Unit: Economics
Program: Economics (PhD)
Degree: Doctorate
Date: Fri Oct 03, 2014 - 9:36:04 am

1) Below are your program's student learning outcomes (SLOs). Please update as needed.

The goal of the Ph.D. program is to train professional economists for careers in teaching, research and policy analysis. 

1. Students will demonstrate an understanding of economic theory and analytical and quantitative tools.

2. Students will demonstrate an ability to understand, integrate, and apply the various tools, concepts, and principles of economics and quantitative methods to analyze and to develop solutions to economic problems in a clear and concise written form.

3. Students will demonstrate a "frontier" level competency and familiarity with the literature in the student's perceived specialty area.

4. Students will demonstrate the ability to conduct independent and original research in economics.

5. Students will have the skills necessary to qualify for teaching positions at the university and college levels, and for research positions in the public or private sector.

6. Program graduates will be able to obtain employment that uses the level of expertise obtained in the Ph.D. program.

7.  Students will complete these goals according to the timeline described in the graduate program guidelines.

2) Your program's SLOs are published as follows. Please update as needed.

Department Website URL: http://www.economics.hawaii.edu/graduate/guide/slo.html
Student Handbook. URL, if available online: http://www.economics.hawaii.edu/grad/doctorate.html
Information Sheet, Flyer, or Brochure URL, if available online:
UHM Catalog. Page Number:
Course Syllabi. URL, if available online:
Other: In the Department's intranet website accessible to faculty only.
Other:

3) Select one option:

Curriculum Map File(s) from 2014:

4) For your program, the percentage of courses that have course SLOs explicitly stated on the syllabus, a website, or other publicly available document is as follows. Please update as needed.

0%
1-50%
51-80%
81-99%
100%

5) Did your program engage in any program assessment activities between June 1, 2013 and September 30, 2014? (e.g., establishing/revising outcomes, aligning the curriculum to outcomes, collecting evidence, interpreting evidence, using results, revising the assessment plan, creating surveys or tests, etc.)

Yes
No (skip to question 14)

6) For the period between June 1, 2013 and September 30, 2014: State the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goals. Include the SLOs that were targeted, if applicable.

After attending "Assessment Learning in Graduate Programs" in March, 2014, our department's assessment coordinator designed a new program assessment form targeting SLOs 1-4 to use at PhD thesis proposal and final defenses. We discussed the new form at 2 faculty meetings and voted on its usage in Sept. 2014. Graduate student representatives on the graduate committee also were consulted for feedback from graduate students on the new form.  We will begin using the new program assessment form from Sept. 2014.

7) State the type(s) of evidence gathered to answer the assessment question and/or meet the assessment goals that were given in Question #6.

New assessment tool developed and will be used from Sept. 2014.

8) State how many persons submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.

NA

9) Who interpreted or analyzed the evidence that was collected? (Check all that apply.)

Course instructor(s)
Faculty committee
Ad hoc faculty group
Department chairperson
Persons or organization outside the university
Faculty advisor
Advisors (in student support services)
Students (graduate or undergraduate)
Dean/Director
Other: Assessment coordinator designed new form in consultation with dept. faculty and graduate students

10) How did they evaluate, analyze, or interpret the evidence? (Check all that apply.)

Used a rubric or scoring guide
Scored exams/tests/quizzes
Used professional judgment (no rubric or scoring guide used)
Compiled survey results
Used qualitative methods on interview, focus group, open-ended response data
External organization/person analyzed data (e.g., external organization administered and scored the nursing licensing exam)
Other:

11) For the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goal(s) stated in Question #6:
Summarize the actual results.

We developed the assessment tool this past academic year, but had to wait until a Sept. 2014 faculty meeting to vote on its usage. We do not have results yet.

12) State how the program used the results or plans to use the results. Please be specific.

NA

13) Beyond the results, were there additional conclusions or discoveries?
This can include insights about assessment procedures, teaching and learning, program aspects and so on.

NA

14) If the program did not engage in assessment activities, please explain.
Or, if the program did engage in assessment activities, please add any other important information here.

NA