Introduction
This report includes:
Majors or Concentrations and Procedures for Student Development
The following components will be reported to the Commission on Higher Education by the dates annotated:
Library Resources and Services (August, 2000), Academic Advising (August, 2001) , General Education (August, 2002)
Majors or Concentrations
Majors and concentrations provide students with specialized knowledge and skills. Primary responsibility for assessing the majors falls to academic departments and programs and external accrediting agencies, where applicable.
In 1998-1999, no majors were submitted as part of a South Carolina Commission on Higher Education program review.
Assessment of majors submitted as interim reports at the midpoint of either an accreditation or a South Carolina Commission on Higher Education program review cycle from the following areas are described in the current report: Advertising, African-American Studies, Anthropology, Baccalaureus Artium et Scientiae, Broadcast Journalism, Geography, Gerontology, History, Interdisciplinary Studies, International Studies, Latin American Studies, Law, Mass Communications, Political Science, Print Journalism, Public Relations, Social Studies, Sociology, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and Women’s Studies.
Advertising
Advertising students participate in the annual National Advertising Competition which is sponsored by the American Advertising Federation. This competition, which is judges by advertising practitioners, challenges students from more than 100 universities to develop a plan for national clients. Recent clients have included Toyota, Hallmark, Pizza Hut and the American Red Cross.
The students demonstrate that they are able to incorporate what they have learned in their core advertising classes into a comprehensive advertising campaign which includes research, media placement, strategic development and the creation of multi-media advertisements.
The National Student Advertising Competition confirms our undergraduate advertising program is the best in South Carolina and among the best in the nation. University of South Carolina advertising teams have won the Carolina-Virginia region of competition 16 out of the last 21 years and have been in the top six nationally three times since 1995.
One of the core courses, JOUR 465 – Media Analysis, was revised because students on the Student Advertising Competition Team had difficulty developing media plans. JOUR 465 was revised Spring 1998 to include a project where students develop a strategic media plan for a specific brand.
African American Studies
One of the most important assessment activities performed since 1995 was the evaluation of hiring needs. It became evident that in order for the African American Studies Program to continue to grow as a reputable academic unit, it would be necessary to hire more faculty. Since 1995, the African American Studies Program has cooperated with various units in the joint hiring of five faculty members: one with the Department of Anthropology, one with the Department of English, two with the History Department, and one with the Department of Sociology Department and the Institute for Families in Society. The Program continues to identify curricular needs which necessitate the creation of new faculty lines. The existing gaps range from Musicology to Art History to Economics.
Anthropology
For the past four years the graduate faculty of the department have required that early in the fall semester graduate students present a colloqium talk on the anthropological fieldwork in which they participated or conducted during the previous summer. In these presentations each student was expected to describe the research problem, methodology and field activities, and preliminary results of the various projects. Following their talks, students were asked to respond to questions concerning the research. The department learned that most students needed more guidance and experience in giving formal presentations and that some students who understand the ethical guidelines of the American Anthropological Association had some difficulty in recognizing the breadth of application of these guidelines. To improve the program,
Baccalaureus Artium et Scientiae
The Baccalaureus Artium et Scientiae is an interdisciplinary degree program which is tailored to fit a particular student’s cross disciplinary interests and career objectives. This degree program is not appropriate for all students, even high achievers. In order to determine whether a student possesses a suitable combination of interests and aspirations for this degree, each interested candidate has to meet with the Dean of the Honors College at least twice. In the first meeting, the student receives a general orientation to the benefits and risks of the Baccalaureus. If the student decides to proceed with the degree, then he or she prepares a Statement of Purpose, which is reviewed by the Dean at a second meeting before the student is allowed to proceed to the degree planning stage.
The purpose of this assessment activity is to determine the appropriateness of the degree program for prospective students before allowing them to commit. The two-step assessment outlined above screens approximately fifty percent of the prospective candidates out of the process. What the faculty learn from the screening process is more about the types of interests and aspirations that are appropriate to the program and which ones may be less so. The information gleaned from repetition of this individualized initial screening process allows faculty to improve the ability to advise students appropriately as to how best to achieve their academic goals.
Broadcast Journalism
The Electronic Senior Seminar Program, also called the "capstone" experience, is held both in the fall and spring terms of the school year. Each semester, students earn 12 hours credit by working in the College’s Electronic News Laboratory. Students report, shoot, edit and produce daily live 30-minute radio and television newscasts which air over the campus cable system and the South Carolina Educational Television Network. The news program includes local, state, national and international news coverage. Professors with both academic and professional credentials critique the newscasts daily. Additional professionals from outside the campus community are asked to critique the newscasts for professional standards periodically throughout the semester. The program serves as the students’ first job in their respective fields.
Student placement has been exceptional. More than ninety percent of those students who actually pursue a job in the electronic news field upon completion of the senior semester program have jobs in the field. The program has been tremendously successful in placing its broadcast news producer students. Nearly 100 percent of the students who search for producing jobs get them – many before graduation. The program is becoming know nationally as a model for journalism curricula.
Interviews with graduating students, news directors who hire our graduates and professionals who critique the program have viewed it as successful. Faculty continually update the program to meet the needs of the industry by continuous contact with its graduates and others in the field. The faculty have developed a database of students who graduate from the program and continuously update graduates’ career moves.
Geography
A new course, Seminar in Geography (Geography 495), was designed for graduating seniors. By serving as a capstone for the undergraduate experience, this class has helped faculty assess how well the department has prepared undergraduates for the workplace or graduate school. Assignments in the class include advanced readings across the discipline, original research papers, and group projects. Collectively, these provide a measure of the breadth of geographic education faculty provide, how well faculty foster independent research skills, and how well we train students to work collaboratively.
Since Geography 495 was first offered in Spring 1999, faculty cannot yet measure this assessment tools fully. From the one experience, faculty have learned that students exhibit good knowledge of the history and principles of geography by their senior year. Most have developed some basic research skills as well as proficiency in one or more geographic techniques such as cartography, GIS, remote sensing, or statistics. Faculty do have some questions regarding the depth and quality of students’ independent research skills. Final research papers in the course were not as intensive or extensive as the instructor expected and did not include as much cooperative effort as he would have liked.
All Geography faculty are involved in the undergraduate program and can ultimately contribute to the improvement of research skills and cooperative learning. By making the faculty aware of possible deficiencies in these areas, it is likely that additional research, writing, and group projects will become a more extensive part of our intermediate-level courses.
Gerontology
In 1998 the Graduate Director completed the third follow-up study of gerontology certificate graduates (N=150). This outcome study specifically examined the career progression of graduates employed in gerontology/geriatrics settings since completion of their graduate studies at the University of South Carolina. The Standardized Survey Instrument for Graduates of Gerontology Programs, developed by the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education, provided important data about graduates’ academic credentials; organizational employment in aging network, health care, and other settings; work activities; salary levels; and useful components of the educational program. The findings of this outcome research were presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America in Philadelphia, November 1998.
The survey of graduates provided valuable feedback pertaining to the employment successes of gerontology certificate graduates. University of South Carolina graduates who have completed gerontology certificate studies in addition to master’s and doctoral degrees in social work, psychology, health administration, health education, exercise science, nursing, education, and other academic disciplines demonstrate significant career progression into executive, administrative, management, and direct service positions in aging network, health care, higher education, and other settings that serve both frail and well-functioning older adult populations in our state and nation. Graduates show strong motivation to remain in the field of gerontology. Employment opportunities and salary levels have shown significant improvement since an earlier study of graduates in 1993 that was published in 1995.
Specific curriculum feedback and recommendations by graduates has led to curriculum revision and additions over the past several years. Social work, public health, nursing, and medical school faculty continue to address new and important curriculum content areas. Students are offered more course content on social policies that create older adult programs and services, health aspects of aging, and research pertaining to the effectiveness of special programs in addressing the multiple needs of older adults. Students are increasingly responding to an expressed need for more exposure to older adults through creatively designed internships, field work, and practicum experiences.
History
The Department of History has conducted a more rigorous system of peer evaluation of teaching, with visits to the class, consultation and the like. The department is still in the process of implementing fully the activity, but so far faculty have learned that is conducted in a positive and supportive way evaluation can improve morale, as well as teaching. This evaluation effort will be further expanded.
