Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts2010-2011 Annual Report

Mission Statement: The Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts is committed to providing a transformative education for all students and to preparing majors in humanities and fine arts for positions of leadership and stewardship in the complex, diverse, and interdependent world of the twenty-first century. To this end, the College emphasizes the values of intellectual vitality, moral activism, aesthetic appreciation, and creative engagement within and beyond the classroom. These values are realized:

Through the disciplined refining of skills in careful reading, clear thinking, close observation, effective writing, and persuasive argument, and

Through student mastery of the body of knowledge specific to each major within the College.

In its emphasis on students as makers of the world they inhabit, the College serves its ultimate goal: to prepare each student to live a thoughtful and fulfilling life as a responsible and responsive human being.

Vision Statement: We are an intellectual and artistic community that cultivates a passion for rational thought, creative expression, and moral responsibility.

Core Values:We are student-centered We work for the common good of our College, our University, our community We respect academic and intellectual diversity We commit ourselves to student accessibility We promise transparency of deliberations and decision-making We strive for excellence, creativity, and originality

ASSESSMENT

Structure of Assessment (Who is responsible for the assessment in your area?):

Starting in the Summer of 2011, the Associate Dean for the Humanities, Dr. Carol Osborne, directed assessment within the Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts and reported on assessment to the Dean. With the assistance of the College Assessment Coordinator, Ellen Arnold, she worked directly with the nine Department Chairs, one Graduate Director, and three Directors of Centers to update and establish clear assessment plans for each academic program, to insure that such plans are followed and that stated assessment tools are used, and to edit the resulting assessment reports from each area. These final reports included the explanations of results and use of results for continuous improvement for that year. Within their areas, each Chair is responsible for implementing the posted departmental assessment, and each has a growing number of interested faculty members who help administer various parts of the assessment plan. Also, a college-wide COHFA Assessment Committee made up of

representatives from each department in the College and chaired by Dr. Osborne meets regularly throughout the academic year to evaluate College assessment plans and results and to make recommendations to the Dean.

Identify the strengths you have found as a consequence of the assessment:

(1) The College of Humanities and Fine Arts now shows signs of developing a “culture of assessment,” in which assessment is understood to be an important part of decision-making in the College and within departments.

(2) Most departments have deepened the level of involvement in the assessment process so that the chair is not solely responsible for some or all of the steps of assessment. The departments of Visual Arts, Communication, English, World Languages & Cultures, and Philosophy & Religious Studies either have or are developing standing assessment committees.

(3) As a whole, the College is applying a wide variety of assessment measures, both direct and indirect. Direct measures range from objective tests, to evaluation of student performance by faculty teams, to assessment of oral presentation, to assessment of student writing. Indirect measures include student self-assessments, exit surveys, and exit interviews. In addition, multiple measures of assessment are being used within eight majors. In two cases (English and Philosophy), Writing Portfolio assessment has been enabled by University Assessment Grants, important since writing assessment is labor-intensive for faculty and involves tasks beyond the normal expectations for departmental service.

(4) Just as in previous years, according to the various assessment tools now in use, the majority of our majors tend to master the basic skills and background information required of their disciplines at a level that “meets or exceeds departmental expectations” by the time they graduate. For example, 91.1% of the majors enrolled in HIST 250 are able to distinguish between primary and secondary sources by the end of the course and 92.5 % recognize correct Chicago Style documentation; 87.4% of English majors are proficient in defining, describing, and identifying salient features of literary works; and 87.5% of the Philosophy majors performed at the acceptable level in identifying major theories.

(5) Likewise, by the time majors arrive at the upper-level courses within the major, their skills and knowledge have advanced from where they were two or three years earlier. Departments note strengths in essential abilities such as identification of key figures or concepts, understanding of terminology, and verbal and reading comprehension. Seven departments are now assessing student learning over time (either comparing knowledge and skill levels of sophomores and seniors or comparing assessments given before and after instruction). For example, 37% of Political Science majors are able to identify key concepts and theories of international relations and of international political and economic institutions, societies, and systems as sophomores as opposed to 65% as seniors. 90% of the Graphic Design majors scored excellent or very good in their senior exhibit.

(6) As in past years, assessments that are specifically performance-based and that require an application of knowledge in practice, such as those that involve rating students actually performing music, doing acting, and making art, as well as participating in group activities or presenting posters and other such “performances,” tend to indicate higher levels of proficiency in the students being assessed than more traditional standardized tests, class exams, or essays writing. Whether these assessment practices are better or worse at actually assessing student learning has not been determined by the College, but students seem to learn more or perhaps simply show more of that learning through performance. For example, all the Music majors passed the sophomore barrier exams in voice and keyboard. The Theatre Department

assessments showed the majors were very strong in movement and rehearsing and performing dramatic texts.

