Attachment E
Faculty Senate Agenda
February 19, 2004

Commendations to the Program

1. The Program is commended for its institution of two new required courses.

Beginning in Fall 2002, the Program implemented a two-semester seminar sequence on Western cultural history, LIBA 200A, Culture and Expression; Prehistory to the Middle Ages and LIBA 200B, Culture and Expression: Renaissance to the Present.

Until 200A and 200B were put in place there were no courses (aside from the 500) that all students were required to take and none that were introductory or foundational in nature. The so-called "core" courses that existed previously were actually very specialized and narrowly focused. These two core courses provide an excellent foundation for establishing a cohesive curriculum for the Program as well as an opportunity for entering students to develop a sense of community that should provide them with peer support as they progress through the Program.

2. The Program is commended for its hardworking Coordinator, who has won universal praise from both students and faculty for his able leadership.

The Program Coordinator Jeffrey Brodd, who assumed the position in Fall 2001, sent out personal invitations to participate in surveys to both alumni and current students in an effort to gather information for the Program Self-Study that he wrote.

Dr. Brodd has also made contact with local community colleges and he has worked out an agreement with the Los Rios district that will allow holders of an M.A. in Liberal Arts degree to teach in its colleges.

All of the students and faculty that the review team interviewed had high praise for Dr. Brodd. The students all said that they had received excellent advisement from Dr. Brodd, and the faculty all said he was wonderful to work with and they loved teaching in the program.

3. The Program is commended for its excellent relationship with its students.

All of the students the review team interviewed spoke very highly of the Liberal Arts faculty, and all of the students who had sought advisement described the help that they had received as "excellent." One student said in the review team's survey: "My advisor, Prof. Brodd, has been wonderful. He is accessible, knowledgeable, and helpful. He is a very good listener," and another said "I've received a great deal of help from Dr. Donath and her classes." Another student said that the Program gets an "A+ in my feeling that the school wants me to succeed-- Thank you."

4. The Program is commended far its able and hardworking office manager, Ms. Karen Fujii.

Ms. Fujii came to the Humanities Department in 1994 and has always provided clerical and staff assistance to the Graduate Program in Liberal Arts. Although her many duties include mentoring new secretaries for other department within the College of Arts and Letters, Ms. Fuji has also found the time to help the Coordinator prepare a student handbook and brochure for Liberal Arts students.

Ms. Fujii manages the files of applications to the Program and is currently preparing a spreadsheet that would document the status of new applications and chart students' progress through the program, which would allow the Coordinator to check the status and currency of students easily.

Ms. Fujii's other tasks also include maintaining a file of syllabi for courses taught in the Liberal Arts program, sending out student evaluations and typing up the comments, placing textbook orders for faculty, and fielding student complaints.

5. The Program is commended for its attractive and clearly written Student Handbook and for its informative web site.

6. The Program is commended for its careful writing and editing of the Program Self-Study.

The program review team thanks the members of the Graduate Program in Liberal Arts for their professionalism, collegiality, and complete cooperation throughout this review process.

Summary of Recommendations to the Program

  1. The Program should develop a mission statement.
     
  2. The Program should formulate assessment strategies consistent with the mission statement.
     
  3. The Program should constitute a Committee of Liberal Arts faculty, to be directed by the Program Coordinator, who will have primary responsibility for administration of the program. The Committee should approve all new course proposals.
     
  4. The Program should improve the coherence of the curricular offerings, by ensuring that the learning objectives for all courses are consistent with the mission statement.
     
  5. To further build on the success of the two existing core courses, LIBA 200A and LIBA 200B, the Program should consider expanding its core curriculum, including expansion to include more emphasis on non-Western cultures, perhaps by adding one or two more core courses.
     
  6. The Program should develop a Graduate Liberal Arts course evaluation form to assess the effectiveness of the courses in its curriculum.
     
  7. The Program should improve communication among faculty who regularly contribute courses to its curriculum.
     
  8. The Program should attempt to make itself more visible and educate the local community about the program to make the degree more valuable.
     
  9. The Program should systematize the administration of the program with supporting documentation.

Recommendations to the Dean of Arts and Letters

  1. Ensure that the Director of the Graduate Program in Liberal Arts is provided with three units of assigned time each semester to administer the Program.
     
  2. Provide support for the department to expand its core course offerings, adding a third or fourth course to the existing two seminars. In its future planning, the Program needs to move beyond its current focus on the Western tradition to include coverage of Asia, Eastern and other non-Western traditions. After the Program makes its curriculum more global in scope; it should be able to increase the diversity of its students.
     
  3. Support the Program Director in his efforts to increase the visibility of the program on campus and to develop stronger relationships with other departments and the larger Sacramento community.

Recommendation to the Provost

Support the Program Director in his efforts to increase the visibility of the program on campus and to develop stronger relationships with other departments and the larger Sacramento community.

Recommendation to the Academic Senate

The program review team recommends that the Graduate Program in Liberal Arts be approved for six years or until the next program review.