The Department of History will engage in scholarly activities to maintain a high-quality curriculum.
Objective
Faculty Scholarship
The Department of History will increase faculty research and scholarly activities.
Indicator
Faculty Research
The History faculty will contribute to the field by presenting at professional meetings and by publishing in scholarly venues.
Criterion
Faculty Research
At least 55% of the graduate faculty will publish a scholarly work each year. The history faculty will average at least 35 published pages per graduate faculty member per year.
Finding
Faculty Publications
During 2010, 48% (as opposed to 42% in 2009, 77% in 2008, 70% in 2007 and 68% in 2006) of the tenured or tenure-track faculty published a peer reviewed scholarly work. In 2010 29% of the History faculty published works of article or book length. During the previous three year period, about 40% of the faculty had major publications each year. The average per capita number of pages published during 2010 was 99 pages. This was down slightly from the 104 page average in 2009, but up modestly from the 95, 92 and 77 page average productivity levels for 2008, 2007 and 2006, respectively.
Criterion
Faculty Research--presentations
At least 55% of the graduate faculty will present in scholarly venues each year.
Finding
Faculty Presentations
During 2010, 71% of the tenured or tenure-track faculty presented papers or served on a panel at scholarly meetings. This percentage is slightly lower than the 79% levels of 2009, about equal to the 73% levels of 2008, and modestly higher than the 65% and 68% levels of 2007 and 2006, respectively. With 55 presentations during 2010, the total number of scholarly presentations of tenure or tenure track faculty exceeded the 45 presentations of 2009, the 40 presentations of 2008, the 28 presentations of 2007, and the 30 presentations of 2006. This success was in part a result of the fact that the department was able to provide $2500 per faculty for the support of scholarly activity. Our level of scholarly activity in 2010 exceeded our expectations.
Indicator
Grant Activity
The history department will be involved in seeking grants to support student enrichment opportunities, professional development and scholarly research.
Criterion
Grant Activity
At least 50% of the graduate history faculty will submit at least one grant proposal each year, and at least one of these proposals will be funded.
Finding
Grant Activity
During 2010, 57% (as opposed to 68% in 2009, 41% in 2008 and 50% in 2007) of the tenured or tenure-track faculty were active in seeking external and/or internal grants. Seven grants submitted by History faculty during 2010 were funded. These results exceeded our expectations.
Action
Faculty Research And Grant Activities
The production of significant historical scholarship is a time-consuming process that often results in variations across the years in annual productivity outcomes. Our outcomes for 2010 provided mixed results. On the one hand, greater proportions of faculty were grant active than in previous years. In addition, with the increased monetary support for the delivery of research findings, the total number of presentations in 2010 reached all-time departmental highs, although, disappointingly, the proportion of faculty delivering scholarly presentations dipped marginally. More concerning is a two-year downward trend in proportion of publishing faculty and in the per capita pages of published scholarship.
Given the increase in grant activity and in research presentations, the department will continue to follow the 2008 recommendation to increase the level of merit points for faculty engaged in grant activity, and to attempt to fund faculty travel to conferences. More attention, however, should be given to finding ways to boost the annual productivity levels of major scholarly publications.
Goal
Faculty Recruitment And Retention
The department will recruit and retain high quality faculty.
Objective
Faculty Diversity
The Department of History will recruit, maintain and develop a faculty that is able to offer a well-rounded curriculum and that represents the gender and ethnic diversity of the student body.
Indicator
New Hires
When hiring tenure track faculty, the Department of History will advertise widely and actively seek PhD faculty able to offer courses that support a well-rounded curriculum. Special efforts will be made to attract minority candidates for these open positions. Actual new hires will be indicator.
Criterion
Maintaining Diverse Faculty
Within applicable institutional constraints, the Department will endeavor to hire such faculty at least once each hiring cycle.
Finding
Maintaining Diversity
The Department did not hire any new positions this cycle.
Action
Diversity In Facutly
When openings appear, the Department will seek a diverse pool of applicants before selecting the candidates best able to help the Department achieve its teaching and research goals.
Goal
Advanced Education
The history department will promote matriculation undergraduate students into advanced educational programs
Objective
Promoting Advanced Degree Work
History majors will demonstrate competency in knowledge and skills in historiography with the ability to seek advanced degrees in history and related fields.
Indicator
Admission Into Graduate School
History students admitted to history graduate programs will indicate competency in students.
Criterion
Admission Into Graduate School
At least one history undergraduate student will be admitted into a graduate school each year.
Indicator
Advanced Degree Programs Outside Of History
History graduates will gain the requisite academic skills to pursue other degrees, such as the PhD, the JD, and the M.L.S. The History Department will encourage study beyond the M.A. and will monitor the number of students who pursue advanced or specialized degrees at other universities.
