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Florida State University College of Arts and Sciences

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College of Arts and Sciences
TypePublic
Established1905
DeanSam Huckaba[1]
Students10,959[2]
Location
Tallahassee
,
Florida
,
U.S.
Websitewww.artsandsciences.fsu.edu

The College of Arts and Sciences, the largest of the 16 colleges at Florida State University, contains the majors of nearly 11,000 students and is made up of 18 departments, nine interdisciplinary programs and 11 centers and institutes.[3] Nearly 2,000 degrees are issued to graduates each academic year. The college encompasses the fields of social sciences, liberal arts, mathematics, sciences and interdisciplinary studies. Several academic programs enjoy national reputations. These include the Department of English, which boasts one of the nation's top creative writing programs; the Department of Classics, which offers comprehensive programs ranging from analysis of Roman literature to archaeology; and the multidisciplinary Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science.

Mission

The mission[4] of the College of Arts and Sciences is to share, transmit and expand knowledge in those areas represented by the humanities and natural sciences, in an intellectually broadening program of study in the liberal arts.

At the undergraduate level, the college offers a wide range of educational opportunities to develop a rich appreciation of the humanities and the sciences that enhances the quality of students’ lives morally, intellectually and professionally as students prepare to pursue careers and become leaders in society. At the graduate level, students pursue original research or creative activity under faculty guidance. The resulting contributions, together with faculty research, teaching and service, benefit society and expand its knowledge base.

History

Longmire Building

The College of Arts and Sciences is the oldest college at the university, having existed since 1905. Though it has awarded bachelor's degrees since its founding, the first master's degree was not offered until 1908. The next year, the university, then called the Florida Female College, was renamed Florida State College for Women and issued its first master's degree under that name in 1909. Doctorates were given out by the College of Arts and Sciences beginning in 1952.

The college is housed in several buildings including Dodd Hall, the Bellamy Building, the Psychology Building and the Williams Building. The dean of the College of Arts and Sciences is located in the Longmire Building.

In July 2011, Sam Huckaba, previously associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, became interim dean. He then was formally named dean in October 2012.[5]

National rankings

The James E. King Life Sciences Building

U.S. News & World Report (2015 Edition)[6]

  • Overall - 95th among national universities
  • Clinical Psychology - 47th overall
  • Physics - 44th overall
  • Chemistry - 49th overall
  • Psychology - 60th overall
  • Math - 73rd overall
  • Earth Sciences - 77th overall
  • English - 82nd overall
  • Biological Sciences - 93rd overall

In 2015, the online computer science bachelor's degree program was ranked 1st among both public and private universities by BestColleges.com[7]

Department of History

As one of the founding departments of the College of Arts and Sciences when the university was still the Florida Female College, the Department of History has a long history. Currently serving more than 550 students, the college offers a broad range of courses every year. The first master's degree was awarded in 1927 and the first doctoral student was hooded in 1962. Since then the college has awarded more than 600 master's degrees and 300 PhDs.[8]

The Department of History includes accomplished faculty in Napoleonic history, Eastern European history, war and society, history of science, Latin American/Caribbean history, and Atlantic world history. The department chair is Edward Gray. Distinguished faculty members include Elna Green, the Allen Morris Professor of History; James P. Jones, better known as Jim Jones, a beloved fixture in the department who retired in 2014 after 57 years of teaching at the university;[9] and Robert Gellately, the Earl Ray Beck Professor of History.[10] The faculty have been awarded a number of awards and written many books in their fields.[11][12]

Biological sciences

The Department of Biological Science includes accomplished faculty in cellular and molecular biology, computational biology, evolution and ecology, and neuroscience. The department has embarked on an innovative cluster hiring initiative that focuses on the integration of genotype and phenotype. In 2008, the James E. King Life Sciences Building opened, giving the Department of Biological Science a new home. The building is a state-of-the-art addition to the campus and consists of more than 181,000 square feet of space. Included in the building are spaces for instrumentation, research, and the support needed for these activities. Rooftop greenhouses are a visually distinctive design feature and allow for more hands-on experiences. Also included in the building is a 150-seat auditorium, new teaching laboratories, and more than 30 research laboratories.[13][14]

Chemistry and biochemistry

Pacific Yew tree — original source of Taxol. As Pacific yew trees were harvested for the drug tamoxifen faster than they could grow back, a crisis emerged in the supply of a beneficial anti-cancer medication. FSU's semisynthetic Taxol greatly improved the supply of this anti-cancer drug.

