As part of our 5 year Program Review (2008-2009) we have revised our mission statement to:I The Department of Communication of Central Washington University prepares students to become active participants in a global society. The department emphasizes student-centered instruction in gathering and disseminating written, spoken and visual information, as well as coursework in the processes, effects and theories of human communication. The department is committed to providing a liberal education in written, oral and visual communication that engages students in an understanding of diverse cultures, and in the interaction between culture and communication. Media convergence, as well as skills in broadcast, film and video and print, is emphasized as part of the department’s commitment to hands-on learning experiences. The curriculum is intended to prepare students for careers in a range of professional fields including journalism, online media, public relations, advertising, film and video production and advanced professional studies.
Our goals and objectives are aligned with the university and college goals.
These were revised in 2007, and then expanded on in our program review, 2008-2009. 1. Develop curriculum to meet the growing needs for all forms of communication education: a. Develop master’s degree in communication, with two tracks: convergent media and intercultural communication. b. Restore advertising minor. c. Expand organizational communication minor to university centers. d. Collaborate with Gen Ed to meet outcomes for public speaking; incorporate media literacy; improve student preparation in technology. e. Grow advertising into a major (Target date, 2013) f. Establish a TT position to advise the editorial side of student media. g. Develop more career building skills into the curriculum. 2. Integrate multicultural and intercultural perspectives through entire curriculum. a. Institute a mandated study abroad in Com Studies to serve as practicum experience. b. Add additional courses to provide global and multicultural perspectives to support ethnic and area studies programs. c. Evaluate needs of diverse students to improve recruitment and retention. d. Expand outreach to ethnic communities in central Washington. e. Define the future of the Bridges Project: need to have state funding for the coordinator. 3. Assure faculty staffing adequate to support timely delivery of all courses and programs at all sites. 4.Develop premier program in NW for convergent media. 5. Develop a plan for appropriate facilities for communication programs. a. Finish the remodel of BU 214, 215, 216 and 222 for a convergent media lab including necessary teaching workstations and software. b. Work on plans for a new building with Facilities Planning. 6. Develop funding relationships with major media foundations 7. Support faculty scholarship a. Department provides one reassigned course a year on a competitive basis for completion of major scholarly/creative work. 8. Increase outreach and recruitment. a. Expand relationship with WJEA and high school journalism program. b. Set a goal that all high schools will have a public forum student media by 2015. 9. Increase faculty-led study abroad trips during the summer a.Schedule one trip each summer for the next five years. b. Provide travel funds for an exploration trip the summer prior to the scheduled trip. c. Provide reassigned time the winter term prior to the trip for administrative duties and recruitment.
The Communication Department uses the information from all assessment activities to examine and upgrade curriculum. This is espeically true of the curriculum and planning meeting held prior to fall term, and the secondary meetings held at the end of each term. Insights provided through our students' end of program essays and portfolios, and from students' internship essays are particularly useful. Trends of responses from internship supervisors are also utilized.
Since the 2003-04 program review, the Communication Department has made great strides in reaching the goals developed from the program review. However, the department still struggles with student demand that is increasing so rapidly that new faculty lines cannot keep up. It also struggles to find resources for the equipment upgrades and lab spaces necessary to sustain the department programs. At the same time, the department has received two new tenure-track lines iin 2007-08, and has started the design phase for new facilities in the Hogue Hall remodel. Our 2008-09 Program Review documented the changes and improvements since our 2003-04 review. Our reviewer was very positive about the program and our work.
