College Mission

The mission of the College of Natural Science is to provide an excellent, research-oriented education in science that fosters the success of its students, the discovery of important new knowledge through research and the creation of an intellectually and scientifically enriched environment that fosters the economic and technological development of Texas.

The college is committed to providing a high-quality, research-based science education, and the tools and resources necessary for our faculty to do their best research and to fostering the translation of basic research into real solutions for society.

Guiding Principles for Gender Equity

In order to achieve this mission, we seek to create an environment that fosters the intellectual development of all of our students and allows of all of our faculty and researchers to achieve their maximum potential as scientists and educators.

1. Every individual is evaluated on the basis of his or her achievements, never on the basis of gender, ethnicity or national origin.
2. All evaluations of students, applications for faculty or postdoctoral positions, dossiers for promotions and tenure, merit raises, and awarding of honors are made on the basis of performance and the attainment of professional goals.
3. Achievement must not be so narrowly defined as to routinely exclude certain groups such as women or minorities from the chance of success.
4. Policies regarding tenure and promotion to both Associate and Full Professor and the awarding of merit raises should be transparent and clearly communicated to the faculty.
5. The resources that facilitate successful teaching and research should be allocated according to the respective educational or research program needs. For example, larger laboratory spaces are generally required by experimental scientists than by those whose work is primarily theoretical. Resource allocation shall not be done on the basis of gender, ethnicity or national origin. All faculty shall have equal access to effective mentoring, opportunities to discuss their research and get feedback within their home department or section, and opportunities to apply for grant funding, funding for travel to conferences and other professional development opportunities. Individuals will receive consideration for endowed positions, traineeships, teaching awards, university funded fellowships, etc. without regard to gender or ethnicity.