Philosophy Department Strategic Plan

MISSION STATEMENT

The Philosophy Department is committed to excellence in teaching, research, and service; providing the core of a liberal arts education for all undergraduate students of the University; and contributing to specialized programs for undergraduate and graduate students within the Philosophy Department and other units. Expected student learning outcomes include learning to evaluate basic assumptions, learning to critically evaluate theories, developing the ability to communicate complex thoughts in a clear manner, developing the ability to construct philosophical arguments, and developing the ability to write clearly about issues.

VISION STATEMENT

The Philosophy Department will

• be recognized as one of the very best Masters-only departments in the country;
• be recognized nationally for excellence in philosophical scholarship and undergraduate education;
• be important to the larger mission of the university through providing Business Ethics, for the College of Business Administration through critical involvement in The Murdough Center for Engineering Ethics, Honors College curricula, Women's Studies, Religious Studies, and such graduate programs as Fine Arts, Environmental Toxicology, and Biotechnology.

The Philosophy Department is committed to the values of

• Excellence in the Advancement of Knowledge through Publication of research

Presentation of scholarly papers and talks at local, regional, national, and International venues

Teaching infused with, and informed by, scholarly research and engagement in the Subject

Sponsoring speakers with philosophical insights on topics of concern to theDepartment and the larger community

Interdisciplinary engagement

Analytical rigor

• Instilling in students a love of critical, reflective thinking

An understanding of our intellectual tradition and the place of philosophy in it

Enhanced reflective understanding of epistemic, moral, and aesthetic values

• Effective use of technology in research, teaching, and administration
• Creativity
• Love of Learning
• Facilitating a collaborative Intellectual Community
• Liberal Arts Education
• Preparing students for successful Advanced Study in Philosophy, other academic fields, and the Professions
• Respect and Appreciation

For diversity

For students' needs

For the traditions of higher education

For the needs of our larger community and society

For colleagues

• Shared faculty governance
• Academic Freedom

GOALS, CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS, and

OBJECTIVES (including Strategies and Assessments)

Goal 1. Access & Diversity: Recruit, retain, and graduate a larger, more academically prepared, and diverse body of undergraduate Philosophy majors, minors, and Masters students.

Critical Success Factors:

• Improvement in the academic preparation and diversity of undergraduate majors.
• Improvement in the academic preparation and diversity of graduate students.
• Increase the number of B.A. degrees to an average of 10 per year.
• Maintain undergraduate student evaluation averages of 4.00 for all undergraduate courses.
• Provide an attractive and diversified undergraduate curriculum.

Objectives:

Objective 1.1: Increase enrollment in undergraduate courses by 20%.

Strategies:

Decouple upper-level and graduate courses, thereby improving the quality and suitability of the upper-level courses.

Diversify the curriculum by doubling the number of courses that deal with gender,

race/ethnicity, sexuality, non-Western cultures, and other minorities.

Provide more attractive upper-division offerings for undergraduate majors.

Promote philosophy as a minor.

Increase undergraduate majors or double-majors by 25%.

Revise the curriculum to respond to and satisfy the changing interests and needs of undergraduates.

Increase the number of faculty to 14.

Improve retention and graduation rates for majors.

Assessments:

Enrollments semester-by-semester.

Numbers of majors, minors, double-majors in Philosophy.

Exit interviews.

B.A. Degrees granted per calendar year.

Objective 1.2: Recruit stronger, better academically-prepared undergraduates (as majors and minors.)

Strategies:

• Teach Honors courses regularly.
• Develop a five-year combined BA/MA Philosophy degree program if, upon careful evaluation, it appears desirable.
• Contact admitted undergraduate students expressing an interest in Philosophy as a major.
• Decouple upper-level and graduate courses, thereby making undergraduate courses more attractive to undergraduates.
• Make it a big deal to be a philosophy major by developing the Philosophy Club, holding undergraduate essay contests, having a computer lab and student lounge, holding workshops for undergraduates on the following: what is philosophy, applying to graduate school, etc.

Work more closely with the advisors for “undeclared” undergraduates so they are better informed about the Philosophy major.

Promote Philosophy as a desirable minor.

Assessments:

Number of students who go on to law school, graduate school, and pursue other advanced degrees.

GPAs, College Board scores (SAT, ACT), etc., of majors, minors, etc.

Objective 1.3: Recruit stronger, better academically-prepared graduate students.

Strategies:

Nominate incoming graduate students for Chancellor and other appropriate fellowships every year.

