Instructional Program Review

Instructional Program Review Summary (IPRS)

Academic Year 2007-08

Associate Degree Program: Government

Department: Government

Dean Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences

Faculty Submitting Report: Karry L. Evans

Date Submitted: 1/15/08

Instructional Program Review Summary (IPRS)

Contents

1. Executive Summary

2. Self-Study Team Participants

3. Program Description

4. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats

5. Analysis

[a] Relevance of the program to College mission and desired ends

[b] Responsiveness to community needs and satisfaction of community demand

[c] Accessibility to students with identification of unnecessary barriers

[d] Student outcomes including participation and successful-completion rates

[e] Measures of program quality and educational value added

[f] Adequacy of program resources and efficiency of resource use

[g] Comparison of program performance, price, and enrollment with that of alternate local suppliers

[h] Direct and indirect program-related revenues and costs to the College

6. Area-specific Analysis (Workforce or Transfer)

7. Conclusions

8. Program Vision

9. Recommendations

10. Additional Comments

11. References (Note: References should be clearly cited in the summary so that the reviewer can easily find the source documents if needed.

Executive Summary

Use the following guidelines to provide a concise overview of the program review contained in this report.

Write a brief description of the goals and objectives of the program.

The Government Department of Austin Community College has established the following goals to fulfill the Texas Education Code (51.301) mandate regarding instruction in government or political science:

To provide six semester hours of instruction in politics and government that acquaint students with the basic concepts used in studying politics and government and that meet the requirements of the Texas Education Code for every student receiving a degree from a state-supported college or university in Texas.
To offer an Associate of Arts degree in Government and provide all Government majors with an educational foundation that will allow them to successfully pursue a baccalaureate degree in government or political science at a four-year college or university.

Additionally, we have established a number of objectives in accordance with THECB and ACC guidelines. These include student development of key skills necessary to complete the core curriculum for transfer to a four-year institution, to succeed in these higher level undergraduate courses and to enhance their employment opportunities. Students taking government courses at ACC develop their communication and writing skills, their critical thinking skills, and their ability to gather, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information in order to make informed judgments. In accordance with ACC’s Mission Statement, we also seek to ensure that students develop greater aptitude with regards to problem-solving, teamwork, leadership, and producing results of high quality.

With regard to politics and government, we seek to foster knowledge of the political system, to instill a greater understanding of the constitutional bases, institutions, processes and policies of local, state, and national politics and government, to encourage democratic participation in our political processes, and to contribute to a more informed electorate.

Beyond these objectives related to knowledge and academic and workforce skills, the Government Department is strongly committed to helping students develop citizenship skills necessary to be a responsible member of society, promoting civic engagement and fostering the open and mutually respectful exchange of ideas necessary in a democratic society. Our goal is to facilitate our students’ personal development of a more mature and complex self-image that allows them to incorporate their beliefs and values into a positive view of themselves and the world they live in.

With regards to new concerns that have been raised through the process of this review, the Government Department believes that we must give high priority to improving student retention and completion rates, enhancing student learning outcomes, enriching the quality of instruction through sound pedagogy and innovative technology, and achieving a more cost-effective and efficient delivery of instructional materials. These objectives are articulated in our course redesign project summary as “inspiring and empowering students by enriching learning through a student-centered design that utilizes technology and active learning.”

Overview of how the program review was conducted.

The Government Department has a history of assessment and collaboration on program goals and objectives that formed a foundation on which to build this latest review. Many department members responded to the initial email that was sent to all full-time and adjunct government faculty members requesting their input. Nine full-time faculty members and eleven adjunct faculty members attended the three hour SWOT session led by a trained facilitator. Also attending were an ACC History professor, a current ACC government student, an administrative assistant, and several government faculty members that teach at other institutions, and also several adjuncts that work in various positions within federal, state and local government. The participation in the session was extremely enthusiastic and surprisingly positive, given the fact that people were instructed to brainstorm on weaknesses and threats, as well as strengths and opportunities.

After the results from the SWOT session were compiled and returned to the chair, a second email was sent out asking faculty members to respond to the information generated with goals and objectives that addressed the major items identified. The responses that were received were included in a meeting with the review team members designed to flesh out all of the responses into specific plans of action. This meeting proved to be the genesis of the idea of a complete course redesign, which is currently in the grant proposal writing stage. This is now the main focus of the Government Department for meeting our goals and it will be pursued whether the grant proposal is accepted or not. It is clearly a validation of the potential benefit that a process such as this Program Review can produce.

Findings:

Progress on previous program review recommendations:

The Government Department has made progress on most of the recommendations from the previous program review conducted in 2002. We developed an online self-assessment for students to use to determine if they should take a distance learning class and we hope to pilot it in a select number of courses in spring 2008. We are also pleased that progress has been made in equipping classrooms with computer projectors, but it still varies greatly among the different campuses. Classes at Cypress, Eastview, South Austin, and Round Rock Higher Education Center now have fully operative technology/computer access in each classroom. The progress at the other campuses is much slower. A government classroom at Rio Grande and Northridge each had a permanent cart with DVD/VCR, computer and projector installed this fall. We are pursuing requests through Instructional Resources and Technology to put computers in additional classrooms on the four campuses that lack permanent facilities in their classrooms. It is also an option now for faculty members to request a laptop when they are due for a desktop replacement and faculty may use this in the classroom, although they may still need to check out a projector.

The Government Department has made tremendous progress on expanding its honors course offerings. These include Globalization and US Politics, A Hands-On Guide to Texas Politics, Criminal Justice in Texas, Elections and Campaigns, and 2004 Presidential Election. We have also experimented by offering one honors course as a hybrid in spring 2007 and two fully online honors courses in fall 2007 and spring 2008. Unfortunately, none of these had sufficient enrollment to make and had to be cancelled. Our plans to create a new special topics course were negatively impacted by the new THECB guidelines. However, we have instituted, and are offering, three new courses: Introduction to Political Science (GOVT 2304), State Government Internship, and Mexican American Politics. While the Internship Program began with a focus on the State Legislature, it is being expanded to include a variety of city, county and state offices.

We are very pleased with the number and quality of professional development opportunities we have been able to offer our faculty, including at least three brown bag seminars a semester that are scheduled before our regular department meetings. In addition, we have brought in a number of distinguished government faculty from outside the college. Dr. Sean Theriault, a professor from the University of Texas Government department, presented a seminar on “Party Polarization in Congress”. Dr. Christine Barbour of Indiana University spoke on teaching critical thinking and Dr. Gerald Wright, also of Indiana University, spoke on the subject of party and representation. We have also had success with our yearly symposium for faculty and students, which has now become an official celebration of Constitution Day each September. We also encourage our faculty to attend professional conferences each year and the increase in the travel budget allocated by the Dean will support a greater number of faculty members wanting to attend and to present at professional conferences.

There are still a number of important recommendations that the Government Department needs to address. We are in the preliminary stages of creating a streaming video orientation for Distance Learning Students and awaiting the creation of a Blackboard page for government faculty to use to share and collaborate on best practices and new ideas. Both of these will fit nicely into the course redesign project and benefit from being part of a larger design plan. The other major recommendation that we have not followed through with is the expansion of Learning Communities course offerings. We were able to offer two a few years ago, but the implementation of prerequisites for our courses made this impossible the last two years. Those prerequisites have since been removed, so we will encourage faculty to develop and implement new Learning Communities using our courses.

