Arts & Humanities Student Survey Results
Spring 2014
Submitted by Shelby Hamm
A&H Student Survey Results– Spring 2014 2
Executive Summery
Summery is based on overall responses to all questions, both multiple-choice and text entry,
within the survey. Music only had one respondent, so it was excluded from the summery.
Areas in Most Need of Improvement for School:
Qualifying Exam Preparation - Lowest total satisfaction score at 39%.
TA Positions - Most mentioned topic in writing sections.
Course Offerings - Second lowest total satisfaction score at 57%.
Areas for Improvement by Department:
1. Cultural Studies
a. Number of faculty
b. Faculty response time to emails
c. Faculty appointment availability
2. English
a. Advising during thesis or dissertation
b. Days courses are offered
3. Philosophy
a. Course times
b. Course days
4. Religion
a. Lack of information or clarity about procedures
b. Course times
Areas of Top Performance by Department (80% or Better):
1. History
a. Coursework advising
b. Professional development
c. Appointments with faculty
d. Emails with faculty
e. Course offerings
f. Course times
2. Philosophy
a. All advising
b. Appointments with faculty
c. Emails with faculty
A&H Student Survey Results– Spring 2014 3
Survey Results
Notes on methodology: All student comments were edited for spelling corrections and uniform
formatting. All percentages were rounded down to the nearest whole number. Questions are in
the order asked on the survey. Some questions specific to SCAH matters were omitted.
Total Respondents:
Art
Archival Studies
Arts Management
Cultural Studies
English
History
Music
Philosophy
Religion
Total
10
17
14
1
3
27
72
Please select the current degree you are seeking.
Cultural Studies
English
History
Music
Philosophy
Religion
Total
PhD
70%
82%
64%
100%
74%
68%
MA Other
30%
18%
35%
100%
22%
3%
28%
2%
Please select your residency.
Miles:
Cultural Studies
English
History
Music
Philosophy
Religion
Total
<10
40%
41%
57%
100%
66%
70%
56%
10+
60%
58%
42%
33%
29%
44%
A&H Student Survey Results– Spring 2014 4
How would you describe the advising you received during coursework?
Satisfied or Very Satisfied:
Cultural Studies
English
History
Music
Philosophy
Religion
Total
55%
68%
83%
0%
100%
58%
66%
How could your advising experience have been improved?
•
•
•
•
•
Cultural Studies
o Increased availability of faculty.
o More concrete guidance or direction in choosing classes for my goals and
interests
o My advisor was on leave throughout my coursework. The advisors I saw instead
took rolling leaves. Only David Luis-Brown maintained a constant role in
advising me through coursework.
o The professors were very helpful if you could get hold of them.
English
o I have had no issues with advising.
o Advisor doesn't know all the requirements for MA
o I would appreciate it if my adviser had my transcripts available and knew where I
was in the program so that I could be advised. Most of the advising was on my
part, and I actually was concerned I wasn't meeting the requirements.
o My advisor is very helpful
o If my advisor had been more available in terms of amount of time on campus, and
if she had kept any amount of track on what I was doing and the stage I was in.
o Perhaps more focus preparing me for future dissertation process.
o Fit for exams
History
o I could seek out additional advising but am very satisfied with my advising thus
far.
o My advisor doesn't always know the program requirements - I had to argue with
her to convince her that I did need to write a thesis for my MA along the way.
o Clearer instructions on exactly how many units are necessary to fulfill
requirements for specific areas of study (American, Early Modern Europe, etc.)
o More flexible office hours, or not rushed office hours. Better explanations
Music
o People who live more than 10 miles from campus should be able to get
advisement via Skype/online.
Religion
o Checklist of things I need to do outside of the classroom, present at conference by
end of first year, etc.
A&H Student Survey Results– Spring 2014 5
More student import with crafting courses
Courses should be directed at qualifying exams and/or dissertation preparation
More frequent meetings
Patrick Mason has done an amazing job advising me. He is very helpful!
By meeting more often with my advisor.
A great variety of courses offered each semester; courses on Saturdays; most
especially evening courses: starting at 6pm or later. More Summer Courses! It is
extremely difficult to get the courses I need.
o New to the university; haven't really received much yet.
o I'm completely satisfied with the help I receive from Patrick Mason.
o My advisor is overloaded, so I just felt like I was bothering him (that was me, not
him)
o
o
o
o
o
o
How would you describe the advising you received in preparing for your qualifying exams?
Satisfied or Very Satisfied:
Cultural Studies
English
History
Music
Philosophy
Religion
Total
50%
40%
50%
0%
100%
33%
39%
How could your advising experience have been improved?