Decouple upper-level and graduate courses, thereby improving the quality of the graduate courses and increasing graduate student satisfaction.

Increase the visibility of the faculty and the Department in the profession (e.g., by increasing the number of faculty talks at other universities, especially in the Southwest).

Cooperate with College and University graduate student recruitment efforts.

Develop a five-year combined BA/MA Philosophy degree program if, upon careful evaluation, it appears desirable.

Explore a range of combined graduate programs with other units, such as Engineering and Technical Writing.

More aggressively recruit graduate students.

Increase the number of teaching assistantships available each year to at least 20.

Improve the Department web page.

Consider the feasibility of hosting the West Texas-New Mexico Philosophical Association meeting one year.

Use the Colloquium Speakers series in ways that enhance graduate student recruitment.

Consider the feasibility of holding conferences in areas of faculty specialization or graduate student conferences.

Assessments:

Number of applications, average GRE scores, acceptance rate, and yield.

Amount of faculty participation in conferences and talks at other universities.

Department's ranking in the Blackwell's “Philosophical Gourmet” and other program ratings.

Number of courses taught with substantial enrollment from other graduate programs.

Number of theses or dissertation committees served on from other graduate programs.

Number of stand-alone graduate courses offered annually.

Number of hits on the Department web page.

Objective 1.4: Graduate a larger, more academically-prepared body of undergraduate majors.

Strategies:

Decouple upper-level and graduate courses, thereby improving the quality and suitability of the upper-level courses.

Reduce reliance upon visiting assistant professors and lecturers.

Encourage ongoing engagement of faculty in teaching evaluation and development.

Increase undergraduate majors or dual-majors by 25%.

Support faculty opportunities to improve teaching effectiveness.

Develop and provide more resources and structure in support of faculty efforts to innovate in teaching and learning.

Acquire and maintain resources needed for quality teaching.

Explore instituting a senior capstone course for majors.

Assessments:

Interviews with graduating seniors.

Proportion of student credit hours taught by visiting faculty and lecturers.

Number of students admitted to graduate schools, law school, etc.

Peer review process for teaching.

Number of teaching development activities.

Number of stand-alone undergraduate, upper-division courses offered each year.

Student Evaluations

 

Objective 1.5: Graduate a larger, more academically-prepared body of graduate majors

Strategies:

Decouple upper-level and graduate courses, thereby improving the quality of the graduate courses and increasing graduate student satisfaction.

Support (financially and academically) graduate students submitting papers to conferences.

Institute an endowed graduate student essay contest.

Improve retention rates for graduate students.

Reduce reliance upon visiting assistant professors and lecturers.

Assessments:

Graduation rates of our graduate students and time spent in our degree program.

Success of graduate students in applying to Ph.D. programs, law school, etc.

Proportion of graduate student credit hours taught by visiting faculty and lecturers.

Objective 1.6: Diversify the faculty and undergraduate and graduate students.

Strategies:

Recruit with the aim of diversifying the faculty, especially with respect to gender, race, and national origin, achieving the Federal 22.7% women or ethnic minority representation, and 30% gender, ethnic, sexual-orientation, or disability minority.

Diversify the curriculum by doubling the number of courses that deal with gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, non-Western cultures, and other minorities.

Teach courses in Women's Studies and other programs that will increase the diversity of the students who take our courses.

Recruit a diverse graduate student population with the aim of maintaining 50% drawn from gender, racial/ethnic, disability, and sexual-orientation minorities.

Recruit a diverse undergraduate population with respect to gender, racial/ethnic, disability, and sexual-orientation minorities.

Support student groups by being faculty advisors to groups that focus on gender, sexuality, race, and national origin.

Co-sponsor colloquia and conferences on women's studies and ethnic studies.

Assessments:

Minority representation in the profession.

Number of gender, racial, national origin, ethnic, sexual-orientation, or disability minority faculty.

Number of courses dealing with non-western cultures or gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, ethnic, sexual-orientation, and other minorities.

Diversity in the undergraduate student population.

Faculty diversity.

Goal 2. Excellence: Attain national recognition as one of the very best Masters-only Philosophy Departments in the country.

Critical Success Factors

Enhancement of academic quality and reputation as measured in terms of success in the classroom, the quality and quantity of scholarly publications, grants applied for and received, professional offices held, services provided, national ranking, etc.

Improved faculty visibility in the profession.

Continued recruitment and retention of high-quality faculty.

Growth to a department size commensurate with national prominence.