Identify the challenges you have found as a consequence of assessment:

(1) For some departments, faculty involvement and confidence in the process of assessment continue to be the biggest challenges. Because program assessment involves a shift from the accustomed grading of individual students within individual courses to a larger view of how courses and programs demonstrate student learning, its success depends on faculty seeing themselves as part of a larger effort. Some departments are still in the process of developing this mindset.

(2) Some departments are finding that standardized test results do not align easily with current SLO’s. They are in the process of developing new exit exams or revising ones currently in use so that all SLO’s are addressed with more precision.

(3) Some departments continue to struggle with the systematic collection of data, the development and consistent use of departmentally-developed, detailed rubrics, and sufficient analysis and dissemination of assessment results to the members of the department.

(4) The areas of student learning that are most challenging for students are, not surprisingly, the higher-order areas of critical thinking. Assessments across the College record lower levels of success with understanding abstract concepts, applying theory, and critically evaluating the work or ideas of others.

(5) Student writing continues to be a concern across the College. Although some departments note marked improvement when writing done early in the student’s career is compared to writing done in the senior year, many departments document students’ difficulty with multiple levels of writing skills, from mechanics and sentence structure to research and argumentation.

What are the changes based on assessment results?

Making generalizations about student learning across the College is made more difficult by the wide variety of assessment methods and reporting styles among the departments. For instance, while many departments have clearly stated benchmarks for department expectations, a large number still do not. As an assessment culture gains footing in the College, patterns should become clearer. Nonetheless, at this point, it is possible to see that assessment has brought about a number of important changes this year.

(1) Changes in assessment methods or instruments, SLOs, etc. Many of the departments in the College have revised their approaches to assessment in some way this year, from modifying test questions to rewriting Student Learning Outcomes. Philosophy created in-class assessments for each required course in the major and the Visual Arts department plans to utilize an outside critic in assessing student portfolios.

(2) Changes in course content Several departments have used assessment results to guide substantive redesign of course content in order to realign more closely with Student Learning Outcomes. English is creating a template for ENGL 300, outlining common goals and objectives for textual analysis and research methods across sections, and the Spanish faculty are changing the focus of their reading classes to include more texts about Spanish-speaking cultures. Theatre has added more critical discussion of all production activity in all performance-based and majors-only classes, and Philosophy is putting more emphasis on writing in 200-level courses.

(3) Changes in curriculum Many departments have dropped, added, or created courses for the major at least partly in response to assessment results. Politics added courses and increased major requirements in the area of American government and politics. English is advising their majors to take ENGL 459, Advanced Composition, and ENGL 300 early in the program. One department, Communication, has been involved in a complete reorganization of the major into four separate tracks.

(4) Changes within departments In some cases, the choice of new faculty hires has been impacted by assessment (English, History, Theatre). In others, standing committees and faculty development/training opportunities were created as a result of assessment (English, Philosophy & Religious Studies).

(5) Other Especially in the Department of Theatre and in the Centers that are associated with the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, assessment has led to expanded opportunities outside of the classroom for students. In response to student feedback that suggested there was not enough opportunity to perform in faculty-directed shows, the Theatre Department expanded its production schedule from 4 shows in AY2006-07 to a projected 7 shows in AY 2011-12. Jackson Scholars are involved with outreach efforts in a middle school, the Waccamaw Center funds a work study student to digitize and upload audio and video materials on the HCOHLP website, and the Center for Archaeology and Anthropology involved approximately ten students in survey and excavation activities in lowcountry sites.

New Projects and Initiatives

The Edwards College recruited 18 new tenure-track faculty and 10 new lecturers for fall 2010. Faculty created 56 new undergraduate courses and 6 new graduate courses. New travel abroad opportunities were created (including Spring Break in Paris, a collaboration

between History, Arts, and French, and a trip to Cuba, a collaboration of World Languages and Politics & Geography).

The Art Department began a partnership with the Nanjing Arts Institute (with Easton Selby traveling to China to serve as Guest Lecturer and Critic) and finalized the 2+2 arrangement with HGTC for their Graphic Design majors.

The Music Department implemented an audition process for incoming majors The English Department, in conjunction with Dean Burd and the library staff, developed a pilot

program pairing twenty sections of ENGL 101 with newly-developed literacy labs. The following minors were created: Medical Humanities (Philosophy & Religious Studies),

Intelligence and Security Studies (Politics & Geography), Photography (Visual Arts), Graphic Design (for Art Studio majors) and Art Studio (for Graphic Design majors). The Middle Eastern Studies minor and the Global Studies minor were updated.

