Geology-Geography

What is the program’s mission statement or statement of purpose? Why does the program exist?

The mission of the Department of Geology/Geography is to provide quality undergraduate education to students of Eastern Illinois University. The department seeks to provide an enriched learning environment for students through extensive interaction between faculty and students, emphasis on scholarship, field experiences, and use of technology-enhanced instruction. Geology/Geography is also committed to training future secondary school teachers through certification programs in the social and earth sciences. The department offers programs that provide students with the essential knowledge and skills needed to qualify for graduate education or professional employment in Geology, Geography or related fields. Geology/Geography also contributes to the broader mission of the University by providing general education courses that enhance student awareness, appreciation, and understanding of the human and physical environments and the scientific process. In order to promote faculty vitality and increase scientific knowledge, the department encourages faculty to engage in basic, theoretical and applied research. The department actively encourages and supports undergraduate inquiry through independent study or research with faculty members. Faculty also furnish professional expertise in Geology and Geography to the community and public school system. The Department of Geology/Geography seeks to continue building a solid base of personnel and facilities to serve Eastern Illinois University and the Midwest region.  The Department of Geology/Geography strives to provide a comprehensive understanding of Earth’s lithospheric, hydrospheric, atmospheric and biospheric processes and study, in depth, the myriad of human systems. While using a local, regional and global perspective, relationships are established between these human systems and natural processes. The Department of Geology/Geography is also dedicated to training secondary school educators to be successful in the classroom, and to promote the natural and social sciences. The Department values and actively encourages students to engage in field studies, internships, faculty/student collaborative research and discipline-related activities. The goal is that all students will graduate with greater knowledge and tools to become leaders in the fields of Geology and Geography.

How does the program mission align with the university mission?

The Geology and Geography department focuses on student-centered educational opportunities at several levels. To begin, we stress the importance of internships as applied learning experiences. Dating back to the 1980s, our students have collectively earned in excess of $900,000 through participation in paid internships (this is in addition to the unpaid opportunities also available). As will be discussed in other sections, the department has fostered relationships with internship-granting entities that continue to serve as outlets for student experience. We also encourage student-faculty research collaboration and support these endeavors through research awards in the department (e.g., the bi-annual Grace Markwell Meier Award). The department offers field-oriented programs (both study abroad as well as "study away") that also enhance the experiential learning opportunities for students. We have very active student RSOs including Geoscience Club, Geography Club, Sigma Gamma Epsilon and Gamma Theta Upsilon that engage in service learning projects and community relationships via outreach opportunities such as the Geoscience Club Charleston Library demonstration project.

Whom does the program serve?

The Geology/Geography program in general serves not only those who choose to major in the fields of geology and geography, but also helps prepare those in other fields through our general education offerings. We also contribute to the BGS program by offering off-campus and online sections for that community of learners. The Geology/Geography program offers the following services: Geography B.S. with concentration options of: General Geography, Environmental Studies, Geographic Techniques/Spatial Analysis and International Studies; Geology B.S. and Geography/Social Science and Earth Science Teacher Certification. We also serve graduate students in the Professional Science Masters in GIS and Master of Science in Natural Sciences graduate programs.

What are the services provided? How do these services align with the university mission and program mission?

Through the Geographic Information Sciences (GIS) Center, the department offers customized GIS mapping for private industry as well as government entities such as the Cities of Charleston, Mattoon, Danville, Decatur, and other entitities including Cochoran's Grove cemetery and Herrin cemetery. Above and beyond serving as an entreprenurial endeavor, the mapping and GIS services often employ student workers and interns who learn valuable job skills and training that provides an employment advantage. This aligns with the university mission in that it provides an integrative learning experience for students who can apply classroom skills to real world problems.  

Describe the program’s origins (e.g. year established, purpose, expectations).

