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Biomedical / Health Initiative for Systems Science Graduate Program
Innovative Instruction Initiative for Systems Science Graduate Program
Sustainability / Energy Efficiency Initiative for Systems Science Graduate Program
Enhance Contributions to PSU Undergraduate Curriculum Initiative for Systems Science Graduate Program

Title: Biomedical / Health Initiative for Systems Science Graduate Program
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Mon, 10/12/2009 - 19:43 — George G. Lendaris
School/College: 
DEAN OF GRADUATE STUDIES
Department: 
Systems Science
Planning Year: 
2009
Institutional Themes: 
Provide Civic Leadership through Partnerships
Achieve Global Excellence
Institutional Academic Initiatives: 
Increase externally sponsored activities/industry start ups/intellectual property management
Unit initiative Description: 
Apply systems methods to biomedical research and health care. Proposal to NIH ($250K, 2-year) to use Reconstructability Analysis (RA) in genome-wide studies of Alzheimer's and Type-2 Diabetes with faculty from OHSU, Eastern Wash. U., and U. Chicago. This is part of planned larger effort with OHSU in genomics, proteomics, and bio-informatics. Funding includes upgrading PSU-developed software used in RA research. Work with Primate Center employs RA to improve animal care-management. Exploring industry support for RA research on occupational health issues. SySc is leading a group tasked with understanding current NW Oregon and SW Washington hospital usage patterns, comprising clinicians and researchers from OHSU and Mult. Co. Health Dept., and other PSU faculty. Currently funded research on prescription drug diversion and abuse ($160K in 2009) develops societal-level models to find high-leverage interventions to reduce diversion/abuse of opioid pain medications.
Time Frame: 
More than 3 years/ongoing
Desired outcomes: 
At a general level, this initiative seeks to develop partnerships, demonstrate excellence in research, and increase government and industry funding. More specifically, the desired outcomes for this initiative are: (1) research results that enhance our understanding of biomedical problems or help guide public policy at the national and at the community level, and (2) improvement in systems methodology (for both basic research and societal problem-solving) for future work under this initiative.
How initiative supports overall unit or school/college plans: 
In a recent strategic planning document for the Systems Science Graduate Program, two application areas were identified for ongoing research. These were (1) biomedical and health research, and (2) sustainability. This unit initiative directly supports the first of these strategic goal areas. (Another unit initiative supports the second.)
Measure of progress and success for this unit initiative: 
Progress and success can be measured by: (1) quality and quantity of research publications (meeting presentations & journal articles), (2) submitted funding proposals, (3) funding received via grants & contracts, (4) the number of intra-PSU and inter-institutional faculty collaborations and institutional partnerships established and/or strengthened, (5) student thesis/dissertation efforts launched and supported by this research, (6) degree of participation in related initiatives of other PSU units (e.g., the proposed PSU/OHSU Research Institute on Biological and Biomedical Computing and Engineering).

Title: Innovative Instruction Initiative for Systems Science Graduate Program
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Mon, 10/12/2009 - 19:23 — George G. Lendaris
School/College: 
DEAN OF GRADUATE STUDIES
Department: 
Systems Science
Planning Year: 
2009
Institutional Themes: 
Improve Students Success
Enhance Educational Opportunities
Expand Resources and Improve Effectiveness
Institutional Academic Initiatives: 
Improve retention/graduation rates
Increase online offerings and enrollment
Unit initiative Description: 
Develop hybrid Web-based instruction that replaces lectures with self directed learning, increases instructional efficiency, and enables larger classes. Continue pioneering methods to allow remote synchronous participation in classes, seminars, and discussions. Collaborate with identified high school teacher who has developed innovative methods for teaching high school math via computerized system dynamics tools. Develop effectiveness measures of these methods vs. traditional methods, advised by faculty in multiple disciplines, and working closely with local high school teachers and administrators. Continue teaching special section of the Sustainability FRINQ course, as developed by SySc faculty, which pilots use of the Living Learning Community and First Year Experience programs. Continue assisting Sociology faculty member (a PSU SySc Ph.D. holder) to redesign the Student First web-based resources (online articles and video presentations relevant to FRINQ students).
Time Frame: 
More than 3 years/ongoing
Desired outcomes: 
Outcomes for hybrid instruction include reduced energy consumption and carbon footprint, reduced demand for parking spaces, support for larger numbers of students, and global access to courses. High school math education outcomes likely to include increased collaboration between PSU and local high schools, well-documented methods for improving HS math education, and better prepared students entering college. The Sustainability FRINQ class is specifically aimed at increasing student retention, based on supportive research related to its student-involvement methods. The Student First web-based resource was specifically designed to help ease student's transition to college life and thereby increase freshman retention.
How initiative supports overall unit or school/college plans: 
Hybrid instructional model supports the Systems Science strategic initiative of increasing awareness and accessibility, and also helps to increase student enrollment and credit hours. Innovative HS math education indirectly supports the Systems Science strategic initiative to transfer graduate-level systems knowledge and experience into the University's undergraduate curriculum (by helping to better prepare incoming freshmen). The new FRINQ class and improved website resources also help to enhance SySc/UNST connections.
Measure of progress and success for this unit initiative: 
Progress regarding hybrid instruction advances is measured by course enrollment statistics and the fraction of students who participate remotely in synchronous class activities and seminars (currently averaging 20%). Progress regarding innovative math education will be directly measured as part of the research. Specific measures could include articles published based on this research, the number of HS teachers who adopt these new methods, and, longer term, changes in student success in college courses that require math skills. The most direct measure regarding success of new FRINQ class and improved Website resources will be the retention rate for students in these courses compared with historical retention rates.

