Indiana University - Purdue University Fort Wayne

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Indiana University - Purdue University Fort Wayne
Program Review 2005-2011
Department of English and Linguistics
Written by Hardin Aasand, Chair with the assistance of the Writing Program Committee, the Undergraduate Studies and Assessment Committee, the Graduate Studies Committee, and the Ad Hoc Program Review Committee
11/22/2011

Contents

Summary 5

Recommendations for 2012-19 7

Mission and Goals 9

Currency of Program 9

Program Review and Planning 10

Recommendations 11

Undergraduate Curriculum 11

Curricular Offerings and the Strategic Plan 12

Undergraduate Enrollment Data 13

Comparison of program with Comparable Institutions: 14

Recommendations: 17

Graduate Curriculum 18

Introduction: Program Changes since Previous Assessment (1995—2004) 18

Current Outcomes Statement 20

Assessment: Sample Graduate Essays 20

Assessment: MA / MAT Exit Survey 21

Conclusions and Recommendations 30

Teaching English as a New Language Certificate/License Program 32

Writing Program 36

The First-Year Composition Program 36

Placement 36

ENG-W131-The General Education Requirement. 38

ENG-W129-Introductory Elementary Composition 39

First-year writing for non-native speakers. 39

Assessment of Instructors 40

Assessment of Student Learning. 40

The Advanced Composition Program 41

ENG-W233-Advanced Composition. 41

ENG-W232 and ENG-331-Business Writing 41

ENG-W234 and ENG-421-Technical Writing 42

Delivery Systems 42

Administration 42

Conclusions and Recommendations 44

Appleseed Writing Project (AWP) 47

Delivery 48

Distance learning in the Department 48

Curricular Outcomes and Course Rotation 49

Recommendations re: Course Rotations 50

Faculty 51

Faculty Proportions 51

Specializations 51

Continuing Lecturers 55

Concerns Regarding Continuing Lecturers 55

Limited Term Lecturers 55

Hiring of Long Term Lecturer 56

Evaluation and Compensation for Long Term Lecturer 56

Service of Long Term Lecturer 56

Governance Structure and Faculty Participation: 64

Recommendations: 67

Students 68

Advising system/philosophy 68

Support Services/Communication with Students 69

Student Organizations: 70

Recruiting/Retention 70

Career Counseling 71

Accomplishments: 72

Recommendations 74

Other Programs/Services 75

The Visiting Writer’s Series 75

Center of Excellence: Three Rivers Language Center 75

The Appleseed Writing Project 75

The Chicago Shakespeare Trip 76

The Film Series 76

Clio 76

Marlowe Studies 77

Confluence 77

The Student-Faculty Reading Series 77

Departmental Awards Program 78

Individually Undertaken Activities 78

Recommendations 80

S&E 85

Student Awards 85

Final Analysis and Recommendations 88

Introduction

This Program Review focused on the years 2004-5 through 2010-11. It follows the recommendations of the OAA memorandum No. 05-4 (February 20, 2006; rev. September 3, 2009) in terms of structure and expectations. The report was drafted by the chair with the assistance of an ad hoc committee chosen during the spring 2010 department meeting, a committee delegated with drafting specific sections (e.g. Graduate Program curriculum—Michael Stapleton, Writing Program—Stevens Amidon and Karol Dehr; Alumni and outreach—Chad Thompson) and revising the report in toto. The Department owes a special note of gratitude to a number of entities: the Office of Institutional Research for its cumulative and focused data for the intervening years since the last report, the Associate Dean for Faculty Development, Dr. Elaine Blakemore; the Internal Review Committee; and the office of the VCAA, Dr. William McKinney.

Summary

The IPFW Department of English and Linguistics undergraduate and graduate programs – with concentrations and minors in literature, creative and professional writing, linguistics , and folklore -- support the mission of the institution. The department’s mission includes both general education courses, which serve to introduce students to academic studies and to promote critical skills in reading, writing, and language, and also major-intensive courses, which promote advanced study in the disciplines of literature, composition/rhetoric, and linguistics.

To fulfill this mission, the department embraces the following outcomes for its students:

1. The department expects that its majors will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of literary, historical, linguistic, and rhetorical conventions and traditions of English through careful reading and interpretation, and critically sound oral and written expression reflective of this integration of curriculum material.

2. The department develops students’ analytical and rhetorical skills by equipping them to compose persuasive, critically precise essays that reveal an integration of research skills with their acquired curriculum.

3. The department encourages students to demonstrate through peer review of written work and sound use of sources in scholarly writing a respect for their colleagues and for the intellectual property used in their research. Student respect for class attendance and for critical engagement in dealing with secondary sources reflect personal integrity and a responsible acquisition of ethical values in academic studies.

4. The department promotes critical and civil discourse by enabling students to appreciate diverse communities and beliefs through literary, linguistic, and rhetorical studies that expose them to myriad heterogeneous voices. Students write essays and respond verbally to questions that have abiding historical and cultural significance (e.g. consequences of war, racism, nationalism, personal bias).

The mission of the Department of English and Linguistics (pace IPFW Strategic Plan 2008-14) is to “foster” the higher education needs of northeast Indiana by offering high quality instruction and pursuing excellence in research and creative endeavor in the disciplines of writing, literature, folklore, linguistics, and related fields [see page 8 for a full presentation]. It offers undergraduate and master’s-level degree programs in English, as well as minors in English, creative writing, folklore, linguistics, and professional writing. The department also offers undergraduate and graduate certificates in Teaching English as a New Language (Licensure endorsement of the certificates is also provided through the Indiana Department of Education). The Department is committed to developing the intellectual, cultural, economic, and human resources of the community, not only through the intellectual work of its faculty and its course offerings, but also through outreach programs such as the Appleseed Writing Project, the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre Trip, and the IPFW Visiting Writers Program. In addition, with the creation of the Three Rivers Language Center as a Center of Excellence, the department is able to engage IPFW’s community through the promotion of sustained indigenous languages and language recovery of endangered languages.