During the 1995-1996 academic year, the History Department spent a year examining its graduate program and curriculum. There were committees for each area of concern and graduate students were represented on every committee. In addition, a survey was taken of current graduate students. During the 1996-1997 academic year, a survey was taken of alumni of the department's graduate programs. During the 1994-1995 academic year, the Applied History Program conducted a similar survey of its students and alumni.
Students and faculty agreed that both the masters and doctoral programs needed to be streamlined. The goal behind reforming the curriculum was to enable students to complete their programs without unnecessary delays. In both the M.A. and Ph.D. programs, emphasis should be upon depth of knowledge in a student's major field. Because of the growing interest in museum studies and material culture, the department should consider hiring a faculty member with expertise in these areas.
During the 1997-1998 academic year, with this information in hand, the Graduate Studies Committee completely revised and streamlined the graduate curriculum. This new curriculum was approved by the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education in the Fall of 1998 (see attachment # 1). During the 1998-1999 academic year, the department's graduate guidelines were completely revised (see attachment # 2) and the Graduate History Association developed a graduate student handbook (see attachment # 3). During the 1997-1998 academic year a successful search was undertaken to hire a museum studies/material culture faculty member. Professor Katherine Grier joined the faculty in a tenure-track position in the fall of 1998.
Interdisciplinary Studies
The Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (BAIS) degree has, since 1979, offered students the opportunity to pursue interdisciplinary studies without a major in a single department or in one of the structured interdisciplinary degree programs such as African-American Studies, Classical Studies, Contemporary European Studies, or Latin American Studies. This degree program allows a student to design his or her own degree program, under the supervision of the Dean's Office and a faculty committee, to meet individual educational and intellectual goals.
Interdisciplinary Studies majors which students have designed in the recent past include programs such as Southern Studies, which includes history, culture, politics, geography, industry, and literature of the American South; Environmental Studies with an emphasis on the public policy aspect of that field; and Women's Studies. In the more distant past, students have completed programs focusing on Russian Studies, which includes courses in Russian and Eastern European history and culture, government and politics, languages, literature, and geography; East Asian Studies, which includes history and culture, government and politics, language, art, and international business; and Management in the Performing Arts, which includes courses in theatre, music, opera, speech, management, and business.
Students who wish to pursue the BAIS degree must submit a proposal including a statement of goals and proposed major course requirements. Students are counseled that the proposed interdisciplinary program must meet the following conditions:
Once the student's proposal has been given tentative approval by the Office of the Associate Dean, the student meets with an Interdisciplinary Studies Committee of at least four faculty members from the student's areas of interest. During this meeting, the Committee reviews the program of study with the student, makes any necessary changes or modifications to the proposal, and discusses related issues such as study abroad programs, internship possibilities, career goals, and graduate school plans. Final approval for the student's Interdisciplinary Studies major is given only by the student's Interdisciplinary Studies Committee after the meeting with the student. This ensures that the student's program is academically rigorous, coherent, achievable within a reasonable period of time, and commensurate with the student's academic and life goals.
During the period of the student's enrollment in the BAIS degree program, the Committee Chair acts as the student's academic advisor and is responsible for advising the student toward meeting all University, Collegiate, and program requirements for the degree. If deviation from the approved program is necessary or advisable, the Committee Chair reconvenes the Committee. The Committee Chair verifies that all Interdisciplinary Studies program requirements are met, while the Associate Dean's Office certifies that all University and Collegiate requirements for graduation are satisfied.
Over the past fifteen years, the Interdisciplinary Studies degree program has produced a large number of graduates, the vast majority of whom pursued the degree in preparation for Early Childhood or Elementary Education certification. Students pursuing this extended baccalaureate option completed a general education component, a core of Education courses, and a core of courses selected from a liberal arts discipline, in addition to student teaching. Most students took at least 4 and a half years to complete this program. Students were admitted to this program after achieving at least a 2.500 GPA on at least one full semester at U.S.C. and submitting an essay which detailed academic and professional goals. Student progress was checked at admission to the degree program, admission to the Professional Program in Education, and admission to student teaching. In 1993, the College of Education, with the endorsement of the University Future Committee, decided to phase out this extended baccalaureate approach to teacher education, and replace it with a fifth year master's program. This new approach allows students to complete any undergraduate degree they choose, along with a minor in Education; the certification portion of the program is graduate level, takes a full calendar year beyond the bachelor's degree, and culminates in a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree. The majority of the nearly 450 BAIS degrees awarded by the College of Liberal Arts from academic year 1994-95 through December 1998 were used for meeting teacher certification requirements under the old extended baccalaureate approach. Since 1994, only 5 students have completed a BAIS degree for purposes other than teacher certification.