Criterion
Advanced Degrees
In any two-year period at least three history graduates will be admitted into terminal degree programs
Finding
Graduate School And Advanced Degrees
In 2010-11, three students from the Department of History were admitted into terminal degree programs at Syracuse University, Florida International University, and the University of North Texas.
Action
Advancing Education
Faculty sponsored WEB Society and Phi Alpha Theta events encouraged students to present papers at scholarly meetings and to apply for admission to graduate and professional schools.
Goal
Instructional Evaluation
Instructional faculty receive high ratings of their teaching.
Objective
Faculty Teaching
History instructors will be rated above the national average on the Individual Development and Educational Assessment (IDEA) instrument.
Indicator
IDEA Student Ratings
History students will complete the IDEA faculty evaluations, which document student perception of teaching effectiveness.
Criterion
IDEA Student Ratings: % Classes
At least 65% of the classes taught by History faculty will have IDEA Student ratings at or above the national average among professors of history at institutions using the IDEA system.
Finding
Idea Student Ratings
In 2010-11, 90% of classes taught by History faculty met or exceeded the national average rating for professors of history using IDEA. This result exceeded our expectations.
Criterion
IDEA Student Ratings: Average
The average adjusted student evaluation of all SHSU History teachers as measured by the IDEA Center will place the average SHSU History faculty in the top quartile among teachers in the nation who use the IDEA instrument.
Finding
IDEA Student Ratings-Average Percentile Ratings
During 20010-11, 81% of the tenure or tenure track history faculty received student ratings above the nationwide 50th percentile; 76% of this group had student ratings that placed them within the top 30% of teachers in the nation while 23% were placed by their students within the top 10% of US college and university teachers. Overall, the IDEA ratings of SHSU students placed tenured or tenure-track history faculty in the 87th percentile among other college and university teachers employed at institutions using the IDEA Database. This percentile ranking was noticeably higher than the percentile ranking achieved during 2009-10. Thus, these overall results met our expectations.
Indicator
Students Taught By PhD Faculty
Undergraduate students will be taught by faculty holding the PhD.
Criterion
PhD Faculty
During any academic year the percentage of history students taught by faculty holding the PhD will exceed 80%.
Finding
PhD Teaching Faculty
In the fall of 2010, 3224 history students or 96% of all history enrollments received instruction from PhD-holding faculty. In the spring of 2010, 3001 students or 94% received instruction from PhD-holding faculty. These figures represented a slight increase from the previous year and were consistent with stable faculty assignments from 2009-10.
Action
Teaching Quality
Student evaluations indicated that more than 90% of all history sections were taught by faculty with above average teaching skills. This percentage was the highest since SHSU began using the IDEA evaluation scoring system. Meanwhile, during 2010-2011, more than 95% of SHSU history students were taught by PhDs in the field. This figure also was higher than any year since this data has been collected.
By setting historic records in each of the benchmarks selected as indicators of teaching excellence, 2010-2011 was a banner year for history teaching at SHSU. The department will continue its efforts to reach and exceed the historic highs that were achieved during the past year.
Goal
Graduate Success
Students who graduate from the Department of History with a major or minor will find success in their endeavors.
Objective
Careers In History
History graduates will reach their career objectives
Indicator
History TExES Exam
Teacher education students who major or minor in History will pass the TEXES examination.
Criterion
Future Teachers
80% of all teacher education students who major or minor in History will pass the TEXES examination.
Finding
TExES Examination
During 2010-11, 79% of history majors passed the Texas Examination for Educator Standards (TExES) exam for future history teachers and 93% history majors passed the Social Studies TExES.
Breaking down the general results, it was apparent among all passing test takers that they performed comparably in Domain I (World History) and Domain II (US History).
Indicator
Alumni Publications
The History Department will monitor at the publications of its graduates.
Criterion
Alumni Publications
At least once every two years, a SHSU history graduate will publish a scholarly work within his/her field that was begun while he/she was a student at SHSU.
Finding
Alumni Publications
During the last year, former MA religious history student Phil Siniterie signed a contract to publish a biography of Joel Osteen with NYU Press.
Indicator
Post Graduate Student Progress
History graduates will be admitted into a graduate programs in pursuit of higher degrees
Criterion
Graduate Program Admission
In any two-year period, at least three history graduates will be accepted into a graduate program.
Finding
Acceptance Into Graduate School
During the last year, at least ---- history graduates were accepted into graduate programs.
Action
Reaching Career Objectives
The History Department has made an intensive effort to offer the Practice TExES to students planning to be teachers in order to improve their scores. During 2010-11 the History Department administered the Practice TExES 65 times to students (allowing multiple attempts per student) who passed and were thus allowed to take the TExES for certification. Because pass rates increased during the past year, this policy will be continued. The Undergraduate Affairs Committee will be asked to review the results of TExES examinations and make recommendations for reducing the number of students who did not pass the exam.
During the last year, financial and emotional support was provided that encouraged students to promote their careers by presenting research at scholarly gatherings. More students participated in these activities than in previous years.