The Communication Department developed 4 concentrations: Communication Studies, Health Communication, Interactive Journalism, and Public Relations/ Integrated Communication.

Grants and Other Externally-Funded Activities

Faculty received numerous external grants, with some of the most prestigious being listed below:

Arne Flaten received a book publication grant for Middeldorf Collection from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation ($10K).

Brandon Palmer received a Freeman Foundation Faculty-Student Research Grant through ASIANetwork ($30,424).

Paul Olsen and Ken Townsend received a $3,000 grant from the United States Marine Corps Heritage Museum .

Suheir Daoud received an honorarium from the Chr. Michelsen Institute in Norway and Muwatin, the Palestinian Institute for the Study of Democracy, for “Gendering Faith: Palestinian Women and the Islamic Revival” ($7000 over three years).

Roy Talbert received a grant from the Georgetown Baptist Historical Society ($5,000). Daniel Cross Turner received a grant from the Watson-Brown Foundation for “Blue Ridge to Blue

Sea: Literature and History of the U.S. South,” an interdisciplinary travel course ($16,520). Cheryl Ward secured a grant from the Antiquities Endowment Fund of the American Research

Center in Egypt for Artifact Conservation and Storage at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis: A Pharaonic Harbor on the Red Sea ($25,482).

COHFA faculty secured more than $32,000 in Research Enhancement and Research Council Grants and an additional $16,000 from other internal funding sources. In addition, both the English Department and the Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies received Assessment Grants.

Scholarly and Creative Accomplishments

Faculty published eight books and more than 120 individual scholarly works (articles, book reviews, essays, poems, works of fiction, etc.) during the academic year.

Faculty made more than 190 separate scholarly presentations; 40 at international conferences, 62 at national conferences, 31 at state and regional conferences, and 49 at local venues. Faculty in the arts recorded hundreds of separate performances or exhibitions on and off campus, within the US and abroad.

Among the most prestigious contributions were the following:

Eliza Glaze (History) authored Gariopontus and the Salernitans: the ‘Passionarius’ and Medical Practice in Southern Italy (Florence, Italy: SISMEL, expected late 2012).

Pam Martin (Politics) authored Oil in the Soil: The Politics of Paying to Preserve the Amazon (Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2011).

Jennifer Murray (History) authored “The Civil War Begins” as part of the US Army Campaign Series, Civil War Commemorative Series. (Center for Military History and Government Printing Office, 2011).

Julinna Oxley (Philosophy) authored The Moral Dimensions of Empathy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).

Ken Rogers (Politics) revised his textbook, Understanding American Government, and completed the study guide for this edition (BVT Publishing: Redding, CA, 2011).

The following faculty members published three or more scholarly articles or book chapters: Carolyn Dillian (History), Jennifer Murray (History), Julinna Oxley (Philosophy), Daniel Cross

Turner (English), Cheryl Ward (History), Dylan Wittkower (Philosophy). Min Ye and Adam Chamberlain (Politics) published three or more reviews each, and Dan Albergotti and Sara Sobota (English) published three or more creative pieces. Pam Martin and Suheir Daoud (Politics) published three or more op-ed or news articles.

The following faculty members presented at three or more conferences or held three or more readings of their creative work: Richard Aidoo, Susan Bergeron, Suheir Daoud, Paul Peterson, Min Ye (Politics & Geography), Steven Bleicher, Arne Flaten (Visual Arts), Dan Albergotti, Jen Boyle, Becky Childs, Kate Oestreich, Denise Paster, Tripthi Pillai, Cynthia Port, Sara Sanders (English), Carolyn Dillian, Eliza Glaze, Sharon Moses, Roy Talbert, Cheryl Ward, Philip Whalen (History), Dennis Earl, Ron Green, Preston McKever-Floyd, Julinna Oxley, Nils Rauhut, Jonathan Trerise, Dylan Wittkower (Philosophy & Religious Studies), Tonya Propst (Music).

Aside from their contributions to CCU theatrical performances, Monica Bell taught the Suzuki method of Actor Training in several venues and starred in an equity production of The Glass Menagerie; Barbara Hartwig directed three plays and was the featured dancer in Carousel; Steven Gross served as music director or conductor or created the orchestrations for six productions (in the US, Germany, and Austria), and Steve Earnest was involved in two independent film projects.

