Enchancing Academic Quality

School of Education Granted NCATE Accreditation

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) added the University of Guam’s School of Education to its list of accredited institutions in 2007. NCATE is a national accrediting body for schools, colleges, and departments of education authorized by the U.S. Department of Education. NCATE determines which schools, colleges, and departments of education meet rigorous national standards in preparing teachers and other school specialists for the classroom. NCATE accreditation showcases the quality of the School of Education’s teacher preparation program, and underscores the commitment of School of Education faculty to the development of future educators. Accreditation, once granted, is continuous as long as the institution fulfills its responsibilities under NCATE’s continuing accreditation process. NCATE plans a focused visit by spring 2009 to address Standard 2, assessment.

Council on Social Work Education Reaffirmation of Accreditation Site Visit

The University of Guam hosted a site visit for reaffirmation of national accreditation of the Bachelor of Social Work Program by the Council on Social Work Education in 2007. This professional degree program was established in 1980 and granted initial CSWE accreditation in 2003. Two nationally and internationally recognized social work educators, Drs. Barbara Shank and Denise Montcalm, comprised the site visit team. In February 2008, the Program’s accreditation was reaffirmed through 2015.

New Programs

In 2007, the Board of Regents approved the Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences Program. Under this program students can pursue one of two options: Exercise Science and Health Promotion, or Pre-Physical Therapy. A Master of Science in Clinical Psychology was developed in 2007. This program was approved by the Board of Regents and launched in fall 2008 with its first cohort of students.

Guam Cancer Center

The University of Guam Cancer Research Center and the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii partnership received a fifth year of funding from the National Institutes of Health for an initial planning grant to develop a stronger national cancer program aimed at understanding the reasons behind the significant cancer disparities among ethnicities and mitigating its impact on minority populations. This U-56 grant is designed to strengthen the University’s capabilities in research concerning cancer and to prepare an application to NIH for future funding.

The grant totals $3.6M over five years and encompasses several objectives including increasing the cancer research capabilities at the University of Guam; increasing the number of minority scientists of Pacific Islander ancestry engaged in cancer research; providing career development for cancer investigators at the University of Guam; and to ultimately reduce the impact of cancer on the population in the Territory of Guam by understanding cancer risk factors, enhancing the awareness of cancer prevention opportunities, and improving the quality of care for cancer patients.

Grant activities include five pilot projects:

Advancing a Research Agenda for Tobacco Control and Prevention;
Evaluation of Risk Factors for Chronic Disease Among Adults in Guam
Cultivation of Microorganisms from Marine Invertebrates and Screening of Extracts and Pure Compounds for Possible Anti-Cancer Activities
Identification and Validation of Biomarkers for Betelnut Consumption
Factors Associated with Betelnut Use on Guam

The grant program activities also include curriculum and faculty development, and two infrastructure components including support for the Guam Cancer Registry and an information technology core. At its December 2007 meeting, the team was congratulated for excellent progress made over the last four and a half years. The Program Steering committee recommended that the team strengthen its internal review mechanism, consolidate the results of all the components in the fifth year, and request sixth year funding in order finalize all pilot projects and develop a strong proposal for the U-54 grant application for a fully-funded Cancer Research Center due in March 2009. Nursing Enrollment Continues to Increase

Nursing Enrollment Continues to Increase

Enrollment in the nursing program continues to increase. In fall 2007, 460 students were enrolled in the pre-nursing and nursing tracks of the program compared to 318 in 2004. In 2007, 27 students completed the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program, while 5 completed the Associate Degree in Nursing Program. The pass rate for the 2007 BSN graduates and ADN graduates who took the RN licensing exam was 84.4%. Of these graduates, 87.5% are currently working as nurses in Guam.The BSN Program is accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission. TakeCare Insurance Company donated $200K to the nursing program in 2007. Since 2001, TakeCare has contributed more than $1.4M to the nursing program in support of student scholarships, classroom equipment, clinical supplies for the nursing labs, NCLEX reviews for students and graduates, computer equipment, faculty development, and the continuing education of nurses.