Increase the number of M.A. degrees to an average of 4 per year.

Maintain graduate student evaluation averages of 4.00 for all graduate courses.

Provide an attractive and diversified graduate curriculum.

Objective 2.1: Become recognized as one of the best Master's only departments in the country.

Strategies:

Increase department size to 14 tenured or tenure-track faculty members.

Recruit, hire and retain outstanding junior and nationally recognized senior faculty.

Assist all members of faculty to remain actively involved in scholarly research projects.

Assist faculty in those areas where sponsored research grants are readily available to succeed in their efforts to acquire outside funding for research.

Continue to have 100% of the faculty appointed to the Graduate Faculty.

Assist with applications for NEH, NSF, and other scholarly fellowships, summer institutes, etc.

Promote and reward faculty representation on editorial boards, government panels, association executive committees, or program committees at national and regional levels.

Continue current involvement, and explore further participation in, other nationally prominent degree programs on campus.

Partner with University Library to provide excellent book, journal, and non-print holdings in support of departmental research and teaching.

Support placement of outstanding Master's students in top Ph.D. programs.

Participate in College of Arts and Sciences efforts to sustain existing and secure new chapters of national academic honorary societies, including a Phi Beta Kappa chapter.

Encourage ongoing engagement of faculty in teaching evaluation and development.

Submit requests for acquiring and maintaining resources needed for quality teaching, research, and service.

Increase the types of faculty development opportunities available within the Department: specifically, leaves and released time for the completion of research or pedagogical projects.

Promote, in the larger university, the provision of research funds specifically targeted for the humanities, including increased sabbatical and research released-time opportunities for humanities scholars.

Improved public relations and advertising on the national scene.

Maintain inclusion among the top 10 Masters-only departments in the Blackwell's Philosophical Gourmet ratings and move into Group 2 among the Top ten departments.

Track placement and success of M.A. and B.A. graduates.

Assessments:

Level of library holdings.

Student evaluations and peer observation.

Numbers and quality of scholarly publications annually.

Numbers of grants applied for and received annually.

Numbers of professional offices held and services provided annually.

National rankings in the Philosophical Gourmet and other reports.

Objective 2.2: Promote and reward teaching effectiveness and curricular improvement.

Strategies:

Strengthen and expand opportunities for faculty to be recognized as excellent teachers for teaching in the classroom, in individual studies, on dissertations and theses.

Strengthen the reward structure for faculty who are recognized as excellent teachers.

Encourage and reward faculty participation in interdisciplinary and team teaching.

Increase the number of faculty, emphasizing the recruitment and retention of the highest quality, most diverse faculty in all areas of philosophy.

Encourage ongoing engagement of faculty in teaching evaluation and development.

Nominate deserving faculty members for campus-wide teaching awards.

Initiate departmental awards for teaching, for regular faculty as well as graduate students.

Develop and provide more resources and structure in support of faculty efforts to innovate in teaching and learning.

Involve all the tenured and tenure track faculty in decisions about curricular change and development.

Raise enrollment limits in certain courses only when careful study suggests that the change will not negatively impact teaching effectiveness.

Consider multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary teaching and curriculum needs when modifying programs, hiring faculty, etc.

Explore instituting a capstone course for undergraduate majors.

Increase the types of faculty development opportunities available, including leaves for teaching and pedagogical development for such things as adaptation and integration of information technologies into courses.

Acquire and maintain resources needed for quality teaching.

Demonstrate respect for the wide variety of successful teaching styles.

Regularly offer teaching workshops on topics of general faculty interest.

Annually document faculty acquisition of funding, scholarly publications, and professional presentations made in support of teaching development and instructional innovation.

Offer a graduate teaching philosophy course annually.

Annually document the teaching development activities in the department.

Assessments:

Faculty survey.

Student course evaluations each term to be used as evidence for rewarding and improving teaching effectiveness.

Peer review process for teaching evaluation to be used as evidence for rewarding and improving teaching effectiveness.

Level of departmental expenditures on teaching development activities.

Number of faculty and graduate teaching assistants nominated for and receiving existing and newly established teaching awards.

Survey of former students regarding teaching effectiveness.

Annual merit raise comparison.

Objective 2.3: Increase graduate student enrollments.

Strategies:

Increase the size and number of graduate assistantships to a level fully competitive with current and aspirational peer institutions.

More effectively publicize the graduate program and the attractions of studying philosophy at TTU.

Improve the availability of technology resources for our graduate students.

Develop a five-year bachelors-to-masters degree program if, upon careful evaluation, it appears promising.

Develop partnerships with other programs and colleges to construct innovative joint degree programs.

Improve the departmental and university library holdings both in terms of quality and quantity.

Maintain the current 100% representation of faculty members on the Graduate Faculty.

Document increases in the other means by which graduate students can be supported, such as fellowships (internal and external).

Annually review our enrollment and stipend data, as well as similar data from competing institutions.

Assessments:

Level of average funding for graduate students, including stipend, tuition and fees and fringe benefits for the academic year, and track how these figures compare with competing and aspirational-peer institutions.

Exit interviews to assess graduate student satisfaction with teaching.

M.A. degrees granted per calendar year.

Objective 2.4: Promote and reward excellence in research.

Strategies:

Significantly increase the types of faculty development opportunities available to both junior and senior faculty.

Evaluate the reward structure for excellence in research, publishing, obtaining of external funding, and other scholarly activities.

Provide resources and structure in support of faculty efforts toward the innovative use of information technology in research and other scholarly activity.

Encourage, where fruitful, further development of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research, in both existing and emerging programs.

Record the number of faculty and graduate students nominated for and receiving already established and new research awards.

Annually calculate the numbers of faculty participating in scholarly research as a percentage of full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty.

The Department faculty will articulate any additional measures by which they are willing to assess the research excellence of full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty by the end of AY 2002.

Assessments:

Faculty survey of research excellence.

Compare annual merit raises with faculty research and publication excellence.

Amount of research activities conducted by or participated in by the faculty.

Level of departmental expenditures promoting and supporting research and scholarly activities.

Objective 2.5: Promote and reward research productivity.

Strategies:

Increase the total number of articles published in high quality journals.

Increase the total number of off-campus scholarly presentations at universities and professional meetings.

Increase the total number of NEH or NSF grants, or other scholarly fellowships for independent study or attendance at research seminars and institutes.

Provide increased guidance and support to enhance the likelihood of success in acquisition of external funding.

Annually document the number of unfunded as well as funded research activities conducted by or participated in by the faculty.

Annually calculate the numbers of faculty participating in scholarly research as a percentage of full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty.

Assessments:

Survey the faculty for their assessment of the extent to which research productivity is being promoted and rewarded.

Annually document departmental expenditures promoting and supporting research and scholarly activities.

Compare annual merit raises with faculty research productivity.

The Department faculty will articulate any additional measures by which they are willing to assess the research productivity of full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty by the end of AY 2002.

Goal 3. Engagement: Build quality community connections internally, locally, and regionally that enhance the quality of life for our communities.

Critical Success Factors

• Increase activities that are helpful to other Texas Tech departments and programs, and to our communities.
• Enhance commitment to extra-curricular cultural and intellectual contribution to our communities.
• Enhance a high level of interdisciplinary engagement.

Objective 3.1: Provide courses in support of other departments and programs at Texas Tech University.

Strategies:

Provide courses and faculty to meet needs of the Honors College, as in its delivery of the Natural History and Humanities degree program.

Offer courses required and recommended by other departments and programs. For example, offer courses in the Women's Studies program, Religious Studies program, the Environmental Toxicology programs, the Biotechnology program, the new Doctor of Musical Arts, and the proposed Masters of Art History.

Continue to play a central role in the Fine Arts Doctoral program.

Assessments:

Enrollment data.

Course scheduling data.

Objective 3.2: Promote interdisciplinary projects and programs.

Strategies:

Teach interdisciplinary courses.

Give guest lectures in courses of other disciplines.

Obtain new faculty positions in sub-fields of philosophy that will promote interdisciplinary cooperation with other disciplines.

Reward interdisciplinary teaching and research.

Schedule public lectures and colloquia that have interdisciplinary components and are of interest to other disciplines.

Assessment:

Number of engagements and outcomes of specific interdisciplinary projects and programs.

Objective 3.3:Promote and reward activities of service to our communities.

Strategies:

Strengthen the Philosophy Club and Phi Sigma Tau.

Start a Philosophy Department lecture series covering topics of interest to our communities and publicize the lectures broadly.

Make presentations to or participate in at least four events annually at area EC-12 schools.

Encourage faculty to sponsor and cooperate with other student groups.

Encourage faculty to serve as consultants to industry when the opportunities arise

Encourage faculty to serve as experts on university and community committees that improve the quality of life (e.g. UMC Ethics Committee, AAUP membership, Artist and Speakers committee).

