Departmental Assessment Update - Pacific and Asian Studies Report
Department: Pacific Island Studies
Program: Pacific Islands Studies
Level: Graduate
1. List in detail your graduate Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) for each degree/certificate offered.
A. MA in Pacific Islands Studies1.1 Acquire a wide range of interdisciplinary knowledge about Oceania, usually understood to include the culture areas of Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia.
1.2 Demonstrate mastery of a specialized aspect of the history, culture, politics, or international relations of one or more of the island societies of Oceania.
1.3 Demonstrate understanding of Pacific Studies as an organized, interdisciplinary field of study.
1.4 Demonstrate understanding of the conceptual, political, cultural, and ethical issues confronting students of Oceania today.
B. Certificate in Pacific Islands Studies1.5 Acquire a wide range of interdisciplinary knowledge about Oceania, usually understood to include the culture areas of Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia.
1.6 Demonstrate expertise in a Pacific-related specialty area relevant to the student’s research focus in another graduate program.
1.7 Demonstrate understanding of the conceptual, political, cultural, and ethical issues confronting students of Oceania today.
2. Where are these SLOs published (e.g., departmental web page)?
The SLOs are available in the following publications:
2.1 Center for Pacific Islands Studies website www.hawaii.edu/cpis
2.2 Center for Pacific Islands Studies brochure
2.3 Center for Pacific Islands Studies Graduate Student Handbook
2.4 University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2006-07 Catalog
3. Explain how your SLOs map onto your curriculum, i.e., how does your program of graduate studies produce the specific SLOs in your students?
The MA program includes the following components:
3.1 Core seminars: PACS 601 Learning Oceania, PACS 602 (Re)Presenting Oceania, and PACS 603 Researching Oceania.
3.2 Focus courses
3.3. Elective courses
3.4 MA Written Examination (“comps”)
3.5 Thesis or MA Portfolio
Program components contribute to the achievement of the SLOs as follows:
SLO program component
3.6 Knowledge of Oceania core seminars
elective courses
MA exam
3.7 Pacific specialty focus courses
thesis/portfolio
3.8 Understanding of field of study core seminars
MA exam
3.9 Issues for students of the region core seminars
MA exam
4. What population(s) is covered by your assessment(s)?
The populations covered by this assessment are students in the MA and Certificate programs in Pacific Islands Studies.
5. Please list/describe all the assessment events and devices used to monitor graduate student progress through the program. Consider the following questions:
Student progress through the MA and Certificate programs is monitored during academic advising session prior to registration each semester, and with reference to the following events and devices:
5.1 performance in course work as measured by individual grade and grade-point-average.
5.2 performance in MA Written Examination (“comps”), usually taken in the third semester in the program and designed to measure a) general knowledge of Oceania; b) knowledge of the field of study; and c) understanding of issues facing students of the region. Exam is set and performance assessed by a three-person faculty committee.
5.3 development of a specialized thesis or portfolio project and presentation of the results. Students present their initial ideas about MA projects in a concept paper for PACS 601 in the fall semester, and develop a comprehensive project proposal in PACS 603 in the spring semester. Projects are supervised and assessed by a three-person MA committee.
6. Please list/describe how your graduate students contribute to your discipline/academic area? Consider the following questions:
Students in the MA program in Pacific Islands Studies regularly participate in Pacific-related professional and student conferences at UH-Manoa, other regional universities, and on the US mainland. A significant proportion of MA students participate in academic and cultural exchanges with other universities in the region. A small minority publish their work in referred journals such as The Contemporary Pacific, or in the Occasional Seminar Series, both published by the Center for Pacific Islands Studies. Some also contribute book, media, or political reviews to professional journals, including The Contemporary Pacific.
7. What attempts are made to monitor student post-graduate professional activities?
A significant proportion (about 40 percent) of our graduates pursue doctoral or professional degrees in Australia (e.g. Australian National University), New Zealand (e.g. Auckland University, Victoria University of Wellington, Waikato University, Canterbury University), Europe (e.g. London School of Economics, Leiden University), Japan (e.g Kwansei Gagun University), Hawai`i (e.g UH departments of Geography, History, Political Science, American Studies, Richardson School of Law), or the US mainland (e.g University of Chicago, University of California at Santa Cruz).
Our graduates pursue a wide range of professional careers in Hawai`i, the wider Pacific region, or on the US mainland. Some work in government positions or for regional organizations, others are political leaders or diplomats. The majority of graduates in the last decade are involved in the field of education as administrators, school teachers and professors.
The professional activities of MA and Certificate graduates are regularly reported in Pacific News from Manoa, a quarterly newsletter published by the Center for Pacific Islands Studies.
8. How were the assessment data/results used to inform decisions concerning the curriculum and administration of the program?
8.1 Administration of the student program
The Graduate Chair has overall responsibility for monitoring the student program and initiating change. The Chair does so in consultation with the Curriculum and Student Affairs Committee, which consists of the four core faculty based in the Center for Pacific Islands Studies, a representative of the affiliate faculty, and a student in the MA or Certificate program. The committee meets regularly to discuss student-related issues and initiatives.
8.2 Changes to the MA programExtensive program changes have been developed in recent years to widen the options available to students, and encourage creativity in research and the representation of island issues. The changes were fully implemented in the 2005-06 academic year, and include:
Addition of portfolio option: In addition to the thesis option, students can now elect to take the new MA Portfolio, which replaces the former Plan B option. The MA portfolio allows students to demonstrate mastery of a specialty area within the field of Pacific Islands studies through an integrated program of activities including course work, research, and writing.
New emphasis on innovative options: the new program requirements encourage innovative approaches to knowledge production, and provide guidelines for students planning to include elements of performance, creative writing, artwork, or multimedia, in their work.
New core sequence: the revised program includes an integrated series of three graduate seminars that all students are required to take. PACS 601 Learning Oceania, PACS 602 (Re)Presenting Oceania, and PACS 603 Researching Oceania are designed to introduce students to key issues of learning and research in the field of Pacific Studies, and help them develop their own thesis or portfolio projects.
8.3 Expanded course offeringsThe menu of Pacific-related courses available on the Manoa campus is extensive and varied. Each semester the Center is able to list at least 50 such courses offered at the 300, 400, and graduate level. New faculty hires with Pacific interests in the departments of Geography, Ethnic Studies, Anthropology, Political Science, and Hawaiian Studies have revised long-standing Pacific-related course offerings or developed new ones. With the recent additions of Maori and Tongan, the menu of Pacific language offerings has also expanded. Formal language instruction is now available in Hawaiian, Samoan, Tahitian, Maori, Tongan and Chamorro. New courses and seminars introduced by the Center in recent years include PACS 640 Women in Oceania, PACS 690 Islands of Globalization, and PACS 494 Culture and Consumption in Oceania. 8.4 Proposed doctoral programDriven largely by student interest, the establishment of an interdisciplinary doctoral program in Pacific Studies has been under active consideration for a number of years. The first major step occurred in November 2003 when the Center hosted a three-day international workshop to examine key conceptual issues surrounding this initiative. The workshop revealed considerable enthusiasm for the idea. However, it has also become apparent that this ambitious project can not be successfully pursued without additional faculty and other resources.
8.5 Undergraduate initiativeThe Center for Pacific Islands studies is committed to developing a more coherent undergraduate program in Pacific Studies, in part to provide a firm knowledge base for entry into the MA and Certificate programs. The Center will soon apply for permission to plan an undergraduate major. The first step in this direction came with the approval in May 2006 of an innovative introductory undergraduate course offering, PACS 108 Pacific Worlds. The proposal for Pacific Worlds reflected ideas that emerged from a one-and-a-half-day workshop hosted by the Center in February 2006. The workshop brought together a group of 35 faculty, staff, and students to brainstorm on objectives, pedagogy, content, and resources for this course. Pacific Worlds will be taught for the first time in Fall 2007.