As the 2004 Program Review suggested, the Department of English and Linguistics is a broad umbrella that covers a wide range of disciplines and sub-disciplines: composition and rhetoric, linguistics and Teaching English as a New Language, literature (British, American, and Comparative), creative and professional writing, film, classics and folklore. The description of the program as “multivalent” remains true in 2010-11. The tone of the 2003-04 summary emphasized “conflict” over cooperation; the department of 2011, however, is a collegial community of diverse yet equally committed faculty dedicated to the dissemination of the basic humanistic values taught within our various disciplines. Thus, while the earlier summary discussed conflicting agendas based on conflicting faculty concerns over tenure-track, continuing lecturer, and limited term lecturer employment, the department today seems more accepting of the current configuration of assignments. It is perhaps arguable that the employment of a new generation of tenure-track faculty in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010 has reversed some of this “conflict.”

The Department continues to provide a healthy balance of service courses and specialized undergraduate and graduate courses. During the past three years, the department has revised its graduate program to incorporate more graduate-level courses, created a TENL License program for its certificate program, and proposed a new major in Linguistics to take advantage of our new hire in Linguistics. In addition, the Department is playing a significant role in developing a program in Medieval Studies as a vehicle for highlighting the expertise of IPFW faculty with preparation in Medieval Studies. When the 2003-04 incarnation of this report was written, the department had 23 tenured/tenure-track faculty, five continuing lecturers, and two instructors. As of this writing, we now have 24 tenured/tenure-track faculty, five continuing lecturers, and one visiting assistant professor. Though the resignation of one faculty member in 2009 reduced our tenure ranks, the department gained a new tenure-track line in linguistics and created a visiting professor position to support our interests in adding African American literature to our general education offerings.

The 2003-04 report highlighted in its opening narrative a range of recommendations for the years subsequent to its findings:

1. Fully staff and enroll existing programs so that majors can complete the core and required courses

2. Specific needs include:

· New lines for faculty to teach areas of literature not currently covered, including literatures from around the world.

· Development of teaching English as a new Language offerings to provide for state licensure

· Amplification of offerings in folklore to support the Folklore Minor

3. Professionalize its writing program by

· Improving the salaries and working conditions of limited term lecturers

· Decreasing its reliance on limited term lecturers in the writing program

· Increasing access to computerized classrooms

· Filling existing vacancies in the composition program

· Expanding offerings to meet the demand for creative writing courses

4. Add new programs once existing programs are adequately staffed. High priorities include a major in linguistics and an intensive English program.

To accomplish these goals the department must propose at least thirteen new and replacement faculty lines to serve curricular development, and it must redistribute non-personnel resources, seeking augmentation where justified, particularly in terms of travel support and office space. The department must also develop or revise curricula in a number of new and existing sub-disciplines. In addition, it should continue to foster a wide range of non-curricular activities, such as the Visiting Writers Series and the Appleseed Writing Project.

Since that report, the department has made significant progress on those recommendations in subsequent years:

1) The department has continued to staff fully our programs so that our majors can complete the core and required courses in two-year cycles. We have also begun to offer courses in Native American, Asian and African American literature courses and expand the global nature of our course to incorporate literature that is truly global in nature.

2) The department saw the application and the approval for a licensure in TENL during 2008. Dr. Hao Sun successfully shepherded this application with the assistance of the SOE.

3) The department has created a graduated scale of salaries for LTLs to provide for better compensation based on years of service. In addition, the department has increased the amount of faculty development funds from $50 to coverage of at least 50% of the cost (if not 100%) of one conference a year for each LTL.

4) The department pursued and completed a number of new hirings:

In 2006, the department hired three faculty to fill vacancies in the composition program and an additional position in Renaissance studies.
In 2007, the department hired a scholar in Victorian literature who also is responsible for Native American literature courses. 2007 also saw the hire of a new department chair who arrived with a background in Renaissance studies and generalist preparation to supplement the department’s general education and advanced literature needs.
2008 saw the conversion of a previous lecturer to a tenure-track position in creative writing/technical writing and the arrival of a medievalist to fill a vacancy.
2010 provided the department with a new faculty member in rhetoric and composition and a new position in linguistics to support our new major proposal in linguistics.

In general, the recommendations of the last review were implemented by the new chair during his first three-year term at IPFW. That said, the need to offer more folklore courses and creative writing sections through additional appointments has been initially addressed but remains an ongoing need. The following general recommendations are proposed for the next seven years of the department’s programs (more specific goals are distributed throughout the report and presented at the conclusion):

General Recommendations for 2012-19

1. The department needs several new positions: one in American Literature dedicated to minority and multicultural literature; one in a number of key areas in linguistics, creative writing, rhetoric and composition, and World Literature/general humanities..

2. The department needs to hire additional continuing lecturer(s) to supplement our folklore offerings and offer additional sections of W103 to provide for more General Education courses in area 5 and to create interest in the creative writing curriculum for potential majors.

3. The department should provide for a graduated scale of compensation for Continuing Lecturers or seek a new category of Senior Lecturer to invest in long-term veterans in the department.

4. The department should create an Advisory Council of profit and non-profit advisors to provide it with curricular and non-curricular advice and direction.

5. The department should develop new scholarship opportunities and enhance existing scholarships through financial support and planning.

6. The department should seek a permanent internship director to provide for systematic internships/service learning program.

7. The department should complete a curriculum map to improve future assessment and program review.

Mission and Goals

To fulfill this mission, the department embraces the following outcomes for its students: