensvold and Lori Sheeran developed a recruitment plan that targets underrepresented minorities enrolled at Yakima Valley Community College. In fall quarter 2006 and spring quarter 2007, Dr. Jensvold made presentations about the PBE undergraduate program in more than 12 psychology, biology, and anthropology courses at Yakima Valley Community College; she also speaks at student groups (e.g., Tiin-Ma, a Native American student group) and other programs (e.g., College Assistance Migrant Program) based at the community college. Two Bridges students self-identified as Native American and Hispanic are currently preparing to transfer to Central’s PBE undergraduate program in 2008, with three more students starting the Bridges grant preparatory program in fall 2007. The record of collaborative research, grant writing, and publication described above enhances and strengthens the relationships among the program faculty, and between faculty and students.