An Coiste Feabhais Acadúil
The Committee on Academic Quality Improvement
The Academic Quality Assurance Programme 2004 - 2005
REVIEW OF
THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
Final Report
3rd May 2005
Department of English: Review Group report 2004-05
This report arises from a visit by a review team to the Department of English on 18th –
22nd January, 2005. The Department had already prepared and submitted a 'Self
Assessment Report' that, with other documentation, was made available to the review
team well in advance of the visit.
The review team consisted of: Professor Brian Caraher, Head of Graduate
Teaching and Research, School of English, Queen’s University Belfast (Chair);
Professor Patricia Coughlan, Department of English, University College Cork;
Professor Chris Curtin, Department of Political Science & Sociology, NUI, Galway;
and Dr. Maria Tuohy, of the Department of Biochemistry, NUI, Galway acting as
Rapporteur.
The report is structured to cover the following main topics:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Aims and Objectives
Organization and Management
Programmes and Instruction
Scholarship and Research
Community Service
The Wider Context
Summary and Concluding Remarks
During its three and half day visit, the review team had the opportunity to
meet with all of the members of the Department (save for some of those on research
leave), commencing with an initial three-hour meeting on Wednesday morning.
Subsequently, the QRG met with each individual member of the department for a
minimum of twenty minutes on Thursday, the 19th January. The QRG also met with
four undergraduate students, and a trans-sectional representation of postgraduate
students (four in total) from the taught MA programmes offered by the department
and one recently-completed doctoral student. The QRG met as well with the
temporary administrator in the department. The Review group conducted substantial
and substantive interviews with the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, and senior
representatives of the University Administration, including the Assistant Secretary in
the Registrar’s Office, the Director of CELT and the Senior Administrative Officer in
the Research Office.
1.
Aims and Objectives
The Quality Review Group (QRG) were impressed by the Department of English’s
self-assessment report (SAR), which was clear, effective and comprehensive. The
report and the complementary array of auxiliary documentation provided a rich
profile of a highly functioning department at a busy time period in its recent history.
The Departmental aims and objectives, as laid out in the twenty-three bullet points on
page 3 of the self-assessment report, are clearly formulated in relation to teaching,
learning and research, and are in keeping with the strategic plans of both the
Departmental unit and the University. On the basis of its detailed SWOT analysis, the
department has developed an operational plan, which has been summarized in
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Department of English: Review Group report 2004-05
fourteen key points in Section 1.2 of the SAR. Priorities 1-13 were discussed at some
length with the Department and individual members of staff. The operational plan
shows a good awareness of the types of issues that will confront the department in the
near-to-medium future and which must be addressed. The plan clearly sets out the
thinking of the department in the key areas of teaching, research and service to the
community. With regard to the implementation of the plan, care and consideration
need to be given to particular procedures surrounding its implementation.
2.
Organization and Management
The Department of English at NUI,Galway is required to deal with a complex array of
teaching, research and other related duties, including administrative and committee
duties across the Faculty and University. It is evident from pages 6-10 of the SAR
that the department is aware of the need to put in place appropriate and adequate
management procedures to meet or address these demands. The department has in
place four significant committees for: Curriculum, Finance, Staff-Student and
Postgraduate Research. The department is aware of the need to develop and expand
the remit of the Postgraduate committee to meet the increasing demands of their
taught MA programmes and doctoral research activities. In addition, individual
members of staff have assigned roles, which ensure that critically important
managerial functions in the department are carried out promptly and efficiently. It is
important that the department put in place agreed and systematic time periods for the
discharge of particularly demanding administrative functions. An example would be a
system of clearly sign-posted rotations for major administrative tasks in the
department.
The current management system involves the participation of all members of
the staff. However, given the commendable array of research and teaching activities
ongoing in the department, its recent rapid expansion, its very adverse student-staff
ratio (SSR), and the increased participation of Departmental staff in important
University interdisciplinary research initiatives, it is timely to review and guarantee
adequate, effective and transparent communication across all staff in the department.
The management and all of the department’s work are, at present, severely hampered,
however, by the slow process of providing permanent, dedicated administrative staff.
The department clearly takes the views of its students very seriously and has
put in place appropriate staff-student committees and student evaluation procedures.
The review team has noted that the department clearly supports sabbatical leave for
its staff and that it also encourages them to participate in training activities provided
by CELT and other units of the University. The University’s current provision of
accommodation is inadequate in terms of appropriate workspace – for instance, four
tenured staff members are currently sharing two offices. The primary location of the
department is in Tower 1, Floor 3. This work environment is in a serious state of
disrepair (windows, stairs, toilets, décor) and represents a facility in need of regular
refurbishment, especially given the exceptionally large numbers of students whom
this department serves.
3.
Programmes and Instruction
The Department of English plays a leading role in the delivery of the Arts Faculty BA
degree programme. It offers three well-populated taught MA programmes, has played
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Department of English: Review Group report 2004-05
a leading role in the MA in Culture and Colonialism in the Faculty, and is a
significant contributor to the MA programmes in Irish Studies, Film Studies, and
Journalism. In addition, the department provides significant contributions to the
evening Diploma/evening BA and Access programmes. The department has greatly
contributed to the University’s aim to increase its number of postgraduate students by
introducing, since its previous self-assessment exercise, two new taught MA
programmes. The aims and objectives of the department’s BA curriculum are
splendidly set out and explained on page 27 of the SAR. The stated curricular aims
and objectives could well serve as a fine template and a model of clarity for other
departments of English literary studies in these islands. The department’s curriculum
is clearly intellectually stimulating and highly attractive to the undergraduate body. It
also clearly transmits the varied and excellent research interests and strengths of the
Departmental staff. The department is aware of the need to keep the curriculum of
the BA programme, particularly that of the first year, under review.
The department has been and continues to be presented with an enormous
challenge in teaching, with exceptionally large numbers of undergraduate students in
the context of a poor and deteriorating student:staff ratio (SSR). In these
circumstances it is to be commended for its inventiveness in utilising a wide variety
of teaching methods.
The department intends to introduce, from September 2005, a new and
innovative pilot project in Task Based Learning for First Year. This is being
developed in liaison with CELT and will involve much greater use of electronic
media. This proposal also has the support of the Registrar’s Office. The effect will
be to divide first year numbers into three balanced groups of ~170 students each, for
teaching purposes. The review group concurs with the department’s own view of the
need to monitor carefully the effectiveness of this initiative and, in particular, to
ensure adequate induction and training of the tutorial staff who will be the primary
instructors. The Group commends the department’s willingness to undertake this
innovative initiative. However, it is vital to ensure that first year tutors are adequately
trained in the exercise of traditional teaching methods also. Given the exigencies of
managing large numbers of students, tutors and scripts, it is necessary that procedures
are put in place to ensure that uniform standards are observed in grading. Care should
also be taken that tutorial content/course coverage be comparable, and as far as
possible, scheduled concurrently across the many groups.
The QRG were very impressed by the three taught MA programmes provided
by the department, both in terms of documentation and student response, which was
warm and appreciative. There was some evidence of poor fit between course titles and
content, e.g. a course flagged in its title as a workshop needs to be conducted as such.
Possibly a somewhat greater degree of supervision by course directors and/or course
team meetings on contact and delivery methods would be productive towards these
ends.
It is important to have monitoring procedures in place to capture problems as
they emerge. In this regard the establishment of a staff-postgraduate committee will
be good.
The QRG has reviewed the external examiners reports from 1999-2003, and
assessed essay lists, examination papers, and other sample materials supplied, all of
which provide ample evidence that the department delivers excellent programmes of
learning.
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Department of English: Review Group report 2004-05
4.
Scholarship and Research
The QRG was provided with ample evidence of the outstanding research culture in
the department. The research activities of its members are well recognised, in terms
of quality and extent, at national and international levels. It is clear to the QRG that
the environment in the department is supportive and facilitates the research plans of
individual members of staff. The Group applauds the department’s collegial spirit,
which ensures that individual staff members can develop and complete their research
projects through periods of sabbatical leave, especially in light of the adverse
student:staff ratio (SSR). Furthermore, the management procedures currently in place
greatly assist in ensuring that individual circumstances are accommodated and
consequently provide adequate time for research.
There is clear evidence of an exceptional degree of participation by the
department in innovative and active Departmental, inter-Departmental and interdisciplinary research clusters.
The success of eleven members of the department since 1999 in winning
substantial research funding has been vital in advancing the department’s research
programme and in facilitating the emergence of a critical mass of doctoral and postdoctoral researchers. The department proposes, in its operational plan, to introduce
the position of a Departmental ‘Director of Research’. Before advancing this
proposal, the purpose and its remit of this post, and its title, need to be carefully
explored in detailed collective discussion among all the staff.
The Group discussed with the department the desirability of establishing a
regular (perhaps weekly) seminar programme to which staff and postgraduate
students contribute, and recommended the implementation of this project.
5.
Community Service
The Department of English has an admirable record of service to the University,
which is clearly reflected on page 11 of the self-assessment report (SAR). The
department has also consistently contributed to the University’s Irish Studies Summer
School, and has been exceptional in its contribution to advancing pedagogical skills
across the whole University.
6.
The Wider Context
Within the University, it appears that information processes, in general, are not
always reliable, prompt and transparent. With regard to the student:staff ratio (SSR)
in particular, a procedure needs to be put in place to ensure the availability of
accurate, dependable and transparent information. Inaccurate and internally divergent
information was provided to the review group. The SSR is a crucial indicator of a
department’s relative financial and pedagogical health as well as a symptom of
managerial stresses and fault-lines.
As regards the facilities currently afforded to the Department of English, a big
improvement is required. The student:staff ratio (SSR) is not acceptable and this
needs to be adequately addressed by the University in the near future. The QRG
recognise the University’s support of the department to date, which has resulted in a
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Department of English: Review Group report 2004-05
significant increase in staff numbers since the previous quality review in 1996;
however, student numbers have seen further major increases since.
In this context, the department is one of the major contributors to the teaching
of visiting students (through both JYA and Socrates schemes). While it is evident
that some resources have been made available to the department, arising from the fee
income generated by these visiting students, a clear case exists for significantly
greater resources to be made available. For instance, the data that the QRG had
available to it indicated at least 57 FTE per annum of visiting students were taught in
the department. This FTE load translates, at least notionally, into two to three
fulltime members of staff. It should be noted that an ideal SSR for research-active
departments of English is somewhere between 18:1 (UK standard) and 24:1. In this
context also, the Dean of the Faculty should be provided with a substantial
contingency fund to respond, at least on a short-term basis, to the pressing demands
placed on the department (see recommendations below).
The ‘Cost Centre’ formula or model of budgeting needs to be made fully
transparent, and its operation needs to be explained to all Departmental staff and
managers. Of particular significance here is the process of allocating direct and
indirect costs to the Department of English’s ‘cost centre’ but then not allocating all
real and notional sources of the department’s income that accrue through teaching
visiting students and winning major research grants for Departmental and Faculty
projects and initiatives. There are distinct implications for the Department of English
at NUIG, which teaches large numbers of students as well as performs rather
admirably in terms of income-generating collaborative and individual research
projects. The QRG raises the question whether this formula is fully transparent as
well as fully equitable, and the Group is cognisant of the fact the implementation of a
‘Cost Centre’ formula or model of budgeting has generated similar concerns
elsewhere in higher education in the Republic of Ireland as well as in the UK.
7.
Summary and Concluding Remarks
o Staffing: In the view of this quality review group (QRG), the University must
address the immediate staffing needs of the Department of English:
(a) the academic needs (a minimum of two [2] fulltime, permanent staff
appointments from University funds and contract appointments for JYA
teaching at the discretion of the Dean of Faculty)
and
(b) administrative needs (immediate filling of the two [2] vacant fulltime
administrative positions, one at a high grade).
o Physical Infrastructure: The Department of English is clearly struggling
with inadequate infrastructural provisions, especially with regard to
appropriate and sufficient workspace. A plan to rectify this situation needs to
be agreed and implemented properly by the University.
o Library Facilities: The library is essential to the teaching and research life of
the Department of English. It is evident that major improvements have taken
place in the library, especially in the provision of electronic resources.
However, a strong case exists for additional University resources to be
directed towards significant improvements in the Library’s infrastructure and
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Department of English: Review Group report 2004-05
o
o
o
o
o
o
towards recurrent funding for significant increases in book acquisitions. Grave
concern was expressed by all respondents, staff and students, in this regard.
Faculty Involvement/Inter-disciplinary work: Appropriate recognition and
reward of staff participation in inter-disciplinary taught MA programmes,
research projects and initiatives within the Faculty of Arts needs to be taken
into account in the University’s resource allocation process. We recommend
that the Dean of the Faculty be given a leading role in advancing this issue,
one that is crucially important to the healthy operation of the Faculty of Arts
as well as the Department of English.
Staff-Postgraduate Consultative Committee: The QRG recommend the
creation of a Staff-Postgraduate consultative committee in the near future, to
maintain and develop further the existing good relations between the
department and its students, especially in the context of the growing numbers
of taught and research postgraduate students in the Department of English.
Staff Research Mentoring: The QRG recommend that the Department of
English put in place a low-key research mentoring process for newly-recruited
staff in order to ensure the careful and professional development of research
projects and profiles for all new and newly-recruited members of staff.
Research Management: The QRG recommend that the Department of
English carefully review all aspects of its proposal to create a post of ‘Director
of Research’. Before advancing this proposal, the department as a whole
should carefully explore the title, purpose and its remit of this role, and should
proceed by open discussion of the various issues concerned.
Research Seminar Programme: The review group discussed with the
Department of English the desirability of establishing a regular or weekly
research seminar programme to which all staff and postgraduate students
contribute, and recommends the implementation of this project.
Staff Workload Profiles: The QRG recognise the existing effective and
transparent balance between agreed Departmental structures and workloads,
on one hand, and practical flexibility, on the other hand. In this context, the
QRG recommend that the Department of English explore flexible workload
models or profiles reflecting career stages, career pathways and progressions,
and the variety of work carried out. To develop and implement its own model
along these lines, after appropriate consideration of such processes in place
internationally, would help the department to nurture and improve the already
good working relationships in the department, as well as clarify the depth and
range of Departmental work when it comes to making its case administratively
for sustained and enhanced resources at both Faculty and University levels.
Professor Brian Caraher (Chair)
Professor Patricia Coughlan
Professor Chris Curtin
Dr. Maria Tuohy (Rapporteur)
3rd May 2005
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