2009 Performance Accountability Report Vol. 2 - Maryland Higher ...

CSU’s School of Education is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher
Education (NCATE). Over the past four years, while the number of undergraduate students
intending to major in teacher education programs has decreased slightly, the number of qualified
undergraduates admitted into the program has remained relatively constant. While the teacher
education program and academic standard is rigorous, 100% of the undergraduate students who
completed teacher training passed Praxis II examination (Objective 2.1).
Information Technology:
CSU’s Computer Science and Information Technology (IT) track of Management Science
programs have experienced a decline in enrollment in recent years that mirrors the national
trends. Since the decline of the high tech information technology industries, increased
competition for IT-related jobs has had a negative affect on IT related enrollment, IT graduates,
and the estimated number of IT graduates employed in Maryland (Objective 2.2). That negative
decline is reflected in CSU enrollment and number of graduates produced. Through increases in
enrollment in this program for the next five years, CSU expects to graduate more IT graduates in
the future.
Nursing:
The Nursing program continues to grow with a larger pool of students in the last four years.
Within the same time period, the number of qualified undergraduate students admitted into the
nursing program remained relatively the same, 450 on average(Objective 2.3). Undoubtedly,
much of this growth is due to market opportunities associated with a severe shortage nationally
of nurses wherein the demand for nurses, unlike that for teachers, has been met by
correspondingly high salary levels.
Accomplishments, Challenges, and Future Directions
Two out of three performance objectives for this goal are being met. In regard to the decline in
enrollment of Information Technology and its graduates, CSU will undertake initiatives to attract
more students to information technology fields that will produce higher graduate yield. Even
though the outcome of producing 25 CSU teacher education graduates for employment in
Maryland is being met, our research shows that Maryland teachers’ salaries that are less
competitive than some neighboring states may be attributable for not getting a larger yield.
Likewise, the result of the Graduating Senior Survey shows that some of the graduates are
deciding to attend graduate school immediately after attaining a bachelor’s degree. With the
completion of the HHSB in fall 2008, we expect undergraduate Nursing enrollment to grow
further and perhaps reduce the number of qualified undergraduate students who were not
admitted into the program. The result of the FY2008 alumni survey shows that the goal of
placing 85% of the Nursing graduates in Maryland workforce is achieved.
MFR Goal 3: Improve retention and graduation rates of undergraduate students.
MSP Goal 5: Promote economic growth and vitality through the advancement of research and
the development of a highly qualified workforce.
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