UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE FORMS

Academic Program Approval

This form is a routing document for the approval of new and revised academic programs. Proposing department should complete this form. For more information, call the Faculty Senate Office at 831-2921.

Submitted by: ___Thomas W. Ilvento__________________________phone number__6773___

Action: _____Request for New Graduate Degree “Certificate in Statistics”

(Example: add major/minor/concentration, delete major/minor/concentration, revise major/minor/concentration, academic unit name change, request for permanent status, policy change, etc.)

Effective term____011F____________________________________________________________________________

(use format 04F, 05W)

Current degree_____________________

(Example: BA, BACH, BACJ, HBA, EDD, MA, MBA, etc.)

Proposed change leads to the degrees of: __Certificate__________________

(Example: BA, BACH, BACJ, HBA, EDD, MA, MBA, etc.)

Proposed names:___ Graduate Certificate in Statistics __________

Proposed new name for revised or new major / minor / concentration / academic unit

(if applicable)

Revising or Deleting:

Undergraduate major / Concentration:_________________________________

(Example: Applied Music – Instrumental degree BMAS)

Undergraduate minor:_______________________________________________

(Example: African Studies, Business Administration, English, Leadership, etc.)

Graduate Program Policy statement change:__ _________________

(Attach your Graduate Program Policy Statement)

Graduate Program of Study:__________________________________________

(Example: Animal Science: MS Animal Science: PHD Economics: MA Economics: PHD)

Graduate minor / concentration:______________________________________

List program changes for curriculum revisions:

None

List new courses required for the new or revised curriculum:

Other affected units:

None

Rationale:

(Explain your reasons for creating, revising, or deleting the curriculum or program.)

This certificate is designed to provide a core set of statistical tools for adults in the regions to build quantitative skills in statistical applications. Alternatively, it can also serves graduate students within the University of Delaware by providing an opportunity to build a area in statistics while completing another graduate degree at the University of Delaware. Participants will complete five courses in statistics in order to complete the certificate. All courses are existing courses within our curriculum. Three of the five required courses can be applied toward the full M.S. degree in statistics (only STAT 608 and 609 do not count for the M.S. in Statistics).

Program Requirements:

(Show the new or revised curriculum as it should appear in the Course Catalog. If this is a revision, be sure to indicate the changes being made to the present curriculum.)

See Attached.

ROUTING AND AUTHORIZATION: (Please do not remove supporting documentation.)

Department Chairperson Date

Dean of College Date

Chairperson, College Curriculum Committee___________________________________Date_____________________

Chairperson, Senate Com. on UG or GR Studies Date

Chairperson, Senate Coordinating Com. Date

Secretary, Faculty Senate Date

Date of Senate Resolution Date to be Effective

Registrar Program Code Date

Vice Provost for Academic Programs & Planning Date

Provost Date

Board of Trustee Notification Date

Resolution for the Faculty Senate Agenda (if a resolution is required) 

 
WHEREAS, the proposed Graduate Certificate in Statistics is an interdisciplinary graduate course of study covering the scientific underpinnings of the statistics and its applications to data and
 
WHEREAS, there has been much interest over several years from individuals with diverse backgrounds and interest in pursuing advanced graduate studies in statistics, and 
 
WHEREAS,  the experience of the Department of Food and Resource Economics and the Graduate Program of the Statistics Program with graduate level training in the statistics in collaboration with Departments ranging over the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Earth, Ocean and Environment, Engineering, and Health Sciences provide existing courses and a foundation for the program, and 
 
WHEREAS,  the proposed program contributes to three milestones on the University's "path to prominence": to become a premier research and graduate university; to achieve excellence in professional education; and the engaged university, be it therefore  
 

RESOLVED, that the Faculty Senate recommends approval provisionally, for five years, the establishment of a new major leading to the Certificate in Statistics, effective June 1, 2011.

Certificate in Statistics

Description:

To provide interested parties within the community and region as well as M.S.. and Ph.D. students at the University of Delaware the opportunity to build a foundation in statistics that would be applicable to their field of study, and to recognize those efforts with a Certificate in Statistics. The Statistics Program regularly is contacted by people in the workforce who want to build a foundation in statistics to improve their capabilities and performance at their place of work. At the same time we see graduate students taking courses in our program from other programs, some of which are at the advanced levels. We have also seen Ph.D. Students working on a M.S. in Statistics while finishing their Ph.D. The Certificate provides another opportunity for serious students within the region to build a strong foundation in statistics, as well as graduate students on campus to build a foundation in statistics while completing another degree.

Rationale and Demand:

Statistics are used in many disciplines as tools in the research process. Students in business, the social sciences, engineering, computer science, the life sciences, and the physical sciences all use statistics as a tool to analyze data and make conclusions, especially in reference to making inferences from an experiment or from a sample to a population. In many disciplines, students take a research and methods course or sequence to provide a foundation of quantitative methods for their research. Thus, Sociology has a sequence of SOCI 605 and 606 for M.S. and Ph.D. students to gain a foundation is statistical techniques relevant for their discipline. However, in other fields there are no graduate level statistics or methodology course for the graduate students. Those outside the university have come to our department to gain skills in data analysis. Over the past ten years members of the department have been involved in training of statistical techniques in local companies and were involved in building the Certificate in Statistics in Continuing Education.

We believe a Certificate in Statistics, either as a stand alone set of courses for working adults in the region or operating as a minor at the graduate level, would provide motivated students with an opportunity to build an area of statistics in their field. This would involve a five course sequence in statistics which provides a foundation in the logic of inference, required intermediate courses, and additional courses focused on the need of the student, made in consultation with a statistical advisor from the Statistics Program. At least three of the five required courses can be applied toward the full M.S. degree in statistics (only STAT 608 and 609 do not count for the M.S. in Statistics).

A. Institutional Factors.

1. In May of 2008, the University of Delaware unveiled its “Path to Prominence” strategic plan. The second Strategic Milestone of the strategic plan is to build a “Premier Research and Graduate University.” Increased offerings of statistics contributes toward this end in terms of increasing the profile and growth of graduate studies.

2. The impact of this program is to increase the enrollment of graduate students, particularly Ph.D. students, in statistics courses and to increase their research skills.

3. The proposal will more fully utilize existing resources since it will increase enrollments for existing undersubscribed courses in the Statistics Program.

B. Student demand

1. This certificate will provide training in the statistical techniques and software for current UD graduate students enrolled in diverse graduate programs and will also be a stepping stone for part-time students working in industry and government. Based on current enrollments of nonstatistic graduate students in our programs, we expect 8 to 12 students per year to earn this certificate after marketing the program on campus and in the region.

2. This curriculum is also intended to meet the needs of full-time workers in the region who desire training supplementary to that of their current degrees to enhance their professional careers.

C. Transferability

We expect few to no students to transfer into the Certificate from other UD degree programs, although we do expect students in other graduate programs, particularly those in agriculture, chemistry, physics, mathematics and engineering to pursue this certificate if it fits their academic aspirations. All applicable UD coursework taken as a student in other programs can count towards this certificate.

D. Access to graduate and professional programs

N/A

E. Demand and employment factors

This certificate seeks to better prepare students for research and data analysis. These skills are in high demand within the marketplace. In addition, in virtually every Ph.D. degree currently being offered at UD, this certificate will enable some students to build an area in research and methods with their Ph.D. program to better market themselves in academia and industry.

F. Regional, state, and national factors

1. There are currently no comparable courses of study offered by any university in The State of Delaware. There are similar programs in the Philadelphia area.

2. There is no existing accrediting body for this type of program beyond the university level accreditation of Middle States.