2003-04 Review: 1. Faculty spread too thin 2. Need to develop a better focus 3. Need to have a better alignment with university goals 4. Work on collegiality issues. 5. Develop a long-range plan The department started with addressing collegiality issues. A facilitator was brought in to help the department work on personal issues. The department also met with colleagues from University of Washington who had recently merged oral communication with mass communication (the two major disciplines in the CWU Communication Department as well.) As part of the transition from one chair to the next, the department met informally throughout the summer to better understand the discipline perspectives of individual faculty and their hopes for the future. From those sessions, a growth plan was developed for the next ten years. The department began working on how that might be translated into curriuculum. After two years of work, the department has developed a new curriculum approach that addresses the reviewer's concerns about focus and faculty who are stretched too thin. As we gained more knowledge of each other in the department, it became easier for the department to promote faculty accomplishments to the rest of the university. As the university has become more knowledgeable of the department's accomplishments, the feelings that we are unappreciated have abated. 2008-09 Review: 1. Improve Web Site. 2. Establish more formal connections with alumni and professions through an advisory board. 3. Hone a vision statement to emphasize the focus of the department. 4. Continue the First Amendment Festival. 5. Find university funding for Bridges. 6. Secure an advertising faculty line. 7. Think about online portfolios. 8. Devise a scheduling system to solve class scheduling conflicts. For administration: 1. Determine the role of public speaking in general education. 2. Get the radio station to join the student media board. 3. Support the expansion of Communication to the branch campuses. 4. Fund a department Mac lab. (The department is funding this to open Fall 2009.
• Hiring of two new faculty members, increasing faculty size by 25 percent • Remodeling of Bouillon Hall TV studio and acquisition of new digital equipment • Successful placement of students in internships and jobs after graduation • Reform of department curriculum — most extensive in 30 years • Success of student organizations, e.g., PRSSA and BEA growing and winning awards • Creation of new student organizations — Film and Video Studies Association, a chapter of the National Broadcasting Society, Lambda Pi Eta, Society of Professional Journalists • Excellent academic service learning and internship programs — department ranks among the top five on campus for placing interns and supervising them • Strengthened major entrance requirements and screening process for applicants — department is one of just two on campus that has formal entrance requirements • Improved caliber of students due to requirements above — department rejects about one-third of student who apply • Improved student newspaper, The Observer • Received several grants for programs — BRIDGES, GEAR UP, PIPSE • Successful special events, e,g., “First Amendment Festival”
• Integration of various majors and specialties into a unified curriculum • Coping with increasing student numbers without losing quality teaching • Coping with increased demand for academic advising, and increased complexity of student needs (e.g., personal as well as academic counseling) Maintaining class availability and reasonable class numbers with limited faculty resources • Coping with tension between scholarly and practical demands of our field * Updating equipment for convergent media, broadcast journalism and film and video studies.
The department’s mission “to prepare students to become active participants in communication within -- and shaping -- modern culture” is clearly related to the university’s mission “to prepare students for responsible citizenship.. .and enlightened and productive lives.” There are few human abilities more important than communication, and few disciplines more central to the liberal arts. There are few occupations where communication skills are not essential, so communication is a bridge between the “pure” and “applied” fields of study in the university.
Leading up to the 2008-2009 Program Review, the department spent three years in examining and revising its curriculum. It established new Student Learning Outcomes for the three majors, and worked to develop more coherence within each major. The department decided to reduce the number of required courses, so that students can have electives to better tailor their individual education for their own goals. We also decided to embed a study abroad experience in Communication Studies to emphasize our commitment to multicultural/intercultural education. We have build up the convergent media track within journalism to serve not only journalism majors, but also across the curriculum. We created specialized courses in Public Relations, something students have frequently requested. We also increased the commitment to public speaking skills. We revamped our advertising minor which had languished for several years since our partner department pulled out. We created a new interdisciplinary minor NonProfit Organization Administration.
The department relies upon three main strategies for making good changes in the curriculum, current trends in the disciplines, student assessment, and feedback from the professions within the discipline. All of the faculty members are charged with staying current in their disciplines and in keeping the curriculum up-to-date. They are involved in a variety of professional development activities: attending professional conferences, research, continuing education, reading in the profession, participating in professional and academic organizations, and consulting in their professions (see faculty vita for details). These activities allow the faculty to participate in the larger discipline-wide debates about the future of communication, and to infuse those ideas into our curriculum.
The Department employs a number of ways to assess teaching performance and effectiveness including SEOIs for each course with department expectations for minimum scores on key assessment criteria spelled out in the department’s Handbook. Likewise, all faculty are required to submit copies of their Syllabi each quarter which are kept in the department’s main office for review. Tenure-track faculty with specializations in fields where adjuncts instruct are encouraged to supervise/mentor the adjuncts in classroom instruction and pedagogy. Chair visitations and peer observations are all encouraged. These methods and the expectations of the department are detailed in the Tenure and Promotion Guidelines for the department.
