Unit: Religion
Program: Religion (MA)
Degree: Master's
Date: Sun Oct 10, 2010 - 6:07:28 pm

1) Below are the program student learning outcomes submitted last year. Please add/delete/modify as needed.

SLOs for the MA Plan A (Thesis Track) and Plan B (Non-Thesis Track):

1.) Students demonstrate familiarity and developing mastery of the methodologies and theoretical frameworks employed in the field of Religion.

2.) Students demonstrate the ability to write and prepare presentations at a high level of proficiency.

3.) Students are able to conduct research which leads to either a thesis or a significant portfoli of shorter works.

Work with graduate students is a highly individual endeavor, since students come to the program with diverse professional goals. In addition to the general outcomes listed above, the following outcomes apply to different students, based on aptitude and goals:

  • Student is prepared to enter a Ph.D. program in the field.
  • Student is prepared to teach courses in Religion at the junior college level.

2) As of last year, your program's SLOs were published as follows. Please update as needed.

Department Website URL: www.hawaii.edu/religion/grad-ma.html
Student Handbook. URL, if available online:
Information Sheet, Flyer, or Brochure URL, if available online:
UHM Catalog. Page Number:
Course Syllabi. URL, if available online:
Other:
Other:

3) Below is the link to your program's curriculum map (if submitted in 2009). If it has changed or if we do not have your program's curriculum map, please upload it as a PDF.

Curriculum Map File(s) from 2010:

4) The percentage of courses in 2009 that had course SLOs explicitly stated on the syllabus, a website, or other publicly available document is indicated below. Please update as needed.

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

5) State the assessment question(s) and/or goals of the assessment activity. Include the SLOs that were targeted, if applicable.

We wanted to track the success rate of the program in terms of placement and student satisfaction.

6) State the type(s) of evidence gathered.

Reports on placement of graduates and exit surveys

7) Who interpreted or analyzed the evidence that was collected?

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:

8) How did they evaluate, analyze, or interpret the evidence?

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:

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

N/A

10) Summarize the actual results.

The Department chair maintains a list of our graduate alumni, tracking their placement into doctoral programs, teaching positions, etc.  A recent update of the data shows the following:

·        Initial placement is known for 77% of the students who graduated in the past 5 years. 

·        Graduation rates between the thesis and non-thesis plans continue to shift.  Over the past 5 years, 38% graduated under A Plan (Thesis) and 62% under the B Plan (Non-thesis) options. 

·        This data indicate that the number of students selecting the Thesis plan has not increased since Fall 2007, when we were able to secure full funding for 8 graduate students, doubling the available support for graduate students in the Department.

·        In the past five years, 35% of graduates entered Ph.D. programs.  An additional 15% entered other graduate or professional degree programs.

·        Of those entering Ph.D. programs, 67% completed Plan A and 33% completed Plan B.  This ratio is now shifting toward Plan A graduates entering PhD programs in higher numbers as well as having a higher success rate in applications.  Plan A students had 100% success rate, while B Plan students had a 60% success rate.  The Department will need to track these changes.

·        In the past 5 years, 15% are now teaching at the university level*; this percentage has dropped in the last few years.

·        In sum, 54% of our graduates have secured placement in degree programs or university positions (including teaching).  This represents a drop in our success rate, which mirrors drops experienced by other programs during the economic downturn since 2008.

* This includes only individuals who secured teaching jobs based on the MA received at UHM in Religion, and not those who taught/are teaching as part of doctoral programs.

11) How did your program use the results? --or-- Explain planned use of results.
Please be specific.

No action has been taken.

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

The results show that the thesis plan makes a difference for the success rate in placement.

13) Other important information:

The department is currently working on a revision of the non-thesis plan.