Developing And Implementing Faculty Performance Evaluation: A Collaborative Model

The quality of education is a core property of what makes a university operate, sustain, and grow. To evaluate and measure this core property encompasses a wide range of critical aspects, but one of the control mechanisms will always involve the faculty, the deliverers of education to the primary customer, the student, but also collaboratively to other faculty, other educators, staff, and the community itself.  Faculty, like students constantly change, the challenge being how to inculcate a viable system of performance evaluation that provides a consistently high quality education in the ever changing and information oriented world we live in.  This paper illustrates the process, and problems we’ve experienced and solutions we have used in implementing a new faculty performance evaluation system at our university.  We describe the development of the system; its components, the intended outcomes, issues and resistance encountered as the system was implemented and now, how we envision the growth of the system, and what it needs to remain viable and in tune with our overall strategic plan

A New Hypothesis of the Phylogenetic Relationships of the Tylosaurinae (Squamata: Mosasauroidea)

Tylosaurinae (Williston, 1897), is reconstructed in most analyses as the sister group of the Plioplatecarpinae (Dollo, 1884). The most distinctive characteristic of the group is an elongated edentulous rostrum on the premaxilla. Members of the tylosaurine subfamily are divided into two genera: Tylosaurus (Marsh, 1874), and Taniwhasaurus (Hector, 1874). When all arguably valid tylosaurine species are included in a single phylogenetic analysis, some clades are well supported, i.e., the clade formed by T. proriger (Cope, 1869) + T. bernardi (Dollo, 1885), or the clade T. pembinensis (Nicholls, 1988) + T. saskatchewanensis. In contrast, clade relationships for other species remain unresolved, i.e., T. gaudryi (Thevenin, 1896), T. nepaeolicus (Cope, 1874), and the several species within the genus Taniwhasaurus. When T. gaudryi (Thevenin, 1896), Ta. ‘mikasaensis’ (Caldwell et al., 2008), and ‘T’. capensis (Broom, 1912) were removed from the analysis, T. nepaeolicus appeared as the basal member of the genus. The relationship within the genus Taniwhasaurus remains unresolved; however, when the problematic taxa was removed, the genus became monophyletic, with Ta. oweni as the sister group of Ta. antarcticus. Based on morphological characters present in the holotype of ‘T’. capensisBroom, 1912, we suggested a re-assignment to the genus Taniwhasaurus, based on the flutes and facets in the crown of the two preserved replacement teeth. The lack of a clear diagnosis of Hainosaurus/Tylosaurus neumilleri leaves this taxon as a nomen dubium; the few characters visible on the specimen show strong similarities to both T. pembinensis and T. saskatchewanensis; therefore, the specimen cannot be identified beyond Tylosaurus sp. Reassessment of the known materials of the Japanese species Ta. ‘mikasaensis’ suggests that the various specimens do not display sufficient diagnostic characters to support ‘mikasaensis’ as distinct from Taniwhasaurus oweni. The hypothesis for a North Atlantic Circle Basin distribution for a species of the genus Tylosaurus, from the Coniacian to the Maastrichtian is supported, and a more cosmopolitan distribution is suggested for the genus Taniwhasaurus (Santonian to Maastrichtian) with species present along the margins of the Pacific, Indian, and Antarctic Ocean Basins

Three-Dimensionally Preserved Integument Reveals Hydrodynamic Adaptations in the Extinct Marine Lizard Ectenosaurus (Reptilia, Mosasauridae)

