Criminal Justice Program Review 2015-2020
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PREPARED BY CRIMINAL JUSTICE FACULTY THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL, CULTURAL, AND JUSTICE CRIMINAL JUSTICE STUDIES THE UNIVERSITY OF PROGRAM REVIEW TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA 2015-2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Figures 3 List of Appendices 4 Preface/History 5 Part 1 Learning Objectives (Outcomes) 7 Part 2 Curriculum 16 Part 3 Student Experiences 34 Part 4 Faculty 45 Part 5 Learning Resources 59 Part 6 Support 61 2 TABLE OF FIGURES Figure Topic Page 1a Criminal Justice Program Campus Labs Data Collection Process 9 1b Select Core Courses and Learning Outcome Assessment 10 1c Curriculum Map 11 1d Internship Assessment Rating 14 1e Competency #3 Critical Thinking 14 1f Sample Positions Held by Undergraduate Students 15 2a Number of Criminal Justice Undergraduate Majors 19 2b Number of Undergraduate Degrees Awarded 19 2c Courses Offered from Fall 2017-Spring 2019 21 2d Course offerings Outside the Major 24 2e NSEE Student Survey , Critical Thinking 29 2f NSEE Student Survey, Problem Solving 30 2.g NSEE Student Survey, Written Discourse 33 2h NSEE Student Survey, Oral Discourse 34 3a Criminal Justice Average Course Learning Evaluation Scores (2018-19) 35 3b SCJS Average Course Learning Evaluation Scores (2018-19) 36 3c Average Course Learning Evaluation Scores (2018-19) 37 3d UTC Average Course Learning Evaluation Scores (2018-19) 38 3e Criminal Justice Average Course Learning Evaluation Scores (2014-18) 39 3f SCJS Average Course Learning Scores (2016-18) 39 3g CAS Average Course Learning Evaluation Scores (2014-18) 40 3h UTC Average Course Learning Scores (2014-18) 40 3i Student Involvement in the Criminal Justice Internship Program 41 3j Criminal Justice Student Presentations at Research Dialogues 42 3k Criminal Justice Student Presentations at Reg. and Natl. Conferences 43 4a SCH Totals for Criminal Justice Faculty 47 4b SCH Totals for College of Arts and Science Faculty 47 4c SCH totals for UTC 48 4d Percentage of Classes Taught by full-time vs. Adjunct Faculty 48 4e Faculty Gender and Ethnicity (full-time) 49 4f Faculty Gender and Ethnicity (Adjuncts) 49 3 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix Topic 1a CJLO 5 1b Sample Syllabi 1c Clear Path 2019-2020 1d Sample Assignments and Activities 1e Site Supervisor’s Evaluation 1f Internship Pass Rates 1g Course Learning Evaluations 2a Clear Path 2013-2014 2b Student Enrollment 3a Evaluations 4a Listing of Class by Instructor 4b Faculty Curricula Vita 4c Adjunct Curricula Vita 4d Faculty Teaching Loads 4e Student Credit Hour Production 4f Gender, Race/Ethnicity of Faculty 4g Faculty Evaluations 4h Professional Development for the Past Five Years 4i Student-Alumni Surveys 6a Budget 6b Enrollment Data 6c Retention Data 6d Graduation Data 4 PREFACE/HISTORY Departmental Structure The Criminal Justice Program is part of the Department of Social, Cultural, and Justice Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, which is part of the University of Tennessee System. One of the largest programs within the College, the program offers face-to-face and on-line undergraduate degrees in Criminal Justice, as well as an undergraduate minor and a graduate program. Faculty members also contribute to the General Education curriculum in the category of Behavioral Science. Organizational Chart Randy Boyd Interim President of the University of Tennessee System Steve Angle Chancellor of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Jerold L. Hale Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Joe Wilferth Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Lynn Purkey Interim Head of the Department of Social, Cultural, and Justice Studies Karen McGuffee Associate Head of the Department of Social, Cultural, and Justice Studies Gale Iles Graduate Program Coordinator Mission The mission of the Department of Social, Cultural, and Justice Studies is to prepare students for professional and personal success in the context of a strong liberal arts education. The Department is committed to coursework that is grounded in theory, research, and community engagement to help students prepare for careers in their respective fields. Emphasis is placed on intellectual, experiential, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities that will prepare students to become ethically informed, culturally sensitive, engaged scholars, able to address global, national, regional, and local challenges. More specifically the mission of the Criminal Justice Program is to help students acquire a solid footing in the core of the criminal justice system and to explore crime and its social, cultural, and political implications. Departmental History During the 1990s, the Criminal Justice Program was part of the School of Social and Community Services, which, in 2003 split into different departments, including Criminal Justice. As of August 1, 2015, the Department of Criminal Justice merged with the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Geography to form the Department of Social, Cultural, and Justice Studies. Other recent changes include the elimination of the Legal Assistant Studies program, which became redundant when Chattanooga State Community College introduced a similar program that was virtually free of charge to students under the Tennessee Promise scholarship program. Trends Although college enrollments across the nation decreased by 7% from 2010 to 2017 (see https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cha.asp), the Criminal Justice Program has steadily grown over the past ten years. This is no doubt due in part to the fact that it hosts the university’s only fully on-line program for students with an associate degree (students without an associate 5 degree may need to take some classes face-to-face). Obviously, this is extremely beneficial for students who work or have other obligations. Response to Previous Findings and Recommendations The last review was quite favorable on the whole and highlighted several aspects unique to the Criminal Justice Program at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, including the undergraduate on-line program and the diversity of faculty, students, and the curriculum, as well as the program’s unique orientation towards the liberal arts. It also noted the efficacy of the program in fulfilling its mission, the high level of faculty scholarship and high-quality teaching. However, the report also indicated some areas for improvement, particularly the dearth of full- time faculty and resources, on-going issues with assessment, and the need for better facilities. In addition, it suggested more shared governance and greater exposure of the program. The reviewer of the last report repeatedly lamented the dearth of faculty in the Criminal Justice Program, which was inadequate to sustain the large number of students in the program and to provide the necessary support for the graduate program. As of this writing, enrollments have reached 400 undergraduate and 25 graduate students majoring in Criminal Justice. In 2013-2014, the reviewer suggested adding at least two tenure-lines, with an Assistant and an Associate or advanced Assistant Professor and two more graduate assistants. While staffing and a dearth of faculty continues to be a problem, the department is searching for two Assistant Professors and a lecturer in Criminal Justice this year, which will at least replace lost lines, and the program has funded additional graduate students, to help ameliorate the burden that faculty members bear. In connection with this, the reviewer suggested lowering the teaching load. Criminal Justice has long sustained a twelve-credit-hour teaching load, while some other members of the department have a nine-credit-hour teaching load. However, in the fall of 2019, the department voted to change the teaching load to nine to ten hours for all tenure-line faculty members and twelve for all lecturers. While this is feasible in part of the department, Criminal Justice was not able to fully move to this for the spring because of a lack of faculty, but with new hires next fall, it will be able to sustain this move with the judicious use of graduate assistants and on-line adjuncts. Assessment was another significant area that the last few reports have indicated needed improvement. The last reviewer recommended the following: “The Department must begin a serious and methodical process of mapping the curriculum and conducting internal […] assessment of learning objectives, outcomes and student success. […] I would strongly encourage the faculty to undertake a systemic review and formal mapping of the curriculum and create its own internal assessments of student and faculty performance.” In addition, the reviewer suggested some other curricular changes, including moving from an external to an internal assessment program, and focusing on areas more consistent with the program orientation, as well as eliminating some coursework that falls outside of those parameters or which are specialty courses that stretch limited resources. The faculty have taken this to heart and created a very thorough system of assessing learning outcomes tied to individual courses, which they track each semester, as indicated below in Part 2 of this report. In addition, they have eliminated some courses and realigned the curriculum more thoroughly to ensure that each course has learning outcomes that align with department goals. 6 The reviewer also emphasized the poor conditions of physical space housing the program. Since that time the Criminal Justice faculty have moved temporarily from their former building to the State Office Building. This space is more conducive to collaboration with colleagues and graduate teaching assistants. However, while this space is larger, there is a lack of space for working with undergraduate students. There are plans to relocate Criminal Justice together with the rest of the Department of Social, Cultural, and Justice Studies in the next two years, which may alleviate this issue. An additional recommendation concerns the need for greater exposure at the University, community, and state level for the program. In concert with this, the reviewer suggested seeking more grants and external funding and raising the research and publication level required for tenure, promotion, and merit pay.