The Geography program has had a presence on Eastern's campus since John Goode became the first geography faculty member in 1899. In 1920, Geography became one of several areas on campus to offer a four year program. Annie Weller was named the first chairperson of the then-named Department of Geography and served until she retired in 1940. In the early part of last century, Geography served EIU's mission of teacher-training, which is still a focus of the department. In 1968, the Geology program was born at EIU. The Geology program was focused on traditional field-based study and, in the 1980s, a summer field camp was launched that ran continuously until 2010. In the middle 1970’s the Geography B.S. major was divided into a Geography B.S. and an Earth Science B.S. In 1985 the Geography and Earth Science programs were eliminated and the name of the department was changed to the Department of Geology/Geography, leaving the department with one program, the Geology B.S. from 1986 until 1996. The Geography B.S. program was reinstated in 1996 and grew to 59 majors in 2010 and 2011. The department began serving Teacher Certification majors with Earth Science and Geography concentrations in 2004.  A Masters of Sciences in Natural Sciences (MSNS) program was established in 1998, in cooperation with the Biology, Chemistry and Physics departments. More recently, the department helped launch a Professional Science Masters (PSM) in GIS program (which was approved by the national PSM organization in 2013). Both programs were designed to offer comprehensive training in their respective fields to prepare students for employment and graduate school to further their education. The MSNS program was established to provide content training for teachers working in the field through graduate-level education in the sciences. The PSM was designed to provide project-oriented advanced GIS training at the graduate level for professionals in the GIS and Remote Sensing fields.

How has the unit changed or adapted over time?

The Geography B.S. has evolved to incorporate Earth Science curriculum and more recently has expanded in the areas of geographic techniques and spatial analysis (i.e., Geographic Information Sciences, Cartography and Remote Sensing).The program now offers four concentrations including: general geography, geographic techniques/spatial analysis, environmental studies and international studies. The Geology B.S. has incorporated new coursework in the areas of Earth Science and GIS as well as emerging fields such as energy resources (both fossil fuel and alternative energies) and advanced paleo-geology. Both programs encourage students to study abroad and have developed study abroad programs to appeal to departmetntal majors as well as other constituencies on campus and beyond in some cases.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the program’s history and relevance to university mission.

Provide data showing the four-year trend in the number of majors, minors, options, and concentrations.

Provide data showing the four-year trend in student credit hour (SCH) production, percent of SCHs that are general education, and percent of SCHs that are taught to non-majors.

What elements of the program’s curriculum are offered specifically to support other academic majors, minors, options, and concentrations?

The department supports the following programs: Broadcast Meteorology Minor; Earth Science Minor; Environmental Sustainability Minor; Geography Minor; Geology Minor; GIS Minor; University and Departmental Honors; Geographic Information Sciences Center; Professional Science Masters in GIS; Master of Science in Natural Sciences; BIO GIS Certificate; Sustainable Energy Masters program.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the internal demand for the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., curriculum changes made by another program) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

Geology/Geography faculty also contribute greatly to EIU's mission of general education by consistently offering multiple sections of EIU 4101-Spaceship Earth senior seminar both on and off campus. Over the past ten years, the department has offered several study abroad and study away field courses including: Ireland/Scotland; Turkey, Greece and Egypt; Ecuador; Central Europe; and a Colorado/Utah Field Course.

List relevant data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) New Graduate Salary Survey, and the EIU Career Services Annual Report.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that graduates in the fields of Geology and Geography can expect job growth in their respective fields. Between 2010 and 2020, employment in the field of Geography is expected to grow 35% with an average median salary of $72,800 annually. This is much faster than average growth compared to other occupations. The outlook for Geologists is similar: employment is expected to grow 21% over the same time period with an average annual salary of $82,500.  According to the EIU Career Services Annual Report, 90% of Geography majors surveyed are gainfully employed and 100% of Geology B.S. graduates are employed. The average reported salaries range from $24,500 to $100,000.

Is the program accredited or approved by a recognized external agency or otherwise certified to meet established professional standards? Provide an executive summary of and link to the program’s most recent accreditation or certification report, if available.

