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Academic Program Review

Self-Study Report

Department of English

Georgia State University

Randy Malamud, Department Chair

Audrey Goodman, Associate Chair

Review Period: Fall 2010 to Summer 2013

Approved by Department of English Faculty,

Nov. 20, 2013

Researched, written, and compiled by the Academic Program Review Committee:

Chris Kocela, Chair

Beth Burmester

John Holman

Melissa McLeod

LeeAnne Richardson

Paul Schmidt

CONTENTS

SECTION ONE:

WHERE IS YOUR DEPARTMENT NOW?3

1.a. Undergraduate Education3

1.b. Graduate Education10

1.c. Research17

1.d. Contribution to Cities23

1.e. Globalizing the University24

1.f. Overall Assessment of the Department25

SECTION TWO:

HOW ADEQUATE ARE YOUR DEPARTMENTS RESOURCES?26

SECTION THREE:

WHERE DOES YOUR DEPARTMENT WANT TO GO?28

SECTION FOUR:

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO OR CHANGE TO GET THERE?30

Note: Throughout this report, peer departments for undergraduate programs are: Department of English, Arizona State University; Department of English, University of Central Florida; Department of English, University of Cincinnati; Department of English, University of Houston; and Department of English, University of Illinois at Chicago. For detailed undergraduate program comparisons, see Appendix 3.

Peer departments for comparison of graduate programs are: Department of English, Arizona State University; Department of English, Temple University; Department of English, University of Cincinnati; Department of English, University of Houston; and Department of English, Wayne State University. For detailed graduate program comparisons, see Appendix 4.

============SECTION 1: WHERE IS YOUR DEPARTMENT NOW?============

1.a: UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION

Quality of Student Attracted to the Departments Programs; Input Quality Metrics

The Department of English offers a B.A. in four concentrations: Literary Studies, Rhetoric and Composition, Creative Writing, and Secondary English; we also offer an interdisciplinary minor in Folklore. In Creative Writing, students study the craft and art of poetry and fiction in preparation for careers in writing, publishing, and education. In the Rhetoric and Composition program--the largest in the Southeast and the only one of its kind in Georgiamajors study rhetorical history and theory as well as contemporary publication and information technologies, preparing them for careers in academic and non-academic settings. The Secondary English concentrations prepares students for a professional certification program in English Education for grades 7-12 by providing them with a strong foundation in the content knowledge of English studies and by introducing them to the pedagogy of English instruction. Majors who concentrate in Literary Studies analyze poetry, prose, and drama from a variety of historical periods and cultural groups, honing their writing and interpretive skills for careers in the arts, business, education, law, and the media. Our Folklore curriculum offers the largest course selection (currently six undergraduate and four graduate courses) in folklore of any institution in Georgia.

Although there are no specific admission requirements for the undergraduate English major, the quality of students attracted to our programs has improved since our last academic program review, reflecting the Universitys strategic emphasis on raising admissions standards at the undergraduate level. As reported in our last self-study, the Freshman Index for English majors in 2003 was 2740; in 2012 it was 2815. The high school GPA of English majors is close to that of the average GSU student: in Fall 2011, the high school GPA of entering English majors was 3.35 compared to a University average of 3.38; in 2012 the high school GPA of English majors was 3.36 compared to a University average of 3.34.

English majors consistently have a higher Freshman Index and a higher composite SAT score than the average student in both the College of Arts and Sciences and the University. In Fall 2012, for example, the Freshman Index of 2815 for English majors was 50 and 60 points higher than the College and University averages, respectively. In Fall 2012 the average SAT composite score for all entering GSU College of Arts and Sciences students was 1101, and for all GSU students it was 1093. For English majors in Fall 2012 the average SAT composite score was 1128, 27 and 35 points higher, respectively, than College and University averages.