On file with the AVP for Undergraduate Studies
On file with the AVP for Undergraduate Studies
Our assessment is embedded in the COM 489 Portfolio course. The instructors for that course file a report at the end of the term (quantitative and qualitative) and then lead a discussion at the first faculty meeting of the following term. The reports are compiled and sent to the AVP for Undergraduate Studies at the end of the Academic Year.
Informally or formally, assessment is a continuous process for our faculty. The Department faculty have jointly developed the assessment requirements used at present for both entry and exit from the majors in accordance with the various majors’ learning outcomes. Faculty regularly rotate the portfolio assessment course amongst them so that they all have firsthand knowledge of what the student portfolios show. Likewise, faculty members attend student portfolio presentation, and many of these same students give portfolio presentations to incoming majors in Com 289, Communication Orientation.
The Communication Department has recently added its first course to the General Education curriculum, Intercultural Communication, at the request of the committee for more courses that integrate diversity into a broad-based course. A second course, Introduction to Mass Media (to be renamed Mass Media and Society) which will incorporate diversity and media literacy has been approved for Fall 2010. COM 189 Orientation has also been approved as a substitute for UNIV 101. The department recently conducted a survey of other universities to explore ways the department might help the university meet the goal of public speaking skills.
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We have begun examining more ways distance education can be used to meet our students needs. We are currently offering several courses to the university centers to support other programs. We are also using lecturers who live in Wenatchee and Yakima who deliver their courses to the central campus through DE.
COM 302, COM 345, and COM 460 are taught at all sites through DE.
We have taught FVS 250 online in the past. This summer we will add COM 370 and COM 347, and FVS 365.
Many of the Department’s faculty are frequent users of the Blackboard computer-based learning platform as augmentation to traditional classroom activities. Robert Fordan and Cynthia Mitchell are probably the best users of the system: using discussion groups, posting readings, and using it to design quizzes. Other faculty use it to facilitate grading quizzes.
Face to face is better for almost all of our courses. We have been cautious about DE courses, and only faculty with excellent student evals have been "allowed" to use the DE system. Even they receive comments on SEOIs where the students say they would have preferred face-to-face. It has also been difficult to schedule DE at the university centers. In many cases we have had to resort to lecturer-taught sections at each center because we couldn't get the logistics to work to allow us to use DE to meet the needs of the university centers. The funding system for DE instructors also limits our involvement.
We have developed relationships with two lecturers in Lynnwood who provide most of the courses we've been asked to teach at the centers. For other needs we use faculty who have taught at the central campus and reach the centers through DE. However, we currently do very little at the centers. One of our long-term goals is to introduce an organizational communication minor at each center to support the existing majors. The preliminary response has been very high for such programming, but the department currently has no financial resources to proceed.
The department has an extensive advising system for students. Students in all department majors and minors are required to meet with an assigned advisor upon admission to the program. Prior to that pre-major advising is available, as well as a one-credit class (COM 189, Communication Orientation) which is a prerequisite to applying for a major. Another course, COM 489, Portfolio Assessment is required of all students graduating in a major. The department takes advising very seriously, and tries to do it well.
The chair, or a faculty member who teaches the actual course, reviews the course syllabus to see if it meets our learning outcomes.
Most of our recruitment at this point is passive. We maintain a Web site, work with the high school journalism teachers association, participate in all major fairs and enrollment activities. The Observer, NewsWatch, and other student activities have made us known to students on and off campus. We have more students than we can currently accommodate. That said, the department is eager to begin a more aggressive recruitment program.
In the past, the department requires students to take four courses and a writing placement test before admission to the major. Students are referred to the writing center in all courses and as a result of the test scores. In our most recent curriculum revision, we have reduced the number of courses to two, but continue to require GPA minimums and the writing test.
Each major has a professional organization with a faculty advisor: Society of Professional Journalists, National Broadcast Society, Public Relations Student Society of America, the Film Club. The department also runs a grant-funded mentoring program, the Bridges Project, which allows students from our majors as well as all across campus to work with students in area schools. We also have a campus chapter of Lambda Pi Eta, the national undergraduate honor society for communication majors.