Encourage faculty to serve as experts to the press when the opportunities arise.

Cosponsor community events that have a philosophy component.

Assessments:

Levels of community participation in events and programs.

Number of faculty rewards for service activities.

Objective 3.4: Continue to provide and promote fine arts and cultural and scholarly events that will improve quality of life of our communities.

Strategies:

Encourage new and ongoing engagements with community cultural and fine arts entities.

Enhance the visibility and publicity of associations with national, regional, and state organizations and centers that support the arts and humanities.

Strengthen the recruitment and retention of graduate students in the arts and humanities.

Sponsor or co-sponsor at least four cultural/scholarly events annually that are aimed at our communities.

Assessments:

Document frequencies or levels of community participation in events and programs presented by academic units.

Obtain measures of constituent satisfaction with these events.

Objective 3.5: Contribute to the Reese Technology Center.

Strategies:

Hire an environmental ethicist who will work closely with the Reese Technology Center on grant applications and research.

Introduce and teach a graduate level course on environmental ethics to be available to the Environmental Toxicology program.

Assessment:

Level of enrollment of Environmental Toxicology students in the environmental ethics class.

Objective 3.6: Create a stronger sense of community among our undergraduate majors.

Strategies:

Make sure that the study lounge and other facilities in the new building are conducive to community-building conversation and encourage their use by philosophy majors and minors.

Provide perqs for philosophy majors and minors (e.g. computer-lab access and individual departmental mail boxes).

Schedule various informal meetings and lunches to encourage philosophy majors and minors to socialize with each other and with the faculty and graduate students.

Strengthen the Philosophy Club and Phi Sigma Tau by holding small, informal philosophy talks, showing movies, and scheduling other community-building events in addition to the large, formal philosophy presentations that we already hold.

Assessment:

Survey philosophy majors and minors to determine the success of these community-building measures.

Objective 3.7 Maintain and enhance a strong sense of community among our graduate students.

Strategies:

Make sure that the study lounge and other facilities in the new building are conducive to community-building conversation and encourage their use by philosophy graduate students.

Provide perqs for philosophy graduate students (e.g. individual departmental mail boxes, improved offices and computers, partially subsidized travel to philosophy meetings).

Schedule various informal meetings and lunches to encourage philosophy graduate students to socialize with each other and with the faculty, undergraduate philosophy majors and minors.

Strengthen the Philosophy Club and Phi Sigma Tau by holding small, informal philosophy talks, showing movies, and scheduling other community-building events in addition to the large, formal philosophy presentations that we already hold.

Assessment:

Philosophy graduate students survey.

Goal 4. Technology: Make effective use of technology in all facets of the Department's mission.

Critical Success Factors

Provide infrastructure supporting the use of IT.

Increase faculty use of IT to enhance research, teaching, and record keeping.

Enhance student use of IT to enhance learning and sense of community.

Enhance use of IT in administration and recruiting.

Objective 4.1: Facilitate use of World Wide Web and Internet in all facets of departmental life.

Strategies:

Hire full-time Technical Specialist staff person.

Obtain and operate departmental UNIX and NT web-servers.

Enhance and improve departmental web pages.

Increase the percentage of sections for which web-pages are used.

Make available the expertise necessary to set up Listservs to conduct departmental business, contact majors, and support courses.

Establish committee to review biannually the use of the Internet and others forms of IT in philosophy courses and departmental business.

Assessments:

Increased IT use facilitated by hiring Information Technology specialist.

Departmental web-servers.

Level of use of Listservs and web-pages.

Objective 4.2: Improve access to computers.

Strategies:

Make available computers, in a card-accessed, networked lab, to all philosophy majors and graduate students.

Supply each faculty member with a networked computer work-station adequate for professional purposes and maintain a ratio of one networked computer per every 4 grad assistants.

Assessment:

Amount or level of computer availability.

Objective 4.3: Increase and improve instructional use of IT.

Strategies:

Move into new English and Philosophy Building, with at least 6 IT-equipped classrooms.

Maintain sufficient up-to-date lap-top computers, visual presenters, electronic drawing tablets, video tape/DID/Laser-disk, sound equipment, projectors, etc. to support classroom needs.

Adapt and make available English Department's "TOPIC" program for use in intensive-writing and other philosophy courses.

Make available at least one workshop annually on the use of technology in the classroom.

Make available the expertise necessary to set up Listservs to conduct departmental business, contact majors, and support courses.

Explore the feasibility of computer-based logic instruction.

Collect and distribute to faculty models of philosophy-course web-pages.

Make available computers, in a card-accessed, networked lab, for philosophy courses having special technology needs.

Increase the percentage of course sections for which web-pages are used.

Assessments:

Number of courses and sections using web-pages.

Number of courses and sections using Listservs.

Number of courses and sections using philosophy version of "TOPIC."

GOAL 5: Partnerships: Collaborate in strategic alliances with other academic, government, community, corporate, and private entities

Critical Success Factors

• Cooperation with other units in hiring Philosophy faculty to serve their programs and in the design of courses.
• Increased cooperation with entities outside the university.
• Increased cooperation with other campus units.
• Significant collaboration in high-priority and other campus initiatives.

 

Objective 5.1: Partner with other undergraduate programs.

Strategies:

Offer at least 10 courses annually that support other programs and departments (e.g., Honors College, Women's Studies, Humanities, Religious Studies).

Increase the number of courses that count toward other undergraduate majors.

Participate in the Natural History and Humanities and Integrated Studies Honors curricula.

Assessments:

Student enrollment in these courses.

Number of courses that count toward other undergraduate majors.

Supporting courses.

Objective 5.2: Partner with graduate and research programs.

Strategies:

Continue to play a central role in the Fine Arts Doctoral Program by offering a minimum of 2 graduate aesthetics courses per year as well as by serving on and/or chairing dissertation committees and qualifying exams, and serving on the Fine Arts Doctoral governing committee.

Participate in the new Doctor of Musical Arts degree program.

Offer formal 3-course minor for proposed Art History MA program.

Support relevant Centers and Institutes, which overlap faculty expertise and interests.

Offer Environmental Ethics graduate course(s) annually in support of Environmental Toxicology and Biotechnology graduate programs.

Work with other units to make Philosophy nationally prominent in interdisciplinary applied ethics with philosophy offering core expertise.

Develop a way to give work-load credit to faculty who create and/or participate in partnerships with other graduate and research programs.

Create informal working relationships with other programs, which could lead to more formal partnerships.

Create reading groups that would draw students from programs such as Women's Studies, Area Studies, English, History, Classics, Art History, and Fine Arts.

Create translation groups that would draw students from Departments of Comparative Literature and Classics.

Co-sponsor colloquia and conferences with programs such as Women's Studies, Area Studies, English, History, Classics, Art History, and Fine Arts.

Assessments:

Number of partnerships.

Number of partnering activities.

Objective 5.3: Reach out to the larger community.

Strategies:

Identify how other departments in Arts and Sciences meet this objective.

Identify, contact, and meet regularly with existing outreach programs at TTU.

Offer night classes, especially introductory courses, that the larger (working) community can attend.

Explore the feasibility of hosting the West Texas-New Mexico Philosophical Association meetings one year.

Explore the possibility of departmental involvement in Distance Education or TV courses.

Work with other units to make Philosophy nationally prominent in interdisciplinary applied ethics with Philosophy providing course expertise.

Sponsor or co-sponsor at least four cultural/scholarly events annually that are aimed at the larger Texas Tech and Lubbock communities.

Presentations or participation in at least 4 events annually at area public schools.

Assessments:

Number of presentations.

Number of scholarly events.

Number and kind of other outreach activities.

Goal 6. Human Resources: Enhance the quality of the work and study experience for Department employees and students.

Critical Success Factors

Maintain annual regular faculty turnover (excluding retirements, terminations for cause, or tenure denial) of under 10%.

Achieve parity in salaries and/or benefits (that is, such benefits as workload credit, equipment, resources, research assistants, development opportunities, and travel funding) for faculty as benchmarked with peer and aspirational-peer departments in peer institutions or by comparable employment positions.

Improve student retention and timely graduation.

Make the TA experience more rewarding and successful.

Make effective use of the new English/Philosophy building facilities to ensure a helpful and comfortable physical environment for faculty and students.

Insure substantial faculty participation in the determination of the future direction of the department.

Objective 6.1: Hire excellent and diverse faculty and staff.

Strategies:

Advertise faculty position vacancies in Jobs for Philosophers and in other ways seek to create a large, excellent, and diverse pool of prospective faculty. In particular, recruit faculty who will enable Texas Tech to earn a Phi Beta Kappa chapter.

Offer pay, start-up packages, and personal and professional benefits comparable to those offered by aspirational peer institutions.

