Assessment Report Standard Format
July 1, 2011 - June 30, 2012
PROGRAM(S) ASSESSED: Master of Arts Program in International and Comparative Politics (ICP)
ASSESSMENT COORDINATOR: Laura Luehrmann, Director
YEAR ___1_______ of a ____4______YEAR CYCLE
1. ASSESSMENT MEASURES EMPLOYED
Briefly describe the assessment measures employed during the year:
What was done?
Assessment focused on reviewing student theses and projects and evaluating feedback received from
the exit interviews:
“1. Projects and theses should be error free in terms of punctuation and grammar. They should have
clear abstracts, literature reviews and other features as specified in the published requirements for
projects and theses in the student handbook.”
“2. Exit interviews will demonstrate that at least 80% of students believe they are adequately
prepared to apply theories and concepts of international relations and comparative politics in future
scholarly pursuits or work-related environments.”
The Director of the ICP program reviewed the two projects and five theses that were completed by
students during the assessment period, and continued with alum exit interviews. (Two of the
students were unavailable for interviews do to international deployment.) The Political Science
Graduate Studies Committee also continued to review the objectives of the program and assess our
progress, especially in light of the upcoming transition to semesters.
Who participated in the process?
The Director of the ICP program reviewed the theses and projects completed during the assessment
period under review and shared the results of this process with the Political Science Graduate
Studies Committee. She also conducted exit interviews.
What challenges (if any) were encountered?
There were no significant challenges encountered in this process.
2. ASSESSMENT FINDINGS
List the objectives and outcomes assessed during the year, and briefly describe the
findings for each.
This year we again re-examined each of our four learning outcomes, at least in part:
“a. Students will master graduate level quantitative or qualitative research skills as
appropriate to the study of international relations and comparative politics.
b. Students will master formal graduate writing skills appropriate for the creation
of graduate theses and projects.
c. Students will have a solid understanding of the knowledge of their chosen specialty within
international relations or comparative politics, with an understanding of the surrounding their topic
of inquiry and the methodologies used to examine it.
d. Students will have effective communication skills, both oral and written.”
Five theses and two projects were reviewed. They were each satisfactory on the “error free”
benchmark, and they each complied with our program requirements in terms of citation, literature
reviewed and the inclusion of an abstract. Faculty expressed a sense that the quality of theses and
projects produced by our students is improving, and, in exit interviews, students expressed
appreciation of guidelines and checklists being used for this stage of the program. Students are
finding that the annual workshops on thesis preparation and the “bootcamp” model of encouraging
small groups of students to work together in cohort groups are working. Students and faculty alike
continue to work to find new ways to facilitate the ease of transition from “classes” to the
“independent researching” required to complete the M.A. thesis. Faculty have decided to be even
more intentional about the need to narrow down the research question and methodology as early as
possible in the program, using some additional time in the semester calendar to cover such concepts
in PLS 7030, “Research Design.”
Five exit interviews were conducted for this assessment report, targeting the program graduates. All
expressed that they were “adequately prepared to apply theories and concepts of international
relations and comparative politics in future scholarly pursuits or work-related environments.”
Students are pursuing a variety of careers and educational opportunities after the M.A., including
Ph.D. work (one student from this assessment period is already enrolled in a Ph.D. program), and
two others from this period are actively applying to Ph.D. programs.
In terms of program strength, students noted the availability and expertise of the faculty, the range of
regions that faculty cover (further enhanced by the addition of a Latin Americanist in the
Department in the Fall of 2012), and the quality of the 700-level graduate student only seminars as
the core strengths of the program. Students also noted the interdisciplinary nature of the program
and the importance of taking electives in other fields to deepen their understanding of critical issues.
Students also noted areas for improvement. Students continue to struggle with the development of a
thesis topic, and expressed concern for the students who drift away from the program after taking
courses who are unable to develop a research plan and committee. One student stated the major
weakness is that this is the terminal program in the field at WSU, lacking an in-house Ph.D. program
for students.
3. RESPONSE TO ASSESSMENT FINDINGS
Faculty have attempted to use the semester transition period to further strengthen our course
offerings and program coherence, working to overcome perceived hurdles earlier in the process (i.e.,
first semester in the Research Design course) and to help students move from coursework to
research. We will closely watch student progress in this area over the next two academic years to
assess if these changes are helpful.
Outreach to alums, through e-mail and Facebook contact, continues to reap fruitful benefits. We
have been posting our program newsletters to the “WSU ICP Alums” page on Facebook and have
been gradually locating more and more of our alums through this manner.
The other major area of attention during this assessment period has been in our annual orientation
day – the length of time and number of individuals and units who are now included in this program
continues to increase each year. During this past year, we invited two reference librarians to attend
the program with materials and suggestions, and the feedback on their inclusion has already led to
significant improvements in helpful networking for students. We will continue the regular inclusion
of units with whom we partner, both for courses and committee membership.
4. ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES FOR COMING YEAR
For the coming year we will continue thesis and project reviews, exit interviews and will conduct the
alumni survey (to include alums for the past four years; conducted biannually during odd-numbered
years after this period.) These activities will help us directly assess each of our four learning
outcomes:
“a. Students will master graduate level quantitative or qualitative research skills as
appropriate to the study of international relations and comparative politics.
b. Students will master formal graduate writing skills appropriate for the creation
of graduate theses and projects.
c. Students will have a solid understanding of the knowledge of their chosen specialty within
international relations or comparative politics, with an understanding of the surrounding their topic
of inquiry and the methodologies used to examine it.
d. Students will have effective communication skills, both oral and written.”
Thesis and project reviews assess each outcome, but especially a-c.
In the exit interviews, we ask questions geared to measure each of these outcomes, a-d.
The alumni survey attempts to assess each of these areas as well, focusing especially on outcomes c
and d.
5. UNIVERSITY LEARNING OUTCOMES
The two university learning outcomes most applicable to our graduate program are (3) evaluate
arguments and evidence critically and (5) demonstrate global and multicultural competence. Our
program committee will meet this year to discuss ways in which (3) can be evaluated, possibly in our
Research Design Course (PLS 7030). We will continue to use the theses and projects from the
program to assess outcome (5).