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Liberal Arts Program Review
University of Hawai`i
Maui College
Liberal Arts
Associate in Arts Degree
Program Review
2012-2013
Jennifer Owen
Liberal Arts Coordinator
Mission of the Associate in Arts Degree Program in Liberal Arts
The Associate in Arts Degree Program in Liberal Arts is designed to provide students with a broad education in liberal arts and/or to prepare them for transfer to a baccalaureate degree program at a four-year college or university.
I. QUANTITATIVE INDICATORS
A. Demand based on enrollment
· Number of students with a focus in the Liberal Arts FY 12-13: 2034
Table 1: Number of students declaring a Liberal Arts major and percentage of increase or decrease of such students from year to year.
F 07 / 08-09 / 09-10 / 10-11 / 11-12 / 12-131,288 / 1,574 / 2014 / 2160 / 2149 / 2034
12% increase / 22% increase / 28% increase / 7% increase / ½% (.5%) decrease / 5.3% decrease
The number of students categorized as Liberal Arts majors decreased for the second year in a row, after many years of increases.
· SSH for students declaring a Liberal Arts major: 25,598
Student Semester Hours (SSH) for students declaring as Liberal Arts majors have also decreased for the second year, with a 5.3% decrease.
· SSH for non-Liberal Arts Majors: 12,570
SSH in Liberal Arts classes for majors in other programs have decreased for the first time (a 7% decrease) after a 3% increase in the previous year following an 11% increase in 10-11, a 27% increase in 09-10, and a 62% increase in 08-09.
· SSH for all Liberal Arts classes: 37,198
SSH in all Liberal Arts classes have decreased 5% in the last year as compared to a 1 ½ % decrease in 11-12, an 8% increase in 10-11, a 29% increase in 09-10, and an 86% increase in 08-09.
· FTE Enrollment for students with a focus in the Liberal Arts: 1,240
The number of Full Time Equivalents (FTE) has similarly decreased 5% in the last year after a 1 ½ % decrease in 11-12, an 8% increase in 10-11 and an increase of 29% in 09-10. FTE is calculated as 15 credits per term.
· Number of Liberal Arts Classes Taught: 574
With moderate 5% decreases in SSH and FTE for Liberal Arts Majors, the number of Liberal Arts classes have basically stayed the same as a year ago, with four more classes offered than during the previous year. The average class size decreased by approximately one student per class, from 22.9 in 11-12 to 21.8 in 12-13.
Table 2: Number of Liberal Arts Classes taught and percentage increase of such classes from year to year.
08-09 / 09-10 / 10-11 / 11-12 / 12-13401 / 496 / 567 / 570 / 574
77% increase / 24% increase / 14% increase / ½ % increase / ½ % increase
B. Efficiency
· Average Class Size in Liberal Arts classes: 21.8
Table 3: Average class size in Liberal Arts classes
08-09 / 09-10 / 10-11 / 11-12 / 12-1323.6 / 24.7 / 23.7 / 22.9 / 21.8
· Fill Rate: 89.6%
Table 4: Fill rate in Liberal Arts classes
08-09 / 09-10 / 10-11 / 11-12 / 12-1391% / 94% / 92% / 88% / 89.6
· FTE BOR appointed program faculty: 32.7
The number of Full Time Equivalent Board of Regents (BOR) appointed program faculty has increased to 32.7 from the previous year’s 32.3. This positive news reflects the hiring of one full time English faculty and one full time Math faculty, both temporary faculty positions paid for by the C3T grant. No new positions were created in Liberal Arts. Furthermore, Liberal Arts is far from caught up to the FTE BOR in 2009-2010, which was 37.8. The current number of 32.7 reflects a continued failure to add new positions in areas where more and more lecturers are being hired full time to teach the growing number of liberal arts classes.
· Number of majors per FTE BOR Appointed Faculty: 62.2
This number decreased from 66.6 the previous year (a 6 ½% decrease), indicating primarily the effect of a 5% decrease in Liberal Arts majors and indicating secondarily the effect of creating two temporary faculty positions, which helped address the Liberal Arts’ need for more faculty positions.
