University of South Carolina Columbia
Act 629 - Summary Reports on Institutional Effectiveness
Fiscal Year 2001 - 2002

Sociology, BA, BS, MA, PhD

The assessments executed by the Department of Sociology included a visit by a Blue Ribbon Panel of three distinguished scholars in Sociology. They were Linda Molm of the Department of Sociology at the University of Arizona, Toby Parcel of the Department of Sociology at Ohio State University and Pamela Walters at the Department of Sociology at Indiana University. The Panel was charged with evaluating the overall structure and functioning of the Department of Sociology, including its instructional programs. As a result of their report, a number of assessment-mediated changes were introduced and are now undergoing implementation.

These recommendations point to an overall assessment of the Department of Sociology as understaffed, underfunded, cursed with ineffective leadership, perceived as unfair in its application of rules and procedures, and with a graduate program that needs serious restructuring and upgrading to nationally competitive levels. Their specific comments do not single out the MA program.

Three initiatives currently in process in the Department of Sociology and of significance to the MA program are directly mediated by results of our 2000-2001 assessment. The first initiative is an outside search for a Department Chair. After an extensive search, a new chair was hired in 2001-2002.

The second initiative is a restructuring of the graduate program, in particular, the comprehensive exam requirements. Faculty have discussed a proposal that would bring the graduate program structure more in line with national models, such as, the graduate program in Sociology at Indiana University. Specifically faculty have talked about a program that has a comprehensive requirement in theory, one in methods/statistical analysis, and a third area in a research specialty to be constructed by the student. We think this format would provide graduates with a more "professional" experience and more pre-professional training for their eventual positions in academia, government, or the private sector. This change would have implications for the MA program.

The final initiative involves encouraging graduate student participation and involvement in the department, both socially and as a sounding board for policy and procedure proposals for change. The graduate students have responded with enthusiasm and have established a healthy and active association that has brought together faculty and students in informal venues and in intellectual occasions to the benefit of both parties. This change helps to unify MA and PhD students and so contributes to the intellectual progress of both.