Clearly articulate to prospective faculty the expectations and requirements for initial employment and for continuing employment.

Increase tenured and tenure-track faculty to 14.

Advertise staff position vacancies widely and continue to hire the best of our applicants.

Assessments:

Pool of prospective faculty.

Pay, start-up packages, and personal and professional benefits comparison with aspirational peer institutions.

Objective 6.2: Provide appropriate effective training and professional development opportunities for faculty, staff, and teaching assistants.

Strategies:

Continue to encourage participation by all faculty, staff, and teaching assistants in training and professional development activities when appropriate. These include offerings by the Philosophy Department (e.g. humanities-focused grant writing workshops) and offerings by the university (e.g. sexual harassment training).

Provide department orientations for new faculty regarding university and departmental policies with respect to such things as workload, tenure and promotion, etc.

Continue to mentor junior faculty.

Continue to provide orientation meetings for new graduate students.

Regularly offer a Teaching Philosophy course for the training of teaching assistants.

Encourage and provide support for graduate students to attend and submit papers to regional conferences.

Assessments:

Level of participation by faculty, staff, and graduate students in training and professional development activities.

Number of offerings by the Philosophy Department.

Objective 6.3: Make it professionally attractive to be a Philosophy faculty member at Texas Tech.

Strategies:

Increase funding of unrestricted departmental account to support departmental entertaining and other activities for which State funds cannot be used.

Upgrade faculty salaries to become more competitive with aspirational peer institutions.

Increase travel support for faculty professional activities.

Increase sabbatical and released-time opportunities for senior faculty.

Increase released-time opportunities for junior faculty.

Lower number of courses faculty teach to 9 in two years while not reducing number of students taught or quality of education.

Maintain sensitivity to and strive to accommodate different pedagogical styles.

Encourage the formation of faculty reading groups.

Make faculty meetings efficient and democratic.

Assessment:

Faculty and staff surveys and retention interviews.

Objective 6.4: Provide adequate technology and other support for faculty and staff.

Strategies:

Maintain efficient photocopying equipment with infrequent breakdowns.

Provide satisfactory individual phone service for each faculty member.

Provide up-to-date computers for each faculty member.

Set up departmental servers and use them for web pages, message boards, etc.

Hire a computer coordinator to oversee servers and to provide faculty with technical support.

Develop operations manual for departmental office, staff, student assistants.

Assessments:

Faculty and staff satisfaction surveys.

Objective 6.5: Maximize the benefits of moving into the new building with minimal disruption.

Strategies:

Obtain furniture for offices in new building.

Plan the distribution of offices and other resources in the new building.

Plan the move to the new building.

Establish a transition team to deal with problems concerning the new building.

Assessment:

The departmental moving plan.

Objective 6.6: Increase opportunities for quality performance by faculty, staff, and students, and thereby increase retention, performance, and job satisfaction.

Strategies:

Uphold academic freedom within the department. In particular, insure that teaching assistants and junior faculty receive appropriate guidance without inappropriate pressure.

Encourage democratic decision making and shared governance within the department.

Continue to seek consensus in departmental decisions while respecting disagreements.

Increase faculty participation in important departmental decisions.

Advocate for additional resources in personnel, equipment, and other kinds of support.

Use information from exit interviews to identify faculty, staff, and student needs.

Maintain lines of communication within the department and with the higher administration about issues of concern to faculty and students.

Make equitable regular-session and summer-session faculty assignments that meet student need.

Improve general faculty and staff morale.

Dedicate time to reducing obstacles to faculty and staff effectiveness and happiness.

Institute procedures for assessing faculty satisfaction.

Assessments:

Faculty and staff exit interviews.

Faculty and staff surveys and retention interviews.

Level of contributions by faculty to department, college, and university committees and activities.

Student surveys, exit interviews, and retention interviews.

Objective 6.7: Reward efforts and achievements by faculty.

Strategies:

Model a culture of honesty, civility, kindness, and cooperation within the classroom and the department generally.

Value and respect each individual.

Provide clear and consistent information about performance expectations.

Maintain fair and constructive review processes, as in annual reviews of the faculty and of the chair, third year reviews, tenure and promotion reviews, and post-tenure reviews.

Provide tangible (as in merit pay and increased resources) and intangible (as in public recognition) rewards when excellent work is done by faculty.

Provide appropriate workload credit and/or merit credit for all work-related activities, including the traditionally expected teaching, research, and service, but also including time devoted to activities associated with student recruitment, grant writing, workshop development, interdisciplinary and community engagement programs, etc. in conformity with the relevant OP's.