With the completion of the phase out of the extended baccalaureate approach in 1998, we expect that very few students will apply for and complete a BAIS degree. Most students find the array of traditional majors and minors to be satisfactory for their academic and preprofessional needs.
The BAIS program has no faculty of its own, since students select courses from a variety of departments and programs within the University. The public service component is not applicable. It has no budget; printing costs, which are negligible, are supplied from the budget of the Dean's Office of the College of Liberal Arts. Coordination of the program is performed by the Assistant Dean of the College.
Latin American Studies
In addition to other activities, the program director uses the annual report and strategic plan as mechanisms to assess the Latin American Studies Program (LASP). These documents are distributed to the LASP faculty who, in turn, provided feedback about the past, present, and future initiatives and direction of the program. Such feedback enables the department to modify particular aspects of the program or highlight problems that need to be addressed. Last year, for instance, faculty responses to the annual report and strategic plan provided sound information that enabled the program director to approach the Dean concerning the faculty concerns. Faculty feedback in 1998 underscored the lack of resources to support faculty scholarship, particularly for faculty whose home departments do not have sufficient travel funds. The program director presented this information to the Dean who agreed to fund, on an as-needed basis, travel requests of LASP faculty who are based in the less financially endowed departments.
Law
The School of Law conducts bi-annual, comprehensive student assessment surveys which assess overall satisfaction with academic programs, teaching quality, employment and career preferences, and study habits and attitudes. The major points learned were: student satisfaction with teaching, study habits and practices, and outside work by students during the semester. The faculty used this information to change academic orientation, emphasize the importance of working less and studying more, to place more emphasis on class attendance, and change class schedules to cut down employment opportunities.
Mass Communications
Beginning in 1997, during the second year of our doctoral program, we began an individual performance review of each doctoral student. The process began with each student producing a detailed statement of what he or she had done during the year and plans for the year ahead, and commenting generally about the program and the student's reactions to it. The Associate Dean, in consultation with the College's Graduate Council, produced a written evaluation of each student's performance during the year.
A number of concerns, large and small, came to light. Some of these were dealt with through individual conferences with the individual concerned. In one or two cases professors teaching a doctoral seminar were reassigned teaching responsibilities in subsequent semesters to better match faculty strengths to course content.
The performance review process gave the Graduate Council and the Associate Dean opportunities to learn of student concerns and to comment on individual student performance. In one case, the doctoral student's assistantship was not renewed, for example. This review process enhances mutually beneficial two-way communication.
The Graduate Council, under the leadership of Dr. Erik Collins, performed a complete curricular review of the Master of Mass Communication degree program. This resulted in substantial changes, involving a repositioning of the program to appeal to students interested in advertising/public relations through an emphasis in integrated communications that has been proposed to the CHE.
That the revitalized MMC program is now regarded as a leader in its field in this region, as measured by quality and quantity of applications, job placement and other means. The national accreditation agency in our field thoroughly evaluated the MMC program, as part of its on-site visit in Fall, 1998, and pronounced the MMC program in full compliance with national accrediting standards.
New courses were developed to replace other seminars less pertinent to current student needs.
Political Science and International Studies
An undergraduate survey was devised and circulated, soliciting student feedback on attitudes toward the Government and International Studies (GINT) International Studies and Political Science major curricula, course meeting times, departmental processes and other issues. This survey was first tested as a pilot study, and subsequently administered on a voluntary basis in over half the Fall 1998 GINT undergraduate courses. The undergraduate data has not been processed; faculty expect to learn a great deal about the relevance of the major, student perceptions of faculty competence, and general satisfaction with the major.