Research in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry spans fields ranging from analytical through organic, using experimental techniques and equipment including advanced lasers, spectrometers[15] and superconducting magnets.

A five-story 168,000-square-foot (15,600 m2) Chemistry Building opened on May 2, 2008. The building features state-of-the-art facilities and houses all fields of chemistry. Labs are located on floors 2 through 5 and are segregated by division. The second floor is home to material chemists, while the third and fourth floors serve physical and analytical chemists. The fifth floor is home to synthetic organic chemistry with labs specifically designed to accommodate organic synthesis research. The building serves to enhance the department's strengths in molecular recognition, materials, nanotechnology, biochemistry, molecular synthesis, computational chemistry, and advanced measurement science as well as further support its robust PhD and postdoctoral fellow training programs.[16]

Also having worked in the field of materials science and nanoscience at FSU is the Nobel laureate Sir Harry Kroto, the co-discoverer of the C60 "buckyball", who retired from FSU's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 2015.[17]

Taxol — anti-cancer drug
A significant achievement at the university was chemistry professor and synthetic organic chemist Robert A. Holton's synthesizing of tamoxifen on Dec. 9, 1993. The synthezized version, Taxol, has been used as an effective breast cancer and ovarian cancer treatment.

Holton and his organic chemistry team won a race to develop a cheaper semisynthetic version (Holton Taxol total synthesis). In 1993, Bristol-Myers Squibb began marketing Taxol, ultimately earning more than $1.6 billion by the year 2000. Just like other chemotherapy drugs, it had side effects, but it also prolonged lives, and in many cases caused a full remission of cancer.[18]

Before the drug company's exclusive license expired, Florida State earned $351 million in royalties, vaulting the school into the ranks of Columbia University and California's state universities in research profits. By comparison, Taxol has earned Florida State more than three times what the popular beverage Gatorade earned the University of Florida.[19] In addition, polymer chemist and professor, Joseph Schlenoff, holds 30 patents relating to his research into multilayers and hydrogels.[20]

Computer science

FSU's computer science program is a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education (CAE/IAE) by the National Security Agency. Florida State is the only university in Florida to achieve this status. In U.S.News Computer Science rankings of 2010, the department was ranked 79th in the nation compared to being unranked in 2008. In 2012, the department maintains the same rank. It ranked second in Florida only to University of Florida CISE which has more than 45 tenure track faculty. The department had 16 tenure track faculty in 2010. The number of tenure track faculty in the department was 12 in 2012 (2 on sabbatical) and plans to hire two new faculty in 2012. The department offers a bachelor's degree in CS, three tracks for master's degrees, and continues to offer the PhD as well. Through a joint effort between the FSU biology and computer science departments, FSU is now one of the few universities in the country offering a bachelor's degree in computational biology. The department also has created an interdisciplinary bachelor's degree in computer criminology by working with the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice. The research funding and the number of research assistants has significantly increased in recent years. Many of the faculty are internationally recognized, hold distinguished positions on editorial boards and conference committees, and with their students are publishing innovative research in very prestigious conferences and journals. In 2010, the department had five CAREER Award recipients including three NSF CAREER Award recipients, one DoE CAREER Award, and one AFOSR Young Investigator Program recipient. Three graduates of the department have received NSF CAREER Awards.

English

The Department of English at FSU is a nationally ranked program[21] that encompasses many majors and produces a number of journals such as the Kudzu Review and The Journal of Early Modern Studies.[22] Comprising a wide range of topics, the faculty include winners of Guggenheim, National Endowment for the Arts, Fulbright, and Newberry Library fellowships.[23][24] The program contains a number of special programs and offers bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees.

