OATdb Archive - Sam Houston State University

OATdb Archive

2010 - 2011

Mass Communication, Department Of

Goal

Teaching Effectiveness

The Mass Communication Department will offer students a valuable educational experience.

Objective

Teaching Effectiveness

The Mass Communication Faculty will be effective teachers.

Indicator

Assessing Teaching Effectiveness

The Mass Communication Department employed the Individual Development and Educational Assessment (IDEA) System as a quantitative instrument to assess teaching performance. The IDEA System of Instruction system quantitatively solicits student feedback for individual classes in terms of 20 instructional strategies and teaching methods. The assessment also surveys instructors regarding their overall in-class goals.

Criterion

Student Evaluation Of Faculty

The faculty in The Mass Communication Department will collectively score above the national average on the IDEA System on the specific quantitative assessment of Excellent Teacher and Excellent Course.

Finding

Evidence Of Teaching Effectiveness

According to the IDEA Database Average 65% of classes in the MCM Department were taught by faculty who were rated above the national average in the category of Excellent Teacher and 74% of classes offered in the MCM Department were rated above the national average in the category of Excellent Course.

Action

Promotion Of Teaching Excellence

Faculty teaching online courses or hybrid/blended courses will be encouraged to attend local, regional and national conferences that promote new pedagogical strategies for the digital age and travel moneys will be set aside to promote attendance at appropriate conferences (SXSW, BEA, ICA).

Goal

Faculty Productivity

The Mass Communication Department will engage in academic, journalistic and creative activity

Objective

Faculty Productivity

The Mass Communication Faculty will be productive in pursuing research/creative agendas.

Indicator

Publication And Exhibition Venues

The Mass Communication Faculty will publish, present and exhibit research, journalism and creative work in published books, recognized journals and conferences, newspapers and magazines and appropriate, vetted exhibitions.

Criterion

Research Productivity Levels

On an annual basis, each tenured or tenure track faculty member will: 1) publish two journal articles, two book chapters, or one book; AND 2) present two research papers at academic conferences; AND 3) exhibit a creative work at a vetted site; or 4) publish two articles in a recognized and vetted newspaper/magazine or online site.

Finding

Research Productivity

No faculty in the MCM Department met the stated goal of research/creative productivity.

Action

Research Productivity

The faculty has concluded that 1) the goals set for this assessment period were unrealistic for a program that requires significant teaching loads and significant hands-on instruction, and that currently offers limited research support; and 2) the research/creative agenda should be re-calibrated with more direct faculty input in goal-setting.

Goal

Hybrid Skills-Sets Of Faculty

The Mass Communication Department will hire faculty who can present students with a hybrid course of study that offers a unique mix of theory-based courses and hands-on professional courses.

Objective

Faculty With Hybrid Skills-Sets

The Mass Communication Department will hire, maintain, and support a faculty with varied skill-sets.

Indicator

Faculty For Proposed Digital Media Program

The Mass Communication Department will actively recruit and support faculty with professional and/or creative experience in the communications industry.

Criterion

Hiring New Faculty For Proposed Digital Media Program

The Mass Communication Department will fill one of three currently frozen tenure-track faculty positions to support the developing Masters Degree Program in Digital Media.

Finding

Hiring Of Faculty With Hybrid Skill-Sets

The MCM Department hired a new Chair who has extensive experience in film/video production and use-of-media-in-medicine research techniques.

Action

Recruitment Of Faculty With Varied Skill-Sets

The new Chair will 1) convene the MCM Curriculum Committee in Fall 2011; 2) facilitate the creation of specific goals for the proposed Masters Program; 3) facilitate specific course content for the proposed Masters Program; 4) request that the Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Mass Communication release one of three currently frozen MCM positions; and 5) recruit a tenure-track faculty member who is best suited to make a significant contribution to the undergraduate program and the graduate program.

Update to previous cycle's plan for continuous improvement

Plan for continuous improvement The Mass Communication Department has achieved established goals in the following area: 1) The MCM Faculty will be effective teachers. MCM partially achieved established goals in the following area: 2) The MCM Department will hire, maintain, and support a faculty with varied skill-sets. MCM did not achieve established goals in the following area: 1) The MCM Department will be productive in pursuing research/creative agendas.

In terms of effective teaching, the MCM Department will maintain IDEA Evaluations that surpass national averages and will supplement these efforts by expanding offerings of online/blended classes and by exploiting new opportunities in regards to pedagogical tactics that exploit technology-in-the-classroom.

In terms of maintaining a faculty with varied skill-sets, the MCM Department hired a new Chair who has extensive experience in film/video production and use-of-media-in-medicine research techniques. Although three tenure-track positions remain to be filled, they are currently frozen due to budget considerations. The Interim Chair will request that one of these positions be posted, recruited and hired each year for the next three years. With leadership from the new Chair and the new Dean in the newly created College of Fine Arts and Mass Communication, the MCM Department will establish detailed goals and curricula for the proposed Masters Program in Digital Media and pursue candidates with unique and appropriate skill-sets who can significantly contribute to achieving these goals and enacting this curricula.

In terms of goals for research/creative activity, the faculty has concluded that 1) the goals set for this assessment period were unrealistic for a program that requires significant teaching loads and significant hands-on instruction, and that currently offers limited research support; and 2) the research/creative agenda should be re-calibrated with more direct faculty input in goal-setting. In the previous assessment period (2008-2009), almost all faculty met set research/creative goals. A reasonable increase in those projections might be: On an annual basis MCM tenure-track faculty will 1) publish one book/book chapter or one juried journal article OR 2) present two research papers at vetted academic conferences OR present/showcase one creative work. It is likely that in making the most recent projections, the then-Chair assumed the proposed graduate program (and attendant research support) would be further advanced.

Generally, the MCM Department is improving in the areas of teaching effectiveness, faculty productivity and maintenance of a diverse faculty. Continued improvement in these areas (or establishing new Assessment Objectives) must be coordinated by the new Chair of MCM and the new Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Mass Communication as MCM integrates into the new college.