DATE:
TO:
FROM:
RE:
C:
May 6, 2011
Tracy Pellett, Associate Vice President, Undergraduate Studies
Lori K. Sheeran, Director, Primate Behavior and Ecology (MS & BS programs)
One-Year Summary of Actions, Due October 2009
Kirk A. Johnson, Dean, College of the Sciences
Based on the Executive Summary and External Reviewer's Report of the Academic Program
Review of the Primate Behavior and Ecology program in spring quarter 2008, the following
actions were taken during the subsequent two-year period to address the concerns raised in the
reports.
Concerns about programmatic culture: Both reports indicated that attention should be paid to
fostering a student culture within the program, in part centered on professional development.
Students created a new group, Primate Awareness Network (PAN), whose membership includes
undergraduate and graduate PBE students. The club provides opportunities for students to
socialize and to develop within the profession. Most notable among the club’s activities was an
annual Primate Awareness Week (2010 and 2011), during which students organized numerous
activities (e.g., Chimposiums) and invited outside speakers. This facilitated a sense of shared
culture, helped students to make contacts with professionals in the field, and heightened
awareness of primate conservation issues across the campus. In 2011, speakers included alumna
Dr. Crickette Sanz, Dr. Kim Bard, Dr. Douglas Cress (Executive Director, Pan African
Sanctuary Alliance), alumna Maureen McCarthy (currently a PhD student), Daniel Beltra
(conservation photographer), and alumnae JB Mulcahey (Director of Operations, Chimpanzee
Sanctuary Northwest). These lectures helped students envision future paths as primatologists and
fostered their connections in the broader primatological community; they were also exposed to a
greater diversity of primate taxa based on the research interests of the guest speakers.
A Foundation account in support of the PBE program has been used to promote students’
participation in conferences. In 2010, nine PBE students used this support to attend and present
papers at the annual Northwest Anthropological Association meetings. In 2009, foundation funds
were used to take students to Reno, NV to a conference on ape language experiments. Both
activities increased camaraderie and helped to prepare students for the work force or for
continued higher education.
The PBE graduate and undergraduate students have a centralized location in Dean Hall (204) for
club meetings, research, and as an informal gathering space. This shared space has promoted a
common sense of identity among the PBE students and is used by PBE program faculty for
meetings.
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Concerns about curriculum and assessment: Both reports indicated that the PBE curriculum,
particularly its linkages to Biology, required attention, and both noted that a program
assessment plan had not yet been deployed.
Several curricular changes have been implemented, with Philosophy now contributing to the
program through the inclusion of Dr. Matt Altman as a program faculty member and the addition
of PHIL 306 Environmental Ethics in the BS program core. A one-credit capstone, PRIM 450,
has been added to the BS program to create a forum to discuss career options and to implement
program assessment (the student prepares a portfolio). Overemphasis on a few nonhuman
primate species for both graduate and undergraduate students has been rectified through
additional field opportunities for students in China (Tibetan macaques), Borneo (gibbons and
orangutans), Ecuador (9 species), Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest (Cle Elum; chimpanzees),
as well as at CHCI on campus. Dr. Joseph Lorenz’ development of a molecular anthropology lab
in Dean Hall provides students with access to biomaterials of more than 90 primate species.
Invited speakers further expand students’ exposure to unique perspectives and species.
Connections to four primatologists designated as Research Associates have aided students with
placement in the field and increase their exposure to a variety of primate taxa.
Assessment plans are in place and are being implemented for both degrees. Undergraduate data
are gleaned from two courses (ANTH 313 Primate Social Behavior and 416 Pongid Behavior),
and writing for majors is now being assessed in ANTH 416. Students provide feedback on the
program in the capstone (PRIM 450) and submit a portfolio to prepare them for their next step
post-graduation. Graduate students are evaluated by their thesis advisors each year, and in turn
have an opportunity to provide feedback on the program’s quality.
Biology faculty continue to be supportive of the program through membership on numerous MS
committees and in the field. There have been difficulties in staffing two core courses in the PBE
BS degree (BIOL 201 and 302). This has resulted in substitutions for these courses and further
dilutes the biology aspects of the program for PBE/ANTH and PBE/PSY majors. This problem
will need to be address in the coming year.
Enrollment: Both summaries expressed concern that the undergraduate program’s enrollment
was declining.
Enrollment appears to be stable. The BS and MS programs continue to attract students from
across the US, with about 25 undergraduates and 25 graduates enrolled in the program at any
given time. The development of two courses that serve graduates and undergraduates (ANTH
416/PRIM 516 Pongid Behavior and ANTH 411/PRIM 511 Primate Conservation) meet the
needs of both student populations and help to maintain class enrollment targets.
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The Future of CHCI: Concerns were raised in both summaries regarding the dependence of the
program on CHCI, and whether more chimpanzees will be brought to the sanctuary in the future.
Both PBE programs benefit from a strong association with CHCI. Undergraduate course work
occurs at CHCI, it provides a venue for students to study nonhuman primates on our campus, and
many graduate students base their thesis work there. The relationship between the Institute and
undergraduate and graduate programs has been strengthened by the 2008 inclusion of Dr. Mary
Lee Jensvold (director of CHCI) as a FT, TT faculty member in the anthropology department,
with her teaching assignment largely based in the PBE programs.
Over the past several years, research and volunteer venues (important for gaining caregiving
experience) in addition to CHCI have been developed by program faculty, and include a long
term field site in China, new field sites in Ecuador, a field site in Borneo, research and training
opportunities at zoos (e.g., Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle and zoos in Florida and California),
and research and training opportunities at a chimpanzee sanctuary in Cle Elum (Chimpanzee
Sanctuary Northwest). CHCI staff have developed a plan for the future of the Institute, mindful
of the needs of the aging population of chimpanzees currently living there and the difficulties of
introducing new chimpanzees into long-standing groups. Through this association with CHCI
and the new sites develop by program faculty, the program will continue to offer students a wide
array of research opportunities that involve a broad spectrum of nonhuman primate species.
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