Program Development Plan
DRAFT
Program:
History (HIST)
DRAFT
Department: History
Date: May 1, 2012
Strengths: The HIST program …
 was found by the reviewers to be among the best at WCU, clearly exceeding the university’s mission;
 faculty are well-trained as professional historians, and deeply committed to student learning and success;
 faculty work collaboratively with College of Education, public schools in WNC, Mountain Heritage Center, and Coulter
Faculty Commons, as well as other programs in the College of Arts and Sciences;
 reflects a high degree of academic rigor.
Recommendations
Strategic Action
Resources
needed
C/R/N
Costs
Person(s)
Responsible
Date of
Review
Faculty
1. Provide at least two new faculty
lines to replace the two lines
reverted due to recent personnel
changes.
DH will submit as part of
staffing plan.
2. Provide additional faculty lines in
European and Public History to
cover curriculum gaps in these areas.
Department needs Social
Science Education position
before requesting Ancient
European or Middle Eastern.
DH will submit as part of
staffing plan.
3. Raise faculty salaries commensurate
with peer institutions.
History
N
TBD
DH, Dean,
Provost
June,
2013
Ongoing
N
TBD
DH, Dean,
Provost
June,
2013
Ongoing
This has been combined with #4
1
Academic Affairs
DRAFT
Recommendations
Program Development Plan
Strategic Action
Resources
needed
C/R/N
DRAFT
Costs
Person(s)
Responsible
Date of
Review
4. Remedy salary compression in the
department, considering salaries of
peer institutions.
5. Provide systematic reassignment of
duties leave to support research.
Already doing as much as
possible.
Will revisit when positions are
obtained.
6. Improve basic levels of conference
travel and research support in the
department budget especially, but
also in the college and university
budgets.
Academic Affairs needs to
revisit budget allocations for
colleges and departments
(consider summer revenue as
well).
R
Academic
Affairs, Provost
AA needs to increase
department support with
increase in positions.
7. Pursue external funding
opportunities.
History
Work with Sponsored Research
and CFC to identify and submit
external grant requests,
increasing support for
humanities.
2
DH, GS, CFC
May
2013
Academic Affairs
DRAFT
Recommendations
8. Reduce teaching load in lieu of
lowering promotion standards; some
examples include linking teaching
load to productivity level, increasing
the number of GAs who assist
faculty with their courses, and using
highly qualified GAs who have
completed their program
requirements as instructors of
record.
Program Development Plan
Strategic Action
Resources
needed
C/R/N
DRAFT
Costs
Person(s)
Responsible
Date of
Review
Current load is 3/3 and is
appropriate for WCU.
This item will not be addressed
by department.
Curriculum Development
9. Eliminate or significantly reduce the
number of “split level” courses.
This item is ongoing and has
been.
Revisit when #2 addressed due
to enrollment.
10. Increase the number of graduate
course offerings.
This item is connected to item
#9.
Ongoing and increasing over
time.
11. Offer Public History courses on a
regular rotation schedule.
DH
Ongoing
This item is already in place.
This item will not be addressed
by department.
History
3
Academic Affairs
DRAFT
Recommendations
12. Increase the number of non-Western
courses required for the
undergraduate major.
Program Development Plan
Strategic Action
Resources
needed
C/R/N
DRAFT
Costs
Person(s)
Responsible
Date of
Review
This would result in less
flexibility for the student if
made a requirement.
Department will handle this
through advisement.
Dept.
Ongoing
13. Expand the Public History specialty
to build upon success in placement.
Looking at expanded marketing
to UGs for MA program.
DH, GS, Public
Relations
Summer
2013
14. Improve recruiting and placing of
graduate students.
Already have strong PhD
placements.
15. Add a faculty member to teach
Documentary Studies.
This item will not be addressed
by department.
16. Develop closer institutional ties with
the Mountain Heritage Center.
Department currently provides
graduate student internships and
pays the salary of the MHC
director.
DH, MHC
Ongoing
Will look for further
opportunities to strengthen ties
to MHC.
History
4
Academic Affairs
DRAFT
Recommendations
17. Investigate institutional ties with the
North Carolina Center for the
Advancement of Teaching
(NCCAT).
Program Development Plan
Strategic Action
Resources
needed
C/R/N
DRAFT
Costs
Person(s)
Responsible
Date of
Review
Department has made attempts
to strengthen ties in the past
with little success.
Department will explore new
opportunities, especially with
new leadership at NCCAT.
DH, NCCAT
Nov
2012,
Ongoing
October
2012
March
2013
Program Support
18. Increase student awareness and
understanding of available resources
(for example, library resources) by
promoting them during orientation
and/or Advising Day.
This item will not be addressed
by department.
19. Provide additional graduate
assistantships.
DH, with Deans, will explore
ways to provide additional GAs.
DH, D – AS &
GS
20. Provide an additional one-to-two
graduate fellowships dedicated
specifically to the Mountain
Heritage Center.
MHC should consider writing a
grant with GA positions
included.
MHC
History
5
Academic Affairs
DRAFT
Recommendations
Program Development Plan
Strategic Action
Resources
needed
C/R/N
DRAFT
Costs
Person(s)
Responsible
21. Provide “fifth semester” funding to
highly qualified graduate students
who have completed their program
requirements so they may gain
marketable teaching experience,
while at the same time lightening
faculty teaching load.
Use some adjunct money to
help reduce load of existing
faculty.
DH, D
22. Provide better facilitation of
university resources for faculty
research and travel in place of the
current “piecemeal” system.
This item will be addressed in
#6.
Academic
Affairs
23. Provide university resources equally
to faculty, regardless of tenure status
(for example, scholarly leave).
This item will not be addressed
by department.
24. Provide start-up money for junior
faculty research.
Use library endowment to help
purchase books and also
provide some travel money.
Date of
Review
This item will not be addressed
by department.
DH, Dept, D
Summer
2014
Department will look for
creative ways to use summer
funds and faculty load (such as
no pay in summer but release
time in spring)
History
6
Academic Affairs
DRAFT
Recommendations
25. Remedy library deficiencies, such as
the deficient monograph collection,
and depend less on the “ABC”
system.
History
Program Development Plan
Strategic Action
This item will be addressed in
#6.
Resources
needed
C/R/N
DRAFT
Costs
Person(s)
Responsible
Date of
Review
Academic
Affairs
This item will not be addressed
by department.
7
Academic Affairs