Bachelor of Arts in Africana Studies

Assessment Report, 2014-2015

CLASS, Africana Studies

Assessment Identifiers

College / School:
CLASS

Department:
Social and Behavioral Science

Program / Major / Certificate:
Africana Studies

Assessment Coordinator(s)
Christina L. Davis

Has there been a change to the Assessment Coordinator(s) since the last assessment plan?
Yes

Person(s) responsible for writing and/or submitting this report:
Christina L. Davis and Dr. Cornelius St. Mark

Program Mission Statement

The Africana Studies Program at Savannah State University seeks to provide students with opportunities to explore the African and African American (Africana) experience. The program is designed to provide a well-rounded, vigorous, cross-disciplinary curriculum that exposes majors and other interested students to an accurate, realistic, objective, and holistic analysis of the significant current and past events in the Africana experience. The program’s mission also aligns with the university’s mission statement as well as SSU’s most recent strategic plan. As a Historically Black University, Savannah State represents a key site for students to discover the rich history that profoundly affects the lives of our diverse student body.

Has this mission statement been revised since the last plan?
No

PSLOs

1. Information Literacy: Students will be able to demonstrate a general understanding of the history and experiences of people of African descent in the United States.

2. Knowledge of the field of Africana Studies: Students will be able to demonstrate their knowledge of the field of Africana Studies by identifying major founders, development, and theories of the field on exams, orally, and in written communication.

3. Analytical and Critical Thinking Skills: Students will be able to perform well on exams and written assignments that trace the history of the African American experience by identifying significant events, eras, and personalities.

LINK TO: Assessment Report, 2014-2015 – Supporting Documents

Assessment Results (PSLOs)

SSU Strategic Plan Goal	PSLO	Semester	Professor	Courses	Assessment Artifacts and Instruments	Target Levels	Results and Analysis of Results	Actions in Response to Results
Academic Engagement and Achievement	1. Information Literacy Students will be able to demonstrate a general understanding of the history and experiences of people of African descent in the United States.	Fall 2014	C. Davis	AFRS 2000 Intro to Africana Studies	Multiple Choice Quizzes - AFRS_PSLO # 1_History of African American Experiences	At least 60% of students will score at level 2 (satisfactory) or above.	TARGET 1 MET 19 out of 31 students exceeded the 60% target by scoring a 70 or above on the combined quizzes. 39% of students averaged a 69 or below.	OVERALL: TARGET MET Description of the expected use of results that will be addressed in the 2015-2016 academic year: TARGET 1: Continue to administer multiple quizzes over the course of the semester to assess students’ retention of African American history. TARGET 2: Study guides before the exam will be continued.
Academic Engagement and Achievement		Fall 2014	C. St. Mark	AFRS 3301 African American History to 1877	Multiple Choice Final Exam - AFRS_PSLO # 1_History of African American Experiences	At least 70% of students will score at level 2 (satisfactory)	TARGET 2 MET 100% (7/7) of students assessed scored at level 2.
Academic Engagement and Achievement	2. Knowledge of the field of Africana Studies Students will be able to demonstrate their knowledge of the field of Africana Studies by identifying major founders, development, and theories of the field on exams, orally, and in written communication.	Spring 2015	C. Davis	AFRS 2000 Intro to Africana Studies	Multiple Choice Quizzes - AFRS_PSLO #2_Knowledge of Africana Studies	At least 70% of students will score at level 2 (satisfactory)	TARGET NOT MET Students did not reach the target. 42.5% (17/40)	OVERALL: TARGET NOT MET Description of the expected use of results that will be addressed in the 2015-2016 academic year: Additional quizzes and review sheets will be distributed for more effective studying and retention of the material.
Academic Engagement and Achievement	3. Analytical and Critical Thinking Skills Students will be able to perform well on exams and written assignments that trace the history of the African American experience by identifying significant events, eras, and personalities.	Spring 2015	C. St. Mark	AFRS 3312 African Americans in the 20^th Century	Multiple Choice Final Exam - AFRS_PSLO #3 Analysis of the African American Experience	At least 70% of students will score at level 2 (satisfactory)	TARGET 1 NOT MET 4/9 (42.5%) of students scored at the satisfactory level.	OVERALL: TARGET PARTIALLY MET Description of the expected use of results that will be addressed in the 2015-2016 academic year: TARGET 1: The program will offer study guides before exams. TARGET 2: The program will require Writing Center visits to refresh students’ knowledge of proper grammar and style.
Academic Engagement and Achievement		Spring 2015	C. Davis	AFRS 3111 The Africana Woman	Film Critique - AFRS_PSLO#3_Analysis of the African American Experience	At least 70% of students will score at level 2 (satisfactory) or above on style, organization, and use of references.	TARGET 2 PARTIALLY MET Students met the target for essay organization (13/15 = 86%) and use of references (11/15 = 72%). The target for style was not met. Only 8/15 (53%) of students scored at or above level 2.