The physical properties of water and the environment it presents to its inhabitants provide stringent constraints and selection pressures affecting aquatic adaptation and evolution. Mosasaurs (a group of secondarily aquatic reptiles that occupied a broad array of predatory niches in the Cretaceous marine ecosystems about 98–65 million years ago) have traditionally been considered as anguilliform locomotors capable only of generating short bursts of speed during brief ambush pursuits. Here we report on an exceptionally preserved, long-snouted mosasaur (Ectenosaurus clidastoides) from the Santonian (Upper Cretaceous) part of the Smoky Hill Chalk Member of the Niobrara Formation in western Kansas, USA, that contains phosphatized remains of the integument displaying both depth and structure. The small, ovoid neck and/or anterior trunk scales exhibit a longitudinal central keel, and are obliquely arrayed into an alternating pattern where neighboring scales overlap one another. Supportive sculpturing in the form of two parallel, longitudinal ridges on the inner scale surface and a complex system of multiple, superimposed layers of straight, cross-woven helical fiber bundles in the underlying dermis, may have served to minimize surface deformation and frictional drag during locomotion. Additional parallel fiber bundles oriented at acute angles to the long axis of the animal presumably provided stiffness in the lateral plane. These features suggest that the anterior torso of Ectenosaurus was held somewhat rigid during swimming, thereby limiting propulsive movements to the posterior body and tail

Assessing Undergraduate Business Degree Outcomes: A Comparison Of Two Universities

The importance of outcomes assessment has produced innovative course developments and resulted in enhanced Capstone educational experiences for undergraduate students at both universities.  This collaborative paper compares the evolution and outcomes assessment of the Capstone business course as a fundamental component of the business curriculum, discusses initiatives to provide even greater educational opportunities for students, assessing effectively over the continuum, and keeping the courses current to the university and business environments

What Should A BBA Graduate Be Able To Do?: These Competencies Are Essential

University Schools of Business Administration are continually responding to the demands of stakeholders concerning the quality of the education embodied in the Bachelor of Business Administration degree.  This collaborative paper discusses the competencies that are considered essential from the viewpoint of four stakeholders:  accrediting agencies, faculty/administration, employers, and students/graduates.  The authors present and support their views on competencies—identifying, achieving, assessing, and maintaining currency—in preparing future business leaders.&nbsp

Exploring the Chemical Composition and Double Horizontal Branch of the Bulge Globular Cluster NGC 6569

Photometric and spectroscopic analyses have shown that the Galactic bulge cluster Terzan 5 hosts several populations with different metallicities and ages that manifest as a double red horizontal branch (HB). A recent investigation of the massive bulge cluster NGC 6569 revealed a similar, though less extended, HB luminosity split, but little is known about the cluster's detailed chemical composition. Therefore, we have used high-resolution spectra from the Magellan-M2FS and VLT-FLAMES spectrographs to investigate the chemical compositions and radial velocity distributions of red giant branch and HB stars in NGC 6569. We found the cluster to have a mean heliocentric radial velocity of -48.8 km/s (sigma = 5.3 km/s; 148 stars) and a mean [Fe/H] =-0.87 dex (19 stars), but the cluster's 0.05 dex [Fe/H] dispersion precludes a significant metallicity spread. NGC 6569 exhibits light- and heavy-element distributions that are common among old bulge/inner Galaxy globular clusters, including clear (anti)correlations between [O/Fe], [Na/Fe], and [Al/Fe]. The light-element data suggest that NGC 6569 may be composed of at least two distinct populations, and the cluster's low mean [La/Eu] = -0.11 dex indicates significant pollution with r-process material. We confirm that both HBs contain cluster members, but metallicity and light-element variations are largely ruled out as sources for the luminosity difference. However, He mass fraction differences as small as delta Y ~ 0.02 cannot be ruled out and may be sufficient to reproduce the double HB.Comment: 72 pages, 14 figures, 8 tables; published in The Astronomical Journal; electronic versions of all tables are available in the published versio

A Chemical Composition Survey of the Iron-Complex Globular Cluster NGC 6273 (M 19)

