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DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
Action Plan
Endorsed by the Executive Committee (October 10, 2007)
Approved by the Faculty (October 19, 2007)
Revised in Consultation with Dean’s Office (December 18, 2007)
The Department of Political Science’s Action Plan emerges from systematic and comprehensive reviews and reports prepared by the Department’s Self-Study Committee, the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, a team of external reviewers, and the University Senate’s Academic Program Review Committee. Those evaluations reveal a Department that has made substantial and significant strides since its last program review and is now poised to pursue an ambitious vision for the future. According to the External Reviewers’ Report, the Department of Political Science at Georgia State University “has improved impressively in recent years and there is a structurally sound foundation in place for further growth.” The APRC Report describes “a department with a great deal of energy and talent to bring to bear on the upward trajectory of its activities and reputation.” The Dean’s Office Response to the Self-Study Report confirms that the Department’s “progress bodes well for the future” and welcomes identification of “what resources [the Department] will need to receive in order to consolidate its recent gains and continue to improve the quality of its instructional and research programs.” The Action Plan presented below is designed precisely to achieve that goal.
Overview of relevant findings: the Department of Political Science and its Central Role at Georgia State University
Faculty
The Department currently has 21 tenured or tenure-track faculty members (2 full professors, 9 associate professors, and 10 assistant professors). It also has 4.5 non-tenure track faculty, which includes a Senior Lecturer, two Lecturers, and 1.5 visiting lecturers. These numbers represent modest increases over the previous academic program review period, and they also represent a net gain since completion of the 2006 Self Study. They do, however, reveal a department that remains undersized relative to many of its peer and aspirational institutions (UNC-Chapel Hill, 40 full-time faculty; Rutgers University, 40; University of Maryland, 39; Arizona State, 31; University of South Carolina, 35; University of Tennessee-Knoxville, 31; Temple University, 29; Florida State University, 28; Wayne State University, 26). Importantly, it remains undersized given the increasing student demand at Georgia State University for Political Science courses. Despite its still small size, the Georgia State faculty is recognized for its accomplishments in research, instruction, and service. The External Reviewers assessed the faculty as “research active” with “adequate productivity to support its degree programs.” While noting that the faculty need to improve in generating external funding and securing publication of research in more prestigious outlets, the External Reviewers conclude, “given adequate support from the college and university, there is certainly reason for optimism that the faculty-based reputation of the department will increase substantially within the next few years.” The APRC Report confirms “a nearly ten-fold increase in the number of journal articles and an increase of about 100% in the number of other forms of scholarly and creative work” by Political Science faculty. The Dean’s Response letter applauds the faculty for a “dramatic rise in ranking.”
Undergraduate Instruction
By every measure, the Department of Political Science has expanded and improved its instruction at the undergraduate level. The number of majors has more than doubled since its last program review, and the Department’s commitment to teaching students in the University’s core curriculum has meant an annual average of more than 15,000 credit hours (double the service provided at the time of the last Action Plan). In the current semester (Fall 2007) the Department is teaching approximately 2,500 students in the core and more than 12,200 credit hours overall. Growth in faculty size has not been commensurate with the Department’s expansion in instructional service, which means that Political Science teaches some of the largest classes on campus (in Fall 2007 no department in the College of Arts and Sciences has on average more students per class than Political Science) and is excessively reliant on GTAs and non-tenure track faculty to handle courses in the core. Despite these constraints, Political Science “ranks very high on measures of teaching effectiveness and curricula quality” (APRC Report). It is also actively seeking to improve both effectiveness and quality through innovations in advising, supplemental instruction, and course redesign (funded two years running at $50,000 under the Provost’s RPG program). Such initiatives are labeled “noteworthy and important” by the External Reviewers who acknowledge “the seriousness of the department’s commitment to assessing the performance of its majors effectively.” In its Response to the Self-Study, the Dean’s Office professed to being “especially impressed with refinements that have occurred at the undergraduate level, including the formation and success of department sponsored extracurricular teams and its receipt of the Provost’s 2006 Instructional Effectiveness Award;” however, the Dean registered concern “about the class size at the lower and upper undergraduate level.” Of further note is the Department’s resource needs as it prepares to meet the University’s Critical Thinking Through Writing Quality Enhancement Plan—Political Science will need additional faculty to restructure one existing course (POLS 3800 Political Science Research) and create an entirely new one (Senior Capstone Seminars) in sufficient numbers and of small size to achieve that mandate.
