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DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY: 2006-07 ANNUAL REPORT
JUNE 6TH, 2007
Administration is always a dynamic and continuing process. Consequently, the 2006-07
AY started with an outline of strategic items from tasks either uncompleted or were extensions
and derivatives of goals set in the previous year. These items include:
 Developing an assessment plan for undergraduate and graduate learning;
 Submission of proposals for several new courses to college and university committees
for approval for the Sociology revised curriculum;
 Submitting a faculty-vetted copy of the new curriculum for inclusion in the 2007 general
bulletin;
 Some direct action or faculty direct involvement in undergraduate recruitment;
 Articulation with community colleges and high school teachers of sociology;
 Distinguished lecture series;
 Incidental issues that may arise during the course of the year.
As was the case the previous year, Sociology faculty and staff pursued these goals with
dedication and commitment, achieved considerable success in some and set time-tables to
implement the rest. It happened that some of the other issues that emerged during the course of
the year were in fact more strategic than incidental. The Central Position Management (CPM)
required continuous liaison with the several programs that graciously supported our request to
hire a social demographer. And sometimes interactions with sister programs encountered
bottlenecks.
GENERAL DEPARTMENTAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE GOALS SET FOR THE
YEAR:
 Progress was made on assessment of student learning.
 Sociology’s Four (4) new courses were approved by the A&S and UW course
committees. These courses-Sociology of Education, Political Sociology, The
Sociological Intellectual Community & Global Political Economy- will enrich
our new curriculum
 The Department offered four new courses: Social Movements & the
Environment, Chicana/os in Contemporary Society, Graduate Seminar on
Crime & Deviance, and The Sociological Intellectual Community,
 A new course, an integrated Sociological Theory was successfully designed
and submitted to the course committees
 The new Sociology curriculum will appear in the 2007-08 general bulletin
and will take effect from fall 2007
 The Distinguished Lecture project started as planned with a high profile
sociologist, Douglas Massey of Princeton University as the maiden lecturer
 An Articulation Meeting has been set for fall 2007 and potential participants
have been contacted.
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SPECIFIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
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Seibold Professorship (Connolly)
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Mortarboard Award (Connolly)
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Top Ten Teachers 2007 (Connolly)
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Extraordinary Merit in Teaching (Richard Machalek)
Mortar Board Award (Richard Machalek)
A & S Thumbs-up Awards (David Ashley, Elaine Force, Shawnn
Lively)
Special Gold Star recognition by President Buchanan for Lifelong
Commitment to Exemplary Teaching and Student Empowerment in
Learning (Hampe)
$165,000 grant from the National Park Service (Taylor—P.I.)
$300, 000 grant from Environmental Protection Agency (Taylor,
Grandjean & their team at the Wyoming Survey & Analysis CenterWYSAC)
$38, 000 grant from Bureau of Land Management (Emeriti Blevins &
Jensen)
$3000 grant from ECTL & $3000 grant from PACMWA (Connolly)
First Place Award for the National Alpha Kappa Delta (AKD)
Graduate Paper Competition (Candace May).
Presentations at the 2007 Graduate School Symposium (Loubsky,
Pribanic, and Roussell)
Outstanding Presentation at the Graduate Students Symposium
(Roussell). Roussell received full assistantship to pursue his doctoral
education at the University of California, Riverside.
A&S Outstanding Graduate (Jason Legg- Sociology/International
Studies)
Certificate of Nomination, Outstanding Student Employee (Lawrence
Panas)
$1000 grant from the Haub Endowment of ENR to complete Master’s
research on the psychosocial dimensions of Katrina Disaster
(Graduate Student Kelli Pribanic)
Academic Affairs Summer Course Award (Yarong Ashley)
Student Club OASIS hosted 7 presentations
Sociology Brown Bag series (Malcolm Holmes)
3 Graduate Students and 15 Undergraduates graduated
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ACADEMIC PLANNING IMPLEMENTATION:
I will base my narrative on the relevant action items in UW Academic Plan II and
append action items from the Sociology and College academic plans where relevant.
Action Item 5: Continue to emphasize Environment and Natural Resources (ENR)
 The new topics course Social Movements & the Environment proposed last
year was offered by Barnes in fall 2006. The course enrolled students
from various disciplines including those in the School of Environment and
Natural Resources (SENR). Based on the student evaluations, this course
was very successful as an instrument with which to introduce students to
one of the central issues in contemporary America and the world.
 Consistent with our interdisciplinary orientation, we rallied and sought the
cooperation of 6 department/program heads namely ENR, Ecology
Program (EP), WYSAC, Wyoming Geographic Information System
(WYGISC), International Studies, and Geography to support our CPM
proposal to hire a demographer. The number of programs that supported
our CPM proposal this year increased by 100% indicating the importance
of the position of a demographer and its relevance to several programs on
campus. This position, if approved, the demographer is expected to have
competence in environmental studies as well as in domestic and global
demographic studies. Such a hire will therefore be relevant and useful to
each of the above listed supporting programs. The hire is also consistent
with Action Item 13 of A&S academic plan to support the School
Environment and Natural Resources. It also captures the intentions of
Action Item 2 of the Sociology academic plan namely to enhance
commitment to SENR/INER.
Action Item 65: Highlight Diversity-Related Courses.
 Consistent with the memorandum of understanding (MOU) we signed
with African American Studies and Chicano Studies programs in 2005-06,
and to support diversity in general, Sociology offered Chicana/os in
Contemporary Society and Race and Ethnic Relations (Zamudio); African
Diaspora(Ukaegbu). Sociology financially supported organizations that
promote diversity on campus namely International Students Association,
Wyoming African Students Association, and Chinese New Year.
Action Item 66: Build a Broad-Based Curriculum in Diversity and
Internationalization
 The new Sociology curriculum consists of a newly created core area,
Global Comparative Sociology. This category now has 4 courses including
Global Political Economy which was recently approved by the college and
university course committees. The latter, along with other new courses,
will appear in the general bulletin in fall 2007 as part of the new
curriculum. They will contribute to our strength in
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comparative/international research and support interdisciplinary programs
as intended in Action Item 9 of the Sociology academic plan.
Action Item 72: Support Opportunities for Students to Study Abroad

Sociology continues to support Y. Ashley to teach Shanghai Past &
Present to UW students in China. In summer of 2006, Y. Ashley took 10
(ten) UW students to China. The number increased to15 (fifteen) students
this summer 2007. This is one of the popular study abroad courses on
campus. Before I started writing this report, I received a post card from
China signed by students in this class indicating how beneficial the course
has been to them even before it ended. Sociology will continue to support
this program as our contribution to sound international education and
interdisciplinarity as intended by the Sociology and College academic
plans, Action Items 9 and 41 respectively.
Action Item 83: Promote Bridges between the Sciences and the Humanities

Last year I outlined how Sociology extended its traditional
interdisciplinary boundaries by seeking interaction and cooperation with
SENR, EP, and WYSAC. This year we extended that boundary of
cooperation further by actually offering a course relevant to ENR,
and co-opting WYGISC, Geography and International Studies and
the earlier trio for a hiring proposal that will prove to be
pedagogically, scholastically, and institutionally efficient and fruitful
if approved. By this, Sociology has moved beyond interdisciplinarity. It
is now operating at the multidisciplinary level and therefore needs
resources, especially human resources, to maintain this momentum of
building professional and epistemological bridges. Sociology was the only
department or program whose proposal for the CPM received strong,
formal, unflinching and unequivocal endorsement and support from 6 (six)
programs across campus. Further, the Sociology CPM proposal was
ranked among the highest by the A&S heads of departments and programs
in the new A&S modality of popular participation in CPM decisions.
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African American Studies started an interesting book club this past year.
Sociology played a visible role in promoting the club. Ukaegbu was
discussant at the inaugural meeting of the club and Holmes brought strong
sociological knowledge to bear on a matter of critical importance to
America namely, Race, Class & Urbanism to a an impressive number of
participants from varied disciplines. Sociology Graduate Student Kelli
Pribanic was discussant at the third book club meeting on the
psychosocial consequences of the Katrina disaster attended by
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multidisciplinary participants. There, also, Sociology faculty Zamudio,
Holmes and Ukaegbu participated and brought the sociological
perspective into the discussion. Some Sociology faculty also supported the
search for a visiting scholar in African American Studies by attending the
talk given by one of the candidates. Activities such as these not only help
to build disciplinary bridges, they also promote overall institutional
diversity envisioned by UW and the College of Arts & Sciences.
Action Item 90: Link Positions Requests to Institutional Areas of Distinction
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Sociology religiously invoked this action item last year when it secured
letters of support and agreement from areas of distinction such as SENR
and EP for inter program cooperation for the CPM. This year we included
other areas of priority namely International Studies and GIS, the latter
through WYGISC and Geography, in our proposal to hire a demographer.
See UW Academic Plan II for the list of areas of distinction and the 2007
call for the CPM from Academic Affairs for areas of priority.
TEACHING ACTIVITIES:
Faculty continued to carry out their teaching roles effectively. Some taught
entirely new courses, or brought brand new courses into the curriculum, some taught
existing courses as new preparations, while others volunteered to do new preps to enable
the Department to implement the new curriculum. Barnes, Zamudio, Holmes and
Ukaegbu taught Social Movements & the Environment, Chicana/os in Contemporary
Society, Seminar on Crime & Deviance, and The Sociological Intellectual Community,
respectively. Holmes’ Crime & Deviance seminar was a new offering in the graduate
curriculum. The following new courses were developed and submitted for approval and
some were indeed approved during the year: Sociology of Education (Y. Ashley with
Barnes & Zamudio); Political Sociology (D. Ashley); Sociological Theory (Machalek);
The Sociological Intellectual Community, and Global Political Economy (Ukaegbu). As
stated above, some faculty taught existing courses in new ways or as new preps namely
Social Change (Massey); Sociological Principles (Barnes); Sociology of Religion (D.
Ashley); Race & Ethnic Relations (Zamudio); Advanced Sociological Theory
(Machalek); Introduction to Sociological Research (Hampe). Thirteen (13) students in
Hampe’s class participated in oral and poster presentations at the Undergraduate
Research Day. The oral presentations were well attended and the poster presentation on
religiosity and deviance attracted considerable attention from the public. The Sociology
poster presentation received more than passing mention in the Laramie Boomerang of
April 29, 2007. Massey was moderator for the oral presentations.
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The pedagogical versatility and flexibility required by our new curriculum found
an expression in faculty volunteering to do new preps of courses they had never taught
before or courses they have not taught for a very considerable length of time—Sociology
of Law (Taylor); Social Change (Kim); Gender & Society (Barnes); Social Inequality
(Zamudio); Sociology of Organizations (Machalek); Sociology of Religion (D. Ashley);
Human Interaction (Holmes); Urban Sociology (Ukaegbu). All these are core courses in
the new curriculum.
The quality of teaching by faculty remains high. Machalek received the
Extraordinary Merit Award in Teaching and the Mortar Board Award. D. Ashley was
named A&S Thumbs-up Professor. Connolly received the A&S 2007 Top Ten Professors
Award, Mortar Board, and grants from ECTL and PCMWA to improve the Women’s
Studies curriculum. The head of department will continue to nominate faculty for
recognition as a way to improve the quality of teaching. Hampe received a special Gold
Star recognition from President Tom Buchanan for lifelong exemplary commitment to
teaching. This was based on an inspirational letter written to Buchanan by a student who
was in Hampe’s class of STAT 5070: Advanced Statistics for graduate students.
Though this recognition is private, I could not resist including it in this report after
reading the student’s spontaneous and unsolicited letter to Tom. I thank Tom Buchanan
for his leadership and Presidential response to that student’s genuine endearment to
Hampe’s class.
In my 2006 annual report, I stated in detail the gap created in our course offerings
because of the retirement of Blevins and Jensen. That gap, as I mentioned, has
implications for the number and variety of courses we can now offer, and for our ability
to maintain our preeminent position in interdisciplinary pedagogy. The gap will increase
in the coming years because of two new developments. Connolly transferred her full
position to Women’s Studies with effect from fall 2007. Massey also transferred his full
position to International Studies but continued to offer one course a year for Sociology.
Massey’s request for an adjunct status was unanimously approved by Sociology faculty.
Indications are that Massey plans to retire in the coming year. In which case we will lose
the one course he offers for the department. Blevins and Massey were part of the
cornerstone of our foundation courses of Methods and Statistics. And all the four
(Blevins, Jensen, Connolly, and Massey) are strong interdisciplinary faculty. Mindful of
that, Sociology crafted a very multi-purpose, multi-disciplinary, cost- effective CPM
proposal to hire a demographer. If approved, this hire will strengthen our graduate and
undergraduate offerings in methods and statistics, teach our core course in population,
extend our interdisciplinary endeavors to ENR and other programs, and maintain our
well-known strength in global studies. I therefore ask both the College of Arts &
Sciences and the Office of Academic Affairs to recognize the efficiency of our CPM
proposal and approve it.
Sociology faculty deserves credit. Despite the changes in faculty dynamics and
the resulting gaps in course offerings, Sociology faculty have embraced the challenge
with an impressive and admirable degree of pedagogical versatility and flexibility as
mentioned earlier. The new curriculum requires versatility and flexibility in the midst of
scarce human resources. Members of Sociology faculty believe that we as faculty must
endeavor to implement the new curriculum if we are to provide our students a balanced
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sociological education that informed the revision of the curriculum in the first place. I
vouch that the faculty have been faithful to this belief.
