QUESTION: StudentsI1

The department has an accounting club for students.  It is very active in bringing in speakers.  The department also offers a help lab for accounting students to help them understand difficult accounting concepts.

The department cooperates with career services organizing recruiting events on both in Ellensburg and at the Westside centers.  Individual firms also come to campus.  

We contribute to the enrichment of student experience through participation and leadership in programming of scholarly and cultural events (SOURCE – annual conference, Quarterly Poster Presentations in COTS, Margaret Mead Film Festival, Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Program, Gender Symposium).  Program review demonstrated that students are pleased with the instruction and faculty mentorship that they receive in the department.

The visual arts is one of the most difficlut fields to obtain immediate employment wih only a BA or better yet the BFA.  Our more gifted individuals in studio art enter gradaute programs around the country to obtain their terminal MFA degree that allows for emploeymnt in K-12, colleges and universities nationwide.  BFA Graphic Design specialization holders are able to obtain work relatively easily and many are employed in their field a short while after graduation.

Currently student programs and services are adequate, but could be improved upon.  The department advises every student every term they are enrolled, both with respect to academic and career advising, and would like to increase the ability to offer more career advising to students and graduates.

An online graduate forum has been developed for graduates to share job links and network and communicate with one another and current students.

Visitors and presenters from industry come to the department 3-4 times per term, on average, to provide opportunities for students to learn about career opportunities.  Additionally, workshops on resume writing and interviewing have been offered.

The department is pleased with the overall effectiveness of our student programs and services. Award winning presentations and success after graduation reflect only a piece of Chemistry Department student achievements.  Dozens of students have received undergraduate research grants from the Office of Undergraduate Research or the College of the Sciences.  Each year at least one and sometimes three students have been awarded CWU Alumni Association Departmental Scholarships.  The Chemistry Club regularly receives recognition from the ACS for the service they provide.

Table 11 A.    Chemistry Department Graduate Placement
	Industry	Graduate School	Teaching	Professional Programs	Other	Unknown
Undergraduate Students	13	17	6	2	3	15
Graduate Students	3	1	2			

Table 11 B.  Specific placement for Chemistry Department Graduate Students
Student Name	Year	Placement
Brenda Broers	2002	Teaching: Wenatchee Comm. College
Tony Brown	2002	Industry:  Central Washington University
Marie Dunn	2002	Teaching: Yakima Valley Comm. College
Manshun Lai	2001	Industry: Cell Therapeutics
Melissa Mackey	2003	PhD Program: University of Cincinnati
Marc Walker	2001	Industry:  Novartis

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.

January, 2008
We believe that through the activities of extenal program review combined with annual program assessment, we have established a process for fairly evaluating our program and planning program changes.  Changes in the last five years show that the program is vital and that is can react in a flexible way to changes and new focus areas within the discipline.  Summary reports containg data and describing changes can be found at the departmental website http://www.cwu.edu/~cs_dept/accred&review.html.

Our internship program is off to a good start, but we would like to expand it for Literature majors as well.  During the 2006-2007 academic year, we had twelve internships.  We do need to do more in the area of career placement, and we are currently working with Career Services to create more options.

See answers to Section 3 E.

Family Studies
The development of the Family Resource Center (FRC) will continue to be a critical component to the services and opportunities afforded to both graduate and undergraduate students in Family Studies. One example of the effectiveness of this opportunity took place during the fall of 2007.  Students in the capstone Family Life Education (FCSF433) course engaged in a service learning project with the FRC.  They conducted a community wide needs assessment to inform the direction of the FRC.  These students reported that it was one of the most relevant experiences of their education because they were able to see first-hand what types of services were available to support children and families in the Ellensburg and Kittitas County community.  They also gained a solid knowledge base of how their education could be applied through employment in a host of different agencies and services that serve families and children.

Fashion Merchandising
In first year of tenure-track position therefore there is no extended history for student programs and services.  As of September 2007 there has been a significant increase in student advising with letters and e-mails being sent to all Fashion Merchandising students informing them of their new advisor and requesting them to make an appointment.  There has also been a significant increase in student pre-majors which is reflective of the new professor and updated course materials to coincide with industry information.

Our department is too new to assess student programs and services.  has been Four of our 10 faculty have been on board for only one quarter.  Two are still ABD and all of their energies are going into finishing Phds.  
As a department we don't have a history to evaluate.

UPDATED JULY 2008
Department advising is generally excellent.  Students receive individualized advising for their "4-year" plan.  In addition, any student who wishes advice about graduate school or job placement will always find a faculty member willing to help. 

