Self Study Report
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Department of Latina and Latino Studies College of Ethnic Studies Seventh Cycle Program Review – Self Study Report June 2017 Revised August 2017 The enclosed self-study report was submitted for external review on August 25, 2017 and sent to reviewers on October 4th, 2017. Latina/Latino Studies San Francisco State University 7th Cycle Program Review 2017 Table of Contents 1.0 Executive Summary ....................................................................................................1 2.0 Overview of the Program ...........................................................................................4 2.1 Latina/Latino Studies (LTNS) Mission Statement ....................................................4 2.2 Educational Value of the Curriculum ........................................................................5 3.0 Program Indicators ......................................................................................................6 3.1 Program Planning: Revisiting Previous Departmental Review .................................6 3.2 Student Learning and Achievement .........................................................................10 3.2a Retention, Completion and Time to Degree ..................................................15 3.2b Results from LTNS Student Surveys .............................................................16 3.3 The Curriculum ....................................................................................................... 37 3.3a Culminating Experience Requirement .......................................................... 38 3.3b General Education Courses ........................................................................... 38 3.3c Complementary Studies Requirement ........................................................... 39 3.3d Easing the Transition of Transfer Students ................................................... 39 3.3e Curriculum Challenges and Areas for Development .................................... 40 3.3f The Curriculum and Current/Future Directions in the Discipline ................. 41 3.4 Faculty .................................................................................................................... 43 3.4a Teaching Concentrations in the Department’s Curriculum .......................... 45 3.4b Support Provided for Faculty ........................................................................ 49 3.4c Extracurricular Activities and Research ....................................................... 53 3.4d Faculty Service Contributions ...................................................................... 58 3.5 Resources ................................................................................................................ 60 4.0 Conclusions, Plans, and Goals ................................................................................. 63 4.1 Student Learning and Achievement ................................................................ 63 4.2 Curriculum ...................................................................................................... 64 4.3 Faculty ............................................................................................................ 64 4.4 Resources ........................................................................................................ 65 5.0 Appendices ................................................................................................................. 68 Appendix A: Fifth Cycle MOU Appendix B: Pathway for the Major Appendix C: LTNS Lower Division GE Certified Courses Appendix D: LTNS Upper Division GE Certified Courses. Appendix E: Required Course Offerings Appendix F: Cross-listed Courses Appendix G: LTNS BA Roadmap Appendix H: LTNS BA Roadmap (Social Justice Studies Associate Degree) Appendix I: LTNS BA Roadmap (Spanish Associate Degree) Appendix J: Articulation Agreements (2016-2017) Appendix K: Articulation Agreements (2017-2018) Appendix L: RTP Guidelines Appendix M: Faculty CVs Appendix N: Teaching Assignments (Fall 2016) Appendix O: Physical Space Assigned to the Department Appendix P: Latina/Latino Studies Department Budget Latina/Latino Studies at San Francisco State University 7th Cycle Program Review 2017 1.0 Executive Summary Starting with our revised Mission Statement that highlights the educational value of our curriculum and links to the University Mission, our Seventh Cycle Program Review is a collaborative effort by all of our tenured/tenure-track faculty and our two permanent lecturers. The review begins with an introduction to our department and an overview that looks at our last six years. Our review then focuses on Latina/o students and an analysis of student enrollment in our department. A series of graphs shows important data, especially the Student-Faculty-Ratios, which are higher than any other department in our College, and even higher than that of the College of Business. Other data provides information regarding retention and completion time to degree. A series of surveys from both current students and alumni shows that our department is having a major impact on our students. Students speak of the role our faculty and department have played in their academic major choices, their career choices and, without exaggerating, the overall impact that our department, faculty and curriculum have had on their lives. Program Planning Findings: The department actively engaged in SF State’s most recent General Education (GE) revision process as a way to engage in program planning. We believe that this has made a positive impact on our students’ graduation rates. We approached the General Education revision process as an opportunity to pare down the department’s GE offerings a bit. The new GE courses are now less widespread across our curriculum than before. The revised General Education offerings of the Latina/Latino Studies department have served Latina/Latino Studies majors and the general student population. The Student Learning Outcomes requirement of the General Education submission process helped us reach out to non-majors and frame disciplinary methods and knowledge within broader educational contexts. Goals: We plan to dedicate a faculty retreat to evaluating our curriculum changes and assess our program's offerings. Student Learning and Achievement Findings: The student/alumni survey shows that students want more time with faculty in areas of independent study and research. We have also found that Community Service Learning (CSL) is the most successful high impact practice within our curriculum. Although we have perhaps the strongest CSL component of any department at San Francisco State University, and have a high graduation ratio of our students, the reality is that our success is not sustainable with the current low level of budgetary support. Goals: Our goal is to work with the College office to assure that hiring is equitable for Latina/Latino Studies (i.e. retirees should have their lines reopened for a new hire). Another goal is to offer community service in conjunction with more of our classes but we need additional 1 support to spread CSL across the curriculum. We need to be able to offer more secure compensation to support the service learning work of our permanent lecturer, Felix Kury. An additional .4 time assignment for Felix Kury would cover the necessary compensation for this key component of our curriculum. We will also work with the College to secure funding for Teaching Assistants and for Clínica Martín-Baró (one of the most popular CSL sites). The Curriculum Findings: The Latina/Latino Studies Department currently has an open-ended pathway for completing the requirements for the major. We are primarily focused on assisting majors and minors who are trying to complete their requirements for graduation. However, developing each semester’s schedule has been a major challenge of our department due to the fact that we have few faculty members in relation to the number of students that we serve. Problems of bottlenecking and frequency of classes are issues that we face every semester. Bottleneck courses are understood as those courses that are required for graduation and regularly attract more students than can be enrolled. The three bottleneck courses are LTNS 215: Introduction to Latina/Latino Studies, LTNS 410: Seminar on Gender and Latinas, LTNS 435: Oral History and Traditions; and LTNS 680: Community Organizing. All four are core courses required for graduation. The department has witnessed a rising number of majors and a shrinking number of faculty. Required courses are often offered only once a year, they fill quickly, and we don’t have the resources to offer them again. Goals: We would like to offer classes at a wider variety of times. Student survey responses indicate that this is a concern. Students have also requested more opportunities for mentoring, advising, and research with faculty. We would like to offer students these opportunities to develop their scholarship but also want to make sure that faculty mentors are adequately compensated. The department plans to host workshops that address student questions regarding career options for Latina/Latino Studies majors. We plan to reach out to successful graduates so that current students hear from their peers. Given more resources, time, and faculty we would like to offer our own Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR) course for Latina/Latino Studies majors. The GWAR class is currently offered as an Ethnic Studies course. None of