A few other issues on our course offerings and curriculum need mention before I
end this section on teaching. The present SOC 3500-Gender & Society will change to
SOC 3500-Sociology of Gender but the latter will retain all the appurtenances and
accoutrements of the previous course. This was necessitated by the initiative of Women’s
Studies to uncross list the original Gender & Society from Sociology. The paperwork for
this change was co-signed by the heads of Sociology and Women’s Studies.
Also, as part of our curriculum revision, Sociology faculty voted to uncross-list
SOC 3250-Juvenile Delinquency from Sociology and cede ownership and control of the
course to the Department of Criminal Justice (CJ) in exchange for CJ supporting our
decision to change the name of SOC 4280-Comparative Criminal Justice to
Comparative Criminology. The latter name better captures the content and disciplinary
orientation of the course as a sociology course. It will still be cross-listed with CJ and CJ
students will continue to be the primary beneficiaries from this course regardless of the
name change. Both Juvenile Delinquency and Comparative Criminal Justice were
developed and are owned by Sociology. I submitted the paperwork for the name change
to CJ for signature in early spring. I have had cordial exchanges and a meeting with
representatives of CJ. Hopefully this will be resolved one way or the other in the fall.
Sociology received $12,500 from Connolly’s Seibold award to help hire someone
to cover her courses while on leave. I sought assistance through the Sociology
Department at CSU to help find someone to teach gender courses especially Women &
Work, and Women & Third World Development. I did not look for someone to teach
Gender & Society because Barnes volunteered to teach it. The Sociology Personnel
Committee evaluated the vita of the lone applicant and determined that she was not
qualified to teach any of the two upper division courses because of her educational
qualification and her limited teaching experience. I will continue to look for someone
who can teach these courses and whose needs and circumstances match the amount of
money available.
I mentioned during the semester that the workload policy of the department,
especially the balance of research productivity and teaching will be implemented as from
the 2007-08 AY. I will be talking to individual faculty when I begin course scheduling
for spring 2008.
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES:
Some Sociology faculty published papers, some had their papers accepted, others
have work in progress. Holmes’ book manuscript, Race, Threat and Police Brutality (coauthor, Brad Smith of Wayne State University) has been accepted by the State
University of New York (SUNY) Press pending minor revisions. Zamudio (with Rios,
College of Education) published, “From Traditional to Liberal Racism” (Sociological
Perspectives); Zamudio, Rios and Jaime (Educational Studies) “Thinking Critically
about Difference”, was accepted for publication in Equity & Excellence in Education.
Connolly and Leedy (Social Work) published, “Out in the Cowboy State: A Look at
Lesbian & Gay Lives in Wyoming” (Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Science);
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Ukaegbu, “Leadership Fatalism and Underdevelopment in Nigeria” was accepted for
publication in Philosophia Africana.
Invited chapters completed or in progress include Machalek, “Sociology and
Sociobiology” (Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems, UNESCO); Barnes, “The Texas
Farmers Alliance: The Development of a Radical Movement” (for Texas A & M Press);
Ukaegbu, “Power, Authority and Worker Commitment in Nigerian Firms”, (for Route
ledge). D. Ashley completed a paper on Faith-Based Initiative in the Bush
Administration. Barnes and Kim continue to work on their book projects.
Taylor and Grandjean with their WYSAC colleagues received grants from the
National Park Service ($165, 000), and the Environmental Protection Agency ($300,000).
Emeriti Blevins & Jensen received a grant from the Bureau of Land Management ($38,
000).
Faculty presented papers at conferences- Machalek, “Exposing a False Divide
(American Sociological Association); Holmes with Smith, “Race, Threat & Police
Brutality’ (American Society for Criminology); Holmes also chaired a panel; Zamudio
with Russell & Bridgeman, “Teaching Civil Rights” (Latina/o Critical Race Theory
Conference, Nevada);
Ukaegbu, “Private Sector & Public Policy in Nigeria” (Conference on Nigeria 2007,
Northwestern University); Connolly, “Gay Families, Pop Culture & Law” (Pacific
Sociological Society); “Impoverished Justice….” (Panel Discussant, Law & Society
Meeting); “Real Lives of Women” (Panel participant Women’s History Month); “Women
& Leadership” (Panel Participant, AAUW Leadership Symposium);
Taylor and Grandjean presented “What should be the Price for Access to
Federal Land Policy?” (George Wright Society for Research); ‘Sensing the Parks”
(George Wright Society); “Pricing the New Recreation Pass” (Rocky Mountain Cluster
Resources); “A Comprehensive Survey for the National Park System” (Rocky Mountain
Cluster Resources); “Valuing Our National Heritage….” (With Aadland and others);
Grandjean “Using Telephone Polls and the Psychology of Memory…..” (American
Association for Public Opinion Research); “Indirect Costs” (Academic Survey Research
Organizations Meeting).
