Date:
23 December 2009
To:
Wayne Quirk, Provost
Tracy Pellett, AVP, Undergraduate Studies
From:
James L. Huckabay, Chair of Geography
Re:
2007-2008 Action Plan; addressing 2006-2007 Geography Program Review
This memo summarizes activities undertaken during and beyond academic year 2007-2008 in
response to the commendations and recommendations from COTS Dean Meghan Miller and Dr.
Martha Works (Professor and Chair, Department of Geography, Portland State University)
resulting from the 2006-2007 Program Review performed by Dr. Works.
Although I did not become chair until June of 2008, and was unaware of the need for this
plan/response until October of 2009, I have followed up on our efforts and believe you will find
this action plan meets your request.
The response is organized in the same manner as Dean Miller’s memo of November 6, 2007,
which accurately reflects her findings as well as those found in Dr Works’ report.
COMMENDATIONS:
 Geography engages its students and faculty with local communities and regional institutions,
and connecting them with research and professional opportunities.
 The department’s focus on complex human-environment interactions is clear and well
aligned with the university mission.
 The curriculum is diverse and solid, and includes several aspects that support its niche, such
as the GIS certificate and the strong contribution to interdisciplinary programs.
 Faculty appointments have been deliberately structured to support the strengths and
uniqueness of the program. Annual retreat, ongoing review of curriculum and instruction,
and workload management are all aspects of a healthy departmental culture.
 Research productivity and contract work that includes students are great strengths of the
program.
ACTION: The Department of Geography has deliberately focused on maintenance and/or
growth in each of the above areas.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Curriculum
•Eliminate courses from the catalog that are not taught as part of a regular rotation, then take a
good look at the courses that are left and how well they serve the major.
ACTION: The Department has spent several hours of retreat and regular meeting time, since the
Program Review, revisiting its rotation of classes and their place in our major. At least half a
dozen courses have been eliminated or moved to reserve and others are now on a two- to threeyear rotation.
•Develop manageable suite of courses that draws on faculty expertise and provides core
geographical concepts to students; make sure sequencing of courses offers students logical
progression through the curriculum and makes best use of faculty time and resources. Consider,
perhaps, program specialties (such as watersheds theme) that help focus course offerings for the
major and make for a more manageable repertoire of classes for faculty.
ACTION: Faculty have periodically revisited questions of program and faculty specialties and
we have made changes relating to scheduling of courses to enhance the teaching and research of
particular faculty, tightening prerequisites and reaffirming learning outcomes for core classes.
•Explore options (in consultation with the COTS Dean) about focusing more attention on the
majors and course offerings at the 300 and 400 level; find appropriate balance between
generating SCH with GenEd classes and providing advanced concepts to majors.
ACTION: While we are not entirely certain what some of this means, such a balance has been,
and continues to be, an important issue. In the declining economy with which we are living, the
department—in consultation with the dean—has made several adjustments including remixing
the teaching of upper and lower division classes across new and tenured faculty and making use
of larger-capacity classrooms.
Program Planning and Assessment
•Establish a time line for tackling long-range strategic planning. The move to Dean Hall
provides a great opportunity to rethink physical space for the department and also how you might
reinvent the department with future hires, a refreshed curriculum, and new ideas about
departmental culture. How will department evolve and change with future retirements? What
kind of department do you want to be in 5 years? A strategic plan would facilitate decisions
about future hires and help communicate to administrators the direction the department intends
to take.
ACTION: The Department has had four searches since the Program Review. In an extended
retreat and at the time of the first search, faculty spent several hours discussing the future
direction of the department, the role of the new geographer and the adjustments the department
might make with each subsequent search—including those to manage three expected retirements
by 2012. Those directions and discussions have been carried forward with each search. In the
current economic environment, department faculty are regularly meeting to reassess directions
with current and anticipated faculty skills and interests.
•Explore the option of bringing in an outside chair for the next hire; this would take some
pressure off currently overloaded faculty who might be selected for future chair duties and bring
new energy and vision to the department.
ACTION: This suggestion remains under consideration. In current planning discussions, the
issue of faculty load and consideration of future chair decisions are often on the table.
•Engage in assessment that results in meaningful, reflective changes to the program.
ACTION: The 07-08 departmental assessment report is a solid step in this direction.
•The department, represented by the department chair, needs to effectively communicate with
administrators and tell the department’s story. It is the department chair’s responsibility to
represent the department in its best light; to use the chair position to advocate for the collective
good of the department, and to build and reshape the department in response to changes in the
discipline and in the university culture.
ACTION: The current department chair (effective June, 2008) is well aware of these
responsibilities and has, with support of departmental faculty, taken several steps to meet them.
Faculty
•Continue to ensure work load balance for untenured faculty so that they are able to publish
enough to get tenure. Reinforce for probationary faculty the research and publication
expectations of the department, college, and university through an effective mentoring program.
ACTION: The department has established a mentoring program for new faculty, and, in a series
of several formal and informal group discussions, has found ways to help new faculty meet
teaching needs while finding time to accomplish appropriate levels of scholarship.
•Work to resolve what appear to be gaps in collegiality among some of the faculty that might
affect departmental potential.
ACTION: Faculty have carried out several open-ended discussions—both formal and informal—
on a variety of issues we face. As we spend more time in such discussions, and work together to
create meeting/celebration opportunities for students, we are experiencing an increased level of
collegiality and respect for each others’ skills, roles and interests.
•Promote a department culture of lifelong professional engagement and work with tenured
faculty to encourage continued involvement in areas that increase the profile and reputation of
the department.
ACTION: Again, while we fail to understand the full meaning of this recommendation, we
continue to honor the long history of engagement the Department of Geography has with
community and local/state/federal agency work. Since the Program Review, tenured and nontenured departmental faculty continue to engage, within workload constraints, in several highly
visible projects which bring social capitol to Geography at CWU.
Students
•Continue good work at promoting a student-centered program that provides so many
opportunities for job training and placement.
ACTION: The department has actively increased efforts to engage majors in a club and
extracurricular learning opportunities and continues to support internships and service learning
at every opportunity.
•Rethink advising system to give credit to faculty who seem to already be shouldering much of
the responsibility for advising.
ACTION: The department chair, in agreement with faculty, is working to balance the advising
load across all faculty.
Library, information resources, facilities
•Continue good work of supporting technology intensive programs. Work with administration to
assure support of hardware and software in the time, money, and technology-intensive field of
spatial data analysis.
ACTION: Our GIS faculty, working independently and with our administration, have
successfully sought, and used, new opportunities to bring funding, hardware, software and fresh
instruction to our students’ experience. The department library representative—and the
department as a whole—has met with Brooks Library personnel to maximize our resource
availability. Certainly our Dean Hall facility is supportive of these efforts.