Nursing Program Continues to See Significant Enrollment Increases

The Nursing Program at the University posted record enrollment numbers for fall 2006. Approximately 450 students enrolled in the pre-nursing and nursing tracks of the program. The pass rate for 2006 BSN graduates who took the RN licensing exam was 88%.

TakeCare Insurance Company donated $100K to the Nursing Program in September 2006. The funds are used for student scholarships, to purchase equipment and supplies for the program, and for professional development for faculty, among other priorities. The Nursing Program also received 238K from the US Department of Education to fund equipment and patient care simulation stations for the nursing skills laboratory, develop bridge courses for students to help them progress toward a bachelor’s degree, promote student research, and develop a mentorship program to increase clinical experiences for students. The Nursing Program launched a three-year associate degree program in fall 2006 to more efficiently address the nursing shortage on Guam and in the region. The BSN Program is accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission.

The World Health Organization awarded the nursing program a $12K contract to conduct a Mapping Exercise in Micronesia for the purpose of enhancing and standardizing regional training programs and practice standards for nursing and midwifery among nine island jurisdictions from RMI to Palau. This project is in keeping with UOG’s mission to serve the region and WHO’s recognition of the University’s key role in in regional nursing education.

Research Initiatives for Scientific Enhancement

Research Initiatives for Scientific Enhancement The Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) Program has received funding of $320,160 for academic year 2007-2008 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health. The program, which began in 2001,is now in its second four-year cycle of funding.The project,“Building Toward 2010 at UOG”refers to a NIH/National Academy of Sciences-sponsored study of the needs of graduates in biomedical and behavioral sciences, published as Bio 2010. The current RISE program supports strengthening the Biology undergraduate curriculum to meet national expectations in communication and quantitative skills.

UOG NIH RISE also supports undergraduate and graduate students in biomedical research projects on campus and at off-island partner universities including U. California San Diego, Rutgers, and Baylor College of Medicine. Students also have opportunities to present their research national conferences. Biology majors Jenny Duenas and John Gubatan spent summer 2007 involved in research projects at the Baylor College of Medicine, while student Eiffel Manzano spent his summer research experience at Rutgers.

Institute of Micronesian Health and Aging Studies

The University of Guam and the University of California, San Diego Consortium continues to operate a $10.6 million, five-year grant to study neurodegenerative diseases in Micronesia. The research project recruited 2,000 Chamorros over the age of 65 for a comprehensive study to better understand why neurodegenerative diseases afflict Chamorros at a higher rate than other ethnicities. The research began in 2002 and is currently on a no-cost extension until September 2008. Dr. Ulla-Katrina Craig, though retired, continues her work with this grant on a contract basis.

Micronesian Area Research Center celebrated its 40th Anniversary

In October 2007, the Micronesian Area Research Center celebrated its 40th anniversary. Over the last four decades MARC has grown in size and scope with three specialized collections: the Guam and Micronesia General Collection, the Spanish Documents Collection, and the Manuscripts Collection. It also houses an archaeology laboratory and research offices. The following activities highlight MARC accomplishments in 2007:

In February 2007, the University of Guam’s Richard F.Taitano Micronesian Area Research Center presented the recently cataloged papers of the late Senator Cecilia Bamba pertaining to the Guam War Claims Commission and War Reparations.Volumes of papers in the collection were catalogued and are available for research purposes at UOG MARC. The project was supported by a grant from the Guam Preservation Trust. Omaira Burnal-Perry, MARC, and ten students worked to catalog the papers.
MARC sponsored a formal presentation for “Digital Images of Land Records and Judicial Records of Guam and and a College of Obituaries for Preservation” in April 2007. Omaira Brunal-Perry coordinated the efforts of the Genealogical Society of Utah to create digital images of the Land Records, the Judicial Records of Guam and a collection of obituaries for preservation purposes as well as to facilitate digital access to the records.The original records and digital copies are housed at MARC’s Manuscripts Collection.The documents were scanned and saved on DVDs.The labor and equipment were provided by the Genealogical Society of Utah and are estimated to amount to over $100K of in kind donations. MARC staff members Perry Pangelinan and Lourdes Nededog were key to the success of the project.
The University of Hawaii Press will integrate select titles into the complete UH Press catalog of books thanks to a distribution agreement between MARC and UH Press.
In May 2007, the Guam Preservation Trust awarded funding for the development of Archaeology and Museum programs at MARC. Dr. John Peterson, MARC director, launched the program with a summer field school in archaeology at Ritidian Wildlife Refuge. Summer Field School courses were offered through the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.
The Guam Preservation Trust provided funding for the purchase of GPS and GIS equipment to enable state-of-the-art research and management of archeological sites and landscapes. Maps, aerial photography, and GIS data are being compiled to develop a comprehensive archaeological research library and collection. MARC has also been awarded several research and contract compliance projects throughout the island.
A MARC community advisory board was created in August 2007 to assist the center in fulfilling and promoting its mission.
The University administration transferred the Micronesian Language Institute and Center for Chamorro Language and Culture under the MARC umbrella in order to realign programs into related units that share parallel missions and objectives.The realignment took effect in January 2008.
Marjorie Driver, curator of the Spanish Documents Collection, retired from MARC in December 2007 after forty years of dedicated service. She translated numerous documents and authored several books on the region. She was the senior editor for Archaelogy of the Palacio, Plaza de Espana which was published in 2007.
Dr. Marilyn Salas is assisting in the development of master plans for the Guam Preservation Trust and the Guam Historic Master Plan, and with Director Peterson is assisting with the development of the Guam National Museum through the Guam Museum Foundation and the Governor’s Task Force for the Guam Museum.
The L. Ron Hubbard Photo Collection was displayed in the MARC Library in March 2007. Hubbard lived on Guam as a young man in 1927.
In 2007 MARC's Spanish Documents Collection published, with Marjorie G. Driver as Senior Editor : The Archaeology of the Governor's Palace. Plaza de España. Agaña, Guam. By Mardith K. Schuetz

Micronesian Language Institute

Established in 1990, the Micronesian Language Institute’s (MLI) purpose is to conduct research, service, and teaching activities that enlarge our understanding of the indigenous languages and cultures of Micronesia, and promote appreciation, documentation, instruction, the creation of new materials, and further development of Micronesian language and culture resources.

2006 marked the fifth and final year of a $1.5 million Title III National and Professional Development Grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition. This grant provided tuition and professional development funding for the full certification of pre-service UOG education majors, and in-service Guam Public School System (GPSS) teachers and school aides.

In 2007, MLI was awarded another five-year, $1.5 million Title III National and Professional Development Grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition. The Project has two goals: (1) to provide professional development opportunities for prospective and existing GPSS teachers, school aides, and staff to obtain their education degrees and to earn dual certification in ESL and math, science, language arts/reading, or language/bilingual; (2) to form a curriculum team that will review all courses in the teacher preparation program in order to revise existing or develop new courses that will improve classroom instruction of English Language Learners.

One-Year Fast-Track Teacher Certification Program Cohort I

The One-Year Fast-Track Teacher Certification Program was launched in February 2007 to provide teacher certification courses for individuals with bachelor degrees. Designed by Dr. John Sanchez, School of Education faculty member, the one-year program assists the Guam Public School System in meeting the standards set by Public Law for having certified teachers in every classroom. Forty individuals earned their teaching certification through the first cohort of Fast-Track program in December 2007.