Assessments:

Achievements of faculty.

Level of rewards to faculty.

Goal 7. Tradition and Pride: Project a strong positive Departmental image locally, regionally, and nationally.

Critical Success Factors

Ability to collect and communicate unit successes in every facet of the Department's missions.

Increased appreciation by the public and potential students as to the practical value of philosophy.

Increased awareness within the campus/community to the centrality of philosophy to higher education.

Greater participation in College and University efforts to promote Texas Tech as an academic institution.

Enhancement of alumni pride in being a Texas Tech Philosophy ex-student.

Full participation in the University efforts to earn a Phi Beta Kappa chapter.

Objective 7.1: Identify and maintain better contact with Departmental alumnae and friends.

Strategies:

Establish a more complete database of contact information on all alumni and friends of the Department.

Continue publishing Departmental newsletter in hard copy and introduce an electronic version.

Enhance Departmental web presence.

Assessments:

Database in place.

Newsletter and web evaluation.

Objective 7.2: Establish initiatives that highlight faculty and student achievements and facilitate the academic well-being of students who bring pride and recognition to Texas Tech.

Strategies:

Establish regular procedures for identifying and nominating philosophy majors for important academic awards and fellowships, like the Woodrow Wilson, Marshall, Rhodes, etc.

Continue the growth of Department both in terms of number of faculty and number of majors in order to contribute to earning a Phi Beta Kappa chapter.

Identify funds to support student participation in scholarly meetings.

Publicize student awards and achievements in local and, if appropriate, national media.

Publicize faculty awards and achievements in the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Association, as well as in local and national media.

Publicize colloquia and talks that are of general public interest in local media.

Assessments:

Level of efforts to highlight departmental achievements.

Number and success of students nominated for awards.

Amount of money spent in support of students.

Objective 7.3: Support the university's efforts to strengthen the pride and pageantry associated with the university's academic programs and activities.

Strategies:

Encourage participation by all faculty in university celebrations of accomplishment, especially commencement and faculty convocations.

Celebrate the opening of our new building and include public participation in that celebration.

Publicize the accomplishments of our faculty and students, and the introduction of new academic programs through use of the local and national media.

Utilize the web-based university calendar to publicize Philosophy activities, such as the colloquium series, which are of potential interest to the campus and larger community.

Assessment:

Level of participation in university programs and activities.

Level of our efforts at publicizing events and accomplishments.

Number of publications touting events and accomplishments.

Goal 8. Institutional Advancement and Accountability: Strengthen the Department's fiscal performance in development and Formula Funding, while conforming to public accountability expectations.

Critical Success Factors

• Establishment of relationships with new donors.
• A 50% increase in departmental donations, bequests, and endowments.
• A $50,000 increase in formula funding generated.

Objective 8.1: Increase the fiscal stability of the Philosophy Department reducing deficits and increasing profitability with regard to formula funding.

Strategies:

Increase the number of students taught in lower division class.

Increase the ratio of graduate students to undergraduate students.

Offer additional courses in philosophy for graduate students majoring in other fields.

Increase upper division enrollment by increasing the number of philosophy majors.

Propose revisions to the academic year and summer calendars to better meet the needs of students, faculty and the state that funds us.

Adjust CIP course codes to generate increased funding where appropriate.

Make suitable larger classrooms available.

Assessments:

Enrollment increases by course number each semester.

Level of state formula funding changes by course number.

Objective 8.2: Increase academic fundraising and donor involvement for the Philosophy Department.

Strategies:

Support development efforts to obtain donor funding for endowment and to furnish new building.

Work with the development office to increase the department endowment to $1 million.

Seek at least one research grant generating indirect costs.

Publish departmental newsletter and circulate it to alumni.

Keep up to date alumni list.

Assessment:

Chair will prepare annual report documenting fundraising and donor involvement with the Department.

Objective 8.3 Prepare an effective marketing strategy for Philosophy Department.

Strategies:

Frequently announce departmental, faculty, student, and staff achievements.

Have departmental celebrations of accomplishments to which the general public and possible donors are invited.

Use the web-based university calendar to publicize Philosophical activities.

Besides our newsletter, publish brochures and flyers celebrating the Philosophy Department.

Assessments:

Level of attendance at departmental functions.

Document marketing and public-relations activities annually.

Document numbers of hits on departmental web sites.

Evaluate the effectiveness and attractiveness of brochures and flyers promoting the department

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