The department created and filled a new position of Undergraduate Coordinator, who conducted a systematic exit interview of all majors on the department’s advisement process. The advisement exit survey has also not yet been processed; faculty expect to learn suggestions for making advisement more "user friendly."
Changes have already been made in both arenas in anticipation of student feedback, and once the results are in further adjustments will be considered by the Undergraduate Committee. The new Undergraduate Coordinator has already dramatically restructured and systemized the advisement process. The department has been experimenting with course scheduling adjustments in an effort to anticipate student demands; the survey results will greatly facilitate this process.
Print Journalism
The Print Journalism Senior Semester Program, also called the "capstone" experience, is held both the fall and spring terms of the school year. Each semester, students earn 12 hours credit by working in the College's Print Journalism Laboratory to produce and publish the Carolina Reporter. Students report, write and design a weekly newspaper and an on-line version of the newspaper. Students in the Carolina Reporter have partnered with weekly and daily newspapers from across the state to provide legislative news stories of interest to those areas. Professors with both academic and professional credentials critique the students' work. Additional professionals from outside the campus community are asked to critique the newscasts for professional standards periodically throughout the semester. The program serves as the students' first job in their respective fields.
Student placement has been exceptional. In the past five years, 100 percent of the senior semester students who have sought jobs in the newspaper industry has received jobs in the field.
Interviews with graduating students and newspaper editors and publishers who hire our graduates and professionals who critique the program have viewed it as successful. Faculty continually refine the prograrn to meet the needs of the industry by continuous contact with its graduates and other in the field.
Public Relations
Public relations students participate in the annual Bateman Case Study Competition which is sponsored by the Public Relations Student Society of America. This national student competition, which is judged by public relations practitioners, allows students to apply what they have learned in the classroom to a real-life situation. Recent clients have included Coca-Cola, Chevron, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Family Service America, Inc. and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
The Bateman Competition confirms our undergraduate public relations program is the best in South Carolina and among the best in the nation. Approximately 40 universities compete in the competition each year and our entries consistently score in the top 10 percent. We have been named in the national top four positions three times since 1995.
The Bateman Competition also illustrates how public relations students can have a positive impact on the local community. In 1999, two University of South Carolina public relations student teams competed in the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. One of the teams sponsored a rally at Richland Northeast High School in Columbia, South Carolina which was attended by 1,700 students and Governor Jim Hodges who proclaimed April 14 "Trash the Ash Day." The other team was instrumental in getting the Riverbanks Zoo to approve a policy asking visitors not to smoke.
Faculty have been encouraged to incorporate more team work into their upper division public relations classes and to use real clients whenever possible.
Social Studies
PRAXIS assessment of education knowledge and social studies content knowledge has been conducted each year for those candidates graduating in social studies. Currently, PRAXIS test score expectations are being revised at the state level. From previous years: 1995-96, 26 out of 27 passed for a 96.3% rate. 1996-97. 21 out of 21 passed for a 100% rate, 1997-98. 16 out of 17 passed for a 94.12% rate. We have also continued to administer comprehensive examinations in the MAT/IMA programs with a focus on reviewing knowledge from both content and education courses.
In the past three years only two students have failed to meet the standard. Faculty concluded that the program offers appropriate exposure to relevant content and pedagogy.
Faculty are reviewing the course sequences to determine if there is a pattern in the selection of content course selections that relates to performance on the PRAXIS which is a National Standardized Examination. Student performance on comprehensive examinations is also considered to monitor consistency between our expectations and the National Examination.
Sociology
The Department of Sociology has a continuing commitment to excellence in all phases of its mission. Faculty aim to provide high quality undergraduate and graduate instruction in the field of sociology for both majors and non-majors. At the same time faculty seek a national reputation for the quality of our faculty's research and scholarship.
The rapidly increasing number of majors indicates that sociology is attracting a growing number of students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels of instruction, at a time when overall enrolments in the college are declining. For example, from 1992 to Fall 1998 undergraduate majors increased 59 percent!
More, importantly, the increasing graduation rates clearly show that faculty are fulfilling the department’s mission to provide high quality undergraduate and graduate instruction for majors, and the college’s mission to provide the highest quality of learning leading to Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science Degrees. The department’s high level of non-major enrolments indicate that faculty are also fulfilling the department’s mission of providing high quality undergraduate and graduate instruction to non-majors.
