Assessment Report and Strategic Planning Update
Year: 2003
Area or Unit Name: PHILOSOPHY
Area or Unit Leader: P. G. Christiansen Email: pchristi@ttu.edu
Phone Number: ( 806 ) 742 - 3275 Ext:
Mail Stop: 3092
Section 1. Goals and Accomplishments
Goal 1: Access & Diversity: Recruit, retain, and graduate a larger, more academically prepared, and diverse body of undergraduate Philosophy majors, minors, and Masters students.
Headcount increase of 18.18% on the undergraduate level. SCH increase of 21.27% on the graduate level.
Improvement in SAT scores, 2.07%.
Math scores improved by 19.63%.
Maintained an undergraduate student evaluation average of 4.00 for all undergraduate courses. Increased the number of B.A. degrees from 7 to 21.
Deanna Hackworth accepted by Catholic University Law School; Marissa Kelberlau accepted by TTU Environmental Toxicology M.S. program.
Undergraduates accepted by graduate programs: Michael Mebane (Ph.D., in Psychology, Vanderbilt); Dustin Benham (Baylor Law School); Kyle Highful (M.A., in Classics, TTU); Russell Myers (M.A., Philosophy, TTU).
Goal 2: Excellence: Attain national recognition as one of the very best Masters-only Philosophy Departments in the country.
Philosophical Gourmet ranks M.A. program here as one of top ten in the nation. Articles published or accepted by outstanding journals: British Journal of Aesthetics; Canadian Journal of Philosophy; Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism; Journal of Medicine and Philosophy; Law and Philosophy.
Maintained a graduate student evaluation average of 4.00 in all graduate courses but one (3.87).
M.A. headcount increase of 23.84%. M.A. SCH increase of 21.27%. Attained the goal of four M.A. degrees in 2003.
Preparation of list of 2003 publications and acceptances. Display of books published by departmental faculty (in Departmental Office). Display of outstanding articles (one per faculty member) in glass case (outside Departmental Office). Dr. Rupert was awarded an NEH Fellowship. Dr. Sowaal participated in an NEH summer seminar.
Faculty presented papers at meetings of the American Philosophical Association, the Society for Philosophy and Psychology, the American Society for Aesthetics, the National Women's Studies Association, an international symposium on aesthetics and epistemology, and a conference on Feminism and Rhetoric. There was also an invited paper at Penn State.
Goal 3: Engagement: Build quality community connections internally, locally, and regionally that enhance the quality of life for our communities.
Four sections of Honors courses offered. Four sections of Religion Study courses offered. Two sections of Women's Studies courses offered. The department continues to play a central role in Fine Arts Doctoral Program through the following activities: Regular course offerings; Service on core exams (writing exams and service on core exam committees); Service on doctoral committees; Planning and organization of FADP events.
Guest lectures; The department continues to co-sponsor lectures with other departments and programs, such as the Fine Arts Doctoral Program. Dr. Meskin and Dr. Rupert scheduled lectures and colloquia with interdisciplinary components, such as lectures on the philosophy of music and the philosophy of psychology. Dr. Sowaal started interdisciplinary reading group on issues in Women's Studies.
Outstanding lecture series of outside speakers provided for Tech community. Philosophy Club and Phi Sigma Tau remain active.
Continued to provide and promote fine arts and cultural and scholarly events that will improve quality of life of our communities.
A specialist in environmental ethics has been hired as Visiting Assistant Professor.
Spacious and comfortable Student-Faculty Lounge available to all students. Computer Lab (with 12 computers) available to all students. Individual departmental mailboxes have been provided for all undergraduate majors. A director of undergraduate studies functions effectively. The department regularly schedules student-only sessions when outside speakers visit. Phi Sigma Tau sponsors weekly informal meetings with faculty at Philosophy Cafe.
Two spacious and comfortable group offices have been provided to graduate students. Each graduate student has been provided with own desk and cubicle. A spacious and comfortable lounge with kitchen facilities is available to graduate students. The department regularly schedules student-only sessions when outside speakers visit. Phi Sigma Tau sponsors informal meetings with faculty at Philosophy Cafe.
Faculty presented papers at meetings of the American Philosophical Association, the Society for Philosophy and Psychology, the American Society for Aesthetics, the National Women's Studies Association, an international symposium on aesthetics and epistemology, and a conference on Feminism and Rhetoric. There was also an invited paper at Penn State.
Goal 4: Technology: Make effective use of technology in all facets of the Department’s mission.
Web page has been enhanced and improved.
Improved quality of computer access for students. Computer Lab access for students is good. Number of computers is currently sufficient.
Faculty IT equipment is sufficiently up-to-date. Dr. Rupert and Dr. Curzer used TOPIC. Increased number of courses have websites. Increased use of overhead projection systems in lecture.
Goal 5: Partnerships: Collaborate in strategic alliances with other academic, government, community, corporate, and private entities.
Four Honors courses offered. Four sections of Religion Study Courses were offered. Two sections of Women's Studies courses were offered.
Two graduate courses per year are offered, for the benefit of the Fine Arts Doctoral Program. Three Philosophy faculty members serve as chairs or members of dissertation committees. The Philosophy Department has co-sponsored various talks and conferences with other programs, in addition to our own lecture series mentioned below.
Philosophy members presented five lectures in the Lubbock community. One faculty member gave a radio presentation. Philosophy Department faculty members have served on numerous interdisciplinary panels presenting topics of interest to members of the Tech and Lubbock communities. The Philosophy Department, Philosophy Club, and Philosophy Honorary Society have teamed up to present a lecture series bringing nationally renowned speakers to TTU. These lectures are typically attended by members of the Tech community and the larger Lubbock community.
Goal 6: Human Resources: Enhance the quality of the work and study experience for Department employees and students.
The Philosophy Department offers an orientation meeting for new graduate students. The Philosophy Department offered a Teaching Philosophy course for the training of teaching assistants. Each GPTI with full responsibility for a class is assigned a faculty mentor.
Faculty members actively participate in setting goals and implementing them.
All faculty now have reasonably up-to-date computers, printers, phones, and access to reliable copy machine. A departmental server has been obtained and is now being used for webpages, etc.
The Philosophy/English Building is a terrific facility in every respect.
Academic freedom and shared governance within the department are producing a substantial increase job satisfaction and faculty morale.
The department organized and catalogued the Philosophy Library, now an especially pleasant place for research and study that is utilized by students and faculty.
Goal 7: Tradition and Pride: Project a strong positive Departmental image locally, regionally, and nationally.
The Philosophy Department website has been continually updated.
Preparation of a list of 2003 publications and acceptances. Display of books published by departmental faculty (in Departmental Office). Display of outstanding articles (one per faculty member) in glass case (outside Departmental Office). The Director of Undergraduate Studies has done much to centralize and organize the procedures for identifying and nominating philosophy majors for important academic awards and fellowships. The Philosophy Department awarded four scholarships on the basis of academic achievement.
The Philosophy Department used its website, the University Calendar, and the University Daily to publicize activities such as the speaker series to the campus and larger community.
Goal 8: Institutional Advancement and Accountability: Strengthen the Department''s fiscal performance in development and Formula Funding, while conforming to public accountability expectations.
The Philosophy Department has stayed within its operating budget, despite the lower level of funding. Masters student semester credit hours rose 21.27%, and doctoral student semester credit hours have risen 41.67%. The number of Philosophy majors rose 18.18% on the undergraduate level and 23.08% on the graduate level. Two faculty members participated on interdisciplinary IGERT Grant Proposal.
The Graduate Advisor has distributed about 1000 fliers (stressing the strong points of our M.A. program) to appropriate colleges and universities. Faculty members visited other universities to present talks and personally recruit graduate students. The Philosophy Department website has been continually updated. It promotes the department as a whole as well as various departmental activities.
Section 2. Universal Quantitative Data
Fall Semester 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Student Information
Headcount
Undergraduate 23 27 31 46 66 78
Masters 9 8 12 11 13 16
Doctoral 0 0 0 0 0 0
Law 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 32 35 43 57 79 94
Entry Scores
SAT 1100 1204 1055 1227 1209 1233
GRE-verbal 538 570 570 546 620 598
GRE-math 633 425 510 463 591 707
Semester Credit Hours
Undergraduate 2730 2558 2944 3679 4025 2957
Masters 54 86 120 76 141 171
Doctoral 22 2 4 13 36 51
Law
Total 2784 2666 3088 3768 4202 3179
Number of Lecture Classes
Taught/Avg # Avg. # Avg. # Avg. # Avg. # Avg. # Avg
Class Size
Lower Division 22/38 20/39 23/38 16/66 19/58 15/55
Upper Division 5/16 6/14 6/22 7/25 8/29 5/31
All Undergraduate 27/34 26/33 29/34 23/53 27/50 20/49
Graduate 3/4 3/10 5/8 5/4 6/9 7/10
All Students 30/31 29/31 34/31 28/45 33/42 27/39
Faculty Information
FTE
Professor-Lecturer 9 9 10.5 11 13.25 11
Graduate Asst. 1.19 0.9 2.7 2.55 2.2 5.53
Teaching
Total 10.19 9.9 13.2 13.55 15.45 16.53
Headcount
Professor-Lecturer
Total 9 9 11 12 14 11
Minority 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tenured/Tenure Track
Total 8 6 6 9 11 10
Tenured 5 5 5 5 5 4
Teaching Load
SCH/FTE for total 273 269 234 278 272 192
faculty
Student Faculty 19:1 19:1 16:1 19:1 18:1 14:1
Ratio
Faculty Salaries vs Peer
(Full-time Faculty - 9 Mo.)
Professor 58497 62047 69276 74491 73325 77235
Assoc 53261 56355 60604 69270 62335 62335
Asst 35924 32676 34178 38083 40342 39779
Lecturer
Fiscal Year 1997-1998 1998-1999 1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003
Degrees Awarded
Undergraduate 9 6 3 5 7 21
Masters 3 2 1 2 5 4
Doctoral 0 0 0 0 0 0
Law 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 12 8 4 7 12 25
Classes Taught by
Tenured/Tenure Track
% Lower Div. 56 45 40 27 40 28
Classes Taught
% Ugrd 63 52 45 33 49 36
Classes Taught
Financial Information
Teaching Salaries 499191 479128 503582 564028 651968 713317
Dept. Op. Expenses 40243 36048 40985 63134 75519 69276
Total 539435 515177 544567 627163 727487 782594
Cost per SCH 93 84 86 93 96 85
Cost per SCH 93 82 81 86 87 75
In Const. $
External Funding
Sponsored Projects
Value by Home Department 0
Value by Submitting Unit 5000 0
Fundraising* 50 475 1075 1075 1035 5320
*As provided by Development
PHILOSOPHY
Area/Unit Specific Information
Section 3a. Quantitative Information
Calendar Year 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Faculty
Research
Journal Articles 5 4 5 4 5 1
Books 1 2 0 0 1 1
Faculty Reporting 55.56 44.44 30.00 27.27 45.45 70.00
Publications (%)
External Presentations 7 5 12 12 8 11(12)
Internal Presentations 1 3 3 4 2 3
External Grants Submitted 2 1 2
External Grants Awarded 1 2
Recognition
External awards 1
Internal awards 1 2
Program
Sections 47 49 54 42 37 40
Seats 1641 1651 1815 1970 2041 2080
Student
Recognition
External Awards 3
Internal Awards 6
Alumni Accomplishments
Placement in Graduate Programs 2
There is No Area Specific Data in Fall Section.
Fiscal Year 1997-1998 1998-1999 1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003
Student
Scholarship Awarded 11 5
Other Funding
AOF $58,253
Graduate Tuition $10,200
Emphasis $80,874
Section 3b. Qualitative Information.
Retention Efforts (Objective 3.6, Assessment Item 1) - Philosophy Cafe (informal weekly meeting at coffee shop; host by faculty member, all interested in Philosophy are invited). Active Philosophy Club (fundraisers, trip to conference). Active Chapter of Phi Sigma Tau (Philosophy Honor Society).
New and renewed accreditations and certifications (Objective 2.1, Assessment Item 6) - Ranked in top ten master's-only programs.
Participation in EC-12 schools and programs (Objective 3.3, Assessment Item 1) - Dr. Curzer, Dr. Rupert, and Dr. Webb gave presentations in the Lubbock community.
New or novel uses of technology in instruction (Objective 4.3, Assessment Item 3) - Dr. Rupert and Dr. Curzer used TOPIC. Increased number of courses have websites. Improved Computer Lab; much more student use. Increased use of overhead of projection systems in lecture.
Contributions to university/college/department tradition and pride (Objective 7.3, Assessment Item 1) - Some faculty attended graduations.
Efforts to decrease deficits and increase revenues in teaching, research, and other revenue-generating activities (Objective 8.1, Assessment Item 1) - Taught more large courses. Increased use of GPTI's.
MA degree students placed in graduate programs (Objective 1.4, Assessment Item 3) - Deanna Hackworth in Catholic University Law School; Marissa Kelberlau in TTU Environmental Toxicology M.S. program.
Section 4. Strategic Planning Update.
There is no strategic plan update for the current year.
Commentary:
The Philosophy Department is currently ranked in the top ten Master's only program by Blackwell's Philosophical Gourmet. All current faculty members are actively pursuing scholarly projects. All ten had at least one publication or acceptance in the last three years. The placement of scholarly work has been outstanding. The department continues its involement of many years in the Fine Arts Doctoral Program, offering two seminars in Aesthetics each calendar year. The level of scholarship enables the department to maintain a productive M.A. program, with four degrees in 2003. Supported students are initially utilized as TAs in large lecture sections of General Education courses and then, when ready, as GPTIs in their own sections of large lecture courses. This readiness is determined by faculty examination of recommendations of TA supervisors; the record of each GPTI includes a written evaluation by a faculty mentor. Because of increasingly effective use of these graduate students, seats in our General Education courses have steadily increased over the past six years; in 2003 from 2041 to 2080. This steady increase has enabled us to attain a higher number of B.A. degrees, from 7 in 2002 to 21 in 2003. We have done so despite a significant drop in financial support; the cost per SCH declined from $98 in 2002 to $85 in 2003.
Implementation Plan:
The Philosophy Department provides service courses in Ethics, Logic, and Religion which greatly enhance the education of undergraduates. The departmental productivity is related to the use of Teaching Assistants in large lecture courses. These have been highly successful and have enabled us to provide many spaces in General Education courses. At the present time, full-time faculty are providing the large lectures for five sections of such courses. Each lecture utilizes four discussion sections; two TAs teach two discussions each. This means that a total of ten TAs is needed for the five large lectures. The ten would so serve for one year and then, presumably, become ten GPTIs the following year. At the current level of support ($53,000 AOF) we have been able to steadily increase the number of seats in General Education Courses. However, to meet the current student demand for these courses, we would need an additional $20,000 AOF. We ask that our modest level of AOF be increased accordingly.