Assessment Results (POs)

SSU Strategic Plan Goal	PO Goal	Enabling Strategies	Measures	Targets	Results and Analysis of Results	Actions in Response to Results
Academic Engagement and Achievement	Maintain enrollment in the major	a. Recruitment activities such as participating in Open Campus Day (OCD) in the Fall 2014 and Spring 2015. b. Contacting undeclared majors on campus as well as other students enrolled in introductory courses in the program such as AFRS 1501 and AFRS 2000.	i. Blackboard Analytics ii. Banner Data collected by Instructors in the program at OCD.	Maintain the number of majors to a minimum of 10.	TARGET NOT MET 9 majors for Fall 2014 We did not participate in OCD both semesters. We did not get to update the recruitment materials, but will for next AY.	OVERALL: TARGET NOT MET Description of the expected use of results that will be addressed in the 2015-2016 academic year: We will produce updated recruitment materials and appeal more aggressively to student with undeclared majors.
Academic Engagement and Achievement	Maximize course attendance by expanding course time slots and adjusting course scheduling	Scheduling: By reviewing past course schedules faculty will examine course offerings to determine the least congested times when classes have been offered and to schedule classes at those times that will eliminate conflicts for students wishing to enroll in AFRS classes.	Banner	An enrollment of at least 70% of the maximum number of students allotted for each Africana Studies course.	TARGET NOT MET In the fall and spring, the target enrollments were met for 15 out of 16 AFRS courses taught each semester. The one course that did not reach the target enrollment was for AFRS majors.	OVERALL: TARGET NOT MET Description of the expected use of results that will be addressed in the 2015-2016 academic year: We will address scheduling issues by adjusting the times for courses that suffered low enrollment.
Academic Engagement and Achievement	Promote outreach and visibility of the Africana Studies program on campus and within the black studies scholarly community	a. Planning for the annual “Lorenzo Dow Turner Symposium on Gullah Geechee Culture,” a symposium that focuses on increasing awareness of African influences within African American culture. b. Submit faculty proposals for presentations.	i. Attendance at the symposium. ii. Faculty presentation at a national conference	i. Attendance of at least 30 individuals at the symposium events. ii. At least one faculty presentation	TARGET MET We met the attendance goal at the symposium day and evening events. We met the target to produce more flyers because the faculty member who shared responsibilities with the history program only taught AFRS courses. Fall of 2014, a faculty member presented a paper at the 99^th Annual Convention of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, a national conference on black history.	OVERALL: TARGET MET Description of the expected use of results that will be addressed in the 2015-2016 academic year: Next year we will continue to host the “Lorenzo Dow Turner Symposium.” We will invite speakers and performers for this all-day event and distribute flyers, and invitations by email to SSU faculty and students. The program will continue to expect faculty scholarship and presentations.

SSU Strategic Plan Goal

PO Goal

Enabling Strategies

Measures

Targets

Results and Analysis of Results

Actions in Response to Results

Academic Engagement and Achievement

Maintain enrollment in the major

a. Recruitment activities such as participating in Open Campus Day (OCD) in the Fall 2014 and Spring 2015.

b. Contacting undeclared majors on campus as well as other students enrolled in introductory courses in the program such as AFRS 1501 and AFRS 2000.

i. Blackboard Analytics

ii. Banner

Data collected by Instructors in the program at OCD.

Maintain the number of majors to a minimum of 10.

TARGET NOT MET

9 majors for Fall 2014

We did not participate in OCD both semesters.

We did not get to update the recruitment materials, but will for next AY.

OVERALL: TARGET NOT MET

Description of the expected use of results that will be addressed in the 2015-2016 academic year: We will produce updated recruitment materials and appeal more aggressively to student with undeclared majors.

Academic Engagement and Achievement

Maximize course attendance by expanding course time slots and adjusting course scheduling

Scheduling: By reviewing past course schedules faculty will examine course offerings to determine the least congested times when classes have been offered and to schedule classes at those times that will eliminate conflicts for students wishing to enroll in AFRS classes.

Banner

An enrollment of at least 70% of the maximum number of students allotted for each Africana Studies course.

TARGET NOT MET

In the fall and spring, the target enrollments were met for 15 out of 16 AFRS courses taught each semester. The one course that did not reach the target enrollment was for AFRS majors.

OVERALL: TARGET NOT MET

Description of the expected use of results that will be addressed in the 2015-2016 academic year: We will address scheduling issues by adjusting the times for courses that suffered low enrollment.

Academic Engagement and Achievement

Promote outreach and visibility of the Africana Studies program on campus and within the black studies scholarly community

a. Planning for the annual “Lorenzo Dow Turner Symposium on Gullah Geechee Culture,” a symposium that focuses on increasing awareness of African influences within African American culture.

b. Submit faculty proposals for presentations.

i. Attendance at the symposium.

ii. Faculty presentation at a national conference

i. Attendance of at least 30 individuals at the symposium events.

ii. At least one faculty presentation

TARGET MET

We met the attendance goal at the symposium day and evening events. We met the target to produce more flyers because the faculty member who shared responsibilities with the history program only taught AFRS courses.

Fall of 2014, a faculty member presented a paper at the 99^th Annual Convention of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, a national conference on black history.

OVERALL: TARGET MET

Description of the expected use of results that will be addressed in the 2015-2016 academic year: Next year we will continue to host the “Lorenzo Dow Turner Symposium.” We will invite speakers and performers for this all-day event and distribute flyers, and invitations by email to SSU faculty and students. The program will continue to expect faculty scholarship and presentations.