1.a.1: Scholarship Support for Undergraduates

In support of our students, the department offers five annual awards: the Bert H. Flanders Award; the Dabney A. Hart Sophomore Award; the Upper-Division English Award; the James E. Routh Outstanding English Major Award; and the Pratt Scholarship. Of these, only the Pratt Scholarship (worth $1000) is endowed: all the other awards depend on faculty donations and have averaged, in recent years, $100 each. Faculty members continued funding of these awards indicates our ongoing commitment to the University Strategic Plan, which emphasizes the importance of financial support to student success. Nevertheless, our ability to support our students lags behind that of English departments at peer departments, most of which offer multiple endowed awards of greater value than ours. (For details regarding our undergraduate awards and those of peer departments, see Appendix 3).

1.a.2: Student Success and Satisfaction

1.a.2.1: Learning Outcomes

See Appendix 1 for a 5-year summary report of undergraduate learning outcomes.

1.a.2.3: Number of Majors, Retention Rates, and Graduation Rates

As shown in Table 2, 577 English majors on average have been enrolled across the four undergraduate concentrations between 2010 and 2012. Although this table shows a decline in majors from 621 in Fall 2010 to 561 in Fall 2011 and 550 in Fall 2012, it is important to recognize that Fall 2010 represents an anomalous spike in enrollment and marks the only time over the past 8 years that the number of English majors has exceeded 600. As IPORT data demonstrates, the largest number of English students enrolled in any single year between 2005 (the earliest date available) and 2009 was 597. The average number of majors per year over this 5-year period was 553, which is consistent with English enrollment numbers for 2011 and 2012.

The 6-year graduation rate for English majors over the review period has fluctuated from 54% in 2010 to 67% in 2011 to 44% in 2012. Similarly, the retention rate over this period has gone from 58% in 2010 to 77% in 2011 to 53% in 2012. Departmental numbers for 2010 and 2011 are higher than the average graduation and retention rates for the College of Arts and Sciences as a whole; but the drop in graduation and retention rates in 2012 suggests that the department can still do more in the way of advising and retention initiatives.

1.a.2.5: Ethnic and Gender Diversity

65.4% of undergraduate English majors are women, while 34.6% are men. The ethnic diversity across all B.A. concentrations is: White 56.4%; Black 31.2%; two or more races 4.7%; Asian 4.0%; American Indian or Alaska Native 0.2%; Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander 0.1%; and not reported 3.3%. English majors form a slightly less ethnically diverse group than the undergraduate student body of GSU as a whole. Asian students are particularly under-represented, making up only 4% of English majors compared to 12% of all GSU undergraduates. At present, GSU does not separate out enrollment numbers for Latino/Latina students, but the department could also do more to attract these undergraduates through the creation of more courses with a transnational, multiethnic, and comparative focus (as discussed in 1.a.2.8).

1.a.2.7: Student Surveys

Survey results indicate that English majors and alumni are, on the whole, quite satisfied with the undergraduate programs offered by the department. When identifying the strengths of our programs, respondents point first to the scholarly expertise, dedication, and quality teaching of English faculty. One student observes that, The English department has some of the best professors on campus, hands down, while a second praises the dynamic classroom atmosphere created by her professors: The professors in the department are absolutely fantastic, and their classes are engaging and invigorating. A transfer student remarks: The strength of GSUs English department lies with its professors. Somehow this school has a group of faculty that outshines anything I experienced at UGA. Undergraduate students and alumni awarded the highest numerical ratings in the quantitative surveys under the category of Faculty Interaction.

(See Appendix 7 for a summary of quantitative survey results.)

Beyond their praise for faculty, students single out the critical thinking and writing skills they have learned in their English courses as valuable preparation for a range of professions. One respondent writes that the workshop-based Senior Seminar courses (see 1.a.2.8) encourage students to become good at taking criticism, applying criticism, and giving constructive criticismwhich all translates to working with your colleagues in a professional environment. Numerous alumni also portray our Internship and Study Abroad programs (see 1.a.3) as crucial to their success in gaining employment after graduation. The internship I did was rewarding and helpful, writes one former student, while another describes his Secondary English internship as something that helped tremendously as a way to prepare me for teaching