Philosophy Program Annual Report
2004-2005
Department of English and Philosophy
The program’s “Mission Statement;” “Statement of Goals, Objectives, and Assessments;” as well as the Learning Outcomes for the courses Introduction to Philosophy and Critical Thinking can be found at: http://www.westga.edu/~phil/effectivenessEvaluation.html#mission
4. Statement of Program’s Condition
The Program was able to hire a new director, whose AOS is the history of modern philosophy, thus strengthening its historical approach to the study of philosophy (Dr. Donohoe covers the history of 20th Century Continental Philosophy, especially Phenomenology and Dr. Lane covers the history of American Philosophy, especially Charles Peirce). With this addition for this academic year the Program has had 5 full-time faculty members. Two of these five are not returning in the coming year (one is retiring and the other was not renewed), so it has been a year of looking at what kind of program we hope to become. Discussions on this topic led to a consensus concerning the profile of the new hire we would make. Although our search was ultimately unsuccessful, the process itself was well-done and helped the members of the program come to deeper understanding of what we are about.
Three members of the Program (Alberg, Donohoe, and Lane) move into the TLC Building in December as part of a move to integrate the Program more closely with the English Department of which it is a part. The move has by and large been beneficial, enabling the Program to take advantage of various administrative resources.
The members of the Program agreed to the introduction of “tracks” into the major. Students will now be choosing between a traditional philosophy track, a religion track or a pre-law track. These tracks mean that the program could well have more than 50 majors in the end of the next academic year.
The illness of one member of the Program at the beginning of the Spring Semester led to the emergency hire of Ms. Andrea Green. She stepped into a difficult situation with much grace.
5. % Students passing licensing Data not available
6. % admitted to graduate school 20%
7. Types of licensure Data not available
8. Preparation for Licensure Data not available
9. Other Notable Achievements:
· The Iota Chapter of Phi Sigma Tau, the national honor society for the study of philosophy, was officially established and a total of 11 members have been inducted.
· Once again, Meeting of the Minds was a great success.
· Two students, under the direction of Dr. Donohoe, taught classes in the local high school.
· The Program sponsored two lectures by distinguished scholars.
· The Program had its first Senior Seminar, which included help for the majors in constructing a graduation portfolio.
10. Total Published Research 0
11. Total Presentations 09
12. Total Internships 00
13. Total Co-ops 00
14. Total Scholarships 01
15. Total Fellowships 00
16. Total Recipients of Notable Awards 00
17. Other Notable Achievements:
Kristina Swim was the Humanities Runner-up representative for Big Night. She presented a poster at Big Night.
Eleven students were inducted into Phi Sigma Tau, the Philosophy Honor Society.
Teaching:
18. New Course Developments 00
19. Faculty Teaching Honors Courses 01
20. Faculty Involved in Academic Advisement 80%
Research/Productivity:
21. Books and Monographs 01
22. Book chapters 00
23. Peer Review Articles 03
24. Shorter Works 00
25. Paper Presentations 09
26. Other Presentations 00
27. In-House Publications 02
28. Juried Exhibits/Performances 00
29. Other Exhibits/Performances 01
30. Positions in Journal Editorship 00
31. Total Faculty in Notable
Continuing Education Efforts 03
Public Service:
32. Participants in Honors Organizations 01
33. Offices in Professional Organizations 02
34. Advisors of Student Organizations 02
35. Participants in Cooperative Consulting
Efforts 00
36. System-Wide UWG Committees 01
37. Total Participants in Public Service 03
38. Other Notable Achievements by Faculty:
Grants/Awards:
39. Proposals Submitted 03
40. Proposals Funded 01
41. Amount Funded $1,200.00
42. Gifts Generated by Department
Burdett and Shirley Wantland Scholarship $900.00
43. Contracts awarded 00
44. Fellowships awarded 00
45. New Degree Programs or Deletions 25
46. New Departments, Units, or Restructuring None
47. Accreditation or Renewal None
48. Other Awards or Achievements None
49. Additional Comments None
50. Give an example of how our department used the assessment of goals and outcomes to change/improve a process:
Responding to questions from both students and parents about the usefulness of majoring in philosophy led us to the institution of “tracks,” one of which is a track in Pre-Law. This categorization of ways of studying Philosophy and Religion helps students to grasp the how a major in Philosophy will prepare them for the future.
The institution of these tracks prompted us to rename “Philosophical Issues in Criminal Justice” to “Philosophy of Law”, and to plan our course offerings in such a way that the required courses for each track are offered on a timely basis.
Jeremiah Alberg, Director
May 10, 2005