Title: Sustainability / Energy Efficiency Initiative for Systems Science Graduate Program
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Mon, 10/12/2009 - 19:34 — George G. Lendaris
School/College: 
DEAN OF GRADUATE STUDIES
Department: 
Systems Science
Planning Year: 
2009
Institutional Themes: 
Provide Civic Leadership through Partnerships
Achieve Global Excellence
Expand Resources and Improve Effectiveness
Institutional Academic Initiatives: 
Improve retention/graduation rates
Increase externally sponsored activities/industry start ups/intellectual property management
Increase externally sponsored research related to sustainability and increase enrollment in sustainability courses
Unit initiative Description: 
One focus is on research and teaching about sustainability. The research involves a longitudinal study of behavioral change in a diverse student sample given web-based training about sustainability aspects of their food choices. The SySc-taught Sustainability FRINQ section, a new cluster course, and the graduate Systems Ideas and Sustainability SySc course support this initiative. A second focus on energy efficiency expands collaborations and creates research proposals in two areas: 1) developing and adopting new sustainable energy technologies by coordinating technical and social innovation for improved energy efficiency (SySc & ETM faculty), and 2) application of computational intelligence methods to the Smart Power Grid (SySc and ECE faculty in PSU, plus PGE and BPA in the local energy sector).
Time Frame: 
More than 3 years/ongoing
Desired outcomes: 
SySc seeks excellence in teaching and research, to develop partnerships, and to increase government and industry funding. A desired outcome here is to improve student knowledge and skills in interdisciplinary and systems approaches to problem solving in sustainability, and to increase student retention via involvement in SySc research, web-based training, and participation in campus sustainability activities. Organizationally, at the undergraduate level a desired outcome is to develop further ties with UNST; at the graduate level, to develop broader funded research collaborations with ECE and other PSU departments and outside partners in the energy sector.
How initiative supports overall unit or school/college plans: 
The present initiative directly supports the following strategic goals adopted in the recent strategic planning document for Systems Science: Develop undergraduate SySc courses. Develop joint graduate curricula with other departments. Provide remote access to curriculum. Identify potential collaborations. Pursue jointly funded research. Develop external problem-focused partnerships.
Measure of progress and success for this unit initiative: 
For teaching components, measure progress via course enrollment statistics, survey of student experiences with sustainability activities, and articles published on the web-based food-choice research. For the research components, both sustainability and energy efficiency, employ the usual measures of quality and quantity of research publications (meeting presentations & journal articles), submitted funding proposals, funding received via grants & contracts, number of intra-PSU and inter-institutional faculty collaborations and outside partnerships established and/or strengthened, student thesis/dissertation efforts launched and supported by this research, and degree of participation in related initiatives of other PSU units.

Title: Enhance Contributions to PSU Undergraduate Curriculum Initiative for Systems Science Graduate Program
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Tue, 10/13/2009 - 21:30 — George G. Lendaris
School/College: 
DEAN OF GRADUATE STUDIES
Department: 
Systems Science
Planning Year: 
2009
Institutional Themes: 
Improve Students Success
Achieve Global Excellence
Institutional Academic Initiatives: 
Increase externally sponsored research related to sustainability and increase enrollment in sustainability courses
Unit initiative Description: 
Continue teaching existing UNST FRINQ/SINQ courses: 1) Special section of the Sustainability FRINQ course that is part of the Living Learning Community (LLC) and First Year Experience (FYE) programs (where students live together, participate in evening programs linked to course material, and do service learning projects with several campus and off-campus sustainability-related organizations), 2) The Natural Science Inquiry SINQ course, and 3) The Freedom, Privacy, and Technology SINQ course. Develop and teach new UNST cluster courses: 1) Models in Science (cluster: Science in the Liberal Arts), 2) Sustainability, Systems Concepts and Indigenous Perspectives (cluster: Environmental Sustainability), and 3) the pending new lab-based course comparing dynamic computer models with bench-top experimental results (cluster: SLA). Continue helping redesign UNST cluster program to accommodate appropriate SySc and other relevant interdisciplinary courses on campus.
Time Frame: 
More than 3 years/ongoing
Desired outcomes: 
At a general level, SySc seeks to develop deeper collaborations and synergies with UNST, a program also focused on fostering student knowledge and skills in interdisciplinary and systems thinking approaches to problem solving. Specifically we aim to 1) establish an undergraduate teaching presence for Systems Science, 2) increase student options for learning about sustainability, multidisciplinary problem solving, systems methods, and systems thinking, 3) increase awareness by undergraduates of opportunities available in the SySc Graduate Program, and 4) establish a joint Tenure Track faculty position with UNST.
How initiative supports overall unit or school/college plans: 
The Systems Science Graduate Program, in a recent strategic planning document, identified the goal of working more closely with UNST to help bring SySc expertise into their multidisciplinary undergraduate curriculum. This included having SySc faculty teach existing UNST courses as well as developing new SySc undergraduate courses for UNST clusters. Progress has been made on both of these fronts as described above and this initiative continues strengthening the relationship and developing additional course offerings.
Measure of progress and success for this unit initiative: 
Progress and success can be measured by 1) the number of SySc undergraduate courses offered, 2) the number of non-SYSC undergraduate courses taught by SySc faculty, 3) student enrollment in these courses, 4) undergraduate student knowledge about systems ideas and the SySc program, and 5) the number of PSU undergraduates that later enroll in Systems Science graduate courses.