•
•
•
•
Cultural Studies
o Increased input from faculty.
o David Luis-Brown remained very available, informative, and supportive
throughout this process.
o Advising for qualifying exams should start upon entering the program.
o I don’t feel the students have much guidance during preparation.
English
o More say over reading list
o Perhaps a required advising session that is in-depth would be helpful. I feel like I
was left on my own for quals.
o To gather information, focusing on important themes
o Same, where one of my advisors has been gone for nearly two years, so she has
been entirely inaccessible.
o I didn’t really get much help navigating the quals process, but it was not difficult
for me to navigate on my own, so I didn’t feel the help was as important.
o Quicker response to emails would have been helpful
History
o Assistance with reading lists
Music
o We need a lot more reminders and to be given practice test.
A&H Student Survey Results– Spring 2014 6
•
Religion
o Can we just make Qualifying exams a one semester class?
o More in-depth information of the overall process that is specific to my degree
o More direction in how to prepare
o I would have benefitted from advising related to exams early on in coursework,
helping me guide my classes and selecting readings that would be useful for
exams.
o More focus on my specialization - Hebrew Bible
o Surprised I wasn’t expected to spend more time with an adviser before first
enrollment.
o I’m in limbo right now since Karen Torjesen’s health is in question, which
changes things for my qualifying exams.
o It’s been fairly hands off so far
o Was lied to about taking exams from a distance. People in administration who
decide such things communicated nothing to my advisor. My entire life schedule
was thrown out of balance and I considered dropping out of the program.
o Throughout my academic career at CGU, advising of any kind has been minimal.
I was never given information about the qual process. Everyone I talked to had a
different answer.
How would you describe the advising you received in preparing and writing your thesis or
dissertation?
Satisfied or Very Satisfied:
Cultural Studies
English
History
Music
Philosophy
Religion
Total
60%
33%
60%
N/A
100%
62%
61%
How could your advising experience have been improved?
•
•
Cultural Studies
o Increased collaboration, increased input, increased availability from faculty.
o Not much advising regarding thesis, just know I'm supposed to be working on it
but I feel behind because I don't have deadlines or concrete info on submission
process
English
o If I had not been waiting 4+ months to hear back from my advisor regarding what
to include/how to construct my proposal.
o I get good feedback on my work, but I get no help with the process from the
department. I feel very much on my own. Advisors need to reach out to their
advisees more/keep track of them and give practical help.
A&H Student Survey Results– Spring 2014 7
•
•
•
History
o About to start writing my thesis, and I feel lost, no one has really helped me make
a clear path
o My advisor isn't too familiar with the regulations in the Bulletin or handbooks, so
I was really on my own for that.
Philosophy
o I have not begun writing my thesis yet. No conversation has taken place.
Religion
o I'm just not far enough along to know exactly what to expect yet.
o I am not yet at this point, but do think a seminar or course re: thesis/dissertation
process / writing would be very helpful. I have no real idea of what writing a
thesis will entail and it seems like that information is not easy to find, understand,
or digest.
o Increased frequency of meeting
o Again - more hands-on interaction would be nice. My program has done nothing
to prepare me to write my dissertation.
o Mostly, I could have taken better initiative. However, instructions on thesis
requirements, forms, and the like could have been much clearer.
How much have the faculty encouraged your professional development?
A Lot or Some:
Cultural Studies
English
History
Music
Philosophy
Religion
Total
55%
56%
83%
0%
66%
58%
62%
What suggestions do you have for improvement in this area?
•
•
Cultural Studies
o More one-on-one interaction (as opposed to university-led workshops).
o David Luis-Brown has been a valuable resource in this area. Other CLST faculty
have seemed disinterested and/or distracted from this aspect of my development.
o Personal investments in students should be made early in each students career
o Students should be able to pick their own advisor based on their research interest,
instead of being assigned one.
English
o A dedicated A&H professional to link students to local job opportunities; to create
connections with local colleges and universities to pool from our students when
looking for tutors, supplemental instructors, and TAs
A&H Student Survey Results– Spring 2014 8
•
•
•
o We need classes that teach how to teach--last semester's methods class was a good
start. Also help with publishing
o I would appreciate if faculty members actually commented in constructive ways
on papers I completed to encourage publication.
o The faculty who are involved are VERY involved; the ones who aren’t' t are
completely aloof and seem to not care about their students at all.
o I would like more practical guidance navigating the publishing arena: what to
publish, where to publish it, how much I should publish of my dissertation work
before I finish, what I need to do to give myself a chance at a job. I don't know
how to navigate this area, and there is no guidance from the department with it at
all. We need more guidance/preparation for job talks and preparing CVs, cover
letters, etc. This is a completely unfamiliar area and the department gives no help
with it.
o Try to connect with more teaching/tutoring/professional opportunities. The same
for publishing opportunities.
o Support student-driven, extracurricular activities.
