Program Planning and Assessment (PPA)
for Academic Programs
Comprehensive Review, Annual Review & Action Plan
Spring 2015
The purpose of Program Planning and Assessment at Hartnell College is to obtain an honest and authentic view of a program and to
assess its strengths, opportunities, needs, and connection to the mission and goals of the college. The process is based on the premise
that each academic program reviews assessment data and uses these data to plan for improvement. The results of these annual cycles
provide data for a periodic comprehensive review that shows evidence of improvement and outlines long-range goals.
The Program Planning and Assessment process improves and increases the flow of information about student learning, student success
and student behavior at Hartnell College. The result of the process also improves institutional effectiveness.
Program/Discipline
Date Completed (must be in final
form by 3/27/15)*
March 24, 2015
Psychology
Date Submitted to Dean
March 24, 2015
*Please note that you should work with your colleagues and dean to ensure that this report is completed, revised as needed, in its
final form and submitted no later than the end of March.
List of Contributors, including Title/Position
Name
Title/Position
Yoshiko Matsushita-Arao
Carol Kimbrough
Psychology Instructor
Psychology Instructor
Dean’s Comments (required): The PPA for our Psychology Department documents the richness and active engagement of an
impressively well ran department. The creation of the Associate in Arts in Psychology for Transfer (Psychology AA-T) degree is
specifically beneficial to meeting the lower division major and general education (CSU-GE Breadth or IGETC pattern)
requirements in psychology. It has shown to be quite effective in leading to high completion rates. The PPA also provides a good
example of PLO assessment and proposed improvement. This is a very large department and a new faculty coming on board will
be most welcomed.
___Celine Pinet_____________
Typed Name of Area Dean
May 26 2015_____
Date
VPAA Comments (required for comprehensive reviews):
_______________________
Typed Name of VPAA
_________
Date
This PPA report is organized in 3 sections and 11 subsections as follows:
I.
II.
III.
Comprehensive Review – a. Overall Program Effectiveness, b. Instructional Staffing, c. CTE Programs – Labor Market &
Achievement, and d. Program Goals.
Annual Review – a. Course Data & Trends, b. Teaching Modality, c. Curriculum,
d. Outcomes, and e. Previously Scheduled Activities.
Annual Action Plan – a. New Activities and b. Resource Requests.
INSTRUCTIONS
 For programs/disciplines scheduled for comprehensive review in spring 2015, please complete Sections I,
II, and III.
 For programs/disciplines scheduled for annual review, please complete Sections II and III.
I.
COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW
Please complete this section for programs/disciplines scheduled for comprehensive review in spring 2015.
Go to Section II for programs/disciplines scheduled for annual review in spring 2015.
A. OVERALL PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS
1. Describe your program in terms of its overall effectiveness over the past several years.
Please consider the questions below in describing your program/discipline/area.
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How are students/employees served by the program?
What are the unique aspects of the program?
How does the program relate to the needs of the community?
How does the program interface/collaborate with other programs on campus?
What is working well in the program/discipline?
If there is a sequence of courses in your program, what process or framework is used to ensure alignment?
How is consistency maintained between/among multiple sections of a single course?
Has the program explored alternative scheduling approaches?
Do prerequisites, co-requisites and strongly recommended skills continue to meet program needs? Are there special
considerations regarding capabilities of incoming students?
What professional activities have faculty recently (last three years) participated in?
The Associate in Arts degree program in Psychology supports the mission of Hartnell College by providing a quality education
that will increase students’ awareness and interest in the field of psychology and help them to achieve their educational and
professional goals. Psychology is a very popular major field and students have clearly demonstrated their interest in identifying with
this major while they prepare to transfer to four-year institutions.
The creation of the Associate in Arts in Psychology for Transfer (Psychology A.A.-T) degree is specifically beneficial to
meeting the lower division major and general education (CSU-GE Breadth or IGETC pattern) requirements in psychology. The
Psychology AA-T degree provides a clearly articulated curricular track for students who wish to transfer to baccalaureate psychology
programs at a California State University (CSU) campus.
Students and employees are served by the program due to gaining an increased understanding of human behavior, emotions, and
mental processes. This knowledge allows them to better understand others and themselves in all areas of life (academic, occupational,
social, and personal). Much of psychology is about being able to integrate and apply the information learned to improve one’s life as
well as those around them.
One of the unique aspects of our program is its popularity. Although many people will say, “You can’t get a job as a
psychology major.” Students nevertheless continue to choose it at a very high rate. It continues to be one of the top 4 majors chosen
in the United States (http://www.apa.org/monitor/2008/06/undergrad-major.aspx). Our Hartnell College data that reflects this
popularity will be given later in this report. A large part of this popularity is likely because students believe the information is of
interest, value, and is applicable to their lives. Another unique aspect is that psychology directly works to dispel the myths about
people that are propagated by our media (exs. we only use 10% of our brain; you cannot change how you feel; autism is caused by the
MMR vaccine, psychics should be trusted to foretell the future, etc.) using empirical evidence rather than subjective opinions and
biases. Critical thinking skills are utilized in all of the courses we offer. As will be described below, our discipline offers much
greater breadth and depth in comparison to our surrounding community colleges. In fact, we are more similar in our offerings to some
of the much larger California community colleges.
The program of PSY relates to the needs of the community by directly addressing issues of diversity (cultural, sexual
orientation, religious, gender, etc.) among humans. When a greater appreciation of differences can be better understood, it is more
likely these differences can be appreciated domestically and internationally. This will hopefully decrease viewing other cultures and
groups in an ethnocentric manner.
The program interfaces or collaborates with a number of disciplines and program across campus. These programs include and
are not limited to Biology, Mathematics, English, Nursing, Alcohol and Other Drug, Sociology, and Anthropology. For example, to
complete an AA degree in Psychology, a student is required to not only complete the coursework within the discipline, but must also
successfully complete BIO-11 (Introduction to Human Anatomy & Physiology); MAT-13 (Elementary Statistics); and ENG-1A
(College Reading and Composition). Recommended major electives include courses in Anthropology and Sociology. Our PSY-22
(Abnormal Psychology) is either required or a recommended elective for admission into various nursing, physical therapy, and
occupational therapy programs and can be taken instead of AOD-9 (Co-Occurring Disorders). In terms of our diversity of courses, we
offer one of the few Forensic Psychology courses (PSY-30) taught in the entire California community college system and it bridges
information about psychology with the law. Our PSY-6 (Social Psychology) combines information from sociology and psychology
together.