Other services also appear to be effective.  The department has a positive record of retention, and our recruitment into the major is also effective. This is based on the observation that during the last 10 years, many geology departments have gotten smaller or stayed the same size, whereas we have grown substantially. Students also have success in the job and graduate school market.  Most of our students who seek geology employment or admission to graduate school are successful.   

Students are generally satisfied with advising, student clubs and counseling.  Students do lack sufficent study and group space with in the Hogue Technology building.

Based on our November 2007 assessment plan, we will be implementing a Student Advisory Council to meet quarterly with the purposes of providing curriculum, assessment, and student feedback to the department. We anticipate good, constructive feedback from this group that will be analyzed and implemented by the faculty, when appropriate.

Law and Justice students go on to careers as law enforcement officers, probation and correctional officers, and as paralegals and lawyers. Our paralegal graduates work in law offices, for company legal departments and in court administration. Some students successfully enter law school or graduate school. Each year several LAJ students are accepted into the McNair Program and pursue graduate degrees.  The Washington State Patrol reports that a higher percentage of CWU LAJ students are hired and successfully complete training than from any other Washington institution. Our current students and graduates work for police agencies throughout the state including Bremerton, Ellensburg, Grant County, Kittitas County, Yakima County, Whatcom County, Des Moines, Kent, Kennewick, Mount Lake Terrace, Richland, Shoreline, Tacoma, Wenatchee, Yakima, Port of Seattle, and Dept. of Fish & Wildlife. Our graduates are also employed with the INS, National Security Administration, and Bureau of Land Management. The current Normandy Park Police Chief is a CWU graduate, as is the former first woman chief of the Washington State Patrol, who was Deputy Administrator of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, and recently appointed to the CWU Board of Trustees. Recent alumi data suggest nearly 70% of our graduates are employed in Law and Justice fields. 

The Mathematics program has grown significantly in enrollment since 1997. This has allowed the inclusion of a wider variety of traditional mathematical topics. Students have been participating (and succeeding) in national mathematical contests (COMAP MCM, Putnam Examination, and NSF REU programs). The program has also been successful at sending graduates on to graduate schools. The Secondary Teaching program continues to recruit and place qualified candidates and graduates respectively. Students have been doing well on external standards such as the WEST-E Praxis Exam. The Actuarial Science program continues to have a strong passing rate on the SOA/CAS Examinations and to place students into appropriate positions after graduation.

We attempt to acknowledge the uniqueness of each students background, goals and aptitude. Great care is taken to ensure that students feel welcome and valued, through attitudes encouraged by faculty, staff, and students. Personal attention of applied instructors, major classroom teachers, and ensemble directors is critical to enabling this goal.  Music students spend a lot of time alone, practicing and studying. This in itself leads many to discover their abilities to take responsibility for their actions and their own education. Tangible strategies for practice and preparation are often the primary focus in the first years of undergraduate study, in hopes that these experiences will lead to self-directed preparation in recital performances, etc.  

Health Programs:  School Health Program – The School Health major with a Health/Fitness endorsement contains the most teacher preparation content and process courses related to health than any other university in the northwest.  Our majors are more than simply prepared to enter the school setting…they are empowered to assist young people navigate the tough decisions needed to grow into health, productive, responsible adults.  Public Health Program – Students that major in Public Health can expect to find a faculty that is genuinely concerned about their development as young professionals.  Our commitment to quality advising coupled with an open-door approach to meeting with our students genuinely make students feel valued, respected, and welcomed.  Public Health faculty practice the public health philosophy of “meet them where they are, and gently invite them to grow.”

Physical Education

Food Science & Nutrition:  The faculty in FSN play an active role in advising students both in their academic studies while at CWU and in careers and internships after they graduate.

Para-medicine:  N/A

Exercise Science:  In 2000, student numbers in the major were approximately 40.  By 2004, student numbers had grown to about 80 while today, approximately 160 students are registered as Exercise Science majors with another 40 or so registered as Athletic Training minors – a program also under the Exercise Science umbrella.

Graduate Programs:  N/A

Over all, the department provides good service to students. Besides in the classroom, faculty maintain communication with students via other channels such as student club and honors societies. They also provides career advice. In addition, the faculty host a spring BBQ party for students every year.   