Special Programs in the English Department
Creative Writing Program[25]
Literature Program[26]
Editing, Writing and Media Program[27]
History of Text Technologies Program[28]
Rhetoric and Composition[29]

Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science

Cyclone Catarina, a rare South Atlantic tropical cyclone viewed from the International Space Station on March 26, 2004

In 2010, the departments of Geological Sciences, Oceanography and Meteorology merged to form the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science (EOAS).[30] While retaining their perspective programmatic focus, the geology, oceanography and meteorology faculty offer a new level of interdisciplinary integration. This creates fresh opportunities for undergraduate and graduate education in the geosciences. The department provides students with an opportunity for holistic study of Earth’s physical environment in preparation for professional careers in government, private, and academic sectors. Due to concerns about climate change, environmental sustainability, availability of natural resources and environmental pollution and degradation, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects an overall 16 percent increase in geoscience-related occupations between 2012 and 2022, which is 5 percent faster than the growth rate for all U.S. occupations.

Geology

The study of geology at Florida State University emphasizes environmental geology, geochemistry and hydrology and also has significant expertise in coastal, surficial, tectonic and sedimentary geology, giving students the opportunity to study broadly in the discipline. Students interested in becoming a professional geologist enroll in the Environmental Science undergraduate degree and take coursework that qualifies them to sit for the Professional Geologist Exam and qualifies them for employment as a federal or Florida state geologist.[31]

Meteorology

Founded in 1949, the FSU meteorology program is the largest and most complete meteorology program in the southeastern United States, with 17 faculty members, over 85 graduate students and approximately 200 undergraduate students.[32]

Many graduates of the Florida State meteorology program whether bachelor's, master's or doctorate work in the national media including Neil Frank and Max Mayfield, former directors of the National Hurricane Center in Miami; Janice Huff of the NBC Today Show and on-air meteorologists from The Weather Channel: Stephanie Abrams, Rich Johnson and Jennifer Lopez.

Oceanography

The FSU Oceanography area offers several graduate degree programs. Applicants can choose between a Ph.D. in oceanography, a master's in oceanography or a master's in aquatic environmental science.

Any degree-seeking student with at least a B.S. or B.A. degree in a basic science may apply to enter the master's program. Most successful applicants without a master's degree in oceanography or a closely allied field are accepted into the master's degree program. However, such applicants, as well as applicants with master's degrees in oceanography or a related field, may also apply directly to the Ph.D. program. Admission to the M.S. or Ph.D. program is granted upon a favorable majority vote of the faculty and upon agreement of a faculty member to act as a major professor.[33]

Physics

Diagram of the 45 tesla hybrid magnet at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory

The Department of Physics, comprising more than 60 faculty and over 100 graduate students, is a major research department, offering graduate programs that have been ranked amongst the best in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.[34]

In terms of major facilities, the department has its own superconducting linear particle accelerator at which experiments ranging from precision atomic measurements to analysis of rare-isotope collisions are performed. Additionally, the department is a heavy user of major national and international lab facilities. It maintains active groups working on experiments at Fermilab, CERN, Brookhaven National Laboratory, TJNAF, Argonne National Laboratory, and several others. Indirectly, through current director Dr. Gregory Boebinger as well as his predecessor, laboratory founder Dr. Jack Crow, the department operates the main complex of the multi discipline National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, located near campus at FSU's Innovation Park.

Psychology

The Psychology Building at FSU opened in 2008.

FSU's Psychology Department has served as an education and research institution in the university for more than 100 years and has the distinction of being the first psychological laboratory in Florida. Founded in 1902, the program has since grown from two courses taught by only a couple faculty members to one which offers over one hundred courses each semester and boasts nearly 70 faculty members.[35][36] In 1952 FSU began offering a doctoral degree in psychology with the first PhD going to a student the next year. The department was historically housed in Francis Eppes Hall (formerly College Hall) and the Kellog Building.[37] In 2008 the department moved into the new Psychology Building located on the western edge of campus.[38] The department chair is Jeanette Taylor, Ph.D.[39]

A number of the faculty have been recognized for achievements in their field at the university and national level. Many of the faculty have written books on their subjects of interest or have written chapters for books. The department is the center of research in many areas with more than 30 research laboratories and $2 million in new grants being awarded in 2015.[40][41] In 2015, PhD program in clinical psychology was ranked 47th by U.S. News & World Report[42] and the department itself was ranked 60th.[43]

References

  1. ^ "Dean and Associate Deans". Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  2. ^ http://www.ir.fsu.edu/Factbooks/2014-2015/Enrollments_College.pdf
  3. ^ http://artsandsciences.fsu.edu/Departments-Centers-Institutes-and-Programs
  4. ^ "Mission and History". Florida State University College of Arts and Sciences.
  5. ^ Elish, Jill. "News Archive". Huckaba named dean of College of Arts and Sciences. Florida State University. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  6. ^ Florida State University Rankings U.S. News & World Report, accessed May, 2015
  7. ^ https://www.fsu.edu/highlights/rankings.html
  8. ^ Grant, Jonathan. "Welcome Message". Welcome to the History Department. Florida State University. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  9. ^ "James P. Jones". Florida State University. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  10. ^ "Robert Gellately". Florida State University. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  11. ^ "Recipients of University Teaching Awards". Florida State University. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  12. ^ "Faculty Publications". Florida State University. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  13. ^ "Pathways of Excellence". Life Sciences Building. Florida State University. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  14. ^ Fairhurst, Libby. "New James E. 'Jim' King Life Sciences Building moves biological science mission forward". FSU News. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  15. ^ [1] Florida State University - Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Laser Facility Equipment Data Retrieved on 5-03-2007.
  16. ^ "Chemistry Building Pathways Page".
  17. ^ "Sir Harold W. Kroto". Florida State University. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  18. ^ [2] Florida State University, Research in Review, Fall 2002 Retrieved on 5-03-2007.
  19. ^ St. Petersburg Times, April 30, 2004, "From Campus to Commerce" by Robert Trigeaux Retrieved on 5-03-2007.[3]
  20. ^ "Joseph Schlenoff, the Leo Mandelkern Professor of Polymer Science at Florida State, has received the 2013 Florida Award". Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  21. ^ "English Department News". NRC Ranks FSU Among Nation's Top English Departments. Florida State University. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  22. ^ "English Department". Faculty Index. Florida State University. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  23. ^ "David Kirby". Florida State University. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  24. ^ "Elizabeth Spiller". Florida State University. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  25. ^ [4] Florida State University, English Department, Creative Writing Retrieved on 5-03-2007.
  26. ^ "English Department". The Literature Program. Florida State University. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  27. ^ http://english.fsu.edu/ewm/index.html
  28. ^ http://hott.fsu.edu/
  29. ^ "The English Department at Florida State University - Rhetoric and Composition". Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  30. ^ http://eoas.fsu.edu/about-eoas
  31. ^ http://eoas.fsu.edu/programs/geology
  32. ^ [5] Florida State University Meteorology Department, Academic Programs webpage Retrieved on 5-03-2007.
  33. ^ http://eoas.fsu.edu/programs/graduate/oceanography
  34. ^ [6] Florida State University - College Highlights and Selected National Rankings Retrieved on 5-01-2007.
  35. ^ Scarborough, Baron. "PSYCHOLOGY: 1900 - 1989". A Brief History. Florida State University. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  36. ^ "Faculty Index". Florida State University. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  37. ^ "A history of the Psychology Department Buildings". Florida State University. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  38. ^ "History Timeline of Significant Milestones of the Department of Psychology". Florida State University. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  39. ^ "Administration". The Florida State University Psychology. Florida State University. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  40. ^ "Labratories". The Florida State University Psychology. Florida State University Psychology Department. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  41. ^ Taylor, Jeanette. "Psychology News" (PDF). Florida State University Psychology. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  42. ^ "US News & World Report". Grad Schools: Florida State University. US News & World Report. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  43. ^ "U.S. News Best Colleges Rankings". US News & World Report. US News & World Report. Retrieved 11 December 2015.

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