There are several things working well in our program. As already described we are one of the most popular disciplines at
Hartnell College. We offer a broad range of courses in PSY largely unseen in most community colleges of our comparable size. We
have a very dedicated and loyal group of faculty members; some of who have been teaching for us for over 10 years. We have a very
active and large Psychology Club that offers opportunities to meet and discuss our shared interests through meetings, guest speaker
presentations, movie events related to psychology, participating in volunteer community service related events, etc.
The main sequence of courses in our program is for students to take PSY-2 (General Psychology) as a pre-requisite before
taking some of the more advanced psychology courses. The courses that maintain a pre-requisite of passing with a grade of ‘C’ or
higher in PSY-2 include PSY-8 (Research Methods in Psychology), PSY-10 (Introduction to Biological Psychology) and PSY-22
(Abnormal Psychology). The foundation provided in PSY-2 is essential to understanding and performing well in the advanced
courses. To ensure this alignment happens, the process is facilitated by offering PSY-2 every semester (including summers) and at
multiple times and teaching modalities (face-to-face and distance education) to maximize the students’ ability to complete this
requirement.
Consistency is maintained between and among multiple sections of a single course by the assessment of the Student Learning
Outcomes (SLOs), as well as having regular discipline meetings. Course syllabi are also requested by the Dean’s office to be shared
with the discipline faculty to ensure the course outline is being followed. Ongoing faculty observations and evaluations also help to
maintain quality and rigor.
During an SLO Assessment (SLOA) for a course that is taught by a number of faculty members, all of the faculty teaching that
course will meet to decide on the pre-test, intervention(s), and post-test for that course. Recommended meeting times have been predetermined to occur on weeks 3, 8, and 13 of that semester to assist in scheduling issues. Results are discussed and input into
eLumen. Courses that are assessed each semester are directly supervised by either Dr. Matsushita-Arao or Mrs. Kimbrough. Both
serve as faculty consultants to the SLOA process. Since all 3 of the courses, Dr. Matsushita-Arao teaches are also currently taught by
other faculty members, she serves as the lead faculty member during those assessments.
The program has explored and tried alternative scheduling approaches including offering courses outside of the traditional
Monday through Friday 8:00 AM–12:50 PM and 6:00-8:50 PM. Some other times offered include MWF 1:00-1:50 PM; MW 4:005:15 PM, TTh 12:30-1:45 PM; and TTh 4:00-5:15 PM. Generally the traditional times fill first, and due to the popularity of
psychology, the less traditional times will fill on average between 25+ students. The one campus we are having great difficulty
attracting students is at the Alisal campus. This may be due to that campus being seen more for its other program offerings and that
students can drive another 15 minutes to get to main campus anyway. We have in the past offered a PSY-2 class on Saturdays from 911:50 AM class. If there is interest and demand for that time, we could offer it again.
The courses that have prerequisites were described above as well as the rationale for them. Within the last year, we changed
PSY-2 from having no recommendation or pre-requisite to having an advisory of eligibility of ENG-1A as a recommendation. This
was in hopes to draw more students who would be able to read and write at the college level required for that course. However due to
it only being an advisory, it is too early to tell yet whether the success rate will increase as a result. This data will be followed and
more clear to discern within the next few years.
The professional activities that faculty in our discipline have engaged in has been numerous and diverse. Dr. Yoshiko
Matsushita-Arao’s activities can usually be clustered among 3 main categories: those directly related to teaching; psychology; or to
our College. Here is a very small sampling of events related to each category:
Teaching-related:
 Attended the “Engagement Tools for the Classroom” conference (7.5 hours on a Saturday, put on by Ken Rand and the math
dept.)
 Completed the Etudes online training
 Completed the Drupal training and successfully made my new web page
 Attended the “Classroom Technology” workshop by the Science dept.
Psychology-related:
 Co-organizer of the upcoming event on “Intimate Partner Violence” along with Mary Cousineau and the Nursing and Allied
Health departments
 Dr. Philip Zimbardo’s 2 guest speaker presentations (“Why Good People Do Evil Things” and “The Heroic Imagination
Project”) at CSUMB
 Retired FBI criminal profiler presentation on “Sex Offenders” at CSUMB
Hartnell College-related:
 2 Mentor-Mentee Mixers for Men of Color program (serving as a mentor to this new program)
 “Supporting Student Success” presentation by Dr. Diego Navarro
 First Annual Latina Daughter and Mother College Transfer Night (authored a Communication Guide that all participants
received and attended the event)
Mrs. Carol Kimbrough has activities related to her Continuing Education Units (CEUs) to maintain her Marriage, Family
Therapist (MFT) license as well as supporting her teaching activities. In addition she attends state-wide events that support
curriculum development and participatory governance. Some of these include:
 DSM-5 – Changes to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (6 hours)
 Strategies With Couples (3 hours)
 Law and Ethics (6 hours)
 Emotional Resilience (3 hours)
 Intern Supervision (6 hours)
Presenter: Hartnell FLEX, Faculty Orientation and Workshops
 Creating a Course Syllabus
 Tenure Review Process
 Course Initiation and Review/CurricUNET
 Helping Students in Crisis: Hartnell’s Crisis Counseling Services
Attendee: ASCCC Statewide Events
 Curriculum Institutes (2012, 2013, 2014)
 Leadership Institutes (2013, 2014)
 Fall and Spring Plenary Sessions (2013, 2014, 2015)
 Academic Academy (General Education, 2014; Student Equity, 2015)
 CTE Curriculum Institute 2014
 Accreditation Institute (2014, 2015)
ACCA Conference, February 2015
 Co-Presenter: Institutional Effectiveness and Continuous Improvement Processes
B. INSTRUCTIONAL STAFFING
1. In the table below enter the number of sections offered and the number of full time and adjunct faculty in your
program/discipline by term over the past several years.
Term
Spring 2012
Summer 2012
Fall 2012
Spring 2013
Summer 2013
Fall 2013
Spring 2014
Summer 2014
Fall 2014
Spring 2015
No. of Active Sections
35
7
23
32
7
31
34
7
29
34
Full-time Faculty
2 (but 1 at 80% reassign time)
0
2 (but 1 at 80% reassign time)
2 (but 1 at 80% reassign time)
0
2 (but 1 at 80% reassign time)
2 (but 1 at 80% reassign time)
0
2 (but 1 at 100% reassign time)
2 (but 1 at 100% reassign time)
Adjunct Faculty
12
5
12
12
5
12
12
6
14
15
2. What staffing factors/challenges have influenced the effectiveness of the program?
Although we have an incredible program, it is even more so given the challenges we have with staffing. We have been
advocating for the hiring of another full-time faculty member for the past 5+ years with no success even though we have the data to back
this request. We are told we are high on the list of full-time faculty hires, but never seem to be high enough to make this actually
happen. About 1 year ago, we got close to having a full-time temporary hire, but the process was discontinued even after the public
announcement had been made with no explanation as to why. Hiring one full-time faculty member who can teach in 2 related
disciplines, Psychology and Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD), and coordinate the AOD program would strengthen both programs. In
terms of full-time teaching instructors, we only have one. We used to have 3 full-time instructors in Psychology, but now are down to
one-third of that number. Yet we have more than doubled our course offerings. Dr. Yoshiko Matsushita-Arao teaches 100% of the time,
while Mrs. Carol Kimbrough is our recently elected Academic Senate President, is needed to supervise the important Crisis Counseling
Service program, and is still serving as our Curriculum Chair (amongst many other vital college committees she serves on) too. Out of
the 34 sections we are offering this semester (Spring 2015) on all 3 campuses, only 5 sections are taught by 1 full-time instructor. That
means 85% of our courses are taught by adjunct faculty members. This is completely opposite with the recommended 75% full-time –
25% adjunct faculty teaching load split that is recommended for disciplines.
The AOD program also is in need of and deserving of a faculty member who can take it to the next level. Mrs. Kimbrough has
done an excellent job in creating and maintaining it, but the program needs someone to build further networks to the community
agencies and stay current with the changing needs of that area. Out of the 11 AOD courses offered, none are being taught by a full-time
instructor. Both programs would clearly benefit with the addition of another shared full-time faculty member.
C. CTE PROGRAMS – LABOR MARKET & ACHIEVEMENT
Please complete this section if the program is Career Technical Education
(CTE). Go to subsection D if the program is not CTE.
1. Describe the demonstrated effectiveness on the program over the past several years with levels and trends of
achievement data, including degree/certificate completions (awards) and employment statistics.
Not applicable as we are not a CTE program.
2. Describe the number of, activities of, and recommendations resulting from advisory committee meetings that
have occurred over the past two years. What information and/or data were presented that required or currently
require changes to be made to your program? Please attach copies of meeting minutes over the past two years
and a list of committee members and their respective industries/areas.
Not applicable as we are not a CTE program.
3. Does labor market data and/or the need for additional education indicate that changes should be made to
your program? Does the program (continue to) meet a labor market demand and/or fulfill an important step
toward higher/additional education?
Not applicable as we are not a CTE program.
D. PROGRAM GOALS
1. List and describe program/disciplinary goals for the next comprehensive review cycle. Be sure to
highlight innovative, unique, or other especially noteworthy aspects.
In considering your program’s future goals, please review Hartnell’s vision and mission statements.
VISION STATEMENT
Hartnell College will be nationally recognized for the success of our students by developing leaders who will contribute to
the social, cultural, and economic vitality of our region and the global community.
MISSION STATEMENT
Focusing on the needs of the Salinas Valley, Hartnell College provides educational opportunities for students to reach
academic goals in an environment committed to student learning, achievement and success.
The Associate in Arts degree program in Psychology supports the mission of Hartnell College by providing a quality
education that will increase students’ awareness and interest in the field of psychology and help them to achieve their
educational and professional goals. Psychology is a very popular major field and students have clearly demonstrated their
interest in identifying with this major while they prepare to transfer to four-year institutions.
The creation of the Associate in Arts in Psychology for Transfer (Psychology AA-T) degree is specifically
beneficial to meeting the lower division major and general education (CSU-GE Breadth or IGETC pattern)
requirements in psychology. The Psychology AA-T degree provides a clearly articulated curricular track for students
who wish to transfer to baccalaureate psychology programs at a California State University (CSU) campus.
1)
Pre-requisite courses for nursing and other allied health programs are also offered. In addition, our program provides a
diverse array of courses that satisfy general education requirements in the social and behavioral sciences.
2)
Hiring of one full-time faculty member who can teach in 2 related disciplines, Psychology and Alcohol and Other Drug
(AOD), and coordinate the AOD program. This was explained thoroughly under the Instructional Staffing (please refer
back to the Comprehensive Review, part B) portion of this report.
3)
Continue to expand the pool of dynamic and dedicated adjunct faculty members to strengthen and deepen the expertise
we offer our students. As some of our faculty teach in both Psychology as well as Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD)
disciplines, hiring more adjunct faculty would allow greater stability and strength to both programs.
II.
ANNUAL REVIEW
This section must be completed for ALL academic programs, including those scheduled for a
comprehensive review in spring 2015.
A. COURSE DATA & TRENDS
1.
Please evaluate the 3-year trend of enrollment and success of courses in your program/discipline. Identify
the courses you are choosing to examine this current year in the list below. You do NOT need to evaluate
trends for each course every year.
Course Number
Course Name
PSY-6
PSY-25
Social Psychology
Developmental Psychology: Lifespan
Does the course have any DE (online or
hybrid) sections?
No
No
Please use the data that have been provided. Analyze trends that you observe with respect to the data for the identified courses
and answer the following questions.
ENROLLMENT
2. Review the enrollment data. Describe and analyze any patterns or anomalies that you notice. What do you
make of these patterns or anomalies? What actions should be taken to ensure continuous improvement?
In reviewing the enrollment data for the past 3 years (2011-2012; 2012-2013; 2013-2014) for PSY-6 (Social Psychology)
the following occurred:
Semester
# of students enrolled
in PSY-6
# of sections offered
in PSY-6
Fall 2011
Spring 2012
Fall 2012
Spring 2013
Fall 2013
Spring 2014
50
0
0
0
48
47
1
0
0
0
1
1
One can see that the enrollment figures have stayed consistently high when we have offered it. It has not been offered
every semester due to the college asking disciplines to cut back on classes that were considered electives. The average number
of students is 48.3 over the course of the 3 semesters it was offered. Currently we are offering it every semester and it has
retained its high enrollment numbers. No action needs to be taken for PSY-6 as it continues to draw well. As this is an elective
course, we do not need to offer more sections than we are already doing. Because this course is aligned with a C-ID descriptor
(PSY-170) it will continue to draw well whenever it is offered and will transfer to CSU and UC campuses.
In reviewing the enrollment data for the past 3 years (2011-2012; 2012-2013; 2013-2014) for PSY-25 (Developmental
Psychology: Lifespan) the following occurred:
Semester
# of students enrolled
in PSY-25
# of sections offered
in PSY-25
Fall 2011
Spring 2012
Fall 2012
Spring 2013
Fall 2013
Spring 2014
0
35
63
47
50
56
0
1
1
1
1
1
This course was created and offered for the first time in the Spring of 2012. This explains the low enrollment number for
that semester. The vocational nursing program had requested that this course be offered to help with their students needing the
course for admission into their program. For the past 2 years, the number of enrolled students has remained very high. As the
course seems to be closing earlier and earlier during the registration process, we are going to offer 2 sections starting Fall of
2015. We will see if the course continues to need 2 sections. This course is also aligned with a C-ID descriptor (PSY-180) and
transfers to CSU and UC campuses.
The 3-year Term Data from 2012-2015 provided by Dr. Pinet showed that PSY has the 3rd largest census count across the
entire College (following MAT and ENG who offer 2.9 to 5.5 times the number of sections as PSY) at 9096. We contribute very
strongly in terms of our statistics (FTES = 881.84; FTEF = 25.60; Section Count = 237).
SUCCESS
3. Review the success data. Describe and analyze any patterns or anomalies that you notice. What do you make
of these patterns or anomalies? What actions should be taken to ensure continuous improvement?
In reviewing the success data for the past 3 years (2011-2012; 2012-2013; 2013-2014) for PSY-6 (Social Psychology) the
following was found:
Semester
Fall 2011
Spring 2012
Fall 2012
Spring 2013
Fall 2013
Spring 2014
PSY-6
Success Rate
76%
N/A
N/A
N/A
73%
81%
College
Success Rate
70%
68%
71%
69%
71%
69%
# of sections
offered
1
0
0
0
1
1
The range of success rate for PSY-6 is consistently higher (ranging from 73-81%) in comparison to the success rate of the
College overall (ranging from 68-71%). We however, did not offer it for 3 consecutive semesters due to cutbacks. The instructor
who teaches the course continues to look for ways to improve her teaching and appears to be getting more comfortable in knowing
how to reach our students.
In reviewing the success data for the past 3 years (2011-2012; 2012-2013; 2013-2014) for PSY-25 (Developmental
Psychology: Lifespan) the following can be reported:
Semester
Fall 2011
Spring 2012
Fall 2012
Spring 2013
Fall 2013
Spring 2014
PSY-25
Success Rate
N/A
80%
76%
89%
86%
91%
College
Success Rate
70%
68%
71%
69%
71%
69%
# of sections
offered
0
1
1
1
1
1
Clearly the success rate of students in this course is much higher than the college success rate average. The range is from
76%-91% while the college ranges from 68-71%. This could be interpreted in different ways. The content of this course tends to be
easier for students to understand as we are living the experience. The current instructor also seems to be able to communicate the
concepts clearly as evidenced in her observation/evaluation report. It will be interesting to compare the success rate once we start to
offer 2 sections as the instructors will be different and therefore have different teaching styles. A third possibility is the rigor of the
course may need to be increased if students are finding it too easy. More data will need to be gathered.
DEGREES AND CERTIFICATES
4. Describe the demonstrated effectiveness of the program over the past several years with levels and trends of
achievement data, such as degree and certificate completions/awards.
For the past 6 years, the number of A.A. degrees earned in Psychology at Hartnell College has been impressive and we
continue to be very proud of this trend. When compared against our entire college for A.A. degrees with a single majors
(excluding Liberal Studies, Social Sciences, and Behavioral Science), we rank #1 out of 17 other majors (based on the CCCCO
Program Awards Summary Report, run on January 6, 2015). This reflects the high interest in Psychology as a major across
the U.S. as well as the strength of our own program and faculty.
The following is the summary of the data from the California Community College Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO)
Datamart for the past 3 years:
Academic
Year
2011-2012
# of A.A. Psychology Graduates
2012-2013
29
2013-2014
22
38
Total is 89 A.A. graduates
Academic Year
# of A.A.-T Psychology Graduates
2011-2012
N/A (didn’t exist yet)
2012-2013
N/A (didn’t exist yet)
2013-2014
34
Total is 34 A.A.-T graduates
Combined Total of A.A. and A.A.-T Psychology Graduates (2011-2014) = 123
Although the number of A.A. graduates has decreased in this 3 year span (2011-2014) vs. a previous 3-year span (20092012) that was reported last year (and there is the overlap of a single academic year, 2011-2012), this may have been largely due
to the creation in 2013 of the A.A.-T in Psychology. This allowed our students another option to choose. And when we add the
A.A. and the A.A.-T graduates in Psychology our total is 123 which is higher than the previous 3-year span which had a total of
107 A.A. graduates.
As Dr. Celine Pinet communicated in an E-mail dated February 17, 2015; out of the 177 students that graduated with an
A.A.-T or A.S.-T degree from Hartnell College, Psychology was the discipline that had the greatest number earned (52 students
or 29%)! Yet upon closer examination, if we only count the A.A.-T degree earners, our numbers are even more impressive. In
the CCCCO Datamart for 2013-2014, out of the 52 A.A.-T degrees earned at Hartnell College, 34 (or 65%) were from
Psychology!
In an Excel spreadsheet titled “AA&CERT GRID 1992 to PRESENT“, sent by Dr. Pinet via E-mail on February 17,
2015, information regarding the number of Liberal Arts degrees earned was included. Between Fall 2010 to Fall 2015, there was
a total of 394 Liberal Arts degrees awarded from Hartnell College. Of the 11 sub-categories of Liberal Arts, the degree with the
Psychology emphasis was ranked #1. The Liberal Arts with an emphasis on Psychology had a total of 188 graduates out of 394
(or 47.7%).