History
o Better programs for preparing students to search for teaching positions, interview,
and preparation for actual college teaching.
o CGU needs to offer pedagogy coursework since they don't offer graduate
assistantships as classroom instructors on a regular basis
o Many of them acknowledge the lack of jobs in the field, which honesty is good,
however I have more than one professor say "don't go into debt for this"...well
that is very disconcerting.
Music
o We need networking opportunities as well as professional collaborations with
current professionals.
Religion
o I think there needs to be a standard, a "how to be an academic “talk and handout,
practice for presenting at conferences in class, turning in mock syllabi, etc.
o Teaching opportunities?? How and where to publish??
o My faculty within A&H have provided sporadic encouragement for professional
development. What I have received from my faculty at the 5Cs has been much
more consistent and fruitful.
o One of the best pieces of advice I've been given is to write seminar papers with an
eye towards turning them into conference papers or publications, but most
professors don't espouse that idea or necessarily encourage it as much as I think
they could.
o I really appreciate how my advisor sends me "call for paper" announcements. This
is a significant benefit to me.
o Teaching opportunities.
o I think that there needs to be a systematic method of telling students what they
need to do to succeed as scholars. First week of classes tell them: 1.) You need to
be presenting at conferences and this is how you do it; 2.) If you need money for
conferences, try the GSC awards; 3.) You will need 3 Qualifying examiners,
develop those relationships now (i.e. not just two main professors).
A&H Student Survey Results– Spring 2014 9
o Stronger push to publish, with help in that area
o Again, more involvement. More interaction. I have had nothing.
Have you gained any teaching experience and how have the faculty been helpful in that
process, if at all?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Cultural Studies
o None. I' m a bit put off by this.
o No
o I have not gained any teaching experience in an official capacity out side of
leading class periods on assigned material. This is not enough though and
additional funds for TA-ships should exist to cultivate student teachers.
o Yes. Faculty has helped by providing recommendation letters.
o Not at all. I tried to see if I could find some teaching positions but the
professors had completely no clues at all.
o I gained teaching experience first by sending my CV wide and second by
gaining a reference from another CGU student. The CLST faculty have
seemed interested but less than directly helpful in this process.
English
o No, but I wish there were more TA opportunities to gain teaching experience
o My advisor has allowed me to TA a class.
o No I have not
o None. Why are there so few TA opportunities?
o No
o Yes, but none has come from CGU.
o Yes. Faculty have not influenced process.
o Teaching experience was gained outside of CGU
o On my own. Faculty not very helpful in that regard, except for offering
general statements.
o Yes, but not at CGU and with no help from CGU faculty or staff
History
o No, I have not received any teaching experience.
o No. See question above.
o No. I asked about this, they say this is unavailable. I wish I had known that
before committing to attend.
o Yes
o Yes
o Part of PFF
Music
o None what so ever.
Philosophy
o No
o No. I have no experience in teaching.
Religion
o ZERO
o Teaching experience has been impossible to get at CGU.
A&H Student Survey Results– Spring 2014 10
o I am impressed with how preparation for teaching even figures into individual
classes here.
o I have taught as part of most of my CGU classes. Teaching a section of lecture
has been very beneficial.
o Yes
o Yes. However it was not through A&H.
o I have been teaching full time for 20 years. I think I have been more helpful
in advising my classmates.
o I taught one class
o I am fortunate to have a teaching assistant position so yes
o Yes, but this has all been due to my own efforts. CGU has not given me an
opportunity to teach anywhere.
How satisfied are you with accessibility for appointments with faculty?
Satisfied or Very Satisfied:
Cultural Studies
English
History
Music
Philosophy
Religion
Total
66%
75%
91%
0%
100%
79%
78%
How satisfied are you with faculty response times to emails/phone calls?
Satisfied or Very Satisfied:
Cultural Studies
English
History
Music
Philosophy
Religion
Total
55%
75%
91%
0%
100%
70%
73%
Have you visited the Career Services Office?
Cultural Studies
English
History
Music
Philosophy
Religion
Total
Yes
37%
12%
83%
0%
0%
20%
17%
A&H Student Survey Results– Spring 2014 11
How satisfied are you with the courses offered?
Satisfied or Very Satisfied:
Cultural Studies
English
History
Music
Philosophy
Religion
Total
44%
46%
75%
100%
33%
60%
57%
How satisfied are you the course times offered?
Satisfied or Very Satisfied:
Cultural Studies
English
History
Music
Philosophy
Religion
Total
66%
75%
83%
100%
33%
66%
70%
How satisfied are you with the days courses are offered?
Satisfied or Very Satisfied:
Cultural Studies
English
History
Music
Philosophy
Religion
Total
77%
62%
75%
100%
66%
75%
73%
How could your satisfaction with course offerings, times, or days be improved?
•
Cultural Studies
o More queer/gender studies courses. Less overlap in CLST core offerings.
More directly historically or thematically based CLST courses. More course
directly relevant to classes we will market ourselves as able to teach. More
environmental students courses. Maybe a course on navigating the
professional sphere/university job market with a CLST PhD.
A&H Student Survey Results– Spring 2014 12
•
•
•
•
•
o More courses should be offered from a more diverse pool of professors. There
is a great number of faculty associated with the Cultural Studies department
who do not offer courses.
o It worked out for me.
English
o I found that several classes I wanted to take--just within the English dept.-conflicted with each other
o More teaching methods classes from professors who are interested in teaching.
The emphasis seems almost exclusively on research, which seems a bit
unrealistic considering the job market.
o More early courses would be helpful.
o I would like more courses offered in the evenings.
o I wish professors would change up their availability because as a commuter, I
cannot take classes in the mornings or late at night, and for the Profs who only
teach in one of those slots, it prevents me from taking courses with them.
o Consider not offering the same class on the same evening closer than four
semesters apart.
o I wish there were more evening classes for those of us who have jobs.
o Offer a more broad range of literature courses, including courses specifically
on poetry and drama, as well as courses on non-British or American literatures.
o Classes after 1:00 is more effective than before it
o No early morning classes.
History
o I would like one more Modern Europe history course per semester, but the
current offerings are sufficient
o More late afternoon and evening classes, as I work full-time during the day.
Also, more US history courses.
o There are only 3 full-time history faculty so students have to find 5C courses
or independent studies to fulfill many criteria.
o The history department needs more faculty, so that they can offer a more
courses
o More courses! More adjunct faculty! More variety!
o A larger faculty- I feel at a disadvantage, History only has 3 permanent
professors, and 2 work in other departments
Music
o I feel that some of the lecture-based class could be offered online.
Philosophy
o Required classes not be in the early morning
Religion
o Spread the courses throughout the week with more of a mix between morning,
afternoon, and evening courses. Also talk amongst the other departments so
courses from different departments that have similarities are not offered at the
same time.
o I was not working full time during coursework and never ran into issues with
scheduling other than classes I was interested in overlapping or meeting at
exactly the same time.
A&H Student Survey Results– Spring 2014 13
o More evening time (for those of us with day jobs!)
o They need to be more spread out - often the offerings for one department are
concentrated on one day, making it impossible to take more than one course.
o Currently many are on the same day. That can be tough.
o As I said above, we need courses that meet on Saturdays, as well as evening
courses beginning at or after 6pm. I have had to go to CST to get an evening
course.
o The courses are offered at mostly good times, for me.
o Claremont School of Theology/Claremont Lincoln University has all the
professors that matter in religion. CGU needs to hire better quality faculty.
o What is listed online for previously taught courses is far more diverse than the
offerings since I've been here
o More variety in the types of religion being taught about, more time periods
(currently, it's mostly about 18th/19th century)
What other suggestions do you have for faculty, staff, administrators, or the school?
•
•
Cultural Studies
o We have too many administrators and not enough faculty in the cultural
studies program.
o More cohesion in the program, more interaction between faculty and students
outside the classroom.
o Last year it was hard to get a hold of people through email so replying to
email
o Funding is the most important issue I face as a PhD student. The SAH
encourages crippling student debt as a satisfactory option for surviving
graduate studies. Money needs to be allocated to offset cost of tuition, funding
for research or conferences needs to be increased, and more professors need to
be hired on to teach, advise or oversee committees.
o More funding for students--I bet you get a lot of this! More connections with
the 5Cs. More training on teaching. More focus to departmental goals/areas of
study to make it directly relevant to jobs and job openings students may seek
English
o Please do more to create community. Have more events throughout the year,
academic, social, etc.
o If at all possible, please try to provide us with more funding, and more
teaching opportunities.
o I wish this program accommodated working professionals
o Need to develop more teaching opportunities for graduate students
o The school seems to want to punish students for delays in finishing their
dissertations right now instead of finding ways to help them get through the
process. It is extremely difficult to work and write a dissertation, and there is
almost no support for these people apart from The Writing Center, whose very
general help (since they have to serve the entire school) doesn't always quite
meet the needs of students in particular departments. The administration feels
like it has become very threatening rather than nurturing. If they want
A&H Student Survey Results– Spring 2014 14
students to graduate, they need to help students with that--give practical help
and guidance, reach out and don't let students disappear, not hope that threats
and stricter time limits will intimidate students into finishing.
•
•
•
History
o Please DO NOT give students who are older/working/have kids/etc. breaks on
grading. We all signed up for grad school, and it's unfair when students who
are "busier" get off easy.
o Institute graduate teaching assistantships within the 5 Cs. Supervise them very
carefully, but offer students the opportunity to teach
o Lower student fees to make them relative to the opportunities the University
affords its history students.
Music
o For the music dept. we are severely lacking in practice rooms and we should
be given access to the Scrippts practice rooms. For arts and music dept. We
need the knowledge and training in business entrepreneur because we are
essentially selling our talents in the real world and we have no clue how to do
that. Therefore Arts Management course should be part of the course work for
anyone in the art and music dept.
Religion
o Increase Student Funding - How is CGU supposed to create a name within
academia and attract top candidates for students if there is NO FUNDING - it
is shameful the amount of debt that graduate students take on while at CGU
o Career person just for A&H
o More collaboration with the students since this is a graduate university and we
are paying for the personal and specific education
o Provide and promote teaching opportunities
o More support for scholarly and professional development, particularly in
assisting with getting published would be very welcomed. The workshops
offered with faculty from around the campuses who spoke on topics such as
job interviews, creating syllabi, writing paper proposals, etc., that the SoR
used to offer were very beneficial.
o As always, funding....
o Include students in curriculum meetings.
o Debt, I think, is the biggest problem. I know that you are all working on that.
But it would help tremendously to have more scholarships available. Also, for
PhD candidates, perhaps allow them to teach one course, their final year, at
one of the undergraduate colleges.
o A real summer semester. Here again, I had to go to CST to get a course last
summer. Encourage faculty to work with qualified candidates on an
independent study basis and compensate them for it. If the student is paying
tuition, the faculty should receive compensation.
o While a Transdisciplinary program is a wonderful idea, the objectives and
courses offered need to be reassessed. As it currently stands, the TDNY
program is awful.
A&H Student Survey Results– Spring 2014 15
What advocacy issues would you like to see the new Student Council of Arts & Humanities
pursue? For example: alumni panels, TA positions, career advising, etc.
•
•
•
•
Cultural Studies
o Where to start.... we need teaching experience, we need funding for basically
everything (research, conferences, travel, etc.)... Such a huge list.
o TA positions, career services, strategic development during and after the
dissertation process, info sessions regarding quals/dissertation proposal
processes.
o TA positions, funding, research opportunities
o FUNDING as well as TA positions, career advising, research opportunities
o TA positions. Funding. Connection to the 5Cs. Training on how/where to
begin publishing work. Support in locating one's place in the professional
market. Bi-annual revisions of the Qual list to keep it current.
o TA positions (or just general teaching positions), CFP list etc., funding for
grad students
English
o TA positions
o TA positions, events
o Too late for me. Wish the council was formed earlier.
o TA POSITIONS
o TA positions
o Funding for student led-initiatives, extracurricular opportunities.
o RA or TA positions
o TA positions!!! Career advising would be great too. How do students make
the leap into the job market?
o I'm not sure
o TA positions
History
o TA Positions
o Alumni networks! And TA positions
o TA positions
o Career Advising, fee reductions, parking expansion
o TA position, career advising, fellowship/research opportunities
o Alumni panels, TA positions, workshops
o TA positions
o TA positions
Religion
o TA positions, career advising, more faculty
o Workshops about academic procedures specific to degree programs, mixers
between the departments, Student advocacy on creating TA positions,
Research Positions
o TA / RA positions
o TA positions that include actual teaching experience, support towards getting
published, and career advising
o TA/RA positions, advising
A&H Student Survey Results– Spring 2014 16
o Teaching positions-- getting student to be able to teach their own course in
one of the undergraduate colleges.
o TA positions for students who are academically capable and are struggling
o Financial Aid. We need assistance obtaining grants and scholarships.
Creating discussion groups in various areas of interest that all members of the
community could attend.
o Career advising and help with networking with other departments is good.