SERVICE, EXTENSION AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES:
Several members of the Sociology faculty serve on theses committees of
other programs across campus. Taylor volunteered to serve as replacement
member on the A & S Teaching Committee while Kim and Holmes volunteered
to serve on the Library Council and A&S T&P Committee respectively. But the
votes did not favor them. Machalek serves on the Religious Studies Program
Committee. He served on the UW ad-hoc committee that reviewed Dean Walter
and he is now serving on a special committee investigating a case of academic
dishonesty. Y. Ashley is on the UW NEH Review Committee and continues to be
a very major resource person for the A&S and UW exchange programs with
institutions in China. Barnes serves on the A & S Academic Dishonesty Hearing
Committee while Hampe is on the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate.
He is also the UW representative of the Inter-University Consortium for Political
and Social Research (ICPSR). Holmes serves on the Board of Student Appeals
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and the T&P Committee of the Chicano Studies Program. Kim serves on the
University Hearing Committee and International Studies Committee. Connolly
serves on the Stop Violence Advisory Committee, Shepard Symposium for Social
Justice Coordinating Committee, American Heritage Board of Faculty Advisors,
A & S Scholarship Committee and Ad-Hoc committees on Domestic Partner
Benefits and T & P for Interdisciplinary Programs. Zamudio is on the Chicano
Studies Advisory Board, and Ukaegbu is on the Haub School of Environment and
Natural Resources Student Research and Creative Activities Grant Committee.
The above list clearly shows that Sociology faculty offers an impressive
amount of committee service across campus. This is in addition to internal
departmental committee functions and ad-hoc activities that all have very
effectively executed. I need not list those here. Holmes and Hampe taught
Outreach classes. And Ukaegbu and Massey worked with the Outreach School to
find a suitable instructor to continue teaching Global Terrorism, a topics course
developed and taught by Ukaegbu prior to his role as head of department.
Sociology faculty also made contributions to the community. Barnes was
Chair of the UW Lab School Fundraising Committee. Hampe was an instructor
for the Albany County SAFE Project. Zamudio, for the second year in a row,
raised the most money at the annual Dog Gone Race event to benefit the Laramie
Animal Shelter Foundation. Barnes officiated at the Dog Gone Race event.
Connolly was an invited participant to the statewide organizational committee on
Equality Initiatives. She also consulted on an anti-discrimination law suit for the
Richards Law Firm. The series of research on the environment done by Taylor &
Grandjean through WYSAC and by Blevins & Jensen are of significant
importance to the state, the rocky mountain region, and the nation.
Sociology faculty made contributions to the discipline of Sociology.
Holmes reviewed 1 manuscript each for Justice Quarterly and Journal of
Criminal Justice respectively and serves on the Minority Affairs Committee of
the American Society for Criminology. Kim refereed for Mobilization: An
International Journal. D. Ashley is a member of the editorial board for Current
Perspectives in Social Theory, and a manuscript reviewer for Theory, Culture &
Society (UK). Zamudio refereed a manuscript for Sociological Perspectives.
Taylor reviewed a textbook on Introductory Statistics for Praeger Press.
Machalek is on the editorial board and consulting editor for Evolution and
Society. He also reviews for Armed Forces & Society. Hampe reviewed an article
for the Journal of Criminal Justice Education. He was a participant in the Task
Force on Sociology and General Education set up by the American Sociological
Association and contributed to the monograph produced by the Task Force.
Ukaegbu has 2 articles from Philosophia Africana and Southern Rural Sociology
for review pending completion of this report.
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Articulation:
We started discussion on articulation with community colleges and high
school teachers of sociology in 2005-06 AY and we planned to hold an
articulation meeting this year 06-07. But there is always a limited number of goals
achievable in an academic year especially in a department like ours undergoing a
period of change. We could not hold the articulation meeting as planned. Hence
we scheduled it for fall 2007. More information will be made available as the date
approaches.
STUDENT RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION ACTIVITIES AND
ENROLLMENT TRENDS:
The trend in the number of Sociology undergraduate and graduate majors and
minors remains at the level of a marginal increase in the past 5 years. Since OIA data for
2006-07 have not been published, our number of majors remains at last year’s level. The
number of undergraduate and graduate degrees awarded made an impressive jump in
2005-06 from a lower number in 2004-05. The credit hours for 2006-07 are not available
and my inquiries at OIA indicate that they may not be available until fall 2007. Therefore
Sociology credit hours of 4943 for AY 2005-06 remain our measure until the new figures
appear. However, this number is below the 5124 hours for AY 2004-5. Recall that in the
last annual report, I attributed this difference to Blevins’s & Jensen’s retirements when
they had a pre-retirement semester leave. I expect the number of credit hours to reduce
further because of the transfer of line by Connolly and the possibility that Massey’s
instructional contribution will be lost when he retires next year as grapevine indicates.