Does not apply to our programs.

Is the program required to meet any regulatory or legal requirements? Is the program subject to any special auditing requirements?

Does not apply to our programs.

What are the most important outreach or public service activities supported by the program?

The department is quite active in the broader community and provides several public service activities. The Geology in the Schools program is supported by a grant from Honda and allows EIU Geology undergraduates to provide demonstrations to K-12 students in regional schools. This has the double impact of operating as a service learning project for students as well as an opportunity to educate the general public in the Earth Sciences. The Geoscience Club sponsors an outreach program with the Charleston Public Library whereby EIU Geology majors design Earth Science related presentations for library patrons. Departmental RSOs, often in collaboration with other student groups on campus, have given their time in local "clean up" efforts, notably  at Lake Charleston. At a technical level, EIU GIS students and alumni provide their services in the area of infrastructural mapping that has benefitted local and regional communities such as Charleston, Mattoon, Decatur and Danville.

How do the local community and the region benefit from the program?

For several decades, the department has served as the official source of weather data for the community, reporting directly to the National Weather Service in Lincoln, IL. Broadcast Meteorology students also serve as weather forecasters on WEIU-TV and radio and they perform severe weather break-ins where appropriate as a service to the local viewers.The GIS and mapping projects have directly impacted communities throughout the region including Charleston, Mattoon, Decatur and Danville. Departmental outreach programs are also a benefit: they are detailed above.

If needed, provide supplemental comments or data sources to help the reader understand the external demand for the program.

Geography (B.S.)

Significant Achievements that Document Quality/Improvement

Significant achievements that document support of VPAA and/or University goals

Integrative Learning Opportunities

Student Research/creative Activity

Faculty-student collaboration

Strategies to improve P-16 teaching and learning

External Partnerships

Pass rates on any professional/ occupational licensure exams

Faculty Achievements

Student Achievements

Geology (B.S.)

Significant Achievements that Document Quality/Improvement

Significant achievements that document support of VPAA and/or University goals

Integrative Learning Opportunities

Student Research/creative Activity

Faculty-student collaboration

Strategies to improve P-16 teaching and learning

External Partnerships

Pass rates on any professional/ occupational licensure exams

Faculty Achievements

Student Achievements

If needed, provide supplemental comments or data sources to help the reader understand the quality of program outcomes.

Note any special benefits (e.g., personnel support, equipment, permanent improvements) that the program has received in the past three years from its grants and other sponsored programs.

As a result of grant revenue, over the past 10 years the department has been able to hire 20 interns (EIU students and alumni) and fund student scholarships at a level of $160,000.  Grant revenue totaling $97,000 has contributed to significant equipment upgrades including survey grade total stations, GPS equipment including three base stations (one on EIU's campus that also supports FPM), upgraded computers, software and maintenance and training.

How does the program benefit from donor gifts (e.g., scholarships, endowed chairs)? Does donor support provide a significant percentage of the program’s overall funding?

The following student scholarships are funded from donor gifts: Geography Alumni Award, Geology Alumni Award, Geography of Ecuador and Latin America Enhancement Fund, Dewey Amos Scholarship, Jon and Diana Giffin Geology Scholarship, Ruby Harris Award, Walter and Dorothea McDonald Scholarship, Grace Markwell Meier Award, John Wozencraft Memorial Award, Vincent and Pamela Gutowski Award, Dalias and Lillian Price Memorial Endowment, Geology in the Schools Outreach Program, Richard Wise-Lester Stoner Geography Award, Robert Buzzard Geography Award and the Annie Weller Geography Award. Grace Markwell Meier also helped establish funding for the Gamma Theta Upsilon chapter at EIU. The club annually funds a scholarship, provides support for undergraduate research each semester, subsidizes travel expenses for undergraduate students to attend and present papers/posters at professional meetings and underwrites the annual “Spring Break Casual Learning Experience” ( examples include: field trips to the Gulf Coast, Northern Appalachians, Southern Appalachians). Since 2002, 26 students have received a “Grace Markwell Meier Scholarship for Undergraduate Geography Research” funded by Rho Chapter GTU. While donor support is important for underwriting student scholarships and club functions, it contributes little to the overall funding of the department.  

List two or three key relationships that the program maintains with external constituencies (e.g., community colleges, other universities, government bodies). How do these relationships advance the university mission or otherwise benefit the university?

THe department has a long standing relationship with the Coles County Planning Office. Over the past ten years, the Planning Office has continuously employed one or two EIU student interms that work in their GIS department (with a few exceptions when funding was not available). The skills the students learn in the areas of GIS infrastructure and city planning advance the university mission through integrative learning opportunities. In addition, the students provide a service to Coles County by advancing their GIS-related output and capabilities. We have a similiar relationship with the Illinois State Geological Survey in Champaign-Urbana. The ISGS typically employs one or more student interns who work on GIS-related and environmental projects. In fact, several former students gained employment with the ISGS on the basis of their internship performance. The department is working on establishing certifcation programs with Parkland College in Champaign-Urbana where students can earn certificates in GIS and Surveying along with a four-year degree in Geography or Geology. For students with an interest in geographic techniques and spatial anaysis, this will prove to be a big selling point to potential employers. Having well-placed alumni in the Coles County Regional Planning Office and the ISGS benefits the university in that they continue to serve as key sources of internships for students as well as magnets for future employment. In addition, we have secured past contract work for Coles County as a result of our relationships with the CCRP office.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the resources generated by the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., revenue pass-throughs) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the productivity of the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., accreditation requirements, curricular changes, program restructuring) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the costs associated with the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., expenditures made centrally or externally, expenditures made on behalf of other units) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

How does the program seek to distinguish itself from similar programs at other institutions?

We are the only program in the region that offers a broadcast meteorology minor that trains students to work as on-air broadcasters. The success of the program is evident in that all but one of the program alumni are employed as on-air broadcasters in stations all over the country including Richmond, VA, Milwaukee, WI, Gainesville, FL and others. We also participate in, and helped found, the only Professional Science Masters in Geographic Information Sciences in Illinois. The program is already attracting international students from countries such as Australia, Indonesia, India and Iran. Our department boasts the only ESRI (a GIS software firm) certified trainer (Steven Dinaso) among the four year public institutions in Illinois: this means our students can receive ESRI certification which is recognized as the industry standard among the GIS professional community. With IBHE approval of a GISci Center at EIU in 2012, the program is poised to expand in the area of GIS which will benefit the broader EIU community and region.

Note any unique and/or essential contributions that the program makes to the university.

As noted in the above section, the role the department plays in the field of GIS is critical in that the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts much faster than average job growth through 2020 in the field of Geography and faster than average growth in the field of Geology. Most of the growth will be tied to the need for those with expertise in the geographic techniques such as GIS, GPS and remote sensing applications. On campus, the department works closely with FPM to conduct university-wide GIS infrastructural operations such as sewer line mapping and tree identification. The department is also a key provider of general education sections: over 70% of our Student Credit Hour production is in support of general education. We are also a big contributor to off-campus programs by offering several courses at Parkland and in the Chicago area, mainly in support of the Continuing Education BGS program.

Provide any program-specific metrics that help to document program contributions or program quality. Examples of some commonly used program-specific metrics may be found here.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the program impact on the university mission.

Provide a link to or listing of the program’s goals and/or strategic plan.

The general overarching departmental goalis to continue to do what it has successfully done since the department's inception: offer personalized, quality undergraduate and graduate degrees in Geology, Geography, the MSNS program and the PSM in GIS, prepare our students for the workforce and graduate school, and serve the local community. In addition, the department is dedicated to offering cutting edge instruction and keeping abreast of technological advancements.