Table 5: Number of students declaring Liberal Arts major per FTE BOR appointed faculty
07-08 / 08-09 / 09-10 / 10-11 / 11-12 / 12-1329 / 45.5 / 53.3 / 72.0 / 66.6 / 62.2
· Analytic FTE Faculty: 62.9
· Number of Low-Enrolled Classes (Under 10 Enrolled): 38
The number of low-enrolled classes increased by two. With enrollments decreasing for the second year, UHMC’s Liberal Arts Program will need to consider offering slightly fewer courses going forward so as to maintain a healthy fill rate and class size.
C. Effectiveness
· Successful Completion: 75%
Completion of courses with a C grade or higher has increased from 73% the year before.
· Withdrawals: 770
Withdrawals have decreased substantially from 846 from the year before.
· Persistence of majors fall to spring: 68.6%
Table 6: Persistence
07-08 / 08-09 / 09-10 / 10-11 / 11-12 / 12-13Face to face classes / 66% / 70% / 73% / 72% / 72% / 68.6%
Online classes / 76% / 70% / 79% / 69% / 74%
· Number of AA Degrees Awarded: 171
Table 7: AA Degrees awarded 2006-2013
2006-7 / 2007-8 / 2008-9 / 2009-10 / 2010-11 / 2011-12 / 2012-1397 / 96 / 96 / 122 / 152 / 161* / 171
The number of degrees awarded increased 6.2%
· Number of students classified as Liberal Arts majors transferring within the UH System without earning an AA Degree: 112
The number of students transferred within the UH System increased dramatically from 69 to 112. Since transfer is one of the goals of the Liberal Arts Program, UHMC can consider the sum of degrees awarded (171) and transfers (112) as the total picture of success. Therefore, UHMC has experienced a 23% increase over the year before in total AA in Liberal Arts degrees awarded and Liberal Arts student transfers within the UH System. Perhaps more students are staying within the state for higher education because of economic pressures and the affordability of state tuition. The UHCC Memorandum of Agreement (Executive Policy E5.209) that accepts each college’s foundation requirements and the “Automatic Admission” policy within the UHCC system is also encouraging such transfers.
The “number of students transferred” refers only to transfers within the UH college system. The UH Institutional Research Office has no data for students who transferred to educational institutions in other states.
Graduation in the Liberal Arts is tied to the AA Degree. However, not all Liberal Arts students aspire to earn the AA Degree. UHMC supports a system to more accurately identify students’ goals when they enter college, such as the proposed “General Studies pre-major.” Students declaring this pre-major would then clarify their goals as they refine their educational plan during their studies at UHMC and would not be erroneously classified as part of the Liberal Arts Program.
Furthermore, given that the number of transfer students is higher than what is being officially reported, the number of UHMC Liberal Arts students achieving their goals (which includes transfer to a four-year college outside of the state) is higher than the sum of those earning the AA degree from UHMC and transferring within the UH system.
II. OUTCOME AND GOAL ACHIEVEMENT
A. Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
In addition to the College-wide Academic Student Learning Outcomes, graduates who qualify for the A.A. degree in Liberal Arts perform the following skills in multiple fields of study at a level that shows readiness for upper division college coursework:
1) Demonstrate an understanding of theories, practices, histories, and key issues of a field of study using essential terminology and concepts of the discipline.
2) Use theories, concepts, and practices of a field of study to analyze evidence, artifacts, and/or texts and produce interpretations, hypotheses, evaluations, or conclusions.
3) Apply theories and/or methods of a field of study to perform practical, scholarly, and/or creative tasks that respond to social, cultural, environmental, or economic issues.
Program Map
See pp. 18-19 in UHMC’s 2013-2014 online or printed catalog.
Assessment Plan
AA PLOs / Fall 2010 / Spring 2011 / Fall 2011 / Spring 2012 / Fall 2012 / Spring 2013 / Fall 2013Students will demonstrate knowledge of the individual in relation to behavior, ideas and values. / PSY 240
(indirect) / PSY 240
BIOL 100
(indirect) / PSY 100 & PSY 240
(direct) / Analysis of direct assessments / Approved revised AA Degree in LA (with new PLOs) / Assessment
Of new PLOs
in Soc. Sci.
courses ECON
130 or 131 and
ANTH 200
Students will demonstrate knowledge of the diversity of human conditions and cultures in local and global communities. / HIST 151 & 152 SOC 100
(indirect) / Direct assessment of PLO #2 / Analysis of direct assessments / Assessment
Of new PLOs
In Global Multi-
Cultural Founda-
Tions course
REL 150
Students will demonstrate knowledge of techniques of creative expression and its evaluation. / ART 105
(direct) / HUM 100 (indirect) ART 105 ART 243/244
(direct & indirect) / HUM 100 (indirect) ART 105 ART 243/244
(direct & indirect) / Analysis of direct assessments / Direct assessment of PLO #3 / Analysis of direct assessments
Students will demonstrate knowledge of natural systems and environmental issues. / BOT 105 OCN 201
ASTR 110
(indirect) / BOT 105
(indirect)
Students will demonstrate knowledge of the multiple dimensions of the Asia/Pacific region. / HIST 242
(indirect) / Direct assessment of PLO #5 / Analysis of direct assessments / Action Plan
Students will demonstrate knowledge of the multiple dimensions of Hawai’i. / GEOG 122
HAW 107
BOT 105
(indirect) / BOT 105
(indirect) / Direct assessment of PLO #6 / Analysis of direct assessments / Action Plan
B. Analysis of Student Outcome and Goal Achievement
Direct assessments of PLOs #2 & #3 of the AA degree in Liberal Arts were conducted during fall semester 2012 and analyzed and evaluated during spring semester 2013. Fall 2012, major revisions to the AA degree in Liberal Arts were approved by the Liberal Arts faculty and during spring 2013 were approved by the Chancellor of UHMC and the UH Board of Regents. During spring 2013 the Liberal Arts faculty approved newly drafted PLOs appropriate to the revised degree requirements, and revised the assessment plan (as seen above) to accommodate the new PLOs and degree requirements. Fall 2013, the Liberal Arts faculty has begun to implement the assessment plan with direct assessments of 3 - 4 courses that fulfill the Global Multi-Cultural Perspectives Foundation requirement and the Social Sciences requirement.
During the spring of 2012, Liberal Arts faculty decided that the level of achievement required of graduates earning the AA Degree in Liberal Arts should demonstrate sufficient understanding of AA Degree Program Learning Outcomes and their associated hallmarks to demonstrate the proficiency expected from a UHMC graduate earning the degree. This “expected proficiency” is not precisely measurable or quantifiable, and so must be determined through faculty discussions such as those arising out of the current assessment process.
Since exemplary work is usually deemed adequate for graduates of the AA Degree Program in Liberal Arts, faculty attending assessment sessions look at both “exemplary” and “minimally passing” student work, but are only asked to decide whether the “minimally passing” work is acceptable for graduation with the AA Degree in Liberal Arts.
An evaluation of the spring 2012 assessments of the Hawai`i Emphasis PLO (in three courses) was undertaken by a group of 32 volunteer Liberal Arts faculty members who met on Nov. 2, 2012. At the Nov. 2 meeting, 13 Liberal Arts faculty members filled out an assessment form for HIST 284 (History of Hawai`i), 18 faculty members filled out an assessment form for HWST 107 (Hawai`i: Center of the Pacific), and 20 faculty members filled out an assessment form for BOT 105/HWST 211 (Hawaiian Ethnobotony). When faculty members evaluated student work that was categorized as “minimally passing” or “C” work, they concluded in 37 cases (73%) that the evidence of student learning demonstrated sufficient understanding of the hallmarks associated with Hawai`i Emphasis to demonstrate the proficiency we would expect from a UHMC graduate earning the AA Degree in Liberal Arts. In 14 cases (27%), faculty members concluded that the “minimally passing” student work did not demonstrate sufficient evidence of the hallmarks associated with Hawai`i Emphasis to demonstrate the proficiency we would expect from a UHMC graduate earning the AA Degree in Liberal Arts.
Faculty from many disciplines in the Liberal Arts looked over samples of “exemplary” and “minimally passing” student work from the three courses, along with written commentary by the teachers (to give context to the student work in relation to the PLO, the related hallmarks, and other course work). The 32 faculty participated in discussion, heard additional clarification from one of the teachers who had conducted the assessment, and wrote comments about whether the quality of the sampled student work is adequate for UHMC graduates in the Liberal Arts (LA) program and whether and how the assessment process could be improved.