Attachment C
Faculty Senate Agenda
September 27, 2001

Summary of Commendations and Recommendations
Contained in Program Review Report
for Department of History Fall 2000

The Department of History stands to be commended for:

Recommendations to the College and University

Recommendation 1: The Review Team recommends that the College and the University significantly increase the level of budgetary support for the Department of History over the next several years to ensure needed improvements and stability in its programs. This should include, but not be limited to, supporting the Department's hiring plan of increasing the full-time faculty by 2 positions per year for the next five years and working with the Department to secure assigned time for faculty who want to engage in research.

Recommendation 2: The Review Team recommends that the College and University improve the technology services and responsiveness offered by the College's IT representative to the Department of History. The improvements should include more timely responses to requests for assistance from faculty and staff, provision of reliable information in the maintenance of equipment and software, development of a more pro-active approach to the Department's technical needs and a more respectful attitude toward faculty and staff on the part of the IT representative.

Recommendation 3: The Review Team recommends allocation of resources to support the exchange of senior seminar papers with CSUS, SFSU, and the University of Colorado. This measure would promote implementation of the Department's program assessment plan.

Recommendation 4: The Review Team recommends increasing the staff clerical position from a 10 month position to a 12 months position.

Recommendations to the Department of History

Recommendation 5: The Review Team recommends that the Department make its top priority increasing the representation of women on its full-time, tenure track faculty. This recommendation is especially imperative given the small number of full-time female faculty in relation to the current available pool in the areas of the department's hiring plan. Steps toward this end should include working with Faculty and Staff Affairs in an effort to recruit under-represented groups in the pool of candidates for each new hire. In addition, the department should add a preliminary interview screening to be held at the annual conference meetings before the "short list" is created for campus interviews.

Recommendation 6: The Review Team recommends that the Department do more to create an inclusive environment for part-time faculty. Although some measures have been taken to involve the part-time faculty in department affairs, further steps seem advisable. This should include eliminating the designation of "staff" from the class schedule listing in as many cases as possible. In addition, the Department should publish the criteria for ranking part-time faculty and create a more open and informed evaluation process for the part-time faculty. The Department may also wish to invite part-time faculty to faculty meetings that do not involve personnel matters.

Recommendation 7: The Review Team recommends that the department foster a practice of shared governance within the Department that includes junior faculty members in the department's decision-making bodies, thus providing a smooth transition as senior faculty retire and FERP. Although new faculty are, in some cases, prohibited from actually voting on hiring committees, the department should strive to find ways to include their voices in both hiring and governance.

Recommendation 8: The Review Team recommends that the department allow greater opportunities for all full-time faculty members to teach graduate level courses. We urge the full-time faculty to engage in a serious discussion regarding the philosophical conflict over the teaching of historiography, attempting to settle the conflict in a way that allows for all voices to be heard.

Recommendation 9: The Review Team recommends that the Department of History investigate scheduling conflicts, reported by students, that occur from overlapping classes in History and the Department of Education.

Recommendation 10: The Review Team recommends that the Department of History implement the 1995 academic advising plan for both undergraduate and graduate students. The undergraduate advising should include assistance for those in the Social Science Credential Program who require coordination between the Department of Education and the Department of History.

Recommendation 11: The Review Team recommends that the Department of History develop both a brochure and a website that outlines the steps required to become a high school history teacher and a community college history teacher. These should include both a list of resources available to students and the necessary steps to be taken.

Recommendation 12: The Review Team recommends that the Department of History develop an expanded course description booklet which includes a course description of each course, written by the instructor who teaches the course. The descriptions could include texts to be used, course requirements, and faculty expectations in terms of study time required, student participation, pages to be read, term papers to be written, etc.

Recommendations to the Faculty Senate

Recommend approval of the BA degree, the MA degree and the Ph.D. in History for six years or until the next program review.

5-23-01