G. Describe other strengths

1. The Statistics Program at the University of Delaware is uniquely positioned to offer the Certificate in Statistics. Our focus reflects the academic strengths of our Faculty, our longstanding and ongoing commitment to statistics, our connections with statisticians in the region, our commitment to develop partnerships with a diverse set of industries in the area, and the unique characteristics of the region.

2. We believe the Delaware Health Sciences Alliance: Partnership between the University of Delaware, Thomas Jefferson University, Christiana Care Health Systems, and The Nemours Foundation/Alfred I. DuPont Hospital for Children, to support joint and collaborative education, research, public outreach, and student internships will strengthen the demand for these skills.

3. The Delaware Valley region is a major center of statistics and data analysis with the pharmaceutical companies, manufacturing, health care, and the credit card banks.

4. Longstanding relationships with key local industries such as DuPont, AstraZeneca Chase, and Bank of America.

III. ENROLLMENT, ADMISSIONS AND FINANCIAL AID

A. The current enrollment goal is to admit up to 10 students per year into the program with a total of 20 students enrolled at any one time. This limit is based on the availability of seats in the graduate level classes and faculty/staff time available to provide appropriate academic advisement. If the program is successful and proves very popular in the future, it would be possible to admit additional students although additional faculty teaching and faculty/staff administrative resources would need to be identified to do so.

B. Admission Requirements

1. Applicants will be selected based on undergraduate and any graduate transcripts, letters of recommendation, strength of prior experience in the field, and the GRE and the TOEFL if applicable. This certificate will require sufficient math skills and each applicant will be reviewed for their math background, particularly calculus and matrix algebra. See graduate program policy for details.

2. Applicants already on campus and in a graduate degree at the University of Delaware would also be required to apply for the certificate program. These students would not need to take the new GRE or TOEFL exams – their existing graduate documents could be used in the application process. This certificate will require sufficient math skills and each applicant will be reviewed for their math background, particularly calculus and matrix algebra. See graduate program policy for details.

C. Student Expenses and Financial Aid

The majority of student financial support for this program is provided from the student’s current funding or financial aid. We believe the primary campus demand will be full-time graduate students on full contracts.

D. Institutional Factors

Campus students in M.S. or Ph.D. programs completing this program will receive the designation “Graduate Certificate” on their transcript. This is the appropriate form of recognition since it is a course work only program of 15 credits of graduate courses. Students from outside the University of Delaware who complete this program will be classified as graduate certificate students and have a transcript showing the completion of the certificate on a regular UD transcript. In addition, student receiving the Certificate could apply at least three of the five courses toward a M.S. in Statistics should they feel they would like to receive additional training. The required foundation courses, STAT 608 and STAT 609, would not count toward a M.S. Statistics degree. In addition, STAT 613, STAT670, and STAT 671 would not apply toward the M.S. in Statistics.

E. Describe the curriculum

Certificate in Statistics:

The Certificate in Statistics would involve completion of five courses in the Statistics Program. Students must get at least a B in each course in order for the certificate to count. All students would take or demonstrate competence in two foundation courses that emphasizes the logic of inference and basic techniques of experimental design and regression. All students would take regression and design of experiments. Students would be assigned an advisor in the Statistics Program to assist in the choice of additional courses that would best serve their needs. The advisor would also be available to assist in a Statistics Exam should it be part of the Ph.D. Comprehensive exams and the advisor might be included as a committee member for the student’s Dissertation Committee.

Because of the nature of statistical instruction, which can be taught at various levels, along with the variability of background of the applicants to this program, we propose a flexible approach to the Certificate in Statistics. Some students desiring this approach may start with very limited background in statistics, while others may have already had several graduate level statistics and methods course, or more extensive mathematical training. We propose two foundation courses that can be waived if the student demonstrates prior training of a similar nature; two intermediate courses in regression and design of experiments; and one additional course selected in consultation with an advisor. If the foundation courses are waived, the student would be required to take three additional statistics courses to choose from in consultation with an advisor.