The following goals guide curriculum in the Geography program- Goal 1: Students will develop an expertise in using and creating maps, databases and other geographic tools to present physical and human characteristics, and organize and analyze information in a spatial context. Goal 2: Students will gain an understanding of the complex and diverse human, physical, and environmental characteristics that provide the basic concepts of places and regions. Goal 3: Students will acquire a comprehensive understanding of the physical processes that lead to the formation of unique patterns and shapes on the surface of the earth. Moreover, they will develop an appreciation of how physical environments affect human systems and how human actions modify the physical environment. Goal 4: Students will develop understanding of spatial patterns and distribution of ecosystems, population, cultural mosaics, human settlement, and economic interdependence, along with an understanding of how global production, usage, and distribution of resources are vital to humanity. Goal 5: Students will apply geographic knowledge to interpret the past, present, and future of physical, human, and environmental patterns.

The following goals guide curricular decisions in the Geology program- Goal 1: Geology graduates should understand how the scientific method applies to the earth sciences. Goal 2: Geology graduates should have a thorough knowledge and understanding of core concepts in the earth sciences. Goal 3: Geology graduates should have a fundamental set of skills that can be applied to a variety of situations, including critical thinking and communication skills.

What role will the program have in the implementation of the university’s strategic plan (provide link to strategic plan)?

The department has many roles to play in the implementation of the university's strategic plan (many of these points were noted earlier in the report). To offer one example, the department is pursuing a relationship with Parkland College to re-package and enhance existing programs to benefit student preparation (this supports the university's goal to continue research into the needs of community college transfer students). See comment section below for an explanation of the proposed program. The new PSM in GIS degree has already attracted the attention of foreign applicants (strategic planning goal: Develop new markets for recruiting international students). The goal of the program directors is to work closely with the International Student Office to ramp up recruitment of students for this and other programs. The department believes the future of academia will call for greater collaboration between academic disciplines and local communities. the Department of Geology/Geography is committed to interdisciplinary cooperation as is evidenced by our participation in multiple programs throughout campus.

What are the program’s two or three most promising opportunities that could help advance the university’s academic mission? Provide an estimate of additional investments or other costs required and additional student credit hours, revenue, or other resources generated.

As noted in earlier sections, the expected growth in the fields of Geology and Geography will be in the technical areas associated with Geographic Information Sciences (GIS). The department is poised to advance in these areas as a result of several recent changes: IBHE approval of the EIU Geographic Information Sciences Center in 2012, approval of the Professional Science Masters in GIS in 2013, and the expected agreements with Parkland College in Champaign-Urbana that will allow students to receive certification in GIS and Surveying along with a four year degree in Geography or Geology.  Curricular changes to bolster our GIS offerings will keep our programs on the cutting edge of the discpline: for example, new course proposals in GIS programming and urban LiDAR applications are in the offing. On another front, over the past 10 years the department has completed several succesful contracts with regional entities in the ares of GIS infrastructure including: the cities of Charleston, Mattoon, Danville and Decatur, the Roselawn and Cochran's Grove cemeteries, the Coles County Regional Planning Office and the JF Edwards wind farm company. The high quality work and results have placed our department in demand for GIS infrastructure work leading to discussions for a new GIS mapping contract with Herrin Cemetery in southern Illinois. While the revenue from such projects is variable depending on the scale and scope of the project, the City of Danville project (signed in 2013) is worth $30,000 with the potential to increase in the future. Between 2006 and 2012, the department secured $585,000 in contracts, with the largest comprising the City of Decatur grant of $317,000.  

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand future opportunities for the program.

As noted above, the department is pursuing a relationship with Parkland College to re-package and enhance existing programs to benefit student preparation. The idea is to offer certification programs in GIS and surveying coupled with a four year degree in Geography or Geology. This will allow Parkland students to seemlessly move on to a four year degree at EIU and will allow EIU students the option of gaining certification in surveying which will open up new job opportunities as GIS and surveying technologies continue to merge.