Pacific Center for Economic Initiatives

Funded through a U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Authority $100K grant, the UOG Pacific Center for Economic Initiatives (PCEI) is focused on the following objectives:

Provide small businesses access to resource experts for training and technical assistance services (market assessments, feasibility studies, etc.)
Promote entrepreneurship education in high schools in conjunction with Junior Achievement and the Guam Small Business Development Center in order to stimulate entrepreneurship activities
Consolidate links for electronic downloadable local resource information for one-stop small business access
Build local research capacity to produce market, economic and planning data for small businesses and industry development, and assist in the development of economic policy.

Accomplishments in 2007 include leveraging faculty expertise and student research support; the development of the Guam Resources Guide for small businesses and investors in collaboration with the Guam Small Business Development Center and the Pacific Daily News; technical assistance support for the development of the quarterly Guam Consumer Price Index with the Bureau of Statistics and Plans; strategic planning sessions and the development of a draft marketing plan for the Chamorro Village to support small business vendors; support of youth entrepreneurship initiatives via a partnership with Junior Achievement Guam, including support of establishing youth entrepreneurship in Palau; support of youth entrepreneur participation through the Shell Annual LiveWire Business Plan Competition; and support of market assessment development through a partnership with the FSM Development Bank. The center is housed in the School of Business and Public Administration and is administrated by Dr. Anita Borja Enriquez.

Learning Resources

The University of Guam Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Library, housed in the Tan Siu Lin Building, is an academic component and the central library facility of the University. As the largest library in the Micronesian region, the Library’s collections include over 95,478 print titles and 121,948 print holdings; 938,738 microfilm/microfiche units; 1570 print serial titles, 181,143 print serial issues; 4910 multimedia items. The library’s web-interfaced online catalog allows 24-hour access to students, faculty, staff and other community and regional cardholders and enrollees to the library’s collection and electronic resources both on and off campus. Electronic Database Resources subscribed and licensed to the University Library provide over 24,000 journal titles that offer full-text, peer-reviewed articles. New acquisitions and databases are selected to enhance academic quality by supporting the university community’s classes, research and professional needs. Online databases such as ARTSTOR, Asia-Studies Fulltext, Asia-Studies Humanities Fulltext, EBSCO Academic Search Fulltext, JSTOR Fulltext, ProQuest Fulltext (ABI/INFORM Dateline, ABI/INFORM Global, ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry, and ProQuest Social Science Journals), Newsbank Fulltext, MathSciNet, and Wilson Readers Guide Fulltext, etc. are extensively used by all patrons.

During AY 2006-2007, the Library served over 372,487 users, circulated a total of 23,940 items, issued/renewed 1136 Library cards, and well over 345,000 library users logged on to the licensed electronic database resources and to the full-text journals. Reference librarians answered more than 23,792 reference questions. Faculty librarians conducted 108 Bibliographic Instruction (Information Literacy and Research Methods) classes to 2,358 UOG undergraduate and graduate students. In addition, over 739 tour group visitors/clients visited the library and received general library orientation sessions. The library’s lobby area and the enclosed display case offered eight displays and exhibits.

The University of Guam RFK Library is a selective depository library and receives U.S. Government publications, many in electronic and microform formats. All workstations installed in the Government Documents area meet the Federal Library Depository Programs (FDLP) specifications and guidelines to provide patron access and to keep pace with the Government Printing Office’s (GPO) advancing activity to migrate materials to digital format. Currently there are 287,455 items in the collection, including maps, microfiche, monographs, serials, software units, and videos.During AY 2006-2007, GovDoc Collection personnel responded to 450 reference queries.

The East Asian Collection offers books and periodicals on the cultures, history and societies of Japan, Korea and China, including Taiwan and Hong Kong. Mobil Oil Guam established this collection with generous initial support.

The Instructional Media Services provides student and faculty needs in audio/video duplication and video projects.

The University of Guam Library provides Interlibrary Loan (ILL) services through OCLC, DOCLINE and other means to the UOG community and to other library patrons in Guam, Micronesia and the Western Pacific region. UOG Library is a resource library of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine’s Pacific Southwest Region.