The two required foundation courses are designed as entry courses, STAT 608 and STAT 609. These courses would provide a foundation of statistical inference, design of experiments, and regression analysis. However, a student could petition that these courses be waived if they could sufficiently demonstrate that they have taken similar courses in another discipline or degree. The decision to waive one or both of the foundation courses would be made at the time of application to the certificate program by a committee within the Statistics Program. It is the responsibility of the student to provide sufficient evidence (syllabus or course description) to waive these courses. If the foundation courses are waived, the student would be required to take two additional courses in the statistics curriculum.

Required Foundation Courses:

STAT 608: Statistical Research Methods

STAT 609 Regression and Experimental Design

These courses are designed for students with limited background in statistics who want to gain an appreciation of the logic of inference in confidence intervals and hypotheses tests, along with an introduction to basic multivariate approaches of experimental design and regression. These course are currently being taught with JMP software. These courses would not count toward a M.S. in Statistics.

Required Intermediate Courses

STAT 611 Regression Analysis

STAT 615 Design and Analysis of Experiments

These courses are considered essential training for anyone who participates in statistics. These courses are typically taught using SAS software.

Additional Courses

STAT 601 Probability Theory for Operations Research and Statistics – requires advanced calculus

STAT 602 Mathematical Statistics - – requires advanced calculus

STAT 613 Applied Multivariate Methods – this course would not count toward a M.S. in Statistics

STAT 616 Advanced Design of Experiments – requires completion of STAT 615

STAT 617 Multivariate Methods – requires advanced calculus and linear algebra

STAT 619 Time Series Analysis

STAT 620 Nonparametric Statistics

STAT 621 Survival Analysis

STAT 656 Biostatistics

STAT 670 Introduction to Statistical Analysis I – requires calculus; this course would not count toward a M.S. in Statistics

STAT 671 Introduction to Statistical Analysis II - – requires calculus; this course would not count toward a M.S. in Statistics

STAT 674 Applied Data Base Management

STAT 675 Logistic Regression

These courses are generally taught with SAS, R, or JMP. STAT 674 exclusively uses SAS. Students would be required to learn to use SAS on their own for these courses. Some of these courses require advanced mathematics and prerequisite courses within the program, as noted above.

V. RESOURCES AVAILABLE

A. Learning Resources

See attached library assessment statement

B. Faculty / Administrative Resources

The program administrator is Thomas W. Ilvento, Ph.D., Tenured Full Professor and Department Chair, Department of Food and Resource Economics in consultation with the FREC Graduate Committee and the Statistics Program Committee.

C. External Funding

N/A

VI. RESOURCES REQUIRED

A. Learning Resources

The learning resources necessary for basic implementation are generally in place in the form of existing graduate classes in Statistics and FREC. We will consider more courses in the future, or additional courses on-line, as the demand for these courses increases.

B. Personnel Resources

We will not need any new faculty to offer this certificate. However, if it becomes successful we will consider offering my sections of certain courses to help meet the demand, and this may involve S-contracts or additional faculty/instructors.

C. Budgetary Needs

All the teaching for this certificate is with the Statistics Program within the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and as such compensation will follow the existing rules of RBB.

VII. IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION

A. Implementation Plan

All classes for the program are currently in place. The program will seek to quickly market the program immediately after program approval is obtained for Fall 2011. We already have interested students on campus based on word-of-mouth.

B. ASSESSMENT PLAN

FREC Graduate Assessment

Mission Statement

“The University of Delaware is committed to achieving the highest levels of excellence in graduate education. “ (http://www.udel.edu/gradoffice/about/index.html; 8/16/10). Consistent with this mission, the Department of Food and Resource Economics conducts an extensive and coordinated program of high quality graduate teaching in a variety of professional subject matter areas, including, agricultural education, agricultural and resource economics; operations research; and statistics. Our graduate education emphasizes a sound theoretical base coupled with applied opportunities to develop and practice professional skills in analysis, writing, and knowledge creation.

Graduate Majors

Agricultural Education

Agricultural and Resource Economics

Operations Research

Statistics

Learning Goals

The Department of Food and Resource Economics is a unique blend of four graduate programs that provides students with a variety of educational, professional and supportive experiences in majors that focus on education; marketing, trade, and resource economics; operations research, and statistics.

At the graduate level, our educational goal is to advance research, application and education for our graduate students:

· by preparing students in the core theories of their major (either agricultural education, agricultural and resource economics, operations research or statistics)

· by providing rigorous tools of data analysis, problem solving, research, and knowledge creation

· by preparing students to contribute to critical social problems in education, natural resources and the environment, marketing and trade, data analysis and the economy.

· by contributing to the education of all University of Delaware graduate students in quantitative data analysis.

· by preparing students for advanced graduate work.

Graduates of the Department of Food and Resource Economics will demonstrate the following:

· Graduate Goal 1 - the ability to apply major concepts, theoretical principles and experimental findings to the solution of problems in their respective subject area

· Graduate Goal 2 - the ability to employ appropriate research methodologies to collect, analyze and interpret data toward the solution of a problem

· Graduate Goal 3 - the ability to use computers for data analysis and presentation

· Graduate Goal 4 - the ability to work effectively in teams

· Graduate Goal 5 - the ability write and present professional quality reports of technical information clearly and concisely

Assessment Plan for the Certificate in Statistics
Objectives	Strategic Activities	Measures	Short-term Outcomes	Long-term Impact
1. Train students in foundations of statistics	recruit excellent applicants and matriculate students with credentials similar to those in the existing departmental graduate programs	Number and demographic data of student applicants and matriculated students.	Retention and time to complete certificate	Students gain employment in statistical related fields
	Course work covering the logic of inference, regression analysis and the design of experiments	Faculty evaluation of student progress in course work Surveys of certificate students in the program and post-graduation	Students are prepared for subsequent coursework that requires the foundation knowledge	Graduates enjoy long term success in fields requiring data analysis ad statistical applications; graduates who go on for a M.S. degree in Statistics and related fields
2. Provide training in applied statistical techniques	Course work in regression, design of experiments, and additional courses in multivariate analysis, advanced regression, logistic regression, data management, and other approved courses	Surveys of students focusing on their experiences in these classes Surveys of graduates to determine the utility of these classes to their career Faculty evaluation of student progress in course work	Course work for Certificate in Statistics helped students secure statistics related internships and employment Students and graduates report applying knowledge from courses to work settings	Graduates enjoy long term success in professional careers using data
3. Provide experiential training in statistical applications to prepare students for the expectations of the workplace including reports and oral communication	Report writing in the courses; homework and projects; presentations in seminars	Surveys of graduates to determine the utility of their Certificate in Statistics to their career Faculty and student evaluation of the value of written and oral communication of statistical applications	Opportunities for students to interpret and explain statistical results	Graduates enjoy long term success in careers that involve data analysis; students go on for additional professional degrees; students in Ph.D. programs that add the Certificate in Statistics find faculty or other professional positions

Program improvement will be an ongoing process. The curriculum will be modified as necessary to achieve the goal of producing graduates who apply the knowledge, skills and abilities gained from the Certificate in Statistics to their career.

Graduate Certificate in Statistics
Instructions: Please type or print all the information. Send the original copy with the required signatures to the Office of Graduate and Professional Education
Student Name:					Entry Year: Graduation Year:
Student ID:		Email:			Telephone:
Address:
Advisor:
	Term		Grade		Notes	Advisor Initials
Foundation Courses:
STAT 608
STAT 609
Intermediate Courses
STAT 611
STAT 612
Additional Course(s) At least one course, up to 3 courses if Foundation Courses are waived.
Advisor Signature:					Date:	o Approved o Not Approved
Department Chair:					Date:	o Approved o Not Approved
For Office Use Only
_____________________________________________________ Office of Graduate and Professional Education				o Approved for Certificate o Not Approved for Certificate			Date Recorded