There is another reason the number of credits may not continue on the upward
trend. For several years Sociology repeatedly offered and popularized specific courses at
the expense of some other courses which should have contributed to the disciplinary core
and a balanced sociological education for our students. The philosophy of the new
curriculum is the juxtaposition of disciplinarity and interdisciplinarity by creating a
balance between disciplinary and interdisciplinary offerings as stated in Action Item 1
the Sociology Academic Plan.
With the new curriculum also, emphasis has moved away from merely recording
high numbers of credit hours to valuing substance and quality. For instance we should not
expect the Sociology of Organizations which will be offered by Machalek in spring
2008 to fill to capacity and accumulate high credit hours. The course is only being
rehabilitated after its unpopularity among students for many years. Yet Sociology of
Organizations is one of the courses central to the discipline of sociology. If in doubt,
check the nationally-normed assessment test designed by the American Sociological
Association. In fact, this is one of the courses that should embolden and empower our
students to seek employment in other sectors of the economy and society beyond
gravitating around social control agencies.
Another neglected mainstream course Sociology of Work needs to be rehabilitated
also. Two of our popular interdisciplinary courses Women & Work and Women & Third
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World Development have not been offered since Jensen’s retirement. It will be in the
interest of a balanced sociological and interdisciplinary education to seek a CPM position
that will simultaneously cover our core course of Sociology of Work and these two
interdisciplinary courses thereby maintain our visibility in gender sociology and achieve
the intentions of part of Action Item 2 of the Sociology academic plan. This again is
informed by the principle of juxtaposition of disciplinarity and interdisciplinarity. But
one thing at a time, we will pursue this path with a CPM request after we hire a
demographer to close the huge gap and the resulting weakness in our curriculum
offerings caused by Blevins’ retirement and absence of a demographer in a sociology
program and the entire UW for that matter. Put another way, our immediate priority is to
hire a demographer. After that we will seek a sociologist of work with a gender
perspective.
This is not the forum to begin to rehash the importance of a demographer to
Sociology and UW in general. I made all the case I could in our CPM requests last year
and this year. And what is more, the 6 program heads that supported our CPM proposal
this year made the case for a demographer even more powerfully than I could ever do
alone. The new Sociology curriculum is poised for substance, breadth, depth and quality
of education rather than the symbolisms and, sometimes, superficialities of numbers.
While we will aspire to achieve high credit hours, quality, depth and breadth will remain
the primary goal.
A. Undergraduate Recruitment:
Student transfers from community colleges and other departments in UW remain
our main sources of undergraduate majors. The new I course The Sociological
Intellectual Community designed to expose freshmen to the discipline has taken off and
will appear in the general bulletin in fall 2007. The course enrolled 30 freshman students
in fall 2006 and about 20 students of mixed status in spring 2007. Students enjoyed
faculty guest speakers (Massey, Barnes, Grandjean, Machalek, and Connolly) who
discussed their varied sociological expertise and interests. We hope that this course
becomes one our recruitment tools as intended.
Sociology participated in all the Discovery Days during the year and co-opted
graduate and undergraduate students in that effort (Panas, Penn, Kato Mukuyezi, etc).
The Sociology web site has been getting better and better and prospective students will be
pleased to view what we do. We sent letters to 10 prospective undergraduate and 25
prospective graduate applicants this year. But a vigorous recruitment effort will require
some direct action by faculty with the help of staff. Student recruitment will be a major
item of discussion at the articulation meeting scheduled for fall 2007. We will try to
produce a new brochure based on the new curriculum before the articulation meeting.
Sociology faculty anticipates a retreat, in fall 2007, on improving our graduate program.
And recruitment of graduate students will also be high on the agenda.
B. Student Retention:
The life and form of the student club, Organization of Active Students Interested
in Sociology (OASIS) was much stronger this year than last year with continued support
from adviser Taylor and a very active club president (Panas). Its activities can contribute
to student retention because several graduate and undergraduate students attended the
talks, an activity that brings them closer to the department. OASIS organized and hosted
7 (seven) talks this year including a film discussion of the anti-smoking movement
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(Grandjean); 2 presentations by Chinese Visiting Professors (Shilin (COJO) & Yuzhao
(SOC); Soc Graduate Student (Roussell), Psychology Doctoral Student (Jerry Cullum);
OASIS Roundtable (Boots Allen); and a pre-conference rehearsal (Ukaegbu). Holmes
was the presenter at our noon talk series this year. The talk was well attended by faculty
and students including sociology students. Our AKD induction night has become a good
instrument of retention. Students are happy to bring friends and family. This year the
Dean of Arts & Sciences, Oliver Walter, was once again our guest. He presented
certificates and honor cords to inductees. We thank him for gracing our event with his
presence. Sociologist Dr. Joseph Booth Allen gave the induction lecture on “Tourism,
the State, and Transnational Participation: Evidence from Destinations in Kyrgyzstan.”
An impressive number of students attended our Christmas get-together held in the
Sociology lounge this year, at least by a number more than they did in the past in the
same venue. We supported 3 students’ academic travels (May, Coburn, Pribanic) with
funds from the departmental support budget.
Sociology Graduate Student Candace May won First Place in the 2006Alpha
Kappa Delta (AKD) International Sociology Honor Society Graduate Paper
Competition. Her paper titled, Drug Courts: A Social Capital Perspective, was culled
from her Master’s thesis of the same title. According to the AKD Newsletter, May’s
paper was ranked first by a Graduate Scholarship Committee of Professors from 3
universities. She received the award at the joint meeting of the American and Canadian
Sociological Associations in Toronto in August 2006 with financial support from AKD,
Department of Sociology, and the UW Graduate School. The paper will be published in
Sociological Inquiry. Congratulations to Candace May and her thesis committee (cochairs Ukaegbu -SOC & Heck-CJ, Holmes-SOC; Williams-SOWK). Thanks to
Connolly for her supporting letter as our AKD Chapter Representative. We
conspicuously advertised this award on the Soc website because it has the potential to
contribute to student recruitment and retention.
The Edwin Flittie Scholarship is now ready to take off in the 2007-08 AY and
all parties have signed the agreement for the takeoff of the Amy & John Wilbourne
Excellence Fund. The latter will be used to recognize and motivate various forms of
student excellence.
C. Graduate Recruitment:
We sent letters to 25 people who made inquires about our Master’s program. We
also directly approached some very good students on campus, encouraged them to apply
for admission, and we recruited a couple of them. As I said earlier, graduate student
recruitment will be high on the agenda for the retreat on improving the graduate program
planned for fall 2007.
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DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES:
A. Activities:
Donations to Sociology this year amounted to $6200; $5700 to the Foundation
account by 27 donors, and $500 to the Flittie fund by 1 donor. Though somewhat less
than last year’s, it is still impressive. A large donation of $1000 was matched by the
donor’s employer, a welcome repeat gesture from last year. It is from this donor that
the department created the Wilbourne Excellence Fund. There was also another large
donation of $1000 by an alumna and friend of the department. Head of Sociology
worked with A&S Director of Development (Walker) to get the consent of the
Wilbournes to continue to donate to the fund named after them. All parties, including
the Wilbournes, have signed the enabling instrument for the fund to take off. Also I
continued my practice of sending special cards of gratitude to every donor. I selected
names of potential donors from a list of Sociology alumni/alumnae compiled by A&S
Director of Development. This list, I am told, will be used for direct solicitations from
donors in the coming year.
B. Public Relations:
Our public relations activities took front seat this year. We successfully hosted a
distinguished lecture in fall 2006. Past President of the American Sociological
Association, Douglas Massey of Princeton University gave a well-attended lecture on
the topic, Segregation and Social Inequality in the Post Industrial Metropolis.
Sociology rallied several programs across campus for financial and moral support of
the lecture. The supporting programs included the College of Arts & Sciences,
African American Studies, American Indian Studies, American Studies, Chicano
Studies, Criminal Justice, International Studies, Women’s Studies, Simpson Fund and
Political Science, and the Biology Program. The lecture which served as a valedictory
to Blevins & Jensen was immediately followed by a very successful retirement
reception for the two at the Foundation House. Thanks to the supporting programs,
Sociology faculty and staff for the success of that project. My special thanks go to
Elaine Force, Shawnn Lively and Wendy Perkins (staffs of Sociology,
International Studies, and Women’s Studies) for working very hard and cooperatively
to make the event a very successful one. My special thanks also go to directors of
International Studies (Massey) and Women’s Studies (Holland) for co-hosting the
event. This coming fall, Sociology plans a colloquium with a panel of distinguished
military sociologists to discuss the issue of war, peace and the American military.