Recent observations have shown that a growing number of the most massive Galactic globular clusters contain multiple populations of stars with different [Fe/H] and neutron-capture element abundances. NGC 6273 has only recently been recognized as a member of this "iron-complex" cluster class, and we provide here a chemical and kinematic analysis of > 300 red giant branch (RGB) and asymptotic giant branch (AGB) member stars using high resolution spectra obtained with the Magellan-M2FS and VLT-FLAMES instruments. Multiple lines of evidence indicate that NGC 6273 possesses an intrinsic metallicity spread that ranges from about [Fe/H] = -2 to -1 dex, and may include at least three populations with different [Fe/H] values. The three populations identified here contain separate first (Na/Al-poor) and second (Na/Al-rich) generation stars, but a Mg-Al anti-correlation may only be present in stars with [Fe/H] > -1.65. The strong correlation between [La/Eu] and [Fe/H] suggests that the s-process must have dominated the heavy element enrichment at higher metallicities. A small group of stars with low [alpha/Fe] is identified and may have been accreted from a former surrounding field star population. The cluster's large abundance variations are coupled with a complex, extended, and multimodal blue horizontal branch (HB). The HB morphology and chemical abundances suggest that NGC 6273 may have an origin that is similar to omega Cen and M 54.Comment: Accepted for Publication in The Astrophysical Journal; 50 pages; 18 figures; 8 tables; higher resolution figures are available upon request or in the published journal articl

Illinoian and Late Wisconsin Tills in Eastern New England: a Transect from Northeastern Massachusetts to West-Central Maine

Guidebook for field trips in southern and west-central Maine, October 13, 14 and 15, 1989: New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference 81st annual meeting: Trip A-

First complete pterosaur from the Afro-Arabian continent : insight into pterodactyloid diversity

Despite being known from every continent, the geological record of pterosaurs, the first group of vertebrates to develop powered flight, is very uneven, with only a few deposits accounting for the vast majority of specimens and almost half of the taxonomic diversity. Among the regions that stand out for the greatest gaps of knowledge regarding these flying reptiles, is the Afro-Arabian continent, which has yielded only a small number of very fragmentary and incomplete materials. Here we fill part of that gap and report on the most complete pterosaur recovered from this continent, more specifically from the Late Cretaceous (~95 mya) Hjoûla Lagerstätte of Lebanon. This deposit is known since the Middle Ages for the exquisitely preserved fishes and invertebrates, but not for tetrapods, which are exceedingly rare. Mimodactylus libanensis gen. et sp. nov. differs from the other Afro-Arabian pterosaur species named to date and is closely related to the Chinese species Haopterus gracilis, forming a new clade of derived toothed pterosaurs. Mimodactylidae clade nov. groups species that are related to Istiodactylidae, jointly designated as Istiodactyliformes (clade nov.). Istiodactyliforms were previously documented only in Early Cretaceous sites from Europe and Asia, with Mimodactylus libanensis the first record in Gondwana

The morphology of the inner ear of squamate reptiles and its bearing on the origin of snakes

Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.The inner ear morphology of 80 snake and lizard species, representative of a range of ecologies, is here analysed and compared to that of the fossil stem snake Dinilysia patagonica, using three-dimensional geometric morphometrics. Inner ear morphology is linked to phylogeny (we find here a strong phylogenetic signal in the data that can complicate ecological correlations), but also correlated with ecology, with Dinilysia resembling certain semi-fossorial forms (Xenopeltis and Cylindrophis), consistent with previous reports. We here also find striking resemblances between Dinilysia and some semi-aquatic snakes, such as Myron (Caenophidia, Homalopsidae). Therefore, the inner ear morphology of Dinilysia is consistent with semi-aquatic as well as semi-fossorial habits: the most similar forms are either semi-fossorial burrowers with a strong affinity to water (Xenopeltis and Cylindrophis) or amphibious, intertidal forms which shelter in burrows (Myron). Notably, Dinilysia does not cluster as closely with snakes with exclusively terrestrial or obligate burrowing habits (e.g. scolecophidians and uropeltids). Moreover, despite the above similarities, Dinilysia also occupies a totally unique morphospace, raising issues with linking it with any particular ecological category