Continental Micronesia Renews $100k Faculty Travel Grant

In February 2007, Continental Micronesia renewed a travel endowment to benefit the University of Guam. Continental pledged $100,000 in air travel assistance as part of the Faculty Professional Development Travel Awards program which supports professional development activities for UOG faculty. Third sentence should read: This continues a program which began in 2003 to support faculty travel for research and service to enhance UOG’s academic programs and student learning outcomes. The Continental Faculty Travel Grant has supported research in variety of fields from the natural sciences to philosophy to environmental studies. The grant has enabled faculty members to stay current within their fields of study, and incorporate cutting edge information into their curricula.

Major Faculty Publications

Marjorie G. Driver, senior editor, The Archaeology of the Governor's Palace. Plaza de España. Agaña, Guam. By Mardith K. Schuetz; MARC's Spanish Documents Collection, 2007.
Dr. Nicholas J. Goetzfridt, author, Pacific Ethnomathematics: A Bibliographic Study. University of Hawaii Press, 2007.
Dr. Wai Law, editor, Information Resource Management: Global Challenges.
Dr. Jason Vest, author, Future Imperfect: Philip K. Dick at the Movies. Praeger Press 2007.
Dr. Laurie Raymundo, contributing author with Courtney S. Couch, Andrew W. Bruckner, C. Drew Harvell, Thierry M. Work, Ernesto Weil, Cheryl M.Woodley, Eric Jordan-Dahlgren, Bette L.Willis, Greta S. Aeby,Yui Sato, A Coral Disease Handbook. Currie Press, Australia, 2008.
Dr.Yukiko Inoue, editor, Online Education for Lifelong Learning in 2007. IGI Publishing, 2007.
Dr.Yaoxin Chang, author, English Literature: A Palace of Art. Beijing:The Yangtze Arts Publishers, 2007.
Donald Rubinstein, author, Paul Jacoulet’s Vision of Micronesia. University of Guam Isla Center for the Arts, 2007.

Dr. Maosheng Ran Receives Alexander Gralnick Award

Dr. Maosheng Ran, MD., PhD., associate professor of Social Work at the University of Guam, was selected as 2007’s Alexander Gralnick Award recipient for an original scholarly effort on the topic of schizophrenia and suicide.

Translations of Booklet into Carolinian and Chamorro

Carolinian and Chamorro translations of Gary Heathcote’s 2006 booklet, “Taotao Tagga’: Glimpses of his life history, recorded in his skeleton” (Paper Number 3, ARRC Non-technical Report Series, Anthropology Resource & Research Center, University of Guam) were printed and distributed in the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas.

Academic Conferences

International Conference on Business Economics and Information Technology - The University of Guam School of Business and Public Administration, Pennsylvania State University at Altoona, and the Alfred University College of Business hosted a two-day conference on “Doing Business in the Global Economy: Economic, Political, Social and Cultural Environments” in March 2007.The conference provided a venue for scholarly interactions between academics, students, researchers, business, finance, and government agencies.The School of Business and Public Administration organized the conference as part of an international conference series with Alfred University’s College of Business, and Pennsylvania State University-Altoona’s Division of Business and Engineering.
The 20th Annual Regional Language Arts Conference - held in November 2007, the conference drew over 200 participants. The keynote speaker was Dr. Robert Underwood. Drs. Catherine Stoicovy and Matilda Rivera were the conference chairs. The International Reading Association, Guam Council, was a co-sponsor.
2007 Guam International Accounting Forum - In October 2007, the School of Business and Public Administration hosted the Guam International Accounting Forum at the campus with guest lecturers from Nagoya University and Kobe University in Japan. Business students presented a paper on International Accounting, while faculty members from the business school presented on a variety of topics.
The 29th CLASS Conference - The 29th Annual College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences conference showcased student and faculty research projects.There were over 30 presentations throughout the conference, which was held in March 2007 in conjunction with Charter Day.