Humanities Final MOU 10_22_14
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Office of Assessment and Program Review
Humanities
Program Review – 2014-2015
Memorandum of Understanding
The CSUN Humanities Master of Arts Program is offered through Tseng College and overseen
by the College of Humanities. The lead in the College of Humanities is Dr. Sheena Malhotra.
The program undertook its first self-study February 9, 2014, followed by an external review on
March 19 & 20, 2014. The external reviewers were Professors Cristian Ruotolo and Mary
Scott from the Humanities Department, San Francisco State University. The Program’s
MOU meeting occurred on October 22, 2014. Follow-up will occur at one and three years.
Their next program review cycle will culminate in a new self-study, external review, and MOU
in AY 2018-2019.
The following commendations and recommendations are intended to help the Department focus
its efforts over the next 5 years. They are arranged in topical order as follows: program,
students, faculty, curriculum, assessment/strategic planning, other/misc.
Commendations: The Program is commended for:
Program
1. A well thought out cohorted program with appropriate requirements which is attractive to
a wide range of mid-career professionals.
Students
2. High graduation rates.
3. Successful community building among students.
4. Responding to students’ needs by adjusting the structure of HUMA 697: Directed
Comprehensive Studies to provide writing direction and feedback in the first year.
5. Well thought out and effective academic advising.
Humanities Final MOU 10_22_14
Faculty
6. The clear vision and enthusiasm of its founding faculty members.
7. Well-matched faculty from an impressively diverse number of fields in the humanities
and social sciences.
8. Faculty who are highly regarded by their CSUN peers, praised by students, and continue
to contribute to their respective professions while at the same time enjoying the
opportunity to extend their disciplinary teaching to an interdisciplinary context.
Curriculum
9. Providing a logical sequence of courses, to which faculty have been willing to adjust.
10. Putting emphasis on the “big questions” which is cutting-edge because it responds to the
current crisis in the Humanities.
Assessment/Strategic Planning:
11. Student portfolios that connect the “big ideas” of intellectual traditions to concerns and
questions of their own lives and social contexts.
12. Comprehensive and precise student learning outcomes.
Other/Misc.
13. Building a nationwide reputation and inspiring other colleagues in the Humanities.
14. Building support with administrators and specifically within Tseng College.
Recommendations: The Department should:
Program
1. Move the program online while maintaining some in-person interaction aspects to save
the current and strong in-person interaction among faculty and students.
Humanities Final MOU 10_22_14
2. Explore ways to draw more students.
Students
3. Implement early advising and frank discussions with students about goals and career
plans, making the connection with future employment more concrete.
4. Think about ways that a traditional or online program can help students develop stronger,
more conscious ways to use what they learn in the program in their own local or
professional communities.
5. Give opportunities to students to work as Instructional Student Assistants (ISA’s) during
the program.
6. Work with the college development and grant personnel to investigate ways to offer
financial assistance to students.
7. Pursue relationships with local community colleges in the interest of establishing
opportunities for future teaching for the program’s graduates.
Faculty
8. Make sure new faculty are oriented to the program’s core values.
9. Make sure faculty who wish to teach online are provided with adequate training.
Curriculum
10. Adjust the current curriculum to engage even more explicitly with current technology and
its impact on the “big” question the program raises.
Assessment/Strategic Planning: None indicated.
Other/Misc.
11. Explore joining forces with other Humanities MA programs in the CSU if the online
program is successful.