Graduate Programs and Instruction
Strong graduate programs are absolutely central to the Department’s current identity and to its plans for future growth. The Self Study describes MA and Ph.D. programs that have become “more robust” since the last review. Students are more frequently presenting research at professional conferences, getting their work published, earning grants and fellowships, and securing jobs related to their academic training. Graduate students are benefiting from the faculty’s enhanced research profile. The External Reviewers concur that “all degree programs are viable…The department’s emphasis on building and strengthening its Ph.D. program is appropriate and worthy of attention from the university. Increasing the department’s ability to compete effectively for as many strong Ph.D. students as it can sustain is important.” The same finding is echoed by the APRC Report, which recommends that “the department increase the quality, and then size, of its Ph.D. cohorts.” The theme is continued by the Dean’s Office, which “strongly support[s] the plans to focus on improving the graduate program, with particular emphasis on the Ph.D. program.” What emerges quite clearly from this extended review of the Department’s graduate programs is the reality that the way to strengthen existing graduate programs is through increasingly competitive stipends, more aggressive and focused recruitment, and a reduction in the teaching burden of GTAs by hiring additional tenure-track faculty.
Staff and Resources for Support
The Department currently has three full-time staff positions: a Business Manager II, an Administrative Coordinator Sr., and an Administrative Assistant. There is, additionally, a half-time student assistant. Given the faculty’s expanding research, instructional, and service responsibilities, the External Reviewers concluded that “The department’s administrative resources are inadequate to meet its expanded needs. The department especially needs an additional staff person whose primary responsibility will be directing the department’s undergraduate advising activities.” The Dean has agreed and previously sought support for an additional Political Science staff position under the Provost’s new funding request for FY08. Since still unrealized, that request will by necessity be renewed here. Beyond issues of understaffing, the program review reveals continuing concerns about physical space. The External Reviewers found the “department’s current space is generally functional and attractive,” but “the department’s basic faculty and staff needs will soon grow well beyond what can be accommodated in its current space.” This, then, reminds the Department of the call from eight years ago that “Expansion of the department on the tenth floor of GCB, where the department is currently located, is the best short-term solution” (1999 Political Science Action Plan). The Dean’s Response letter “fully agrees[s] that the department faces serious space constraints, and we are actively working with the university to plan for more and better space for the department.” In terms of technological resources, the External Reviewers’ Report finds that “Computer support resources for undergraduate and especially graduate students are inadequate.”
Centrality
The Department’s Self Study Report presents a clear and extensive case for the centrality of Political Science to the broader mission of Georgia State University. That report is corroborated by the APRC, which finds “The Department of Political Science is central to the goals and priorities of the University as detailed in the 2005-2010 strategic plan.” Further validation is provided by the External Reviewers who conclude that the Department of Political Science at Georgia State University is one that “enthusiastically embraces the university’s vision of excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service, that has used wisely the resources which the university has provided, that has thought hard and creatively about how best to contribute to the university’s continued development and progress, and that merits continued investment by the university.” Core instruction in American Government as well as Global Issues means that Political Science contributes substantially and significantly to the general education of Georgia State undergraduates, providing them with the skills necessary to analyze and understand contemporary issues in a multicultural and global environment. The Department has been among the University leaders in seeking improvements in the retention, progression, and graduation of undergraduates. Expertise, instruction, and outreach in areas such as state and local government, urban politics, African-American politics, and public policy means that Political Science is effectively dedicated to emphasizing the University’s location at the heart of a major urban city. Strong connections with multiple departments, centers and programs mean that Political Science prioritizes and cultivates interdisciplinary approaches to research and teaching. Study abroad programs, international strategic initiatives (including back-to-back ISI awards funded in FY07 and FY08 for South Africa and Northern Ireland), and extensive faculty involvement in international research means a Department that makes profound contributions to the University’s goal of being recognized as a center for international excellence. Highly successful academic teams (Model United Nations, Model Arab League, Mock Trial) and internship programs (including the Georgia Legislative Internship Program) directly contribute to the University’s goal of increasing student engagement through active learning, practica, and other immersion experiences. Renewed emphasis on training doctoral students capable of securing positions at prominent academic institutions means a Department that fully supports the University’s commitment to improving preparation of Ph.D. students. Given the nature of the contemporary world—at both local and global levels—a strong Political Science department is vital for a major research university. The Department of Political Science at Georgia State University has already demonstrated the promise of being a program of distinction. With tools and vision in place, the Department now requires the resources and University commitment to implement a strategically focused plan for realizing that promise.
STRATEGIC ACTION PLAN
Drawing upon the findings of its Self-Study as well as the reports of APRC and external reviewers, the Department of Political Science seeks:
1. To grow the Department to a faculty size commensurate with its research and instructional missions;
Political Science is currently at 24 FTEs. If successful in all of its ongoing FY08 faculty recruitment efforts, the Department will begin the 2008-09 academic year at 28 FTEs. To achieve the strategic goals detailed below, however, the Department will need to expand to a target size of 35 faculty. These goals include: building three areas of research focus, enlarging the doctoral program, satisfying the University’s Critical Thinking Through Writing Quality Enhancement Plan, meeting unmet and new demand in core curriculum courses, and reducing one of the University’s highest average class sizes. Growing to the target size of 35 faculty will, moreover, allow the Department to more closely approximate Political Science programs at peer and aspirational institutions. The Department will seek to hire at multiple levels: three senior faculty (Associate or Full) hires corresponding to each of the three areas of strategic research focus, two tenure-track Assistant Professors, and two Lecturers. Striving to hire the best scholars in the field, the Department will also simultaneously continue to seize upon opportunities to increase faculty diversity. Political Science has made important strides to correct a gender imbalance (five new faculty hires since December 2005 have been women), but the Department is cognizant of the remaining need to address other underrepresented groups as well.
2. To achieve and maintain a national reputation as a program of distinction by refining its strategic focus;
For much of its history, the Department of Political Science at Georgia State University followed as best as possible a strategy of comprehensiveness, attempting to cover the entire discipline as broadly as it could. Such an approach meant an expansive approach to hiring, filling substantive and area holes when they emerged. The approach also meant laying claim to roughly equivalent capabilities to train doctoral students in the five traditional fields of the discipline—American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Politics, Political Theory, and Public Administration/Policy. That approach served the Department reasonably well, and much of the success enjoyed since the last program review can be attributed to the wisdom and leadership of those who constructed and implemented that strategy. However, following its 2006-07 academic program review, the Department is ready to take a further step in its maturation. To achieve a sustainable national reputation as a program of distinction, the Department must more clearly define and refine its identity. It must identify areas of existing strength, market those strengths more effectively in faculty as well as graduate student recruitment, and therefore put itself more solidly in a position to enhance a reputation built upon recognized comparative advantages.
This narrowing of strategic focus is a consistent refrain in all of the Department’s program review documents. The Self-Study Report targets improved recruitment and retention of research-intensive faculty as critical to the Department’s future success, and it also sets increasing the number and quality of graduate students as prominent objectives. Achieving both ends obviously requires resources of the kind enumerated later in this Action Plan; however, recruitment of outstanding faculty and doctoral students will just as obviously be more successful when the Department becomes known as “the place to be” for those wishing to study or conduct research in specified areas. The External Reviewers persuasively recommend that the Department embark upon a “niche strategy”: