STATEMENT OF MISSION, DISTINCTIVENESS, AND ASSESSMENT

(adopted by the Department of History, March 2009)

 
Mission Statement: The Department of History offers a student-centered degree program that blends traditional and contemporary approaches, emphasizing global perspectives while recognizing the value of local and regional history.  Students are mentored by a faculty of dedicated teacher-scholars, who are nationally and internationally known in their fields of expertise.  Students have the opportunity to participate in unique experiences, including the History Lab and the Departmental Honors sequence.

·         As a distinctive program in History, the Department of History:

o   Maintains a student-centered curriculum that offers both traditional and thematic courses, and emphasizes global perspectives while recognizing the value of local and regional history;

o   Has strengths in Modern Global History, Southern History (especially Georgia and rural South), Women’s and Gender History, and Military History;

o   Serves History Education and Pre-Law students;

o   Maintains a unique Departmental Honors sequence for History Majors in the University Honors Program, and;

o   Prepares graduates to enter the workforce or graduate school with the ability to think critically, gather and analyze data, conduct original research , and communicate clearly and persuasively, and;

o   Recruits and retains a Faculty of dedicated teacher-scholars, who are nationally and internationally known in their fields of expertise.

·         As academic historians who are active members of an academic culture, the Faculty of the Department of History:

o   Values diversity of historical approaches, and;

o   Recognizes the importance of skills students need to succeed in an ever-changing global and technology-based job market, and;

o   Is dedicated to excellence in teaching and scholarship as means to improve the program and continue individual professional growth.

·         To maintain a climate supportive of this distinction, the Department of History:

o   Seeks and utilizes collegial approaches to maintain a challenging curriculum and provide excellent instruction to undergraduate and graduate History majors, despite chronic understaffing and inadequate facilities;

o   Designs and maintains a curriculum to impart historical content (upper-level courses) and process (Historical Methods and Senior Seminar);

o   Maintains manageable classroom size for upper-level courses;

o   Is prolific in scholarly output and professional participation, despite no dedicated funding per faculty member for research activities.

·         To determine the progress of achieving this distinction, the Department of History will:

o   Annually assess student portfolios;

o   Assess student competitiveness for scholarships, internships, service learning opportunities, and undergraduate research opportunities;

o   Conduct exit surveys of graduates;

o   Survey placement of graduates in the work force and graduate programs;

o   Assess Faculty teaching and scholarly output through yearly reviews, tenure & promotion reviews, and post-tenure reviews.