It is important to emphasize that the department’s rise to national prominence has not come at the expense of instructional programs; the department’s nationally-recognized scholars at all ranks continue to teach the full range of the curriculum -- large introductory courses, required major courses and graduate level courses. Faculty have not delegated undergraduate curriculum to graduate students and junior faculty in pursuit of national and international research prominence.
The department’s new, networked computer classroom, built largely with funds from the College of Liberal Arts, came on line only two years ago, but it already has had a major impact on graduate and undergraduate instruction. All undergraduate statistics courses, and a growing number of graduate courses, now have a substantial computer component.
Faculty continue to monitor the number of majors, degrees awarded, publications in prominent journals, and securing of rigorously peer-reviewed extramural funding to evaluate how well they are achieving the department’s mission(s).
Although faculty have made great strides with the multi-media, and computer-networked classrooms, they are just beginning to take advantage of the potentials of technology to enhance graduate and undergraduate instruction. Several faculty are writing, or have already submitted, grant proposals, or requests for "seed" money to get support for better actualizing this potential for enhancing the effectiveness of instruction.
Upon graduation, sociology majors are sent a congratulatory letter and are encouraged to return an enclosed postcard to let faculty know what they are doing. The replies indicate that graduates follow a variety of paths. Among them are: graduate school in education and teaching careers, graduate school education in social work and social services, law school, retail employment, and careers in health.
Faculty will also continue to experiment with offering required advanced sociology courses in the evening in order to help "non-traditional" students who are trying to meet sociology degree requirements while holding full-time jobs and family-care responsibilities. Enrollment counts for differing core major courses offered in different schedule configurations (e.g., meeting one evening a week instead of two or three days a week) will be evaluated to determine student and community needs for such offerings. This is not an attempt to further increase already swollen enrollments, but rather to better fulfill the department’s responsibility to this often-neglected and sometimes taken-for-granted segment of the community.
Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
Within three weeks of graduation, each graduation, each graduating student meets separately with the USC Speech and Hearing Director and with the Chair of the Department. This exit interview process focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of the department as well as suggestions for improvements. A subjective student view of the department is gained through this process. Examples of the comments during the interviews are:
These comments were used to improve the program:
Since 1995 graduating doctoral students have participated in an exit interview conducted by the coordinator of the Doctoral Program. Topics discussed include adequacy of teaching, course content, good aspects of the program, bad aspects of the program, and overall appraisal. Many positive things that we do emerged in the interviews and reinforced the continuation of those things. Several problem areas also emerged. These included the lack of laboratory space and the experience in the science courses, the lack of advanced clinical courses at the doctoral level, the need for a detailed Doctoral Handbook with regulations, forms, timetables, etc., and the lack of student participation on departmental committees. In response to these concerns we have purchased laboratory equipment (laboratory space remains a problem, however), modified the content of a required statistics courses, prepared a Doctoral Handbook for SPAD, and introduced three new advanced clinical courses at the 800 (doctoral) level. In addition, doctoral students are now appointed to the standing departmental doctoral committee and departmental search committees.
Women’s Studies
A key assessment performed since 1995 has been the evaluation of faculty hiring needs. It became clear that to consolidate and develop the certificate program a critical mass of faculty was required for the administrative, pedagogical, and service activities upon which the program’s success depends. This information led to the decision to recruit and hire a permanent director and graduate director (at the full professor rank) as well as a number of assistant professors in joint appointments with departments committed to aligning important aspects of their curricular development and research agendas with Women’s Studies. The first two of these joint hires (with Health Promotion and Education [Public Health] and English) have been made and the remainder will proceed over the next few years. The assessment concerning faculty needs also led to the decision to establish the formalized categories of affiliate and adjunct faculty.
Procedures for Student Development
The Division of Student and Alumni Affairs is responsible for assessing procedures for student development. The division maintains outcomes assessment plans that are updated yearly. The last update was May 31, 1999. Two plans are used to assess student development: Assessment of Personal/Social Development (a.k.a. The Carolinian Creed Assessment) and the Assessment Plan for Division Goals.