Art faculty members exhibited their work in more than thirty shows, and graphic design faculty members were actively involved in a variety of professional enterprises. The following faculty received awards for their work: Jeff Case (a 2011 Silver ADDY), Elizabeth Keller (Second Place in national juried ceramics exhibition), and Paul Olsen (Honorable Mention in the 26 th Annual Positive Negative National Juried Art Exhibition 2011).

Music faculty members performed or adjudicated at over a hundred venues, from local churches to museums and concert halls across the country, and from summer music camps to international tours.

Community Engagement and Outreach Activities

Over one hundred and ten COHFA faculty members made significant individual contributions of service to their departments (140+), the College (90+), the University (193+), professional organizations (113+), and the community (75+).

Faculty from the College served on a large number of professional and community boards, committees, and task forces. They were intensely involved with area PK-12 schools and community colleges; frequently granted interviews to the media, providing both political commentary and disciplinary expertise; served as consultants for area business and non-profit organizations; donated their art work for fund-raising purposes; and served as judges, reviewers, and respondents.

Faculty served on a wide variety of professional journal editorial boards and as officers of disciplinary professional organizations.

The Jackson Family Center for Ethics and Values sponsored four Tea & Ethics presentations and one Java Jabber, provided support for the Jackson Scholars and their middle school program, and increased the Center’s library collection; the Waccamaw Center for Cultural & Historical Studies provided consulting services and presentations for a variety of local businesses, organizations, and media outlets, continued work on the Peter Horry and Horry County Oral History projects, and supported two speaker series and the “Writing the South” Conference; and

faculty affiliated with the Center for Archaeology and Anthropology recorded more than 40 workshops, presentations, and media appearances.

The English Department’s “Words to Say It” series brought 8 authors to campus; the Waccamaw Journal published two issues, and the Rebecca Randall Bryan Art Gallery featured ten separate art exhibitions.

English Professors Becky Childs, Carol Osborne, and Sara Sanders hosted three Chinese Scholars during the fall of 2010.

Faculty mentored students in research presentations at a wide variety of conferences and in CCU’s undergraduate research competition.

Among the most significant individual activities were the following: Sara Sanders served as Vice-Chair of the Board of directors for the SC Humanities Council,

consultant for the Palliative Care Team at Conway Medical Center, CCU’s representative on the planning committee for the SC Academy of Authors Induction, and organized two public lectures for the Speakers Series on campus.

Preston McKever-Floyd served as a Board Member for the Coastal Samaritan Counseling Center and guest editor for The Journal of Black Masculinity.

Nils Rauhut served as the president of the American Association of Philosophy Teachers and treasurer for the South Carolina Society for Philosophy.

M. Morales earned campus and local recognition for his reforestation efforts in Guatemala. Carolyn Dillian served as editor of the Bulletin of the International Association for Obsidian

Studies, reviewer for Journal of Archaeological Science, Field Director for the Koobi Field School in Kenya, and as a member of the Executive Boards for two professional organizations.

Paul Peterson was a member of the Horry County School Board. Elizabeth Howie served as a member of ECCAHT, the Eastern Carolina Coalition against Human

Trafficking. Steve Bailey served on the Advisory Board for Bass Player Magazine and as a consultant to

Peterson Tuners, Fender Guitars, Daddario Strings and Accessories, Bass Lines Pickups, and Ampeg Amplifiers.

Awards and Honors

Faculty members received numerous teaching, advising, and scholarly/creative awards.

Some highlights include the following:

Arne Flaten was invited to speak at Arqueologica 2.0 in Seville, Spain in June, 2010, where Ashes2Art was identified among the top ten most innovative programs worldwide for digital humanities and virtual archaeology.

Jeff Case was given Coastal Carolina University’s “Distinguished Professor of the Year” award for 2011.

Jason Ockert won the 2010 Dzanc Short Story Collection Contest. COHFA’s Archarios Literary/Art magazine, advised by Paul Olsen, won 3rd place in Best of Show

at the CMA Conference and a Gold Addy. Josh Tyler won a Silver Addy for the design of the 2010 issue of Tapestry, the College of

Humanities and Fine Arts features magazine. Faculty members were active in mentoring student research and creative endeavors. Students in

Graphic Design and Studio Art brought home many awards for their individual projects.

The Coastal Carolina University delegation to the Southern Regional Model United Nations in Atlanta, GA won the award for the top 10% Position Paper and two awards for “Outstanding Delegate”

The Coastal Carolina University delegation to the South Carolina Student Legislature in Columbia, SC won the award for “Best Large Delegation”