Department Service
The Government Department does not distinguish between service to the department and service to the University and the community. Together these contributions are weighted at 20% in retention performance evaluations. And, again, while there are no specific service requirements in the post-tenure review process, we always include an evaluation of such activity in the PTR. The departmental expectations for service state that the “department values faculty governance and expects its members to be collegial and take an active role in the affairs of the institution.” The department also encourages community service in “ways which are consistent with the profession.” Evidence of service include committee work, participation on program development or review, peer coaching, extraordinary advising responsibilities, service to student organizations, work with alumni groups, other University activities, volunteer or pro bono community service, interviews with the media, and educational lectures, etc.
We pride ourselves on our collegiality and on our faculty’s commitment to departmental governance. Every faculty member serves on important committees. And when it comes to hiring, our most important departmental task, a significant number of the faculty (between 5 and 10) participate in the process.
We also think our faculty’s University service is excellent. Indeed, several of our members have leadership roles in our College and in the University. Some notable examples of University service include: William Dorman, who served as chair of the program review team for GE and as chair of the SSIS ARTP committee; William Dillon, whose numerous activities include the University Grade Appeal Procedural Appeals Board, the Faculty Senate, the University ARTP committee, and the Academic Policies committee; Robert Friedman who has served on the program review teams for Liberal Studies and Public Policy and who presently serves on the SSIS ARTP committee; Jeffrey Lustig who served as the president of the CSUS chapter of CFA; Bahman Fozouni, Mignon Gregg, Richard Hughes, and Jean Torcom who have served on the SSIS Faculty Council; Jean Torcom who also served on the SSIS curriculum committee and the Faculty Senate’s committee on Academic Policies; David Covin who has served as coordinator for the Cooper-Woodson College Enhancement Program; Nancy Lapp has served on the board of the Center for Teaching and Learning; Patrick Cannon has served on the Financial Aid Appeals Board; Robert Stanley Oden who is the faculty sponsor of Aii Nation; and James Cox who has served on the Center for California Studies Campus Advisory Board, the academic standards subcommittee, the curriculum subcommittee, and the faculty policies committee.
Our faculty’s community service is entirely satisfactory. Several members such as David Covin and Robert Stanley Oden are very active in the community. Covin is active in the Congress of African Peoples in Sacramento, the Sacramento Area Back Caucus, the Women’s Civic Improvement Club, and several other organizations. Oden, who just finished his first probationary year, created the Community Outreach Placement Directory and is a member of the Board of Directors for Freedom Bound Center. Patrick Cannon, Bahman Fozouni, William Dorman, and John Syer regularly give talks to local groups, Syer has given a number of interviews to the local media, and Nancy Lapp is active in the League of Women Voters. William Dillon is a judge in the high school moot court competition, and Jeffrey Lustig is presently serving on the advisory committee for “California in the Vietnam Era,” a National Endowment for the Humanities sponsored exhibit.
