To perform with excellence in classroom instruction.
Objective
Teaching Excellence
Faculty members will sustain an above average level of classroom instruction.
KPI
Chair's Evaluation Of Teaching
The first performance indicator for Teaching Excellence will be the Chair's Rating of Teaching Effectiveness provided by the annual Faculty Evaluation System document. Scores range from 1 to 5. The Chair's evaluation will be based on a teaching portfolio submitted by each faculty member and a conference with that faculty member. Items to be considered include but are not limited to Professionalism and Content/Pedagogy as specified in the university's Academic Policy Statement 820317. The criterion for achieving the goal of teaching excellence using this indicator is a Chair's Rating of 4.00 or greater.
Result
Chair's Evaluation Of Teaching
Faculty members' teaching evaluation scores awarded by the department Chair ranged from 4.00 to 4.75, meeting or exceeding the criterion in each case.
KPI
Student Evaluation Of Teaching
The second performance indicator for Teaching Excellence will be the Student Rating of Teaching Effectiveness, which is the Summary Evaluation score (adjusted) provided by IDEA System forms for each class taught. The criterion for achieving the goal of teaching excellence using this indicator is a Student Rating of 3.5 or greater (averaged across classes).
Result
Student Evaluation Of Teaching
Faculty members' student evaluations (IDEA System scores) ranged from 4.17 to 4.58, substantially exceeding the criterion in each case.
KPI
Comparison Of Faculty Teaching Scores To Those In The Discipline Nationally
The third performance indicator for Teaching Excellence will be the overall average of IDEA System Standardized Scores for faculty members in comparison to similar scores of faculty members in the discipline nationally found in the IDEA database. The criteriion for achieving the goal of teaching excellence using this indicator will be an overall average in the Middle 40% of all classes in the IDEA database.
Result
Comparison Of Faculty Teaching Scores To Those In The Discipline Nationally
Based on raw scores, ALL of the department's IDEA scores (100%) exceeded those of the IDEA database average.
Action
Teaching Excellence
Two new measures of teaching excellence added this year both show high levels of teaching accomplishment on the part of the faculty, and the third, older measure shows improvement over last year's result. Nonetheless, IDEA scores from online courses continue to lag behind those of face-to-face classes and require that the faculty address ways of improving those measures. The faculty also will address the problem of low response rates to IDEA surveys in online classes.
Goal
Research Productivity
To establish and maintain an ongoing program of research and publication by the tenured and tenure-track faculty exclusively in refereed journals and books in communication studies. The department acknowledges the added rigor of refereed publications and is committed to continuing its record of publication in such venues.
Objective
Research Productivity
Tenured and tenure-track faculty will maintain an ongoing program of research and publication exclusively in refereed journals and books in communication studies.
Indicator
Research Productivity In Journal Articles
The first measure of research productivity will be the number of refereed journal publications published or accepted for publication during the evaluation period.
Criterion
Research Productivity In Journal Articles
The criterion for achieving this goal is one paper published or accepted for publication during the evaluation period. For tenured faculty on a 4-4 teaching load, the criterion is one paper published or accepted for publication during a three year period.
Finding
Research Productivity In Journal Articles
Each faculty member met and all but one exceeded the criterion.
Indicator
Research Productivity In Books
The second measure of research productivity will be the number of books published or accepted for publication during the evaluation period.
Criterion
Research Productivity In Books
The criterion for achieving this goal will be one book published or accepted for publication during a three year period.
Finding
Research Productivity In Books
In the three year period 2011-2014, one faculty member published two books.
Action
Research Productivity
Research productivity of the faculty remains high when measured by journal article publication. A new criterion for this year, book publication, reveals that book publication is not being actively pursued by the faculty. The Chair will hold a workshop for the faculty to discuss topics and outlets for book publication.
Goal
Professional Activity And Service
To promote regular faculty participation in and service to state, regional, national, and international professional organizations with an emphasis on participation in international conferences held outside the United States. The department also promotes the conduct of interdisciplinary research wherever possible.
Objective
Professional Activity And Service
Tenured and tenure-track faculty members will participate regularly and perform service in the state, regional, national, and international professional organizations of the field. Special credit will be given to participation on the programs of international conferences and to conference papers which are interdisciplinary in nature.
KPI
Professional Activity
Professional activity will be measured by the number of professional organization conventions attended during the evaluation period. The criterion for achieving this goal is attendance at 2 regional or national conventions or 1 international one.
Result
Professional Activity
Each faculty member met or exceeded the criterion. Three faculty members attended one international conference each.
KPI
Professional Service
Professional service will be measured by the number of service activities performed as a member of a professional organization. Examples of such activities include serving as an officer, a journal editor, member of an editorial board, division officer, and the like. The criterion for achieving this goal is service in any official capacity during the evaluation period.
Result
Professional Service
Each faculty member met the criterion. One was a journal editor (Southern Communication Journal), and three were members of a journal editorial board (Southern Communication Journal).
Action
Professional Activity And Service
Professional activity increased this year compared to last, and participation by faculty members in international conferences remains strong. However, most of the professional service activities engaged in this year will not continue into the coming one, and faculty members will need to seek additional ways in which to perform professional service.
Goal
Graduate Recruitment And Admission
To increase the enrollment of a diverse class of graduate students. Communication training is critical to a broad variety of disciplines, ranging from teaching to corporate training and development to fundraising to family counseling. Accordingly, the graduate program offers varied coursework designed to meet the needs of a diverse student body and is available entirely online to attract such a group.
Objective
Graduate Recruitment And Admission
The graduate faculty will recruit and admit four or more new qualified applicants. Admission requirements now allow both traditional and nontraditional students from diverse backgrounds to apply. Traditional students are those who have recently graduated with baccalaureate degrees and who have taken the Graduate Records Examination. Nontraditional students are those who have baccalaureate degrees but who have been working full time for 3-5 years. These prospective students may substitute a CV in lieu of GRE scores.
KPI
Recruitment And Admission Of Traditional Students
This objective will be attained by identifying qualified traditional graduate applicants and admitting them to the program. The criterion for meeting this goal will be the admission of 3 new traditional graduate students annually.
Result
Recruitment And Admission Of Traditional Students
For the Fall semester, 2014, the department has admitted two traditional graduate students and has two more applications pending. This satisfies the criterion. However, there are an additional 14 applications waiting to be processed at this writing.
KPI
Recruitment And Admission Of Nontraditional Students
This objective will be attained by identifying qualified nontraditional graduate applicants and admitting them to the program. The criterion for meeting this goal will be the admission of 2 new nontraditional graduate students annually.
Result
Recruitment And Admission Of Nontraditional Students
For the Fall semester, 2014, the department has admitted one nontraditional graduate student and has another application pending. This satisfies the criterion. However, there are an additional 14 applications waiting to be processed at this writing.
Action
Graduate Recruitment And Admission
The findings from the first year of offering the MA fully online are encouraging, but the rate of admission is lower than the department desires. We have benefitted from recruitment assistance from Graduate Studies but will need to accelerate recruiting efforts within the department during the coming year. We will do this primarily through social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter.