PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT
STRATEGIC PLAN
The Philosophy Department is committed to excellence in teaching, research, and service; providing the core of a liberal arts education for all undergraduate students of the University; and contributing to specialized programs for undergraduate and graduate students within the Philosophy Department and other units. Expected student learning outcomes include learning to evaluate basic assumptions, learning to critically evaluate theories, developing the ability to communicate complex thoughts in a clear manner, developing the ability to construct philosophical arguments, and developing the ability to write clearly about issues.
The Philosophy Department
will
·
be recognized as one of the very best Masters-only departments in
the country;
·
be recognized nationally for excellence in philosophical
scholarship and undergraduate education;
·
be important to the larger mission of the university
through providing Business Ethics, for the
The Philosophy Department
is committed to the values of
·
Excellence in the Advancement of Knowledge through
Publication of research
Presentation of scholarly papers and
talks at local, regional, national, and
International venues
Teaching infused with, and informed by,
scholarly research and engagement in the
Subject
Sponsoring speakers with philosophical
insights on topics of concern to the
Department and the larger community
Interdisciplinary engagement
Analytical rigor
·
Instilling in students
A love of
critical, reflective thinking
An
understanding of our intellectual tradition and the place of philosophy in it
Enhanced
reflective understanding of epistemic, moral, and aesthetic values
·
Effective use of
technology in research, teaching, and administration
·
Creativity
·
Love of Learning
·
Facilitating a collaborative Intellectual Community
·
Liberal Arts Education
·
Preparing students for successful Advanced Study in Philosophy,
other academic fields, and the Professions
·
Respect and Appreciation
For diversity
For students’ needs
For the traditions
of higher education
For the needs of
our larger community and society
For colleagues
·
Shared faculty governance
·
Academic Freedom
OBJECTIVES (including Strategies and Assessments)
Goal 1. Access &
Diversity: Recruit, retain, and graduate
a larger, more academically prepared, and diverse body of undergraduate
Philosophy majors, minors, and Masters students.
· Improvement in the academic preparation and diversity of undergraduate majors.
· Improvement in the academic preparation and diversity of graduate students.
·
Increase the number of B.A. degrees to an
average of 10 per year.
· Maintain undergraduate student evaluation averages of 4.00 for all undergraduate courses.
· Provide an attractive and diversified undergraduate curriculum.
Objectives:
Objective
1.1: Increase
enrollment in undergraduate courses by 20%.
Strategies:
Decouple upper-level and graduate courses, thereby
improving the quality and suitability of the upper-level courses.
Diversify the curriculum by doubling the number of courses
that deal with gender,
race/ethnicity, sexuality,
non-Western cultures, and other minorities.
Provide more attractive upper-division offerings for
undergraduate majors.
Promote philosophy as a minor.
Increase undergraduate majors or double-majors by 25%.
Revise the curriculum to respond to and satisfy the
changing interests and needs of
undergraduates.
Increase the number of faculty to 14.
Improve retention and graduation rates for majors.
Assessments:
Enrollments
semester-by-semester.
Numbers
of majors, minors, double-majors in Philosophy.
Exit
interviews.
B.A.
Degrees granted per calendar year.
Objective 1.2: Recruit stronger, better
academically-prepared undergraduates (as majors and minors.)
Strategies:
·
Teach Honors courses
regularly.
·
Develop a five-year
combined BA/MA Philosophy degree program if, upon careful evaluation, it
appears desirable.
·
Contact admitted
undergraduate students expressing an interest in Philosophy as a major.
·
Decouple upper-level
and graduate courses, thereby making undergraduate courses more attractive to
undergraduates.
·
Make it a big deal to
be a philosophy major by developing the Philosophy Club, holding undergraduate
essay contests, having a computer lab and student lounge, holding workshops for
undergraduates on the following: what is philosophy, applying to graduate
school, etc.
Work more closely with the advisors for “undeclared”
undergraduates so they are better informed about the Philosophy major.
Promote Philosophy as a desirable minor.
Assessments:
Number of students who go on to law school, graduate
school, and pursue
other advanced
degrees.
GPAs, College Board scores (SAT, ACT), etc., of majors,
minors, etc.
Objective 1.3: Recruit stronger, better
academically-prepared graduate students.
Strategies:
Nominate incoming graduate students for Chancellor and
other appropriate fellowships every year.
Decouple upper-level and graduate courses, thereby
improving the quality of the graduate courses and increasing graduate student
satisfaction.
Increase the visibility of the faculty and the Department
in the profession (e.g., by increasing the number of faculty talks at other
universities, especially in the Southwest).
Cooperate with College and University graduate student
recruitment efforts.
Develop a five-year combined BA/MA Philosophy degree
program if, upon careful
evaluation, it
appears desirable.
Explore a range of combined graduate programs with other
units, such as Engineering and Technical Writing.
More aggressively recruit graduate students.
Increase the number of teaching assistantships available
each year to at least 20.
Improve the Department web page.
Consider the feasibility of hosting the West Texas-New
Mexico Philosophical Association meeting one year.
Use the Colloquium Speakers series in ways that enhance
graduate student recruitment.
Consider the feasibility of holding conferences in areas of
faculty specialization or graduate student conferences.
Assessments:
Number of applications, average GRE scores, acceptance
rate, and yield.
Amount of faculty participation in conferences and talks at
other universities.
Department’s ranking in the Blackwell’s “Philosophical
Gourmet” and other program ratings.
Number of courses taught with substantial enrollment from
other graduate programs.
Number of theses or dissertation committees served on from
other graduate programs.
Number of stand-alone graduate courses offered annually.
Number of hits on the Department web page.
Objective 1.4:
Graduate a larger, more academically-prepared body of undergraduate majors.
Strategies:
Decouple upper-level and graduate courses, thereby
improving the quality and suitability of the upper-level courses.
Reduce reliance upon visiting assistant professors and
lecturers.
Encourage ongoing engagement of faculty in teaching
evaluation and development.
Increase undergraduate majors or dual-majors by 25%.
Support faculty opportunities to improve teaching
effectiveness.
Develop and provide more resources and structure in support
of faculty efforts to innovate in teaching and learning.
Acquire and maintain resources needed for quality teaching.
Explore instituting a senior capstone course for majors.
Assessments:
Interviews with graduating seniors.
Proportion of student credit hours taught by visiting faculty and lecturers.
Number of students admitted to graduate schools, law school, etc.
Peer review process for teaching.
Number of teaching development activities.
Number of stand-alone undergraduate, upper-division courses offered each year.
Student Evaluations
Objective 1.5: Graduate a
larger, more academically-prepared body of graduate majors.
Strategies:
Decouple upper-level and graduate courses, thereby
improving the quality of the graduate courses and increasing graduate student
satisfaction.
Support (financially and academically) graduate students
submitting papers to conferences.
Institute an endowed graduate student essay contest.
Improve retention rates for graduate students.
Reduce reliance upon visiting assistant professors and
lecturers.
Assessments:
Graduation rates of our graduate students and time spent in our degree program.
Success of graduate students in applying to Ph.D. programs, law school, etc.
Proportion of graduate student credit hours taught by visiting faculty and lecturers.
Objective 1.6: Diversify the faculty and undergraduate
and graduate students.
Strategies:
Recruit with the aim
of diversifying the faculty, especially with respect to gender, race,
and national origin, achieving the Federal 22.7% women or ethnic minority
representation, and 30% gender, ethnic, sexual-orientation, or disability
minority.
Diversify the curriculum by doubling the number of courses
that deal with gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, non-Western cultures, and
other minorities.
Teach courses in Women’s Studies and other programs that
will increase the diversity of the students who take our courses.
Recruit a diverse graduate student population with the aim
of maintaining 50% drawn from gender, racial/ethnic, disability, and
sexual-orientation minorities.
Recruit a diverse undergraduate population with respect to
gender, racial/ethnic, disability, and sexual-orientation minorities.
Support student groups by being faculty advisors to groups
that focus on gender, sexuality, race, and national origin.
Co-sponsor colloquia and conferences on women’s studies and
ethnic studies.
Assessments:
Minority representation in the profession.
Number of gender, racial, national origin, ethnic,
sexual-orientation, or disability minority faculty.
Number of courses dealing with non-western cultures or
gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, ethnic, sexual-orientation, and
other minorities.
Diversity in the undergraduate student population.
Faculty diversity.
Goal 2. Excellence: Attain national recognition as
one of the very best Masters-only Philosophy Departments in the country.
Enhancement of academic
quality and reputation as measured in terms of success in the classroom, the
quality and quantity of scholarly publications, grants applied for and
received, professional offices held, services provided, national ranking, etc.
Improved faculty visibility
in the profession.
Continued recruitment and
retention of high-quality faculty.
Growth to a department size
commensurate with national prominence.
Increase the number of M.A.
degrees to an average of 4 per year.
Maintain graduate student
evaluation averages of 4.00 for all graduate courses.
Provide an attractive and
diversified graduate curriculum.
Objective 2.1:
Become recognized as one of the best Master’s only departments in the
country.
Strategies:
Increase department size to 14 tenured or tenure-track
faculty members.
Recruit, hire and retain outstanding junior and nationally
recognized senior faculty.
Assist all members of faculty to remain actively involved
in scholarly research projects.
Assist faculty in those areas where sponsored research
grants are readily available to succeed in their efforts to acquire outside
funding for research.
Continue to have 100% of the faculty appointed to the
Graduate Faculty.
Assist with applications for NEH, NSF, and other scholarly
fellowships, summer institutes, etc.
Promote and reward faculty representation on editorial
boards, government panels, association executive committees, or program
committees at national and regional levels.
Continue current involvement, and explore further
participation in, other nationally prominent degree programs on campus.
Partner with University Library to provide excellent book,
journal, and non-print holdings in support of departmental research and
teaching.
Support placement of outstanding Master’s students in top
Ph.D. programs.
Participate in
Encourage ongoing engagement of
faculty in teaching evaluation and development.
Submit requests for acquiring and
maintaining resources needed for quality teaching, research, and service.
Increase the types of faculty
development opportunities available within the Department: specifically, leaves
and released time for the completion of research or pedagogical projects.
Promote, in the larger university,
the provision of research funds specifically targeted for the humanities,
including increased sabbatical and
research released-time opportunities for humanities scholars.
Improved public relations and
advertising on the national scene.
Maintain inclusion among the top
10 Masters-only departments in the Blackwell’s Philosophical
Gourmet ratings and move into Group 2 among the Top ten departments.
Track placement and success of M.A. and B.A. graduates.
Assessments:
Level
of library holdings.
Student
evaluations and peer observation.
Numbers
and quality of scholarly publications annually.
Numbers
of grants applied for and received annually.
Numbers of professional offices held and
services provided annually.
National
rankings in the Philosophical Gourmet
and other reports.
Objective
2.2: Promote and reward teaching
effectiveness and curricular improvement.
Strategies:
Strengthen and expand opportunities for
faculty to be recognized as excellent teachers for teaching in the classroom,
in individual studies, on dissertations and theses.
Strengthen the reward structure for
faculty who are recognized as excellent teachers.
Encourage and reward faculty
participation in interdisciplinary and team teaching.
Increase the number of faculty,
emphasizing the recruitment and retention of the highest quality, most diverse
faculty in all areas of philosophy.
Encourage ongoing engagement of faculty
in teaching evaluation and development.
Nominate deserving faculty members for
campus-wide teaching awards.
Initiate departmental awards for
teaching, for regular faculty as well as graduate students.
Develop and provide more resources and
structure in support of faculty efforts to innovate in teaching and learning.
Involve all the tenured and tenure track
faculty in decisions about curricular change and development.
Raise enrollment limits in certain
courses only when careful study suggests that the change will not negatively
impact teaching effectiveness.
Consider multidisciplinary and
interdisciplinary teaching and curriculum needs when modifying programs, hiring
faculty, etc.
Explore instituting a capstone course for
undergraduate majors.
Increase the types of faculty development
opportunities available, including leaves for teaching and pedagogical
development for such things as adaptation and integration of information
technologies into courses.
Acquire and maintain resources needed for
quality teaching.
Demonstrate respect for the wide variety
of successful teaching styles.
Regularly offer teaching workshops on
topics of general faculty interest.
Annually document faculty acquisition of funding, scholarly
publications, and professional presentations made in support of teaching
development and instructional innovation.
Offer a graduate teaching philosophy
course annually.
Annually document the
teaching development activities in the department.
.
Assessments:
Faculty survey.
Student course evaluations
each term to be used as evidence for rewarding
and improving teaching effectiveness.
Peer review process for
teaching evaluation to be used as evidence for rewarding and improving teaching
effectiveness.
Level of departmental expenditures
on teaching development activities.
Number of faculty and
graduate teaching assistants nominated for and receiving existing and newly
established teaching awards.
Survey of former students
regarding teaching effectiveness.
Annual merit raise comparison.
Objective 2.3: Increase
graduate student enrollments.
Strategies:
Increase the size and number of graduate assistantships to
a level fully competitive with current and aspirational peer institutions.
More effectively publicize the graduate program and the
attractions of studying philosophy at TTU.
Improve the availability of technology resources for our
graduate students.
Develop a five-year bachelors-to-masters degree program if,
upon careful evaluation, it appears promising.
Develop partnerships with other programs and colleges to
construct innovative joint degree programs.
Improve the departmental and university library holdings
both in terms of quality and quantity.
Maintain the current 100% representation of faculty members
on the Graduate Faculty.
Document increases in the other means by which graduate
students can be supported, such as fellowships (internal and external).
Annually review our enrollment and stipend data, as well as
similar data from competing institutions.
Assessments:
Level of average funding for graduate students, including
stipend, tuition and fees and fringe benefits for the academic year, and track
how these figures compare with competing and aspirational-peer institutions.
Exit interviews to assess graduate student satisfaction
with teaching.
M.A. degrees granted per calendar year.
Objective 2.4: Promote and reward excellence in research.
Strategies:
Significantly increase the types of faculty development
opportunities available to both junior and senior faculty.
Evaluate the reward structure for excellence in research,
publishing, obtaining of external funding, and other scholarly activities.
Provide resources and structure in support of faculty
efforts toward the innovative use of information technology in research and
other scholarly activity.
Encourage, where fruitful, further development of
multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research, in both existing and emerging
programs.
Record the number of faculty and graduate students
nominated for and receiving already established and new research awards.
Annually calculate the numbers of faculty participating in
scholarly research as a percentage of full-time tenured and tenure-track
faculty.
The Department faculty will articulate any additional
measures by which they are willing to assess the research excellence of
full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty by the end of AY 2002.
Assessments:
Faculty survey of research excellence.
Compare annual merit raises with faculty research and publication
excellence.
Amount of research activities conducted by or participated
in by the faculty.
Level of departmental expenditures promoting and supporting
research and scholarly activities.
Objective 2.5: Promote and reward research productivity.
Strategies:
Increase the total number of articles published in high
quality journals.
Increase the total number of off-campus scholarly
presentations at universities and professional meetings.
Increase the total number of NEH or NSF grants, or other
scholarly fellowships for independent study or attendance at research seminars
and institutes.
Provide increased guidance and support to enhance the
likelihood of success in acquisition of external funding.
Annually document the number of unfunded as well as funded
research activities conducted by or participated in by the faculty.
Annually calculate the numbers of faculty participating in
scholarly research as a percentage of full-time tenured and tenure-track
faculty.