See Program Review, 2008-09
While it is hard to get accurate information, the employment record of our students appears to be good. As mentioned before, data from the Campus Placement Center shows a 70-80% placement rate for our graduates, at least as high as for other liberal arts graduates. This is especially significant given how many students we graduate each year, i.e., that we must place more students to get “our” 70-80% than departments with fewer graduates. Anecdotal reports from our graduates show them working in all areas of professional communication. Our public relations graduates work for Fortune 500 companies, prominent PR agencies (Hill & Knowlton, Burson-Marstellar, The Rockey Company), and numerous nonprofit organizations. Our journalism graduates work for regional newspapers, television stations, and as freelance filmmakers. Our communication studies graduates work in a variety of business and industry positions, including special assistant to State Governor Gary Locke.
Communication majors are involved in many programs and services. It is emphasized at every step of their academic career. Our courses are designed to include projects, team assignments, and portfolio work. Civic engagement experiences are woven throughout our courses, and of course is a fundamental component of the Bridges Project. These experiences culminate in a mandatory internship and portfolio course. Students are involved in student media, professional associations, and are essential to the myriad of university event planning that happens on this campus. That coupled with the expectation of frequent advising means that our students become participants in the campus community and within the department.
The Communication Department has 11 full-time tenure track faculty lines, of which 10 are currently filled, three annual contract faculty, plus seven adjunct faculty members. The staff consists of a half-time business manager for the student newspaper, a three quarter-time department secretary, and several work-study students who assist in the department office. The Bridges Project has a full-time coordinator and a part-time assistant, as grant funding allows.
Each faculty member ( tenured, tenure-track, and FT annual contract) receives funding for one conference of their choice. Additional funds are provided on a case by case basis for faculty to improve their skills, remain current in their field, or make connections with professionals in their field. Tenure track and beginning FT annual contract faculty are provided mentors to assist them in establishing an academic career in the department. Tenure-track faculty are given a reduced teaching load of one course to allow for development of a scholarly agenda. Faculty with identified deficiencies (low SEOIs, low scholarly or creative productivity) are asked to create an improvement plan with the chair. Mentors may be assigned as well.
Personnel Committee: Made up of three (3) members of the full-time communication faculty, all tenured. If needed, a full-time tenured member of another department may serve as a member. The Department Chair may also appoint non-tenured faculty for specific, decisions where allowed by the Faculty Code. Members are elected annually in accordance with the CBA. Chair of the committee is selected by its members. The Department Chair will schedule the first meeting of the year. Responsibilities: Review all tenure, promotion, retention, and merit documents. Assist the Department Chair with personnel issues. When necessary, develop and review criteria for personnel decisions. Oversee the adjunct instructor pool. Conduct, along with the Department Chair, personnel reviews of adjunct faculty members.
We ask our faculty to balance teaching at 60 percent, scholarship and service at 20 percent each. In reality, Communication faculty contribute a great deal of service that goes unrewarded or sometimes acknowledged.
A. Teaching: The Communication Department requires several methods of assessing pedagogy as expressed in the candidates’ self-reflective statement.
1. At least three written peer evaluations conducted during the probationary period, following approved department classroom review and observation procedures. One should be in the first year of the review period, one in the last year, and the other in between; all will be scheduled by the Personnel Committee in consultation with the candidate.
2. Department faculty members are required to obtain student evaluations of their teaching and course content for each course, each quarter. The SEOIs are one measure of teaching excellence that must be included in each dossier. If a faculty member falls below a mean of 3.75 (5.00 being excellent and 1.00 being poor) on items 28 and 29 of the current SEOI form, he/she shall meet with the department chair and department mentor to draft a teaching improvement plan. The improvement plan may include further student assessments (e.g. through focus groups or mid-term assessments) to clarify evaluations, as well as strategies for teaching improvement.
3. The candidate’s response to previous evaluation letters by the Department Chair or Personnel Committee, including:
a. Contributions to course and curriculum development
b. Currency in the candidate’s field,
c. Documented participation in field and/or teaching enrichment activities, and
d. Other relevant aspects of the candidate’s pedagogy.
e. Addressing any issues described in the previous letters.
4. Other methods of documenting teaching effectiveness are listed below. Candidates are not required to comment on each item and are free to provide evidence of items not listed.
a. Samples of Teaching:
• illustrative examples of student creative or scholastic work
• running a successful internship program
• evidence of academic students advising
• evidence of help given to colleagues on teaching improvement
• evidence of integration of technology into pedagogical applications
• evidence of implementation of service learning within courses
b. Efforts Made to Improve Teaching:
1) steps taken to evaluate and improve one's teaching (e.g., mid-quarter assessment)
2) maintaining a record of pedagogical progress resulting from self-evaluation
3) reviewing new teaching materials for possible application to courses and programs
4) collaborating on course materials with a colleague from another institution
5) participating in seminars, workshops, and professional meetings intended to improve teaching
c. Sample Information from Others:
1) unsolicited written comments from students
2) unsolicited comments on advising or out-of-class assistance
3) honors received from student groups or organizations
4) written statements from colleagues who have observed teaching
5) written comments from faculty who teach courses for which a particular course is a prerequisite
6) honors or recognitions, such as a distinguished teacher award
7) alumni ratings or other graduate feedback
8) written comments from parents of students
9) reports from employers of studentsThe faculty in Communication have diverse backgrounds that contributes to the excellence of our programs. The faculty are committed to their students and to staying current in their fields and demonstrate active scholarly and creative lives. However, we have become over-reliant on part-time faculty. This is especially true this year due to medical leaves and one sabbatical. The dean has recognized this imbalance and has found funding for an additional tenure-track line, who began Sept. 2008. We also were given an additional FVS faculty member that will raise the tenure-track numbers to 10. In spite of an 50 percent increase in majors over the last ten years, we have remained at 8 tenure-track faculty until this fall..
Data provided by Instructional Research and other appropriate offices.
See Program Review
Not Available, see discussion in program review.
The Communication Department has specific requirements for library resources. Most of those resources are marginally satisfied through the combined resources of the departmental library and the university library. Students in every major require access to books, periodicals, and the online database provided by the university library. The present library resources provide basic reference materials, but many are out of date. The department library has some useful books, journals aid other resources, but they are also in need of updating. There is a definite need for more current literature in every area of the communication discipline. Faculty have specifically requested more specialized books, software and reference books for both the university library and in the department. Communication is a social science based discipline and all forms of research are performed by both students and faculty. The need for this information and technology resources to be up to date are crucial to optimizing the potential of the department.
Faculty research needs are also only marginally being met. The faculty require a wider range of discipline specific journals, books and some audio/video materials. While there is a small selection available through the current resource channels, the situation needs the dedicated attention of a person with time to audit the current holdings, gather lists of needed resources and obtain them through the library budget, and perhaps other funding sources. Some faculty in the department find that they must access off campus library resources in order to work on research projects. Some faculty purchase the library resources that they need with personal funds. Others try to manage with what is available.
The Communication Department requires all majors to engage in information literacy activities throughout each major in the department. For example, all students in the department are required to take COM 300 Research Methods as part of the core curriculum.
The department library liaison has worked on auditing the current library collection and over the last two years books have been purchased that reflect some department needs, but not all.
The department does have its own library. However, most books are of historical use only. We do subscribe to industry publications and to regional newspapers for student and faculty use.
The department meets twice a month during the academic year, and also holds periodic retreats for longer-session projects. Department meetings are open to all faculty and staff members. Decisions are made by the faculty as a whole, with voting privileges on matters brought to a vote reserved for full-time faculty. The Department Chair is a half-time position. There is a department secretary, a business manager for student media, and a coordinator for the Bridges Project. The department uses a committee structure that reviews all major questions and recommend solutions to the department. Curriculum Committee: Made up of no fewer than three (3) members of the full-time communication faculty, with at least two being tenured. The remaining member(s) must be on tenure-track. Members are appointed annually by the Department Chair. Chair of the committee is selected by its members. Responsibilities: Review all undergraduate curricula proposals for appropriateness to meet department and university mission, goals, student needs, and accreditation standards. Assist the chair with curricular issues. Assist with undergraduate assessment. Assist with preparation of the quarterly class schedule and faculty load summary to ensure that department courses do not conflict with each other in the quarterly schedule. Assist with departmental program review and accreditation processes. Establish and maintain a faculty expertise list for staffing various courses. Review department curricula in a staggered cycle, one major per year. Personnel Committee: Made up of three (3) members of the full-time communication faculty, all tenured. If needed, a full-time tenured member of another department may serve as a member. The Department Chair may also appoint non-tenured faculty for specific, decisions where allowed by the Faculty Code. Members are appointed annually by the Department Chair. Chair of the committee is selected by its members. The Department Chair will schedule the first meeting of the year. Screening Committee: Made up of three (3) full-time members of the department faculty, all tenured or tenure- track. Staggered two-year terms. Chair of the committee is selected by its members. Responsibilities: Review the applications of students applying to department majors each quarter. Select those qualified and report the findings to the department faculty for approval. Review grievance materials submitted by students not found to be qualified for major acceptance. Send action recommendations to the Department Chair. Assign advisees to department faculty members each quarter, in consultation with each faculty member. Keep Department apprised each quarter of the faculty advising load. Monitor and propose changes to the departmental admissions process.
Currently one faculty member is on the executive board of the Faculty Senate and of the Union. A second faculty member is chairing the Accreditation effort for Central. Other faculty serve on university, faculty senate, and college committees. University service is encouraged of all faculty and is part of the promotion and tenure guidelines for the department.
Communication faculty make use of every opportunity to particiate in university governance. However, it seems in recent years that unviersity governance -- especially budgeting -- has become less transparent to faculty.
Because the department is experiencing high student demand, state-funded resources are not keeping up with the department's need for tenure-track faculty, or for part-time faculty to offer additional sections of high demand sections (as evidenced by large waiting lists.) While the dean has been very supportive, it has been diffiicult to get the funds needed for growth in a timely fashion. There has been no growth in faculty lines in ten years until September 2008. The recent creation of two new faculty lines will help relieve the pressure, but because of the budget crisis, we will not be filling a position left vacant with a retirement. Our continued overreliance on non-tenure track faculty is a concern, especially during these times of financial cuts.
The Communication Department has been involved in grant writing for over 12 years. Grants have been written to support the Bridges Project (www.cwu.edu/~bridges), including partnership in the GEAR UP grants of $13 plus million. Other grants supported the First Amendment Festival last year (www.cwu.edu/~faf) for a total of over $45,000 that sponsored year long activities and speaker series. Other donations have been secured for speaker series and student travel. Other grants have been secured by faculty for research and creative productions. The department's weakest area is in scholarships. We currently have only two small scholarships. This is an area we need to address.
Technological resources for the Communication Department have been met in some areas, and not in others. The university student newspaper is produced in the department and provides technological resources for the journalism program. Due to the efforts of the Film & Video and Broadcast Journalism professors, the immediate technological resource needs have been met but that area now requires funding for maintenance and upgrades on a regular basis. Communication Studies requires portable video recording equipment. The public relations major requires a room dedicated as a technology laboratory to continue the major with utilizing technology, as well as collaborate with other institutions on student projects. The department has begun working with Facilities Planning to develop a program for department needs in the Samuelson Union remodelling project. This is an exciting opportunity for the department to move into space that meets the departments growing needs.
The department is in desperate need of additional digital cameras for the FVS and broadcast journalism program. The national conversion to high definition television means that much of our equipment will be obsolete. Requests have been made to upgrade the equipment. The department uses some of its summer funds to purchase and maintain video equipment and editing stations, but this will be beyond the capacity of the department.
The classrooms currently available to Communication Department faculty need technology upgrades in Bouillion Hall. Most faculty rely heavily on access to Black Hall in order to integrate technology into the curriculum effectively.
All faculty were involved in discussion of the needs for the department. The chair, and the faculty television studio manager have followed through on developing the needs program with Space Planning Office.
The Department conforms to the standards of ethics of the university, as well as promoting and conforming to the professional ethics established by Society of Professional Journalists, National Broadcast Society and the Public Relations Society of America.