Date:
December 22, 2009
To:
Tracy Pellett
Associate Vice President for Undergraduate Studies
From:
Kirk Johnson
Dean, College of the Sciences
Subject:
2008-2009 Program Review, Psychology Department
You have asked me to provide commendations and recommendations as part of the
program review process for the Psychology Department. These observations consider the
self- study, the external evaluator’s report, as well as on the context and resource issues
with the college.
The department prepared a self-study and hosted the campus visit of the external
reviewer. Dr. William Reynolds provided a focused set of recommendations in his
report. My commendations and recommendations reflect some of the same points he
addressed. The department’s strengths are instructional performance, a sound assessment
program, faculty and student service to the community, and growth in faculty and student
scholarship. The challenges the department faces include student advisement, a need for
enhanced communication within the department, continued efforts in curriculum
planning, and possibly stabilization of enrollment.
COMMENDATIONS:
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Psychology faculty members have embraced a department culture that is studentcentered. The engagement of undergraduate and graduate students in the
discipline is one of its major strengths. The value department members place on
instructional performance and student/faculty interaction is evident in the
consistently high performance in SEOI scores, high rate of student/faculty
research collaboration, faculty supervision of graduate theses and students in field
and clinical settings, and in the student placement records presented in the selfstudy.
The department reports having made progress in the development of a collegial
and collaborative working environment since the last program review.
Department philosophy and practice reflects the teacher/scholar model. The
department’s SEOI scores and student feedback provided to the external reviewer
attest to the quality of instruction provided by the department, and the faculty are
actively engaged in scholarship as evidenced by the department’s overall rate of
publications, conference presentations and grant applications.
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The department has implemented a model programmatic assessment plan and
utilizes assessment results in curricular planning. The revision of the
department’s introductory course as delivered was not only fiscally sound but it
was based on assessment results. Similarly, recent department efforts to revise
the methodology and statistics sequence constitute concrete examples of a
department engaged in active assessment processes.
Psychology faculty members and students support and participate in a broad array
of service activities in the community and in university governance.
The department’s decision to develop interrelated programmatic requirements (for
school counseling, school psychology and mental health counseling) is not only
economically sound, given limited fiscal resources, but has allowed the
department to capitalize on its strengths in these areas when recruiting faculty and
students.
The department’s recent hires have stabilized faculty ranks and allowed
department to expand curriculum offerings and increase the number of
undergraduate students (as measured by FTE) served by the department.
The department has successfully sought accreditation for its graduate programs
and been at the forefront of efforts to secure NCATE and NWCCU accreditation
on the broader campus.
The department is to be commended for offering its major (Des Moines) and
minor (Des Moines, Lynnwood, Pierce, Yakima) to place and time bound students
at several of the university centers. This effort takes additional time and effort to
coordinate offerings and to supervise personnel. The department contributes to
the broader university mission through the provision of service coursework for
other majors.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
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Undergraduate Advising: Both the external reviewer’s findings and the self-study
document suggest student advising needs further attention. It is recommended
that at a minimum the department institute required major advisement so that
students make more informed decisions. While the department is to be
commended for implementing course prerequisites, students should have access to
a predictable cycle for all courses. That is, information regarding whether a class
is offered each quarter, only once a year, or only on an every other year basis
ought to be readily available to students. This would require the development of a
consistent cycle for all courses (on the main campus in Ellensburg as well as at
each center). If students are able to predict more precisely when required and
elective courses are offered the frustration with advisement reported by the
external reviewer might be reduced.
Faculty Mentorship Opportunities: As noted by the external reviewer, although
there has been much attention directed toward faculty instructional performance,
junior faculty are still struggling to come to grips with increased expectations for
scholarship. He offers several suggestions to ameliorate this anxiety, chief among
these being a call for the department to consider clarifying department
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performance guidelines and the implementation of a strategy for mentoring
research.
Staffing Graduate Programs: Despite closing down one graduate program the
department has a relatively large number of graduate programs by CWU
standards. An abrupt downward trend in faculty staffing levels has on more than
one occasion produced difficulties in adequately providing coursework, thesis and
clinical supervision for students. At times the department has struggled to replace
faculty and a lack of depth (numbers) in its search pools has been a concern.
Faculty and graduate student morale have suffered as a result.
Scope of Graduate Programs: Without further study the external reviewer’s
suggestion of closing down school counseling and redistributing its resources to
mental health counseling seems premature. Enrollment in this program has
increased this year and the department has increased faculty strength in this
program. Furthermore, the school counseling program is on the verge of
receiving the prestigious CACREP accreditation, which should increase the
marketability of this program in the coming year. Similarly, the full-scale
implementation of an applied behavioral analysis track within experimental
psychology is likely beyond our fiscal abilities at the present time. Still, the
department should assess demand for each graduate program in light of the
university’s budgetary decline.
SUMMARY:
In summary, the Psychology Department has a strong student-centered identity with a
well defined disciplinary focus when it comes to its undergraduate mission. The
department faculty maintains a strong record of instructional performance and
scholarship. However, there is work to be done when it comes to student advisement,
faculty mentoring, and the scope of graduate programs.