Bringing and hosting the three distinguished scholars will cost a considerable amount
of money. Consequently, Sociology will need financial support from the Dean of Arts
& Sciences and, if necessary, the Vice President of Academic Affairs.
Furthermore, Holmes’ presentation of his co-authored research on police
brutality attracted students, staff and faculty from across campus. The poster presentation
by students in Hampe’s methodology class at the Undergraduate Research Day was, in
fact, an unintended act of public relations because the Laramie Boomerang gave it more
than a passing mention. Accomplishments by faculty are also listed in the A&S You Like
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It.
Each year the Department of Sociology sends letters to all our alumni/alumnae
to inform them of activities with a given year. We did so last year. For a change, this
year, we are working on producing a printed newsletter with a considerable number of
visuals of activities. This has a potential to attract more attention to our activities.
The Sociology website continues to get better. At a meeting organized by the UW Public
Relations Department in summer 2006, the organizers mentioned the Sociology website
as an example of a successful rejuvenation and modernization of a website. We will
continue to improve the site through the good job done by Lively.
CLASSFIED AND PROFESSIONAL STAFFING:
Our staffing situation was chaotic when Gale Bandsma accepted a new position
in another department last summer. Elaine Force alone performed the secretarial duties
of both Sociology and International Studies. She also played a primary role in finding
Gale’s replacement. Things returned to normal after hiring Lively in fall 2006. Lively
shares her time between Sociology and International Studies and has continued to grow
into her job. Both staff work very cooperatively and effectively to manage the affairs of
the two programs.
DIVERSITY: Not applicable to Sociology. We did not conduct any search nor did we
hire faculty.
ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING:
A. Learning Outcomes:
Sociology outlined 3 learning outcomes last year. These learning outcomes are
posted on the departmental website. They are also posted on the Academic Affairs
website along with those of other programs. No changes have been made on these
outcomes since they were posted on the web.
B. Assessment Activities:
We made progress in our effort to develop an assessment mechanism. In the
spring of 2007, Sociology faculty discussed different options for the assessment of
student learning. Discussion focused on either a capstone course or a course-embedded
mechanism. Faculty asked the head to design and present an assessment plan for further
discussion. I looked at the different direct assessment mechanisms especially those in the
January 2005 monograph on assessment published by ASA. These include capstone
method, course-embedded assessment, departmentally or nationally-normed tests, student
portfolios, and research papers and major projects. I decided on the course-embedded
mechanism because it provides opportunity for the continuous assessment of cohorts
right from sophomore year to graduation. This mechanism if properly applied can inform
modifications in course development, syllabi design, course content, and teaching
methods on a regular basis in order to meet intended learning outcomes.
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I designed and presented a course-embedded assessment instrument to Sociology
faculty for discussion and evaluation. My instrument, which was indeed too elaborate,
was later consolidated by another faculty, Barnes, with additional suggestions by
Hampe. Sociology faculty discussed this consolidated version and approved to put it to a
pre-test in spring 2007. By this decision, all those teaching core courses based on the new
curriculum should evaluate their students using the consolidated course-embedded
assessment instrument. Tests, research papers, projects, oral presentations (where
relevant), and other forms of assignments should be used to determine how students’
performance relate to the expected learning outcomes. Respective faculty should submit
his/her assessment form to the Sociology Office Associate at the end of the spring
semester. The Office Associate forwards them to the head of department. The head of
department studies and discusses the findings with an ad-hoc committee appointed by
him noting the strengths and weaknesses of the mechanism, instrument, and process.
I have received the majority of the completed assessment forms deriving from the
pretest. I will work on them this summer, appoint an ad-hoc committee early fall, and
present results to faculty thereafter. We will then know whether to endorse the
instrument, mechanism and process as is or to modify some or all the components of the
plan. In other words, we are only one step away from producing and implementing an
assessment plan. This is a big leap from where we were last year.
C. Tracking Sociology Graduates:
Last year we opened a folder titled, Tracking Sociology Graduates. This project
includes tracking both undergraduate and graduate students. Office Associate Force, at
intervals, wrote letters and sent emails to the then new graduates. From that endeavor, we
now have current information on 7 of the 14 undergraduates who graduated in spring
2006, but no response yet from those who graduated in December of that year. We have
information on the 3 graduate students who graduated in spring 2006. We will include
this year’s graduates and graduates of subsequent years as an ongoing project bearing in
mind that some will change locations and contact information. Let me use this
opportunity to remember Michelle Lebsack our graduate student who died in fall 2007.
May she rest in peace.
AGAIN, THANKS TO SOCIOLOGY FACULTY AND STAFF FOR WHAT
I SINCERELY CONSIDER ANOTHER PRODUCTIVE YEAR.