Faculty in the department of political science will engage in research activities consistent with a dynamic and growing academic environment.
Objective
Faculty Research Agendas
Faculty will produce and maintain active research agendas pertinent to their areas of research.
KPI
Publications, Grants, And Conference Presentations
Faculty research progress will be measured by the number of publications (peer reviewed journal articles, book or book chapter, and extensive book reviews), grants, and confernce presentations.
We expect research track (3:3 course load) faculty to produce at least one publication per year or be awarded at least one internal or external grant and to present at a minimum of one conference per year.
We expect teaching track (4:4 course load) to present at a minimum of one conference per year.
Result
Faculty Publications, Grants, And Conference Presentations
Research track faculty produced two or more publications and presented at two or more conferences. Four research track faculty members received grants.
All teaching track faculty presented at a conference with the exception of one teaching track faculty member who did attended, but did not present at, an international workshop relevant to the faculty member's area of teaching. One teaching faculty member also published a peer reviewed journal article.
The combined research activities are: 21 publications, 3 internal grants, 1 external grant, and 27 conference presentations.
Thus, we exceeded our expectations in the area of faculty research.
Action
Faculty Research
The department of political science will continue to support facutly research consistent with a dynamic and growing academic environment. In the coming year, new tenure track faculty members will receive special attention and resources designed to offer them research support.
Goal
Curriculum And Pedagogy
Faculty in the department of political science will offer high quality curriculum at the undergraduate.
Objective
Changes And Improvements To The Undergraduate Program
The department will offer curriculum that is comparable to SHSU's competitive institutions.
KPI
Curriculum Committee Review
Curriculum will be reviewed annually by the department's curriculum committee, a committee consisting of 5 members appointed by the department chair. Committee members represent the following areas: international relations, comparative politics, American politics, political theory, and public administration.
The political science courses curriculum will be comparable to regional and public institutions that are SHSU competitive institutions. The basis of comparison will be in terms of hours required for the degree, the types of courses offered, and the objectives of the courses.
Result
Curriculum Review Results
The curriculum in four out of five areas were comparable to SHSU's competitive institutions. However, the curriculum in political theory was deemed insufficient in terms of the number of course offerings.
Objective
Faculty Teaching
Faculty teaching performance will rank alongside or above the teaching performance of other faculty teaching in political science and public administration.
KPI
The Individual Development And Educational Assessment System
Faculty will be evaluated using the data collected through the Individual Development and Educational Assessment system currently used by Sam Houston State University as a tool for evaluating faculty teaching.
In the 2014-2015 academic year, 75% of the face to face political science courses and 70% of the online courses will be scored at or above the national average as identified by the Individual Development and Educational Assessment program. Faculty members who score below or near the national average on the Individual Development and Educational Assessment program for three consecutive semesters will meet with the department chair to discuss and implement an improvement plan that includes mentoring and use of the Sam Houston State University Professional and Academic Center for Excellence (PACE). The expectation is that scores will improve by .5 on the IDEA scoring scale for the 2014-2015 academic year for those who are identified as underperforming.
Result
Faculty Teaching
In F14-S15, 92% of face-to-face political science classes received raw scores at or above the national average and 92% received adjusted scores at or above the national average. Thus, we exceeded our goal by 17%.
In F14-S15, 82% of online political science classes received raw scores at or above the national average and 77% received adjusted scores at or above the national average. Thus, we exceeded our goal by 12% at the raw score level and 7% at the adjusted level.
During the past three semester no faculty member received scores below the national average.
Action
Faculty Teaching
The MA in political science will move completely online in fall 2016. This coming year all graduate faculty who lack experience designing online seminars will receive department support (i.e., online course design assistants, hardware/software, etc.) to help design their courses and will be encouraged to work with staff from SHSU Online, attend Professional and Academic Center for Excellence online teaching training sessions, etc. to ensure quality teaching in online seminars.
Goal
Graduate Student Recruitment
Improve the quantity and quality of graduate student applications.
Objective
Improve Graduate Student Applications
The number of students entering the graduate programs will increase and the average GRE and GPA of incoming students will increase.
KPI
Number Of Applications And Average GRE And GPA
We expect to see a 10% increase in graduate student enrollment overall. We expect that the average GRE and GPA of students will improve or stay consistent. We will ascertain how successful the efforts to develop new prospective student recruitment pools for the MA program have been, specifically our efforts at targeting high school and community college teachers. We anticipate these recruitment efforts will increase the number of applicants beyond the minimum expectation of a 10% increase.
Students admitted under a conditional acceptance plan will go through a more rigorous application process (two writing samples, three letters of recommendation, and an interview with the graduate advisor), thus we expect to see the number of conditional acceptance move to permanent acceptance within one semester.
Result
Enrollment, GRE Scores, And GPAs
Enrollment Masters of Public Administration Enrollment from fall 2013 to fall 2014 remained at 38 students. There was no change in growth rate.
Masters of Political Science Enrollment from fall 2013 to fall 2014 went from 17 to 16 students. There was a 5.8% decrease in growth rate.
GRE Scores Masters of Public AdministrationThe average GRE score for AY 2013/2014 was 296 and the average score for AY 2014/2015 was 300. There was a 4 point increase in GRE scores.
Masters of Political Science The average GRE score for AY 2013/2014 was 302 and the average score for AY 2014/2015 was 297. There was a 4 point decrease in GRE scores
GPA Note: Last year’s GPA assessment data combined the GPAs of students from both graduate programs. Thus, for purposes of comparison, this year’s assessment data also combines GPAs of students from both programs.
The average GPA for AY 2013/2014 was 3.21 and the average GPA for AY 2014/2015 was 3.44. There was a slight increase of .23.
We did not meet our expectation of a 10% increase in enrollment. We did meet our expectations for increases in GRE scores and GPAs with the exception of a slight decline in GRE scores for Masters of Political Science students.
No students were admitted under a conditional acceptance.
Action
Graduate Student Recruitment
This coming year both the MA in Political Science and the MA in Public Administration will be under the supervision of two separate directors rather than a single director. The creation of two new graduate director positions will allow greater attention to be given to recruitment. In addition, the MA in Political Science will be moving completely online in the fall 2016. We believe this move will bring an increase in enrollment in that program.
Goal
Student Satisfaction With Programs And Student Market Placement
The department of political science will monitor and, when necessary, improve students' satisfaction with their respective programs and monitor student market placement upon graduation.
Objective
Entrance And Exit Instruments
Develop instruments to measure student satisfacation with programs and student market placement upon graduation
KPI
Entrance And Exit Instruments
Instruments will be developed and ready for department faculty review approval at the beginning of the 2015 fall semester.
Result
Entrance And Exit Instruments
Graduate entrance instruments are ready for the review and approval of the graduate program directors. The instrument is woven into the graduate admission process in the form of a required written statement outlining prosepctive students' professional experience/goals and relevance of graduate degree to professional experience/goals. Drafts of gradaute exit surveys are ready for review and approval of the graduate program directors. A draft of the undergraduate exit survey is ready for faculty review and approval.
Action
Student Satisfaction And Student Placement
Faculty will vote on the undergraduate exit survey in early fall. This will allow the department to begin implement the survey in December.