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A Message from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

Here we are at the start of a new academic year at Auburn. Busy COSAM students are hurrying to class, studying for exams, or writing lab reports in SCC hallways and Mell atrium, and partaking in the many enjoyable activities on and beyond campus. I always enjoy seeing the return of our bustling campus in the fall, and look forward to another great year on the Plains.

Last fall Auburn’s undergraduate population grew again (25,069 students), as did total enrollment (29,776); both of these levels were the highest in history. But, despite record enrollment, COSAM continued its high standard of academic excellence. Entering freshmen achieved the highest average ACT score (27.8) and also the highest HS GPA (3.99) in history. This upward trend clearly indicates our continuing ability to recruit outstanding majors to the college and our commitment to provide  exceptional educational experiences for Auburn students.

One of the challenges of a growing undergraduate population is to continue providing solid academic advising to students, to keep them on track in the timely completion of their degrees. For decades, faculty were primarily responsible for curricular advising of students in most of COSAM’s degree programs, especially within the traditional majors. As one might expect, enlisting busy faculty with advising duties can be fraught with problems considering variation in faculty familiarity with complex curricula and student learning outcomes, and their limited availability given teaching and research obligations. And even one case where a student is given incomplete or inaccurate information by the faculty advisor on required courses, or when a student has difficulty finding their advisor—is one case too many.

I am pleased to report that starting this fall, all COSAM majors will be advised by full-time professional advisors in the college. Our foray into this new advising model began in 2017 with the hire of Valerie Tisdale, our first professional advisor based in a COSAM department (biological sciences). This past summer we hired another advisor, Taylor Moss, who advises chemistry and mathematics majors. Taylor comes to us from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where she received a BS in animal science from Middle Tennessee State University and an MS in animal science from West Texas A&M University, and she was a STEM academic advisor at MTSU since 2014. Our own Katie Cooper was selected to advise geosciences and physics majors, rounding out the core of professional advisors of traditional majors in the college. COSAM faculty will continue to play a key role mentoring students in research opportunities, and preparing them for graduate education and post-graduate employment. The professional advisor, working alongside the faculty, will help students navigate the curriculum, assist with internship and abroad opportunities, and provide students access to academic support. Together, this advisor-faculty partnership will help assure the academic and professional success of our students. COSAM students registered another strong year in academic awards and honors. An impressive 62 percent of COSAM seniors graduated with honors. Most notably, Wesley Curles (biomedical sciences ‘18) received the 2018 Auburn University Algernon Sydney Award, the Brad Davis SEC Community Service Award, and NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. Curles also was named the Phi Kappa Phi’s Most Outstanding Senior and was a Rhodes Scholar nominee. Kayla Frey (biomedical sciences ‘18) received a Fulbright Scholarship to teach English in Poland. COSAM students (Ayaka Fujihashi, Patrick Sahrmann, Morgan Sisk, Samuel Thomas,   Wes Curles, William Cordell, and Ashley Gibson) received eight of the 13 (61 percent) awards and scholarships given by Phi Kappa Phi last spring. Last but certainly not least, three COSAM graduate students, Steph Courtney (geosciences), Elijah Johnson (geosciences), Breanna Sipley (biological sciences), received highly competitive National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships for their Auburn research. Another student (Kristin Zuromski, biochemistry ’14) received a GRF for her doctoral work in biological chemistry at MIT. I think you’ll agree with me that this was truly an amazing year for outstanding achievements by COSAM students!

I hope you remember my open invitation to keep up with the exciting happenings in COSAM through our social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, if you’re in town, please come by and say hey—we’d love to see you.

Warmest regards and War Eagle,

Jack Feminella

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

Last Updated: 10/12/2018