At this time, there are no recommendations for improvement as we have an excellent program that is at the #1 ranking
overall for the A.A. degree in the single major category, has the #1 overall ranking for the A.A.-T degree, and the #1 overall
ranking in the Liberal Arts degree with emphasis as well. We cannot get better than these numbers!
B. TEACHING MODALITY
Not Applicable (N/A). Neither PSY-6 nor PSY-25 are taught as Distance Education courses. They are only offered as face-toface classes at this time and there are no plans to change this in the near future.
1. Enter the number of Distance Education Courses, both fully online and hybrid sections, along with the
number of full-time and adjunct faculty.
Term
No. of DE/Online
Sections
No of Hybrid
Sections
Full-time
Faculty
Adjunct Faculty
N/A
2. Compare student success in the DE teaching environment with success in the face-to-face teaching environment in
the same course. Are there differences? To what do you ascribe the differences in your program?
N/A
3. Describe the process to change and improve student success in DE courses/sections in your program.
N/A
4. Compare student retention in the DE teaching environment with retention in the face-to-face teaching
environment in the same course. Are there differences? To what do you ascribe the differences in your program?
N/A
5. Describe the process to change and improve student retention in DE courses/sections in your program.
N/A
6. Describe any other relevant factors regarding diverse teaching modalities and environments, such as specific
locations.
N/A
C. CURRICULUM
Complete the following tables pertaining to courses scheduled for review.
Courses scheduled for
review during AY 2014-15 as
previously specified
Faculty member(s)
responsible for
coordinating
(a) Was the course
reviewed and (b) taken
through the curriculum
process?
Date of approval (or
anticipated approval) by
Curriculum
Committee
PSY-12, Theories of Personality
Carol Kimbrough
Yes
2/5/2015
PSY-25, Developmental
Psychology: Lifespan
Carol Kimbrough
Yes
2/5/2015
Courses scheduled for review during AY
2015-16
PSY-30 (Forensic Psychology)
PSY-22 (Abnormal Psychology)
Faculty member(s) responsible for
coordinating
Yoshiko Matsushita-Arao (& Jeff Kessler)
Yoshiko Matsushita-Arao
Target semester and year—Fa 2015 or Sp
2016
Fall 2015
Fall 2015
PSY-2 (General Psychology)
Yoshiko Matsushita-Arao
Spring 2016
D. OUTCOMES
Use your Program Outcome Maps to assist you in this subsection. As you plan your course assessments, keep the higher level
program outcome in mind. While course level assessment serves the purpose of examining the teaching and learning for that
particular course, it also provides the data that will be viewed collectively for assessment of the associated program level
outcomes.
PROGRAM LEVEL OUTCOMES
1. Please complete the following tables.
List Program level outcome(s) scheduled for
assessment as previously specified
What changes have occurred in the
program/discipline as a result of dialogue?
Was the Program Outcome
Assessment Summary completed?
PLO #2: Apply knowledge of basic research
No changes needed. All of our PSY courses Yes and the summary is attached at
methods in psychology, including research design, include information about reporting and
the end of this PPA report.
data analysis, and interpretation.
understanding research findings. PSY-8 is
the most comprehensive in meeting this PLO.
List Program level outcome(s) scheduled for assessment in AY 15-16
PLO #3: Use critical and creative thinking, skeptical inquiry, and the
scientific approach to solving problems related to behavioral and mental
processes.
Have your course level SLOs needed for this program
level outcome been assessed or scheduled for
assessment?
The course level SLOs are scheduled to be assessed next
academic year for this PLO.
2. Describe how program level outcomes were specifically addressed by the program/discipline during the
past year.
For example, were data gathered at the course level? Was there review and analysis of the data? How did the discipline faculty
engage in discussion? Were any interventions conducted? Are there any plans to make changes to certificate/degree programs or
improvements in teaching and student learning?
Program Learning Outcome #2 was assessed and the report is attached at the end of this PPA report. Students in PSY-8
(Research Methods in Psychology) performed extremely well on the final research project assignment and exceeded the target
pass rate. The students overall average grade on this assignment was 91%, easily surpassing the 70% target goal. The one area
of improvement was on the research design section. The instructor said she would provide more lecture material on this area
and have her students either do more in or out of class assignments to strengthen this weakness.
As PLO #2 is so specific, the program may consider deleting it. We will discuss this at the end of the year faculty
meeting that we will hold in May 2015. It applies almost only for PSY-8, but not the other PSY courses. Our other PSY
courses all discuss and present research findings regularly, but PLO #2’s goals are to apply knowledge of basic research
including research design, data analysis, and interpretation and these are best met by PSY-8.
CORE COMPETENCIES
3. Describe how Core Competencies (Communication Skills, Information Skills, Critical Thinking/Problem
Solving, Global Awareness, Aesthetic Appreciation, Personal Growth and Responsibility) were specifically
addressed by the program/discipline during the past year. For example, were data gathered at the course level?
Was there review and analysis of the data? How did the discipline faculty engage in discussion? Were any
interventions conducted? Are there any plans to make changes to courses or improvements in teaching and
student learning?
This year the Core Competency of Information Skills was assessed by the 4 courses that assessed their SLOs. These 4
courses include PSY-8 (Research Methods in Psychology), PSY-12 (Theories of Personality); PSY-22 (Abnormal Psychology)
and PSY-30 (Forensic Psychology). All 4 courses require extensive reading at the college level. PSY-8 and PSY-12 textbooks
tend to be more challenging to read than most other PSY textbooks due to the complexity of their topical areas. PSY-8 also has
a research project and PSY-22 has a book report (both written using APA style) as requirements for their courses. In reviewing
the data and having extensive discussions with the faculty who teach these courses, one theme always is mentioned. This is the
fact that many of our students come unprepared to do college level reading and writing. Although they find the topics in
psychology fascinating, they have not been taught and trained how to read nor write at this level. This is why currently PSY-2
(General Psychology) has an ENG-1A advisory tied to it. But an advisory is just that and students can take the courses without
having completed any ENG course prior, although if they did, they would likely be more successful in our courses. However,
this issue is not just found in PSY, but in most other disciplines as well. As the advisory has only been in place since November
1, 2012, it is too early to tell if it has made a difference. Hopefully we will see improvement in our success rate over time.
COURSE LEVEL STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
4. Please complete the following tables.
List courses scheduled for SLO assessment as
previously specified
In what term was the course
assessed?
Was the Course Assessment
Summary Report completed?
PSY-8 (Research Methods in Psychology)
Fall 2014
Yes
PSY-12 (Theories of Personality)
Fall 2014
Yes
PSY-22 (Abnormal Psychology)
Spring 2015
In progress
PSY-30 (Forensic Psychology)
Spring 2015
In progress
List courses scheduled for SLO assessment in
AY 2015-16
Faculty member(s) responsible
for coordinating
Target semester and year—Fa
2015 or Sp 2016
PSY-2 (General Psychology)
Yoshiko Matsushita-Arao (&
Leslie, Julie, Salina, Merry,
Barbara, Betsy, Marisela, & Jeff)
Fall 2015
PSY-10 (Introduction to Biological Psychology)
Carol Kimbrough (& Larry
Lachman)
Carol Kimbrough
Spring 2016
PSY-42 (Psychology of Women)
Spring 2016
5. Describe course level assessments results and how they will influence your plans moving forward.
For PSY-8 (Research Methods in Psychology) a pre-test, intervention, and post-test were completed last semester on all 3
SLOs. The results found a significant improvement in post-test scores on all of the SLOs and each scored much higher than the
target of 70% passing. For SLO #1, the students had to demonstrate that they could develop a testable hypothesis, and design,
conduct, and write a research proposal. The assignment had 18 categories on the grading rubric (cover page, abstract, literature
review, research question, etc.). All 14 groups (n=14) completed the assignment (100%) and the average grade was 91% (mean
= 82.78; standard deviation = 8.60). For SLO #2, the students needed to show they could describe, explain, and apply different
research methods and were given a homework assignment with 3 examples to work on. All 44 students in the course (N=44)
completed the assignment and the average grade was 95% (mean = 19.00; standard deviation = 1.08). Student Learning
Outcome #3 was assessed through a class exercise. Students were divided into 13 groups and everyone read over a case study
and answered questions related to the conclusions drawn by the researchers. The 5 questions included:
1. What is a case study?
2. Why did the researchers choose this person for their case study?
3. What was the main finding of the study?
4. If you were a researcher, would you study this individual in the same way?
5. Do you agree with the conclusions drawn by the researchers?
This group activity was scored as either receiving credit/no credit for completion. All 13 groups received credit.
For PSY-12 (Theories of Personality), a pre-test, intervention, and post-test were also completed last semester. This
data has been reported on eLumen. Student Learning Outcome #1 states that students will analyze and evaluate the strengths and
weaknesses of each major theoretical perspective of personality. The results found that the majority of students (65.7%, n=23)
were able to analyze and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each major theoretical perspective of psychology successfully.
In conversing with the instructor of record (Mrs. Patrizia Ahlers), she said the area her students struggled with the most was in
explaining the theory by Dr. Carl Jung. This is understandable as his theory is a bit more abstract than the other theorists. This
SLO#1 result is slightly lower than the targeted 70% success rate, but is close. Student Learning Outcome #2 states that students
will summarize and explain the historical and biographical context of each personality perspective. According to the results, all
students were able to complete this task (100%, n=34). The SLO #3 states that students will apply major personality theories to
the development, characteristics, and behaviors of self and others with attention to culture and individual differences. The number
of students who did this correctly was 82.8% (n=30), well above the desired 70% target rate. The fourth SLO was students will
discuss how treatment methods are developed and applied according to the major theories. For SLO #4, 86.7% (n=26) were able
to complete this task successfully.
As we are currently completing SLO assessments and results for PSY-22 (Abnormal Psychology) and PSY-30 (Forensic
Psychology) this semester, it is premature to discuss and analyze the results yet.
6. Describe assessment activities that need to be strengthened or improved. What are the challenges to achieving
these improvements?
For PSY-8 although the groups excelled in most categories for SLO #1, the one area of weakness was the design/method
area. This was the section of the paper in which the students were asked to make a clear statement as to their research method
and describe their design. One group failed to include this in their paper and 5 groups had poorly developed or incorrect
statements of the research method. The student groups that did not do well had low attendance in the course and this may help
explain the weakness as due to reduced contact time and exposure to important content. In the future, more targeting of this
area through additional lectures and/or homework assignments may be warranted. Although the students did exceptionally well
on SLO #2 (average grade was 95%), it can be improved by giving more than 4 categories to explain and include more
examples than 3. Because SLO #3 was assessed by qualitative measures (credit vs. no credit), in the future it was
recommended that a better method of assessment might be to have a combination of a qualitative and quantitative components.
No challenges are anticipated with the recommendations for PSY-8 as all are doable and likely to make the process even better.
For PSY-12, overall, the students performed very well. The only recommendation based on SLO #1 results is to focus
more attention on improving students’ understanding of Jungian theory. This may be done in a variety of ways including
spending more time lecturing on it, increasing class discussion, and/or giving students an in class or take home assignment to
reinforce the concepts.
As we are currently completing SLO assessments and results for PSY-22 (Abnormal Psychology) and PSY-30 (Forensic
Psychology) this semester, it is premature to make any recommendations on what areas need to be strengthened or improved just
yet.
E. PREVIOUSLY SCHEDULED ACTIVITIES
This subsection focuses on activities that were previously scheduled. An activity can address many different aspects of your
program/discipline, and ultimately is undertaken to improve or enhance your program/discipline, and keep it current.
Activity scheduled
What success has been
achieved to date on this
activity?
What challenges existed or Will activity
continue to exist?
continue into AY
15-16?
Will activity
continue into AY
16-17?*
1. Discipline faculty SLOA
Very helpful to ensure
We try to meet on weeks 3,
meetings (minimum 3
assessments are progressing & 8, & 13 during the semester,
meetings per course assessed) are conducted. Allows time to but sometimes have to
answer any questions & share schedule at other times due
data.
to conflicts.
Definitely.
Recommend it should
continue.
2.
3.
* For each activity that will continue into AY 2016-17 and that requires resources, submit a separate resource request in Section III.
1. Evaluate the success of each activity scheduled, including activities completed and those in progress. What
measurable outcomes were achieved? Did the activities and subsequent dialogue lead to significant change in
student learning or program success?
Having ongoing pre-scheduled meetings (designated on weeks 3, 8 & 15) to assure the SLO and PLO assessments during that
semester are being conducted has been very successful. It is likely the key to this work getting completed as we are all held accountable
and given the structure and knowledge about what needs to be done to be successful. A reminder of which courses will be assessed are
given the semester prior so faculty can know what they will need to do before they have to do it. For PSY courses where there is only 1
adjunct faculty member teaching it, that person either consults or works closely with Dr. Matsushita-Arao or Mrs. Kimbrough for these
meetings.
During the meetings held on weeks 3, 8 and 15, all PSY faculty who teach the same course are given at least 3 opportunities to
discuss together how we want to assess, what we will assess, share our ideas and methods, discuss our pre-test results, brainstorm and
decide on an intervention that we will all conduct, and then discuss our post-test results together. This process has helped all faculty
members to feel a part of the process and provides many chances to share their valuable input. The most important measurable outcome
is that all of our assessments in PSY are being completed. The majority of the completions happen before the semester ends. So far,
only 3 faculty members needed more time to complete their reports, but they did get them done during the following semester.
The interventions are usually very helpful and often become a part of that course from that point on. This allows us to maintain
the gains from what we learned through the assessment process. We will continue to monitor if the changes improve our success rate in
those courses over time.
III.
ANNUAL ACTION PLAN
This section must be completed for ALL academic programs, whether scheduled for annual or
comprehensive review in spring 2015.
A. NEW ACTIVITIES
This subsection addresses new activities for, and continuing new activities into, AY 2015-16. An activity can address many
different aspects of your program/discipline, and ultimately is undertaken to improve, enhance, and or keep your program/discipline
area current. A new activity may or may not require additional resources. Activities can include but are not limited to:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
NEW CURRICULUM
FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAM OR SERVICE
GRANT DEVELOPMENT AND PROPOSALS
FACULTY AND STAFF TRAINING
MARKETING/OUTREACH
ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT
STUDENT SERVICES
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
SUPPORT OPERATIONS
FACILITIES
1. List information concerning new projects or activities planned. The first activity listed should be the most important; the second
activity listed the second most important, etc. Please keep in mind that resources needed, if funded, would not be approved
until spring 2016 and provided until FY 2016-17. Ongoing activities involving resources that will no longer be available
from grant funds starting FY 2016-17 must be planned for appropriately.
Activity
Strategic
Plan
Goal(s)
No. &
Letter
(e.g., 5A)*
Related
Courses, SLOs,
PLOs,
or goals
Desired
Outcome(s)
Resources
Needed
Person
Responsible
Estimated
Date of
Completion
(can be more than
one year in length)
1. Hiring of 1 full5A –
All SLOs and
Have more Hiring of 1 FT PSY faculty, Less than 1 year
time faculty memberInnovation & all PLOs for courses taught
faculty
Dean of Social to advertise,
in PSY & AOD
Relevance
both
by FT faculty
& Behavioral
screen,
member
for Programs disciplines.
Sciences,
members
interview & hire
& Services
VPAA and Pres.
2. Continued
5A –
All SLOs and
Achieve
Trainings All PSY faculty Hopefully just 1
training in eLumen Innovation & all PLOs.
competence by
offered at
members.
year.
program to
Relevance
all PSY faculty various times
accurately input for Programs
& adjunct
results of SLO and & Services
faculty
PLO assessments.
compensated if
possible.
3.
4.
5.
* See Appendix A for a list of the 11 goals in the college’s Strategic Plan.
*** Please complete this page for each new activity. ***
Comments
Needed to
strengthen &
enhance both
programs.
2. This item is used to describe how the new activity, or continuing new activity, will support the
program/discipline.
Consider:
• Faculty
• Other staffing
• Facilities
• Equipment (non-expendable, greater than $5,000), supplies (expendable, valued at less than $5,000)
• Software
• Hardware
• Outside services
• Training
• Travel
• Library materials
• Science laboratory materials
a) Describe the new activity or follow-on activity that this resource will support.
The new activity desired is further faculty training in our new program eLumen. This will continue to be an important activity
across the College. We want to make sure we are inputting the data from our SLO and PLO assessments correctly so we can better
analyze the results and come to conclusions.
We are continuing to advocate for the hiring of 1 full-time Psychology and Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) instructor who can
teach in both disciplines and serve as the program supervisor for AOD. There is clearly a need in both disciplines (PSY and AOD) for
full-time faculty to be responsible for more of the load in both programs. PSY has one of the highest enrollment and retention rates of any
discipline at the College so we generate a great deal of FTES. In PSY this semester, less than 15% (5 out of 34) of our courses are taught
by a full-time faculty member, while in AOD, 0% of the 9 offered courses are taught by a full-time faculty member. One of our full-time
faculty members due to having other important College responsibilities (examples: Curriculum Committee chair, supervisor of the Crisis
Counseling Service, and Academic Senate President) no longer teaches at all for the next 2 years. This means we only have 1 full-time
faculty member teaching in both disciplines. This is the opposite of what is strongly recommended in terms of full-time vs. adjunct
teaching loads at a college campus. Another way this has a negative impact is the sheer load placed currently on the full-time faculty. In
terms of scheduling for PSY and AOD, there are often close to 40 sections offered on all 3 campuses with an average of 16 adjunct faculty
members to coordinate and organize. This is quite a logistical challenge to be aware of the varying needs and availability of faculty
members and at the same time be cognizant of the lack of classroom space during the prime teaching times. Also supervising, organizing,
and coordinating the SLO and PLO assessments and the course review process for the 22 different courses offered in both disciplines is
demanding and time-consuming. And because our maximum number of students allowed per class is 53 in our contract, we in the Social
and Behavioral Sciences are teaching many more students compared to our colleagues outside our department. We also have a huge
number of faculty members to observe and evaluate. When one studies the data, it is clear that we are in need and deserving of another
full-time faculty member. Having full-time faculty members allows for greater stability and consistency for our disciplines and there is
greater contribution to the College and community as a whole.
b) Describe how this activity supports all of the following that apply:
1) Core Competency (Communication Skills, Information Skills, Critical Thinking/Problem Solving, Global Awareness,
Aesthetic Appreciation, Personal Growth and Responsibility)
2) Program level Outcome (list applicable program outcome)
3) Course level Outcome (list applicable course level outcome)
4) Program/Discipline Goal (list applicable program/discipline goal)
5) Strategic Plan Goal (list applicable strategic plan goal)
With the large number of courses as well as sections we offer in PSY and AOD, we would have greater consistency if we had
more of the courses taught by full-time faculty members who could share the load in supervising, coordinating, and organizing the
assessment process across both disciplines.
This new training activity on eLumen will support areas #2 (Program level outcomes), 3 (Course level outcomes) and 4
(Program/Discipline) stated above. The eLumen trainings will assist our faculty and discipline towards gaining a greater
understanding of our measured results regarding our SLOs and our PLOs separately and as a whole. When we have measurable
results, we can then make better recommendations on possible changes for the future.
c) Does this activity span multiple academic years?
☐ YES
X NO
No, not once we successfully hire the faculty member. Time frame for hiring is recommended within this academic year 20152016 so the new faculty member can begin teaching by Fall 2016.
The eLumen program does not seem to be very complex, so it is doubtful that we would need to extend this activity except to
train new faculty members who are hired.
If yes, describe the action plan for completion of this activity.
See above.
d) What measureable outcomes are expected from this activity? List indicators of success.
Greater amount of assessments can be conducted with an additional faculty member. We will also keep track of how our
enrollment, retention, and success rates change (we anticipate improve) as well as graduation numbers in PSY after the hire.
The measurable outcome is that all assessment data regarding SLOs and PLOs for our entire College will have a central
location to input and review the data. We will no longer be tied to using the shared ‘R’ drive that adjunct faculty had difficulty
accessing. This lack of access caused the adjunct faculty to have to forward their assessment information (ex. SLO assessment reports)
to the full-time faculty member(s) who then loaded them on to the shared ‘R’ drive. The indicator of success will be if all faculty in
PSY are able to input their own results successfully rather than handing it to a full-time faculty member to do this task. Another
indicator of success will be that we are able to make comparisons amongst and within courses much more easily given this program.
e) What are the barriers to achieving success in this activity?
The main barrier is the College not deeming this faculty hiring as a priority and therefore not funding our recommendation even
though our data strongly supports it.
The main barrier will be if there are enough eLumen trainings offered at various times (due to scheduling issues) and with
enough detail that all faculty will feel competent in the end. Another possible barrier could be if there is no person(s) to consult with
when one gets stuck or has a specific question. A third possible barrier is to make sure new hires are trained adequately and to not just
stop trainings after this next year. It will be helpful to have continuous trainings to keep one’s skills sharp.
B. RESOURCE REQUESTS
If new/additional resources are needed for your program/discipline, it is important that you identify them and project their cost,
and that these resources and costs be considered through the College’s integrated planning (governance, budget development,
funding decision making, and resource allocation) processes. A resource is likely to be something needed to support an activity that
you have identified in IIIA above, in which case you must link the resource with a specific activity number (first column below). All
resource requests completed in the various columns of a specific row must be linked to the new or continuing
activity numbered on the first column of that same row. The first activity listed should be the most important; the second activity
listed the second most important, etc. A resource could also be something necessary for your program/discipline to function properly to
improve student learning, such as updated equipment in a classroom; in such case be sure to note that the resource is NOT tied to
a specific activity.
Activity
No.
Personnel
Classified
Staff/
Faculty
(C/F/M)*
1. Hiring of FT
PSY & AOD
Instructor
Faculty
Technolog
Supplies/
y
Equipm
Hardware
ent
/ Software
(S/E
(H/S)***
)**
Contract
Services
Training
Travel
Library
Materials
Facilities/Sp
ace
e.g., Science
Labs
Projected
Costs
Office space
$110,000 (estimate
salary + benefits)
2.
3.
4.
5.
* Personnel: Include a C, F, or M after the amount to indicate Classified Staff, Faculty, or Manager.
** S for Supplies, E for Equipment. If additional supplies, for example, are needed for ongoing activities, this should be requested through
the budget rollover process.
*** H for Hardware, S for Software.
APPENDIX A. Strategic Priorities & Goals
(from Hartnell College Strategic Plan 2013-2018)
Priority 1: Student Access
Goal 1A: Hartnell College will provide higher education, workforce development, and lifelong
learning opportunities—with seamless pathways—to all of the college’s present and prospective
constituent individuals and groups.
Priority 2: Student Success
Goal 2A: Hartnell College will provide a supportive, innovative, and collaborative learning
environment to help students pursue and achieve educational success.
Goal 2B: Hartnell College will provide a supportive, innovative, and collaborative learning
environment that addresses and meets the diverse learning needs of students.
Priority 3: Employee
Diversity and Development
Goal 3A: Hartnell College is committed to 1) increasing diversity among its employees; 2)
providing an environment that is safe for and inviting to diverse persons, groups, and
communities; and 3) becoming a model institution of higher education whose respect for
diversity is easily seen and is fully integrated throughout its policies, practices, facilities, signage,
curricula, and other reflections of life at the college.
Goal 3B: To attract and retain highly qualified employees, Hartnell College is committed to
providing and supporting relevant, substantial professional development opportunities.
Priority 4:
Effective Utilization of Resources
Goal 4A: To support its mission, Hartnell College is committed to the effective utilization of
its human resources.
Goal 4B: Hartnell College is committed to having its physical plant, furnishings, and grounds
maintained and replaced in a planned and scheduled way to support learning, safety, security,
and access.
Goal 4C: Hartnell College will maintain a current, user-friendly technological infrastructure
that serves the needs of students and employees.
Goal 4D: Hartnell College is committed to maximizing the use and value of capital assets,
managing financial resources, minimizing costs, and engaging in fiscally sound planning for
future maintenance, space, and technology needs.
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Priority 5:
Innovation and Relevance for Programs and Services
Goal 5A: Hartnell College will provide programs and services that are relevant to the realworld needs of its diverse student population, while also developing and employing a culture of
innovation that will lead to improved institutional effectiveness and student learning.
Priority 6: Partnership with
Industry, Business Agencies and Education
Goal 6A: Hartnell College is committed to strengthening and furthering its current
partnerships, in order to secure lasting, mutually beneficial relationships between the college
and the community that the college serves.
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