Program strengths:

The ACC Government Department sees its greatest strengths in its leadership and the quality, diversity, dedication, and enthusiasm of its faculty members. The leadership of the Government Department Chair and the Dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences provides the support and encouragement that allows faculty members to excel and to challenge themselves and the department to continually strive to meet the highest academic standards. Recent gains in the number of full-time faculty and the overall diversity of full-time and adjunct faculty members in terms of background and academic, workforce and public service experience has contributed to the development of new course offerings and opportunities for faculty and students, including a major initiative to completely redesign the U.S. Government course. What stands out in all these endeavors is the tremendous commitment faculty members have to helping our students achieve success in college and in life.

Areas for improvement:

The areas that the Government Department has identified for improvement are closely tied to our decision to pursue the course redesign project for our U.S. Government course. The problems and deficiencies related to high failure and withdrawal rates will require a wide range of strategies and the commitment of the department and the college to the development of new content, delivery and assessment. The course redesign will also address the availability and effective use of technology, which is seen as an area in need of improvement that offers great potential for improving student success. Lastly, we believe that the course redesign project ties in with our ongoing commitment to building stronger ties to other colleges and universities locally and statewide.

Key planning issues:

The Government Department has decided that the best way to address the issues raised in our program review is through the redesign of the U.S. Government course. We believe that a creative, focused and cost-effective technology-based solution that hones in on student learning is the best way to enhance student success and student retention, while at the same time allowing us to utilize our finite classroom space in a more cost-effective way. This redesign will allow us to better serve our students and meet the diverse needs found within a large regional community college. We will be able to offer students a more customized learning experience that addresses differences in college readiness, motivation, self regulation, learning styles, and personal goals. In addition, the wide variety of technological resources, experiential learning opportunities and assessment techniques that can be utilized will allow us to meet our primary objective of inspiring and empowering students by enriching learning through a student-centered design that utilizes technology and active learning.

We propose to completely redesign the U.S. Government course (GOVT 2305) based on NCAT’s buffet model that offers instructors and students a variety of content delivery systems, interactive activities and learning tools that best meet their particular goals and needs. Since the materials created will cover both classroom and computer-based learning methods, the course will have the added benefit of being adaptable to lecture classes and distance learning classes, as well as the hybrid classes that we believe offer the most potential benefit for students, instructors and institutions.

The redesigned course will present material in interactive modules accessible via the internet utilizing the Blackboardâ course delivery system. The modules will focus on mastery learning and lead students through a series of activities and assignments with options that address different learning styles based on D.A. Kolb’s Learning Cycle Theory. The materials will guide students through Kolb’s four stages of comprehension: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. The assignments will include online, classroom and community-based activities that will count toward 40-60% of their grade. Students will then choose individualized assessment measures for the remainder of their grade. Any difficulties students have will be addressed through online tutorials, learning communities, class meetings, technical support personnel, or instructor conferences.

The following elements will be contained within the U. S. Government Course Website:

Online Text with pictures, graphics and links to videos and activities
Module-based content with clear rubrics for mastery learning
Incorporation of Learning Cycle Theory and student-centered content and design
Focus on policy and the integration of players and processes in its development
Information hyper-linked to relevant sections of the U.S. Constitution
Consideration of different political perspectives within the U.S.
Integration of global perspective and impact of globalization on U.S. policies
Assignments / assessments based on synthesis, analysis and evaluation
Assessment measurements that address diverse learning styles
Supplemental tutorials on writing, research and study skills

The course redesign will build on work already in progress among members of the Government Department, including online student assessments and tutorials, a website for sharing best practices, and an online text focused on U.S. government and politics in an era of increased globalization. The new website will serve as a repository for the combined efforts of previously separate projects and allow the integration of these ideas into a single cohesive strategy for addressing problems related to low student retention and success rates, rising costs, and limited capacity.

Conclusions: What are the major conclusions regarding the present state of the program?

The major conclusions that can be drawn from this program review are generally positive in nature. The Government Department is demonstrating the benefit that can come from a successful recruiting and hiring of diverse, highly qualified and motivated full-time and adjunct faculty. In the last three years, we have successfully hired six new full-time faculty members from our pool of dedicated and gifted adjuncts. This has broadened and deepened our expertise in all levels of government and policymaking, including the international realm. In addition, we have also seen the diversity and quality of adjuncts improve, with many having experience in federal, state and local government, public and private work in policy development, and other areas in the private sector as well. This has brought new energy and ideas to a department that already benefited from a combination of high academic standards and innovative and creative approaches to learning.

As a result of this mixture of skill and talent, ideas are generating impressive results in terms of new course offerings, an expanded internship program, civic and educational forums, two new student organizations, and faculty collaboration on major projects including online resources, student assessment, and best practices. We have two very successful honors classes, including one that addresses the impact of globalization on US politics and another that offers students the opportunity to talk with state and local policymakers and to participate in a Texas Senate simulation. Overall, faculty have designed seven challenging and engaging honors classes and offered them at four different campuses, online and as a hybrid, but the numbers have not reached a sufficient level to consistently fill these classes. The internship program has also grown to include opportunities for students to work in local and state government offices in addition to the internships already offered at the state capitol.

The most impressive result of the collaboration of government faculty is the work currently being done on the course redesign project. This was generated from ideas first expressed in the last program review in 2002 about the need to create a Blackboard site for the Government Department to collaborate and share best practices. Further analysis of the program during the 2007 SWOT meeting and the subsequent review have generated a comprehensive plan that incorporates many of the recommendations from both the 2002 and 2007 program review.

All of the major weaknesses that were identified, including high failure and withdrawal rates, lack of student readiness, uneven access to technology, and underutilization of available resources, are addressed in the redesign of the U.S. Government course.

Recommend future directions for the program based on this review:

xExpand services

Maintain services

Reduce services

Close program

Recommendations: Summarize the recommendations. Enter the Quality Improvement Plan initiatives in the ACCeMasterPlan database.

The major recommendation that has come from this program review is the complete redesign of our U.S. Government course. So many of the ideas and objectives that the Government Department has been working on have been very far-sighted and innovative, but still represent a piecemeal approach to improving our program. The opportunity to think about the potential of a much more comprehensive approach to dealing with course content, delivery, and student success has helped us to integrate many of our ideas and inspired us to think on a much larger scale. The major components of the course redesign are an online text formatted in learning modules with pictures, graphics, cartoons, and links to activities, assignments, assessments, and learning tutorials. The Course Redesign Project is discussed in more detail in the previous section entitled “Key Planning Issues” found on page 6 of this review.

Other recommendations related to improving our program include addressing the problem of college readiness through a collaborative effort with ACC and local high school student advisors. We believe that students will be better served if they receive more individualized guidance of course selection that fits their level of academic preparedness. Student perceptions that community college classes are easier than classes at four-year colleges and universities causes many students to assume they will pass classes just by showing up, which may have worked in high school. Many students have similar perceptions about distance learning classes and are not prepared with the skills to succeed in such a self-regulated environment.

Addressing the problem of college readiness will also require more effective use of support services, such as learning labs. We will create an orientation package of services available to students, which will eventually evolve into the online tutorials included in the course redesign project. We will also create a resource packet for all faculty members with contacts for arranging guest speakers, capitol tours, service learning opportunities, internships, etc. We want to promote civic engagement among students and assist them in connecting the information and concepts presented in class with real world experiences. This will also be a part of the material included in the course redesign project and the outside activities offered as part of the buffet for students and professors.

Another recommendation that will dovetail into the course redesign is the Blackboard website for sharing best practices and encouraging collaboration on content creation, methodology, active learning, and assessment. We will begin breaking down the different elements of the course redesign plan into individual and committee assignments during our first department meeting in the spring of 2008.

The Government Department is in strong agreement that we will expand our attempts at outreach to students, the community, local government, and other colleges and universities in order to create more opportunities for students and faculty to become more engaged outside the classroom. We will build our connections with colleges and universities in the Central Texas region and work with student organizations and the Center for Public Policy and Political Studies (CPPPS) to cosponsor events, forums, and opportunities to hear speakers involved in government and politics at all levels. This will also include expanding opportunities for students to get engaged in the political process through more internships, service learning, voter registration drives, and participating in public policy projects with the CPPPS. We believe that these efforts will assist students in transitioning to college with a more mature and goal oriented mind set.

In addition to the complete redesign of the U.S. government course, we will continue to expand our course offerings with new hybrid courses, learning communities, and specialized political science courses for government majors. One opportunity that is currently being pursued is the potential teaming of our Introduction to Political Science course with the International Business Course. Other ideas include combining U.S. Government with U.S. History, Economics or Philosophy.

SELF-STUDY TEAM PARTICIPANTS

List the names of people who participated in the review and their association with your program.

Name Karry Evans X ACC Faculty Industry Representative Student

Name Glen Hunt x ACC Faculty Industry Representative Student

Name Cecile Durish x ACC Faculty Industry Representative Student

Name Kris Seago x ACC Faculty Industry Representative Student

Name Shina Amachigh x ACC Faculty Industry Representative

Name Charles Miles x ACC Faculty Industry Representative Student

Name Mike Kelley x ACC Faculty Industry Representative Student

Name Jeff Millstone x ACC Faculty Industry Representative Student

Name Roy Casagranda x ACC Faculty Industry Representative Student

Name ACC Faculty Industry Representative Student

Program Description

Provide a brief description of the overall history, major developments and current objectives for your program (limit to 500 words).

The Government Department has grown with the College since its inception in 1973 when ACC had a total of 2363 students on one campus. Today the Government Department offers U.S. Government and Texas State and Local Government at ACC’s seven main campuses, three dedicated site locations, and eleven off-site locations at local schools in the surrounding communities. The Government Department now serves over 12,000 students a year in over 450 classes offered in both lecture and distance learning formats. There are currently sixteen full-time Government faculty members and approximately sixty adjunct faculty members.

Some of the major developments that have taken place in the Government Department include the introduction of the first online government classes in 1994, which have continued to grow in numbers and enrollment. The Government Department also conducts a yearly assessment of student learning to measure our effectiveness in meeting the learning outcomes and objectives we have defined for GOVT 2305 and GOVT 2306. It was the result of the first assessment in 1997 that led to the development of the Government Faculty Handbook (www.austincc.edu/govtdept) cited throughout this review. It also led to the definition of clear learning outcomes and learning objectives to assist in designing course content, assignments and assessments. A number of other developments that resulted from this increased scrutiny by the Government Department faculty members were the introduction of brown bag seminars that are offered at each regular departmental meeting and the clear rubrics for faculty evaluation that are also in the Government Faculty Handbook. Additionally, several years ago we began offering a comprehensive training session that assists faculty members in preparing a high quality portfolio and responding in a thoughtful and constructive way to their student evaluations.

Other developments include the expansion of course offerings offered by the Government Department. Special topics courses were added in Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties/Civil Rights and students were given the opportunity to participate in internships with the state legislature. The first U.S. Government honors course was offered in the fall of 2003 and the first Texas State and Local Government honors course was offered the following spring. The department has continued to add new honors courses and offered them at various locations and in both hybrid and fully online versions, but the demand remains low outside of the Rio Grande and Northridge campuses.

The Government Department also offered its first Learning Community course in 2003 which combined U.S. Government and Developmental Reading. These courses were suspended during the recent period due to the addition of an ENGL 1301 prerequisite, but the lifting of that prerequisite will allow more experimentation in the future. Service learning has been officially incorporated into a number of classes at the instructors’ discretion largely as an option for students in lieu of some other assignment. The Government Department is working closely with the Center for Public Policy and Political Studies (CPPPS) to offer more experiential learning opportunities to students, including internships and participation in research into local policy issues.

Currently, the Government Department offers two core curriculum courses, U.S. Government and Texas State and Local Government in both lecture and online versions. In addition, students may elect to take a United States Government course with an emphasis on Minorities or a Texas State and Local Government course with an emphasis on Land use Policy. There are also several different honors courses available, including Globalization and U.S. Politics, and A Hands-On Guide to Texas Politics. For government majors, there is an Introduction to Political Science course taught in the fall and a Mexican American politics course taught in the spring. State government internships are offered in the spring also and this has just been expanded to include local and county government offices as well.

The Government Department has established a number of objectives in accordance with THECB and ACC guidelines. These include student development of key skills necessary to complete the core curriculum for transfer to a four-year institution, to succeed in these higher level undergraduate courses and to enhance their employment opportunities. Students taking government courses at ACC develop their communication and writing skills, their critical thinking skills, and their ability to gather, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information in order to make informed judgments. In accordance with ACC’s Mission Statement, we also seek to ensure that students develop greater aptitude with regards to problem-solving, teamwork, leadership, and producing results of high quality.

strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT)

List the names of people who participated in the SWOT and their association with your program.

Name Lisa Perez x ACC Faculty Industry Representative Student

Name Judy Nwachie x ACC Faculty Industry Representative Student

Name Al Belmarez x ACC Faculty Industry Representative Student

Name Ursula Garza x ACC Faculty Industry Representative Student

Name Ron Fletcher x ACC Faculty Industry Representative Student

Name Andrew Hopkins ACC Faculty Industry Representative x Student

Name Rick Collis x ACC Faculty Industry Representative Student

Name Al Purcell x ACC Faculty Industry Representative Student

Name Mark Stephens x ACC Faculty Industry Representative Student

Name Mike Young x ACC Faculty Industry Representative Student

Summarize the findings of the SWOT analysis. Focus on the top 5 or 6 issues and answer the questions below.

Strengths: In what does your program excel?

The Government Department’s greatest strength is the combination of supportive leadership, dedicated faculty and commitment to teaching and students that unites us all. The excellent leadership provided by our department chair and our dean is reflected in the level of assistance and communication that is always offered despite their own considerable workload. The Government faculty members believe that their performance is enhanced by easy access to clear and concise policies and procedures provided by both the department chair and the dean in frequent emails and mailings. In addition, the numerous opportunities for faculty development provided are invaluable to faculty members’ continued success in the classroom. These are offered through the mentoring program, regular department meetings, portfolio training sessions, brown bag seminars, and conference travel.

There is no doubt that the quality of leadership contributes to the enthusiastic and effective faculty, which is another great strength of the Government Department. This was obvious in the high turnout of full-time and adjunct faculty for the three hour SWOT session and similar numbers that participate in regular college, department and committee meetings. Many government faculty members go well beyond their commitment to their own classes to work together on ways to improve resources available to all faculty members.

All of this creates an atmosphere in which academic excellence and collegiality can flourish and the government faculty believes this contributes to their ability to fulfill the high goals they set for themselves and their students. The academic freedom and respect for different teaching styles is what enables faculty members to develop their personal strengths and continually strive to improve learning techniques and outcomes.

Weaknesses: What are the aspects of the program that, if not addressed, will negatively affect the program’s future?

The Government Faculty identified the inadequate preparation of students entering our classes as a problem of increasing magnitude that must be addressed if students are going to achieve the learning outcomes we have set for them. The problem appears to be related to inadequate preparation in high school with regards to basic writing and study skills, but is exacerbated by the advice and counseling that is sometimes given students regarding the difficulty or expectations of a sophomore college class in US Government. Many government faculty members find themselves devoting class time to teaching students how to take notes, study more effectively, conduct research, and write papers. While this is a rewarding experience that faculty have chosen to engage in for the benefit of the students, it does present a problem with the limited time left to cover material and help students develop higher level critical thinking skills.

The low levels of college readiness in so many students was first addressed as a problem related to the lack of prerequisites and the many freshman and high school students that took U.S. or Texas Government as a first college course. After failing to get prerequisites for these courses, we have decided to approach the problem more holistically and consider student attitudes and their level of commitment to their success as well. This complex issue is part of an overall trend that points at weaknesses in the education system well beyond a single college or department. As such, it will require a more collaborative effort among the high school and higher education community in order for overall success rates to rise. We believe our course redesign will improve college readiness, retention and success rates, but the impact will be limited without support from throughout the college and community.

The other areas that were considered weaknesses included the uneven distribution of technology resources throughout the different campuses, especially the serious lack of multi-media classrooms at Rio Grande, Northridge, Pinnacle, and Riverside. Related to this were concerns over the condition of the facilities at some campuses where, in the case of Rio Grande, classrooms are often so uncomfortable due to leaks and lack of heating and air conditioning it has a negative impact on the quality of learning. Some students have told instructors that the situation is intolerable and made official complaints to administration as well. The lack of parking raised similar complaints among both faculty and students, but this is too obvious a problem to devote time to here.

Lastly, many of the participants in the SWOT meeting pointed out the absence of a number of full-time faculty members in the program review process and indicated that the lack of engagement of some full-time faculty members in other departmental activities and decision-making about the government program was a weakness that should be addressed.

Opportunities: What factors does your program need to take advantage of to enhance the quality of this program?

The Government Faculty believes that our mission can best be achieved by utilizing all of the external resources offered by the community. Besides the state capitol and other federal, state and local government agencies, Austin has a tremendous number of organizations, activities and events that offer opportunities for greater involvement in the community. Many government faculty members have ties to these organizations and capitol tours, political events, and volunteer work are either mandatory or optional in a number of government classes. The internship program offered by our department has recently been expanded beyond the state legislature to include other government offices, which will allow us to have offerings on a regular basis.

Class visits or meetings with state legislators are a great source of information for students and can serve to inspire them to get involved. Other guest speakers from the Texas Observer and local interest groups have sparked students’ interest in political reporting and grass roots lobbying. Elections also offer many opportunities for faculty and students to engage in voter mobilization and public information campaigns, as well as work within political parties and candidate campaigns. More department and college-wide activities could be organized around these external resources and the new Center for Public Policy and Studies (CPPPS) at ACC is the logical source for assistance in this endeavor.

In addition to the opportunities afforded within the community, faculty members realize the tremendous potential for greater collaboration among members of our department, as well as the resources to be found throughout the college. The government department is eagerly awaiting the launching of our departmental Blackboard page which will allow us to share a variety of instructional resources that will constitute a pool of best practices everyone can use. This will eventually become part of the larger Course Redesign Project that includes an online US Government text as well.

The Government Department has been extremely active in curriculum development since the last program review, with a variety of new course offerings and modes of delivery. Over six new honors courses in US and Texas Government were offered and despite the limited number of students in the program, several of these courses have successfully made over the last five years. The opportunity to offer these enhanced learning opportunities to the more motivated students is something we believe is worth pursuing. It may be that better marketing and dissemination of information would elicit more demand.

Threats: What are the external factors that could negatively impact your program’s future?

It is not surprising that some of the legislation regarding higher education proposed during the 2007 session of the Texas Legislature was the focus of great concern among Government Faculty. Of course the greatest threat is posed by legislation that would do away with Government as a core course or lower the number of required Government hours. It appears that state funding debates will continue to raise these and other issues in the future and we plan to continue to lobby on behalf of what we believe is a crucial need for all students. The reality is that lack of knowledge and efficacy regarding government and politics is at an all time low and the elimination or reduction of existing programs would only exacerbate a worsening situation.

The Government Faculty also believes that the micromanagement of Higher Education during the 2007 session of the Texas Legislature was not in the best interests of our students, program, college, or higher education in general. Legislative mandates such as those prohibiting more than six withdrawals over the course of an undergraduate career at a publicly funded college or university in Texas merely acknowledge a problem without addressing its cause or workable solutions. The same is true of proposals to test college students to determine effectiveness of college instruction. It would make much greater sense for these ideas to come from college educators and administrators and it would be beneficial to work more closely with the Higher Education Committee in the future.

The other major threat identified by the government faculty is the geographic isolation of many faculty members created by the size and fragmentation of the college. It makes the personal contact and informal collaboration among department members impossible in some cases and difficult in the rest. So many of the benefits that can be gained by feeling like you are part of a community and having easy access to support and resources is lost in such an arrangement.

Discuss changes from the program’s previous SWOT analysis.

The changes from the previous SWOT analysis include over twice as many faculty participating, greater focus on items within our Department’s power to change and an overall positive and enthusiastic approach to the analysis that surprised some of the participants from outside our department. The enthusiasm and commitment of the faculty members to improving the program was evident in the high attendance of full-time and adjunct faculty members, numbering twenty-two in all, as well as several who emailed comments because they were unable to attend.

A comparison of the analysis of the Department’s strengths in 2002 and in 2007 shows little change, with the quality of faculty and department leadership topping the list in both cases. Likewise, the opportunities tended to focus on ways to expand our outreach to students, the community, local and state government, and other colleges and universities. The most recent analysis places more emphasis on ways to engage students in community activities and to increase the Department’s involvement in sponsoring events and working with student organizations, as well as greater collaboration among faculty members. The potential for the Early College Start program is still evident in 2007, but concerns over the unevenness of student preparation and advising have dampened some of the enthusiasm expressed in 2002.

The concern over lack of college readiness is not confined to the Early College Start Program, though. In 2007, this problem was identified as the greatest weakness we face as a department, as the number of students lacking basic reading, writing and study skills has increased each year. By contrast, in 2002 the analysis of weaknesses focused more on an inadequate budget, insufficient numbers of full-time faculty, and a lack of campus-based decision making. One problem identified in 2002 and 2007 is the problem of access due to inadequate parking, especially at the Rio Grande campus.

The analysis of threats facing the Government Department was focused on the Texas Legislature in 2002 and in 2007. The problem was identified more in terms of budget in 2002, but the recent analysis focused on the proposed bills during the 2007 legislative session that would have altered the core curriculum and reduced government requirement and new laws that limit withdrawals. The 2002 analysis was also concerned with administrative decisions being made at ACC, but in 2007 concern was expressed over the spread out campuses that make faculty collaboration and collegiality difficult.

ANALYSIS

[a] Relevance of the program to College mission and desired ends

Mission:

Review the program’s purpose statement. Verify that the statement is current and accurate and reflects the mission of the college as a whole, or update the purpose statement.

The Self-Study team reviewed the program purpose statement and found (select one):

x The purpose statement as written in the assessment database (U-LEAD) is current, accurate, and reflects the mission of the college. Enter the program’s purpose statement:

The purposes of the Government program are: 1. To provide six semester hours of instruction in politics and government that acquaint students with the basic concepts used in studying politics and government and that meet the requirements of the Texas Education Code (51.301) for every student receiving a degree from a state-supported college or university in Texas. 2. To offer an Associate of Arts degree in Government and provide all Government majors with an educational foundation that will allow them to successfully pursue a baccalaureate degree in government or political science at a four-year college or university.

The purpose statement was revised in the assessment database (U-LEAD) as shown below (enter the revised purpose statement):

Intended Outcomes (Board Policy A-2 Intended Outcomes)

What are you doing to support the intended outcomes of the college to “ensure a quality return on the public’s investment in its community college district?” In what ways are you unable to meet these outcomes?

The Government Department offers students instruction in all levels of government and fosters knowledge of the political system and a greater understanding of the constitutional bases, institutions, processes, and policies of local, state and national politics and government. Beyond that, we encourage students to participate in the democratic process and become responsible citizens. This contributes to a more informed electorate and prepares students for their role in a democratic society.

The Government Department also strives to maintain the highest quality instruction that is both inspiring and challenging to students and fully prepares them to succeed in college and the workforce. All government classes address the core expectations for student learning outcomes with regards to reading, writing and critical thinking. Assessments require students to gather, synthesize, analyze, and evaluate information in order to make informed judgments. Many classes also require presentations and group work to develop greater communication, teamwork and leadership skills. These are all skills that serve students well whether they desire to complete the core curriculum for transfer to a four-year institution, plan to complete an Associate’s degree at ACC, or need specific job training and skills to enhance their employment opportunities.

The government courses also promote the use of computer-based technology in communicating, solving problems and acquiring information. Many assignments have been created that utilize documentaries, news clips and information contained in various web sites, including government, interest group, media, and political party sites. Students are able to develop the skills necessary to gather, synthesize, analyze, and evaluate key information on government institutions, public policies and the policymaking process that will be useful in a world of increasing information and misinformation available via the internet.

The greatest difficulty in ensuring a quality return on the public’s investment is the growing number of students who enroll in government classes without basic reading, writing and studying skills and who also suffer from deficiencies in motivation and self-regulation necessary to succeed in a sophomore level class. This lack of student readiness is a serious problem and it is clearly reflected in low completion rates.

Many instructors have dealt with students’ lack of college preparation by incorporating lessons in writing and note-taking and offering extra credit to students who utilize the learning lab or other assistance. Of course, this takes away from class time that could be better used if students were more adequately prepared and makes it more difficult for those who are to get the benefit of an in-depth and challenging college class. This tactic is also limited in its usefulness to those students that are motivated to learn and succeed in the class. The more difficult problem to address is how to help students develop a more mature, responsible and goal-oriented approach to college.

Addressing the problems of low motivation and self-regulation will require a collaborative effort among the high school and higher education community in order for overall success rates to rise. The Government Department is working on a Course Redesign Project to address these problems, but the impact will be limited without support from throughout the college and the community.

[b] In what ways does your program assess and respond to community needs?

Members of the Government Department Faculty are active in several college committees and programs, community organizations, and local government organizations that assist us in our assessment of community needs. The Chair of the Government Department sits on one college-level committee that meets with business and community leaders specifically to gain input on ways the College and various departments can better meet community needs. The College Curriculum and Programs Committee, which also includes a member of the Government Department, hears from community and business leaders that rely on ACC to offer academic and workforce training in a variety of private and public sector employment.

The Government Department Faculty is also involved in the new Center for Public Policy and Political Studies (CPPPS) and the Service Learning program at ACC, which are both focused on assessing and responding to community needs at the same time they offer opportunities for greater student engagement in meeting these needs and developing citizenship skills. The CPPPS and Government faculty members organized a highly successful Constitution Day Celebration for the second year in a row and over 150 students attended and participated in discussions and workshops on constitutional rights and freedoms. The success of the program was evident in the formation of a student organization calling itself “We the People” the following day. Several faculty members stepped forward to offer support and to help recruit more members and keep the spark alive.

Another Government faculty member is the sponsor for “Active’08”, a student organization engaged in a number of voter mobilization and information campaigns. This organization also receives support from the CPPPS and they have formed a coalition with “We the People” and the ACC Student Government Association to try to inspire more ACC students to get involved at the college and community level in issues that affect them as students and citizens. They were very active in registering voters before the November 2007 elections that included a number of amendments to the Texas Constitution, as well as working to inform and educate students and other members of the community about the proposed amendments.

Another way the Department has addressed community needs is through the development of a college-wide Service Learning Program coordinated by a Government faculty member active in community service. The Service Learning Program and the expanded Internship Program receive support from the CPPPS. The legislative internships that were offered in the past will continue, but it is hoped that students will be interested in working in various city, county and state agencies as well. There are plans to add opportunities to intern within the private sector as demand allows.

The Government Department is very committed to working with the Early College Start Program and even expanding into areas where students have lacked access in the past. The continued success of this program will have a tremendous impact of the community and the state and it is imperative that every effort be made to provide high school students from all over Central Texas with a positive and constructive college experience that prepares them to succeed in all of their future college classes. We will continue working with the college and high schools to improve students’ readiness and provide advice and counseling that will support their future success.

[c] Accessibility to students and identification of unnecessary barriers

Examine data (below) that relate to when and where courses required for a degree in the program are offered. Evaluate students’ access to the program

The Government Department does an excellent job of guaranteeing access to its U.S. and Texas Government classes for all students. We offer classes at all ACC campuses and locations. Every effort is made to meet any measurable demand for classes at a particular time and place. The Government Department offers daytime, evening and weekend classes (as part of Weekend College), as well as Early College Start classes at high schools in our service area. We are very committed to the success of the Early College Start Program and are eager to expand classes into areas where students have lacked access in the past.

The Weekend College program began at the Northridge and Riverside campuses in the spring of 2007 and will be expanded to Eastview and South Austin in the spring of 2008. In the fall of 2007 we experimented with a five-week PCM course that began in November. We will continue this experimentation by offering a five-week in-class section in both the Fall 2008 and Spring 2009 semesters. This in-class short course is scheduled to meet on Friday night, Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon.

Government classes are also offered online in distance learning classes and new sections are created as long as there is a demand. Several instructors also participate in the Virtual College of Texas (VCT) program that offers access to students outside of the Central Texas region.

As for students seeking an Associate degree in Government, class offerings are determined by demand. Since only a minute percent of students express an interest in obtaining this degree, the additional course offerings usually depend on students from a variety of academic majors. Currently, interested students may take Introduction to Political Science (GOVT2304) during the fall semester and Mexican American Politics (GOVT2311) is offered in the spring. Internships (GOVT2389) with state legislators have been offered every other spring when the legislature is in session. The internship program is being expanded to include other state and local government offices with plans to include opportunities in the private sector as demand allows.

RELATED DATA:

Course Offerings by Location, Semester, Time of Day, and Mode of Delivery

Student Diversity

Faculty Diversity

Identify any unnecessary barriers to students, especially those who are educationally disadvantaged and not well served by other colleges.

Deficiencies in reading, writing, critical thinking, and study skills appear to be on the rise among all segments of our class population and suggest the need for a more concerted college and community-wide effort to address this growing problem. The Government Department is committed to improving students’ readiness and working with the college and high schools to guarantee advice and counseling that will support students’ future success in college and the workforce. One initiative the Government Department is anxious to take part in is the expansion of the Early College Start program to areas that have lacked access in the past.

We are also enthusiastic about the U.S. Government Course Redesign Project and its potential to address barriers related to lack of college readiness, as well as other factors that might make attending classes difficult. Students that are unable to enroll in lecture classes and find online classes difficult to complete successfully will have an opportunity to receive additional support and choose assessment techniques that accommodate a greater diversity of learning styles. The option of fully online or hybrid classes will also address both the access to the classroom and the need some students have for more interaction with instructors and fellow students.

[d] Student outcomes

Examine data below that relate to awards, course completions, and withdrawals. Evaluate student outcomes for the program.

Only a minute percent of students express an interest in receiving an Associate degree in Government since they are much more focused on successfully transferring to a four-year college and find the additional course requirement and bureaucratic paperwork to be an unnecessary burden. This does not mean that we are not looking at ways to increase declared Government majors and degree seekers. We will continue to build closer ties between the department and student communities, working with two new student organizations and Student Government to build awareness and interest. College wide forums such as the Constitution Day Celebration and the World Government forum are used to appeal to students interested in politics and government and make them aware of the classes offered. The new Government website will also include more information on what students can do with a government degree.

The data on completion rates is of much greater concern and is the main focus of the Course Redesign Project. The numbers in the chart below reflect completion rates defined as grades of A,B,C, or D, but this is more accurately defined in terms of success rates by omitting D grades. This of course lowers the course mastery rate, but the numbers still remain between 65% and 75% for both U.S. and Texas Government courses in the spring and fall semesters. The most significant difference occurs in summer classes and in elective classes when completion rates are 10% to 20% higher. Withdrawal rates follow the same pattern and illustrate the same phenomena. Based on the differences in these student populations, it seems clear that the problems are the deficiencies in basic skills, motivation and self-regulation already identified. These problems will have to be the focus of any attempt to improve completion and / or success rates and that is why the Course Redesign Project has emerged from our extensive review of our program and the analysis of all the data provided.

RELATED DATA:

Awards

Course Completion Rates

Withdrawal Rates

[e] Measures of program quality and educational value added

Academic Standards

What are the processes and procedures that the department uses to maintain academic standards and achieve consistency within the department?

The Government Department has compiled a Government Faculty Handbook that is revised and updated each summer and distributed to all faculty members in hard copy form and made available on the Government Department website at www.austincc.edu/govtdept. The handbook includes the Department’s statement of purpose, descriptions of courses, the duties and responsibilities, as well as the professional expectations of all faculty members, syllabus requirements, recommended policy wording for syllabi, core curriculum and departmental expectations, including detailed learning outcomes and objectives, a list of approved textbooks, and information on student assessment and the faculty evaluation process, including rubrics for meeting the different levels of assessment (excellent, very good, good, needs improvement, unacceptable).

The Government Department conducts an intensive annual review of its faculty members based on the college guidelines for faculty evaluation. All new faculty members must submit a portfolio each year for their first three years. After that, the sixty plus faculty members are divided into three groups and each year one/third of the faculty must submit a three-year portfolio demonstrating what they have been doing in their classes, changes they have made, and reasons for what they are doing based on their overall goals and objectives.

First year faculty members must submit their syllabi and copies of exams, study aids, handouts, power point slides, assignments, and papers, as well as a list of videos, guest speakers, or other supplemental means of delivering content. During their second year of teaching, faculty members must resubmit their first year portfolio materials and add anything new or changed, clearly indicating what has changed and why. In addition, they must submit a Statement of Teaching Philosophy that provides insight into how and why they teach the way they do. The third year portfolios add the changes from that year and a Course Commentary and Faculty Development Plan. This must be repeated every third year after that.

The second half of the evaluation process is the Faculty Input Form. All government faculty members must be evaluated by the students in every class they teach each fall. Once the student evaluation forms are processed and the results have been disseminated among the faculty, they must respond by filling out the Faculty Input Form. Faculty members are instructed to thoroughly and thoughtfully respond to the statistical analysis and the student comments. In addition, they must set specific goals for instructional gains based on the evaluations.

In order to make the evaluation process a beneficial one, the Government Department has designed rubrics for evaluating all of the materials submitted. The necessary elements of an excellent, very good, good, etc. rating are clearly defined and disseminated among the faculty through the Government Faculty Handbook in hard copy, online at www.austincc.edu/govtdept, and in yearly portfolio training sessions offered to all faculty members.

Curriculum

What procedures are used to assure that the curriculum is current and adequately meets the needs of students?

The Government Department reviews its learning outcomes and objectives each year and revises them as necessary. This will take on added significance this year as it is incorporated into the Course Redesign Project. The textbook list is also revised each year and a variety of faculty development opportunities are offered by the college and the department through brown bags. The government faculty members are encouraged to take advantage of the partial funding for travel to outside conferences that is made available in the Dean’s budget.

The Government Department devotes a significant amount of time to evaluating the materials provided by faculty in their portfolio. Rigorous guidelines were developed to aid in determining if course content and exams are designed to achieve the learning outcomes and learning objectives established by the Department and published in the Government Faculty Handbook available online at www.austincc.edu/govtdept.

The Government Department also conducts a yearly assessment of student learning to measure our effectiveness in meeting the learning outcomes and objectives we have defined for GOVT 2305 and GOVT 2306. It was the results of the first assessment in 1997 that led to the development of the Government Faculty Handbook cited throughout this review. It also led to the definition of learning outcomes and learning objectives

The annual assessments have been adapted over the years as we have experimented with multiple-choice questions and short essay questions to measure student learning related to our established objectives for course content in both U.S. and Texas Government. We have also attempted to assess intellectual competencies that ACC has established for courses in the core curriculum, including reading, writing and critical thinking. We did this by soliciting random samples of writing assignments required by different faculty members in their classes and designing rubrics for assessing students’ acquisition of the skills described above.

Since the last program review, the Government Department has returned to multiple-choice questions designed to measure different levels of learning and understanding of the information identified in our course objectives. A bank of questions has been compiled to measure students’ ability to identify, synthesize, analyze, and evaluate information taught in our courses. To measure the effectiveness of our teaching, we administer the test before and after the content has been covered in class.

Overall, we have learned that we teach some things better than others and we have used this to create several brown bag seminars around those weaker areas. This has led to increased collaboration and sharing among faculty members in order to compile a database of best practices in a number of content areas utilizing a variety of methodologies, including computer-mediated learning, active learning, service learning, etc. We also learned that some of the difficulty students had was due to lack of college readiness and we began analyzing data on completion rates and comparing rates of students based on their TASK scores and with rates and grade distribution from other transfer courses.

Our concern over students’ lack of readiness in terms of reading, writing, and critical thinking led us to request the initiation of course prerequisites in order to better serve our students. We believe that students would benefit from closer attention to building intellectual competencies through a hierarchy of basic courses, including English Composition and History, before taking the government courses, which are designated sophomore level courses. The decision was taken out of our hands due to concerns over prerequisites interference with the Early College Start program. Our own analysis indicates that in lieu of prerequisites it is imperative that closer attention be paid to individual students’ readiness to succeed in a sophomore level course. We believe that student advisers both at ACC and at local high schools need to carefully assess each student’s level of preparation before placing them in government classes when the more appropriate advice would be to complete an English Composition course and a History course, which are freshman level courses, first.

Are learning outcomes defined for courses and the program? x Yes

Where are they published? The Government Faculty Handbook contains a list of learning outcomes and objectives and this is provided in hard copy form to all full-time and adjunct faculty, as well as being available on the Government Department website at www.austincc.edu/govtdept.

Are course texts up-to-date? x Yes

Provide the date of the last review? March 2007

Are course and program listings in the ACC Catalog up-to-date? x Yes

Are published degree plans up-to-date? Yes

Do all courses have up-to-date course syllabi on file? x Yes

Are syllabi published on-line? x Yes

Provide the URL for the syllabi: The Government Department Master Syllabus is in the Government Faculty Handbook and on the website at www.austinncc.edu/govtdept. There are also links to individual faculty web pages where their syllabi are available on-line.

Evaluate the use of instructional resources, technology and equipment necessary for teaching (including those in the library).

Increasing the use of instructional resources, technology and equipment necessary for teaching has been a major focus of the Government Department in the last five years. We have offered a number of brown bag seminars devoted to ways to incorporate instructional tools offered online through publishers and via the Blackboard site. We have also been able to order a number of new videos and documentaries through the library, as well as from publishers reward programs. Many instructors design written assignments, discussion boards and in class discussions around information available on various government, interest group, and media web sites. This includes everything from accessing the Vote Smart website to find out about presidential candidates to looking up congressional bills or executive orders on the government websites and emailing members of Congress and the president to express an informed opinion. Videos and documentaries available online are used both in and outside of class to illustrate key concepts and relate them to events and policies effecting students’ lives, their community and the world.

The availability of technology in the classroom continues to be a source of great frustration for many instructors unless they teach at the South Austin campus or other facility with a dedicated computer, DVD, VCR, projector and screen. For everyone else, it is an oftentimes farcical endeavor that requires great patience, effort, time, and the ability to change gears quickly and completely refocus your energy in a new direction when the media cart is unavailable or technical difficulties prevent the equipment from working. One must be especially resilient to spend four hours creating a power point presentation and another hour or two creating an assignment to complement the presentation and then be unable to use them. It is not surprising that instructors often decide it is counterproductive and inefficient to depend on such an unreliable system. It seems to do a great disservice to faculty and students alike to continually promote the use of technology through written and oral rhetoric without following through on its delivery.

To what extent are you able to offer distance learning courses?

The Government Department has continued to increase the number of online sections of GOVT 2305 and GOVT 2306 over the last five years. In the spring of 2007 we offered twelve 8-week sections, nine 16-week sections and six 12-week sections. There were a total of twenty-seven 5.5-week sections and eight 11-week sections offered in the summer of 2007 and this fall the total number of US and Texas Government classes offered online was twenty-seven, the same as in the spring except for the addition of a five week course offered at the end of the semester. We will continue experimenting with adding a 5 week class in the spring and fall.

Another experiment involving the delivery of government courses online was made in the spring of 2007 when the first hybrid honors class was offered that examined Elections and Campaigns. There was not sufficient enrollment for the course to make and it had to be cancelled. The same was true for the fully online version of Globalization and U.S. Politics offered in the fall of 2007 and the Hands-On Guide to Texas Politics offered for the spring 2008 semester.

The Government Department is committed to expanding the number and quality of the courses offered online. We are working on a U.S. Government Course Redesign Project that is currently in the grant writing and planning stages. The proposed redesign includes strategies for increasing the demand for online and hybrid courses and for improving completion rates for those students that enroll in them.

Faculty

Do all faculty teaching in the program meet SACS requirements?

xYes No (if no, please explain)

Evaluate your program’s faculty, stipulating the qualities, discipline-specific professional development activities, and experience that the program requires.

The Government Faculty is very diverse in terms in race, gender, ethnicity, background, academic specialization, and outside work experience, but all share a commitment to students and learning that makes collaboration exciting and rewarding. We believe this is our greatest strength. The full-time faculty is now comprised of 50 % Anglos, 30 % Hispanic, 20 % African American and 10% other. We have men and women of all ages and there is not an area of academic study in the field of political science that is not represented among our faculty members. Likewise, we have faculty members that have outside work experience in every level of government (local, state, federal, and international), as well as law, policy development, polling, and grassroots mobilization.

All faculty meet high academic standards, including the minimum Masters degree and at least eighteen hours of graduate work in Government or Political Science. Many faculty members have PhDs, are currently defending their dissertation, or are ABD. Others have continued to pursue graduate education without seeking a degree and all faculty members participate in professional development activities, including the required twelve hours for full-time faculty and four hours for adjunct faculty each year.

In recent years, faculty members have taken advantage of a wide-range of activities, including academic conferences, as well as workshops dealing with instructional development, technology and active learning. In addition, the faculty members regularly attend the Government Department Brown bag seminars that feature journalists, politicians, academics, and experts in the fields of assessment, instructional technology, learning theory, and public policy.

Are student evaluations of instruction within acceptable range? (Consult with department chair for data.)

xYes No

Out of sixteen full-time and 60 adjuncts, all evaluations from the previous academic year were very good or excellent except for four and two of these instructors have left.

What are you doing to promote innovative modes of instruction?

The Government Department promotes the use of innovative modes of instruction by encouraging all faculty members to use technology and computers in the classroom and mandating that interactive activities, such as the Discussion Board in Blackboard, be utilized in online classes. We have offered a number of brown bag seminars that demonstrated new and innovative technology and creative ways to integrate it into classroom and online courses.

The expansion of the tools used in online classes to aid in the instruction and delivery of lecture classes has encouraged greater use of technological resources among the government faculty members, especially through the functions offered via the Blackboardâ course delivery system. All courses offered at ACC are automatically uploaded onto Blackboardâ, so online assignments, discussion boards, assessments, and grade books are being utilized by more and more Government faculty. The Government Department has established required components for online Distance Learning courses, including Discussion Board assignments, Web-based study tools, and Web-based research.

Many faculty members have developed assignments using online presentations, videos and links to web sites. These websites include numerous government, interest group, media, and political party sites that help faculty facilitate students’ development of the skills necessary to gather, synthesize, analyze, and evaluate key information on government institutions, public policies and the policymaking process.

A number of Government faculty members have also experimented with the use of publisher-supplied materials available online including online texts, interactive assignments, simulations, assessments, and learning tools. Some faculty members use the University of Texas online text and ancillaries (http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/), which contains interactive graphs and links to videos on Texas politics.

The incorporation of active learning has been a major focus of the Department. Faculty members have focused on these activities as a means of enriching learning outcomes and inspiring and empowering students to engage in the political process as informed members of society. A number of innovative and creative activities are used that allow students to role play and become actively engaged in the policymaking process. These include simulations of Congress and the Texas legislature, as well as face to face and online communication with policymakers in Austin and Washington D.C.

The U.S. Government Course Redesign project is the most ambitious and potentially far-reaching endeavor we have attempted that will promote innovation. The overall objective is to inspire and empower students by enriching learning through a student-centered design that utilizes technology and active learning. More information on the project and the learning techniques that will be incorporated into the course redesign can be found in the section entitled “Key Planning Issue” on page 6 of this review.

Student Satisfaction

What do student course evaluations reveal about your program?

Student course evaluations are very useful in assisting the Government Department in its continual efforts at improvement. The statistical data allows us to compare our program to the college average for evaluations, which demonstrates that the Government Department’s average scores, which range from 5.4 – 5.7, are just above those of the college as a whole. The student comments often refer to the “enthusiasm” of our instructors or remark on their perception that the instructors are “involved with the students” and “care about the students.” Many students also make reference to the “high level of knowledge” exhibited by the instructors and their competence in the field of politics and government and teaching. Another comment that is expressed quite often is the appreciation of how well the instructors “relate coursework to real life” and are able to link theory and practice in a way that students can understand.

[f] Adequacy of program resources and efficiency of resource use

Describe the overall adequacy of resources (human, technological and capitol, facilities, and fiscal) available to the program for providing effective program delivery and outcomes.

The Government Department is currently benefiting from the hiring of five full-time faculty members in the last two years. Prior to this, the situation was quite difficult and it appeared that we were not making the progress that we needed to make in this regard. Today we are more optimistic that with the continued support of the College, we will meet our future goals in terms of a more constructive ratio of full-time to adjunct faculty members. There is still a need for other human resources in support staff, including the possibility of a cost saving measure addressed in the U.S. Government Course Redesign project. Many institutions have found that hiring technical and administrative support staff to assist instructors in their delivery of online classes allows more students to be served by a single instructor, while increasing the overall quality of student support. Consideration of these types of strategies for more efficient use of human resources should be included as a means of improving this and other programs throughout the College.

The Government Department has also seen improvement in the resources it is allocated in the departmental budget and is now much better able to meet such basic needs as copying that were problematic in the past. Unfortunately, these financial resources are not enough to support the degree of quality improvement the Department is seeking to pursue. This is especially true of the costs associated with the U.S. Government Course Redesign Project, but we are hopeful that additional support from both within and without the College will be forthcoming.

On a less positive note, the inadequacy of technology in many classrooms is a major concern among the Government Department Faculty. The situation is almost desperate for instructors that do not teach at the South Austin campus or other facility that is fully outfitted with computers, DVDs, VCRs, and projectors. It is sincerely hoped that this situation will be rectified in a much more expedited manner than has heretofore been undertaken.

Another area of concern among Government Department faculty members is the continued deterioration of the facilities at the Rio Grande campus. It is especially troubling that such a unique campus in terms of its potential for serving a large and diverse group of students and providing a central location for tying ACC to the larger community is underutilized in this way. Comments from students regularly echo this same sentiment and express their desire to see a campus where they strongly desire to attend classes renovated and expanded. The greatest threat comes from waiting so long to address the serious problems of deteriorating infrastructure and lack of parking that students are driven away and the opportunities it presents are lost.

RELATED DATA

Ratio of full-time to adjunct faculty, Percent of sections taught by full-time faculty, Percent of contact hours taught by full-time faculty

[g] Comparison of program performance, price, and enrollment with that of alternate local suppliers

How is the program competitive with similar programs offered by other institutions or schools in the service area in terms of performance, cost to students, and enrollments?

The government program operates on a bare bones budget and students are given access to high quality instruction at a bargain price. There are no additional costs to students outside of regular ACC tuition and fees, with the exception of the $3.50 insurance fee accessed students in the Internship program. Every effort is made to minimize costs to students in terms of textbook selection and required reading. The government department approved the first free online text for Texas State and Local Government in the spring of 2007 and the course redesign project includes a free online U.S. Government text.

The Government Program continues to grow with increased enrollment, added sections for both U.S. and Texas Government classes and new offerings in terms of scheduling and delivery, including more distance learning classes and experimentation with hybrid classes that offer many potential benefits.

[h] Direct and indirect program-related revenues and costs to the College

Identify the major sources of revenue for the program, including grants, partnerships, etc.

The major sources of revenue for the Government Program are those collected through student tuition and the taxes levied at the district, state and federal level that are contributed to the general revenue for the College. In addition, the Department has entered into several collaborative efforts with the new Center for Public Policy and Political Studies (CPPPS) at ACC. Some of these ventures will receive funding from the CPPPS, while the expanded internships into local government will be paid by the City of Austin and Travis County.

Compare program costs to those of other ACC programs.

The Government Program is very cost effective in comparison to other programs that require much more in terms of equipment and supplies. When comparisons are made with similar programs, such as the History Department, the costs are about the same.

Compare the program’s actual expenditures to the approved program budget for the previous two years.

The Government Department has remained within its approved program budget for the previous two years.

WORKFORCE AREA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION

Only Workforce Programs complete the items below.

Report/status from latest external accrediting agency visit

Date and summary of the most recent program revision

Number of graduates within the last three years

Program-collected data indicating satisfaction level of currently enrolled degree-seeking individuals

ACC-collected data indicating satisfaction level of program graduates within one year of graduation

Program-collected data indicating satisfaction level of non-degree-seeking students who took program major courses within one year of course completion

Summary of results of most recent focus group discussion, advisory committee discussion, and external employer surveys

Evidence of SCANS competency integration into course syllabi and programs

Summary of the program’s last advisory committee meeting in which industry, employment, curriculum issues were discusses, including committee recommendations on entry-level skills.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the information collected and analyzed during the program review process, what are the major conclusions of this review of the program?

As a result of this mixture of skill and talent, ideas are generating impressive results in terms of new course offerings, an expanded internship program, civic and educational forums, two new student organizations, and faculty collaboration on major projects including online resources, student assessment, and best practices. We have two very successful honor’s classes, including one that addresses the impact of globalization on US politics and another that offers students the opportunity to talk with state and local policymakers and to participate in a Texas Senate simulation. Overall, faculty have designed seven challenging and engaging honors classes and offered them at four different campuses, online and as a hybrid, but the numbers have not reached a sufficient level to consistently fill these classes. The internship program has also grown to include opportunities for students to work in local and state government offices in addition to the internships already offered at the state capitol.

PROGRAM VISION STATEMENT

State the program’s vision or preferred future for the next five years. The vision statement should provide direction to the program as it makes improvements to enhance its effectiveness and efficiency.

In one sense, the vision of the Government Department has remained unchanged through the years. We seek to foster knowledge of the political system, to instill a greater understanding of the constitutional bases, institutions, processes and policies of local, state and national government and politics, to encourage democratic participation in our political processes, and to contribute to a more informed electorate necessary in a democratic society. Our goal is to help students develop the skills and knowledge that an educated person living in a democratic society needs, including enhancing analytical reading, writing and listening skills, as well as qualitative and quantitative critical thinking and problem-solving skills. We believe these are life skills that are especially critical in a democratic society in which the citizenry bears responsibility for self-government and as such, they will remain at the core of our vision of excellence for the Government Department.

In another sense, both teaching and learning are in the midst of fundamental changes, and we must be willing to meet the challenges presented by these changes. The challenges include our willingness and ability to utilize emerging technologies and sound pedagogy to create effective teaching and learning tools that will inspire and empower students by enriching learning. Combined with the challenge presented by the forecasts for student enrollment, we will need to be well-equipped to meet the needs of a diverse and growing student population. These include the needs of students who lack adequate college preparation and working students with multiple demands on their time and attention. Our vision of the future must take into account the predicted growth in the diversity of our students and reflect our desire to seek excellence in instruction so as to best serve all our students. We believe the U.S. Government Course Redesign Project that has been proposed by our Department is the best strategy for inspiring and empowering our students by enriching learning through a student-centered design that utilizes technology and active learning.

The Government Department is committed to improving student retention and success rates through innovative and creative learning techniques that address problems with low levels of college readiness, motivation and self-regulation. The U.S. Government Course Redesign project will allow us to pursue strategies for improving learning in the classroom and online, as well as exploring the opportunities offered through the combination of the two in a Hybrid course that focuses on what can be accomplished better by both delivery methods. The expansion of Distance Learning courses and the introduction of Hybrid courses will also increase our cost-effectiveness and capacity to serve more students, while still addressing the needs of students from underserved and educationally disadvantaged populations.

Our vision for the Government Department includes a number of other ways to continue improving and expanding the learning opportunities for our students. We will continue to support the development of creative and innovative Government courses through the Honors Program and other initiatives that offer enhanced learning, such as the team teaching of related courses via Learning Communities. We still see our Department at the vanguard of the College’s desire to internationalize the curriculum with courses that offer students the opportunity to participate in the National Model United Nations Program, examine the impact of globalization and compare the politics and government of countries such as India, China, Russia, Japan, Great Britain, Mexico, Egypt, and Nigeria. We will continue to focus on ways to deepen students’ understanding of the increasingly interdependent global system, including coordinating with the International Studies Program and the International Business Program to broaden the opportunities for students interested in international politics and business. This includes incorporating the International Business Program’s trip to China each spring with the Introduction to Political Science course that includes an analysis of the politics and economics of China.

We believe that there are a number of ways to expand learning beyond the classroom that can enrich students’ overall experience and have a positive and long-lasting impact on their future. We will continue to expand the use of Service Learning and opportunities for Internships, including the recent addition of City and County Government Internships sponsored in collaboration with the new Center for Public Policy and Political Studies. This partnership offers great potential to increase student participation and we will continue working together to support events like the Constitution Day Celebration and offer organizational support to student organizations, including the newly formed Active ’08 and We the People.

The Government Department’s commitment to the success of the Early College Start Program remains strong and we will work to enhance the success of individual students by coordinating with high school advising staff. We believe that students will be better served if there is more consistency and clarity in the information they receive about the expectations and requirements of students in a sophomore level Government course.

In many ways all of the components that make up our vision for the Government Department are related and can be linked directly to the desire and commitment of our faculty members to contribute to the enrichment of all of our lives and the future of the society in which we live, socially, politically and economically.

When you have completed this report, send it via e-mail attachment to the Coordinator for Institutional Assessment (rwall@austincc.edu).