The Department has mixed feelings about its overall effectiveness in offering student programs and services.  The Department is extremely pleased with faculty/student advising and the accomplishments of its students, particularly the consistent annual recognition of its CWU Society of Physics Chapter.  Some areas where the Department is looking at improving include:

1. Recruitment.  This includes recruiting CWU students into the major as well as recruiting incoming freshmen and transfer students to CWU (and subsequently the physics major).  The Physics Department is interested in developing a color brochure for recruitment, but at this time funding is not available.  The Physics Department is also revising its website with the assistance of the COTS office.  The improvement of the Department’s website (in conjunction with an improvement in the COTS and CWU website – which is necessary) plays a significant role in the recruitment of new students to the program.

2. Student accomplishments.  Although pleased with what physics students have accomplished, the Physics Department believes there is always room for improvement.  This would include an increase in the number of external presentations made by physics majors as well as an increase in the number of student co-authors in refereed journal articles.

Based on our record of student accomplishment, the department appears to be relatively successful at aiding, directly or indirectly, student achievement - given that the vast majority of our students do not choose to either work in the field of politics or go into graduate school in political science (more go to law school).  Admittedly, we have little to compare this to, but it does appear that more students are involved directly in the field both during and after their college career.  Still, as mentioned, students expressed desire for more active departmental assistance in this area in our senior exit survey, and the department is now trying to respond to this.  While we continue to believe that such services are not the primary responsibility of the department, we do recognize that more effort could be made to reach out to students and attempt to assist them and Career Services in their life after graduation. As mentioned above, we are attempting to do more in this area, and it is part of the Department’s future goals to increase internships, study abroad and direct career or graduate school placements in the future.  Through this and the assessment process we hope to achieve such results.
Jah. 08			

(January 2008)
• The department offers a wide range of advising and support services. Each psychology major  is assigned to an advisor and have at least one advisory meeting. A 2004 survey showed that the average graduating senior had visited an advisor about three times, rated the quality of their advice at 5.4 on a 7-point scale, and most frequently sought advice about classes, graduate school, and career planning. Our capstone course, now in its first year, will expand these advisory services and should allow us to more closely track the careers of our students after graduation. 

• Between student choice of undergraduate advisors and assigned graduate advisors, the advisement load is fairly evenly distributed. 

• We maintain helpful resources on the web. 

• We are generally satisfied with our current services and the new directions we are taking. However, efforts to establish a drop-in advisement center have not taken root and we have no regular system for maintaining contact with students who have graduated from our program. 

Department faculty members are involved in research activities that extend well beyond our locale.  Dr. Appleton’s multi-year voting survey, Dr. Dugan’s multi-year study of inmates in the Thurston county jail, Dr. Cleary’s policy research with Native American Indian tribes concerning issues such as education, gaming and federal grants, Dr. Xiao’s comprehensive study of Chinese family structure, values and child-rearing practices, Dr. Wessel’s research on undergraduate study abroad experiences and programs, Dr. Pichardo’s studies of social movements and political activism, Dr. Hennessy’s analysis of women on welfare, and Dr. Johnson’s longitudinal study of agricultural and industrial water metering across the state, are all examples of department activities which raise awareness of the role of CWU plays in our state and region.  

The Theatre Arts Department has had a long and effective history of student organizations which continues and has grown recently to provide opportunities in areas of student interest.  

The Student Advisory Council (SAC) was established to give feedback to the faculty on matters in department organization, function and academic issues.  It has shifted from time to time in is organization but regularly elects members from the department student population that reflects the various interests.

Theatre Mayhem was established as an improvisation group which allows students to hone skills in improv.  Students self-elect members through an audition process annually.  Several public performances are held through the academic year as well as outreach to the local high school.  The group participates regularly at regional festivals.

Central Theatre Club (CTC) invites all CWU students with an interest in Theatre to participate in regular events such as visits to touring theatrical productions and region theatre venues.  They are active in assisting theatre majors in career development activities such as securing photographers for head shots which are required for resumes and portfolios.

United Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) specializes in activities for students with technical theatre interest.  Established in 2004 the group is working to become the only chartered student club of the national trade organization in the Pacific Northwest.  They are associated with the NW chapter of the national organization and attend two meetings annually with faculty and student peers from several colleges regionally for training activates and fellowship. The CWU USITT club hosts the annual “Tech Olympics” at the Northwest Drama Conference.

Stage Combat Club was established as a result of faculty scholarship interests and student interest in stage combat.  Students can audition for placement in this club after learning basic skills in the Stage Combat Fundaments course.  The goal of the club is to allow additional training and scholarship opportunities as well as a recruitment arm of the department.  The troupe has begun to hold performances and workshops for areas high schools and regional festivals and conferences.