9550507 Garibaldi The Model Institutions for Excellence award to Xavier University od Louisiana will support the initiation and implementation of systemic changes in the University that will result in significant improvements in (non-health) Science, Engineering and Mathematics (SEM) student outcomes as follows: o a 98% increase (from 43 to 85) in the number of Xavier students graduating in SEM disciplines based on a projected 75% rate of retention; o a quadrupling of the number (from 16 to 64) of Xavier SEM graduates enrolling, annually, in graduate and professional schools; o the development of an academic and physical infrastructure that will sustain, with the full commitment of the University's administration, the new projected level of student outcomes; and o the establishment and documentation of a successful and replicable model for SEM undergraduate student preparation for graduate/professional school or professional placement. To attain these goals, major changes will occur in the areas of facilities, curricula, student services, and student scholarship assistance. These changes will be coincident with and complemented by the commitment of the University to secure funding of approximately $7 million to construct a new facility (by the end of 1997) to accommodate existing and projected needs of faculty and students in the SEM academic areas of interest. The SEM disciplines of particular interest in this project will include Biology (non-premed), Chemistry (non-ppemed), Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and the Dual Degree Engineering Program. The development of this project has been accomplished through a process that involved extensive and open discussions among most of the senior administrative officers of the University including the President, Executive Vice President, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Vice President for Development, Dean of Arts and Sciences, Academic Department Chairs, special Program Directors, and other selected faculty and staff. Thi s process of communication and cooperation will continue and will be expanded to include the input of the corporate and public sectors and representatives from other Universities as part of an Advisory Council/Committee. Evaluation of this project will be an on-going activity built on the establishment of baseline data on existing student outcomes and assessed against the specific visions, Goals and Objectives set forth in the program description. The evaluation process will be performed in close collaboration with Technical Assistants identified by the National Science Foundation The project, from the planning stage and through its implementation, will be carefully documented to provide the optimum opportunity for the formulation of a Model Process and Program that is replicable in comparable academic environments around the country. 2 Xavier University of Louisiana
