Academic Program Review Committee Report

1 Academic Program Review Committee Report 2 of the 3 Raza Studies Department 4 February 2004 5 6 Committee Process 7 8The Academic Program Review Committee (APRC) report is based on the following 9data: 10 111. The Raza Studies Department Academic Program Review Self-Study (dated February 122003). 13 142. The Program Report of the Outside Reviewers for the Raza Studies Department (dated 15May 27, 2003) ("External Review"). 16 173. The Response to the Outside Reviewers' Report (dated September 21, 2003) 18("Response"). 19 204. APRC Interview on September 30, 2003, with Velia Garcia, Chair, Raza Studies 21Department, and Tomas Almaguer, Dean, College pf Ethnic Studies ("Interview"). 22 235. The Guidelines for the Fifth Cycle of Academic Program Review. 24 256. The APRC Evaluative Procedures 26 27Taken together, the information sources listed above provided an integrated view of the 28program's current strengths and future aspirations. 29 30 Report 31 32 33Introduction 34 35The Raza Studies Department was established in the Fall of 1969, as part of the College 36of Ethnic Studies, and was the first program of its kind on any four-year college campus. 37As a direct result of the Third World Coalition-led student and faculty strike at San 38Francisco State University (SFSU) in 1968, creation of the College was a specific 39response to the demands of concerned students, community and faculty activists for an 40academic program that addressed the higher education needs of the under-served 41communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. One aspect of the Ethnic College/ Raza 42Studies education was the opportunity to also learn about the diverse peoples and cultures 43of the Americas, and to examine their relationship to U. S. institutions historically and in 44the present. The early goals of the Raza Studies program centered on providing SFSU 45students with a better understanding of the conditions and concerns of the various Raza 46populations in the Bay Area. There was also the commitment to improving social and 47economic conditions in local communities. Today, Raza Studies still holds to a vision 1integral to the University's mission, and with an outlook to work on transformative 2projects for more visibility and inclusivity as well as for diversity. What follows are the 3Committee's summaries of and recommendations for the Department's curriculum, 4faculty, students, and resources. 5 6 7 Curriculum 8 9The Self -Study lists 12 curriculum recommendations. Recommendations 1 through 6 10involve changes in titles and course sequencing, with the intent of "cleaning up the 11curriculum" to provide "a more logical system of sequence." (Chair’s and Dean’s 12comments at APRC interview). The External Reviewers agree with these 13recommendations. The APRC is also in agreement and urges that Raza Studies give their 14implementation top priority, since a more coherent and better sequenced curriculum will 15help in the resolution of other issues regarding faculty, student, and resources. The ARPC 16strongly recommends that the Raza Studies Department consider holding a faculty retreat 17dedicated to creating a more coherent curriculum as its main goal. 18 19The Self-Study (p. 32) states "gender and sexuality is an area of study that the department 20has identified as a priority to develop." All Raza faculty are encouraged to include a 21feminist perspective in all their courses (Interview). In particular, Recommendation 7 of 22the Self-Study urges the development of a new course addressing gender and sexuality 23(RAZA: 410 "Raza Women: Gender and Sexuality”). The Dean of Ethnic Studies 24supports a greater emphasis on gay and lesbian issues throughout the College. Yet, 25gender and sexuality studies are not among the areas of expertise of the current Raza 26Studies faculty. The APRC recommends that the department seek out links with other 27SFSU programs, such as human sexuality, nursing, and women's studies, to advise and 28assist it in developing Latin(o/a) sexuality and gender content in existing courses. 29 30Additional Self-Study Recommendations include developing additional courses in 31segments II and III of the GE Curriculum (#8), developing creative strategies to enhance 32enrollment (#9), developing and expanding the international component of the major, 33such as the study tours to Mexico and Cuba (#11), and continuing to expand 34opportunities for its students to participate in community service learning (CSL) 35opportunities. The APRC joins the external reviewers in applauding Raza Studies for its 36initiatives in these areas. 37 38The External Review further recommends establishing a coherent set of core courses that 39relate to one another and to Department mission, and highlighting critical themes that 40enhance breadth and depth of student experiences in the Department. The Department 41Response agrees that the reviewers "offer excellent suggestions for further strengthening 42curriculum and improving its delivery to students" but characterizes their 43recommendation, "to increase the required number of units in the major to forty-five from 44thirty-nine," as "less helpful" since Raza Studies recently reduced the required units to 39 45from 45. The Department claims not to have sufficient faculty to field a 45-unit program 46plus the ten new recently approved G. E. courses. Additionally, the department claims 47that the reduction to 39 units has yielded significant numbers of students who double 48major in Raza Studies. The APRC believes that the issue of units is subsidiary to the 1issue of coherence in curriculum, and urges the Department to establish clearer goals in 2the curriculum area. 3 4In the interview, the Raza Chair stated that new courses have been designed to give 5students more of a transnational, international and multicultural perspective in 6comparative studies. She commented that the Department is engaged in discussions to 7consider replacing “Raza Studies” with a more inclusive term that better reflects the 8experiences of other Latino/Latina and Spanish-speaking groups, social and indigenous 9movements. The Dean added his comments as well in this regard. The APRC supports 10these discussions and suggests they be an agenda item for a Raza Studies Retreat. 11 12When asked by the APRC to comment on the Department’s current social science 13orientation at the expense of the humanities, the Chair pointed to the early development 14of Ethnic Studies programs that were founded, in part, to contextualize the curriculum 15and provide "applied" scholarship in the social sciences, particularly Sociology and 16History, in order to respond to "racialization" and inequities in US society. The Chair 17asserted that these early contingencies required this applied focus, rather than the more 18theoretical and "philosophical" approach that the Humanities offer. However, she stated 19that there is increasing interest and emphasis among the Raza Studies faculty in the 20Humanities, in terms of a more interdisciplinary scholarship, curriculum, and theoretical 21methods, and with emphasis on race/ ethnic perspectives. The APRC encourages this 22direction for Raza Studies, and supports their faculty’s quest for a broader theoretical 23base that includes an emphasis on "gender and sexuality" perspectives. 24 25 Faculty 26 27The Self-Study lists six recommendations regarding Faculty, with which the External 28Reviewers are in agreement. Among them (#6), is to continue to work collaboratively 29with other departments, colleges and programs, and to cross-list and team-teach courses 30with them. The External Reviewers recommend that the Department pursue curriculum 31development in "comparative studies" in both intra-American/ and international studies, 32and for more tenure track faculty hires in this direction. The External Review further 33recommends that as enrollment increases, to explore more fully the focus of any future 34hires by assessing current unmet demands. As enrollments reach target, the External 35Reviewers recommend that Raza Studies should fill new positions with faculty with 36expertise in migrations, transnational social movements, for a post-review analysis of 37Department goals. 38 39During the APRC interview, the Chair commented that the Self-Study and the External 40Review are in agreement for the most part, except for some details, in which the External 41Review recommendations add to the Self-Study recommendations in urging for more 42administrative support and in sharing the cost of hires. The Chair reviewed efforts that 43the Department is already making, such as faculty attendance national and international 44conferences, participation in collaborative events with other Ethnic/ Latino programs, 45such as Berkeley University, collaborations with community projects such as the Mission 46gentrification project, and other local and international CSL efforts, and cross-listing and 47team teaching courses with other campus departments, colleges, and programs. 48 1 The APRC applauds the many efforts to which the Raza Studies faculty contribute, both 2on and off campus. At the same time, APRC reiterates the necessity of the Department to 3keep in mind its curriculum needs as it prioritizes its faculty hiring plans and its 4collaborations with other units. 5 6 Students 7 8The Self-Study lists five recommendations regarding Students, to which the External 9Reviewers (ER) agree. The Self-Study recognizes the need to provide students with 10updated information and provide the program with more visibility. The proposed 11solutions include (Recommendation 3) continuing to develop pamphlets, brochures, 12PowerPoint presentations and other digital video and web-based promotional material for 13recruitment purposes. Recommendation 5 proposes to explore creative ways to use the 14Raza Studies website to engage students. The ER adds that student outreach to 15community for recruitment purposes should be part of organized program. Other 16recommendations (#1) include continuing to hold graduate school and scholarship 17preparation workshops, graduating senior reception, monthly brown bag and other 18supportive activities; to which the ER agrees, and to continue to support student 19publication magazines, such as Conocimiento, Cipactli and Coyolxuaqui Re-membered; 20and other student functions. The APRC agrees with these recommendations. 21 22In addition, the External Review recommends considering developing a CSL outreach 23mentoring program that trains Raza undergraduates to mentor local youth (p.X). They 24also point to the need to administer surveys on a regular basis, including an exit survey 25for graduating seniors and for the Department to analyze student survey data. The APRC 26agrees that surveys are an important tool for identifying student needs and supports their 27use by the Department. 28 29The ER states: "For Raza Studies to reach its full potential, this administration will need 30to rethink and reassess its recruitment plan and consider how Raza Studies may 31complement the university's mission, to more effectively recruit Latino students and 32faculty." During the interview with APRC, the Chair responded that the Provost's Office 33has taken a big step in addressing the External Reviewers’ concerns by establishing a 34"Task Force on Diversity," in which the College of Ethnic Studies and Raza Studies 35Department will be well represented. The APRC is aware of the under-representation of 36Latino students throughout the campus and strongly endorses any efforts made to redress 37this imbalance throughout the campus. 38 39When queried about the careers that Raza Studies students pursue after graduation, the 40Chair stated that they go into teaching, counseling, public health and social work careers. 41Students from Raza Studies also work with the College of Education in public schools 42outreach endeavors and at the Cesar Chavez Institute in the Mission, as well as other 43Latino community establishments. 44 45The APRC lauds Raza Studies for these efforts, and notes that the Department has met 46target on recruitment and retention this semester, Fall 2003. The APRC also praises their 47exemplary CSL and Latino community involvement. This department is second to none 1within SFSU in their commitment to serve their community. It provides a shining 2example that should be widely emulated throughout the campus. 3 4 Resources 5 6 7The Raza Self-Study lists three Recommendations regarding resources. These include 8(Recommendation #2, endorsed by the External Reviewers) pursuing avenues of extra- 9mural funding to support department activities, and having the Department work with 10College staff and with the Cesar Chavez Institute in developing fundraising strategies; 11continuing work on a database of Raza Studies alumni and conducting an alumni survey 12with the intent of involving them in Department activities (Recommendation #3) to which 13the External Reviewers added that the Department should be provided with funds to 14develop an Alumni Association to raise funds for scholarships. The Department Response 15to the External Review Report mentioned Lottery funds as a potential source for 16fundraising. The External Review also recommended providing funding for a colloquium 17series highlighting critical issues in Raza Studies; and providing enough funding for 18classroom speakers, to avoid having students pay for this activity. 19 20During the interview with the APRC, the Raza Studies chair stated that many department 21initiatives have been undertaken without additional funds being provided, and there is a 22continuing need for more support from the administration. As to the Department's overall 23priorities, she stated that the first priority is for new and permanent faculty to meet 24enrollment needs, second to "clean up the curriculum," third to develop an introductory 25course as a major "gateway" into the major, fourth is to look for outside funding with 26assistance from the Foundation Office, and fifth is for more recruitment efforts. The 27department chair also highlighted the department’s push towards a more cross-cultural/ 28national and interdisciplinary perspective, and the importance of department-organized 29international tours (currently to Mexico and Cuba) to Raza Studies’ international program 30orientation. 31 32In conclusion, the APRC concurs with these overall priorities, but at the same time sees 33the issue of giving the curriculum more coherence as a first priority, to which all other 34concerns, such as faculty hires, student recruitment, and securing additional resources, 35should follow. In particular, the APRC urges Raza Studies to hold one or more retreats to 36address these issues, and to enhance its alumni ties by conducting an alumni survey and 37establishing an Alumni Association. The APRC, conscious of the serious under- 38representation of Latinos at all levels in the CSU system, as recently documented in a 39report by State Senator Alarcón, supports the Raza Studies Department leadership efforts 40in championing Latino presence in all aspects of the University and the community at 41large so that SFSU could eventually reach the threshold necessary to be designated a 42"Hispanic Serving" institution and thus qualify for more outside funding. 43 44 Other Recommendations 45 46Other recommendations from the External Reviewers were to improve communication 47and articulation between Raza Studies and Liberal Studies and Credential Programs; to 48explore how Liberal Studies students are counseled into courses, and to develop courses 1that offer "diverse perspectives" for these students; for the University to create a position 2of faculty assistant on diversity, and to create a Presidential Task Force on Enrollment to 3diversify the university. The APRC sees the latter as a broader University initiative not 4specific to Raza Studies. Also, since the External Reviewers issued this recommendation, 5the Provost's Office has established a campus-wide "Task Force on Diversity," with 6significant representation from the College of Ethnic Studies administration, faculty, and 7students. 1 2 3 APRC Program Review of Raza Studies Department 4 February 2004 5 Signature Page 6 7 8 9 ______10 Oswaldo Garcia, Geosciences, Chair 11 12 13 ______14 Alvin Alvarez, Counseling 15 16 17 ______18 Yu-Charn Chen, Design & Industry 19 20 21 ______22 Mary Ann van Dam, Nursing 23 24 25 ______26 AJ Jaimes Guerrero, Women Studies 27 28 29 ______30 Bruce Heiman, Management 31 32 33 ______34 Miriam Smith, BECA 35 36 37 ______38 Saul Steier, Humanities 39 40 41 ______42 Genie Stowers, Public Administration 43 44