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 4.2 to 4.9, 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 4.03 to 4.7, 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 criterion for achieving the goal of teaching competence 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
Enhancing Teaching Excellence
Data indicate that all faculty have exceeded acceptable standards of classroom instruction. However, there is always room for improvement, both in measuring the effectiveness of instruction and in the delivery of the instruction itself. To that end, these actions are proposed: 1. The Chair will have discussions with individual faculty members and the faculty as a whole with the aim of fostering instructional excellence. These discussions will focus on identifying any issues that are preventing faculty from achieving excellence in instruction as well as sharing best practices among colleagues. 2. The Chair will schedule observations of each faculty members' teaching at least once a year to foster development of teaching excellence. To that end, pre-observation meetings will be held to discuss the objective of the class to be observed as well as to reassure the instructor of the support of the evaluator in the process. Follow-up meetings will also be held to discuss observations of the evaluator and give the instructor the opportunity to provide feedback about the lesson in retrospect.
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 in refereed journals and books in communication studies or related fields.
KPI
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. 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.
Result
Research Productivity In Journal Articles
Each faculty member met and all but one exceeded the criterion.
KPI
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. The criterion for achieving this goal will be one book published or accepted for publication during a three year period.
Result
Research Productivity In Books
In the three-year period 2012-2015, one faculty member published two books.
Action
Fostering Excellence In Publication
The department will continue to encourage faculty members to conduct and publish high quality research by supporting travel for research and reporting purposes. The faculty discussed the nature of the on-going research in the department and will revise the KPI indicator on books since none of the current faculty members' research lends itself to book publication.
Goal
Professional Activity And Service
To promote regular faculty participation in and service to local, university, 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 local, university, state, regional, national, and international professional organizations. 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
All but one faculty member met or exceeded the criterion of convention participation. Five faculty members attended one international convention 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
Improving Professional Service
Findings indicate that department faculty members are highly involved in professional organizations, which they felt is as it should be. However, faculty discussion brought to light that much service on the university or community level has gone unacknowledged and unassessed by the current assessment structure. Faculty consensus was that this service also is an important component of faculty professional life and essential to the functioning of the university and its mission in the larger community. The faculty service component will be broadened to include not only service to professional organizations, but also service to the university, department and community in future iterations.
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
The department has admitted 3 traditional students, meeting the criterion.
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
The department has admitted seven nontraditional graduate students, exceeding the criterion.
Action
Student Recruitment
Since the Communication Studies masters program went exclusively online in an attempt to attract more applicants, the number of both traditional and non-traditional students admitted to the program has increased. The department will continue its efforts to identify qualified traditional and nontraditional graduate students and to attempt to enhance the diversity of its graduate student population as possible by admitting a diverse population.