Housed in the Sociocultural Studies Department, Political Science promotes student success, completion and transfer. Political Science seeks to create lifelong learners who understand and appreciate the significance of politics and government, as well as civic engagement.
The Political Science program creates a transfer pathway for students who plan to complete a four-year degree at a California State University. Upon completion of an AA-T degree in Political Science, students will possess the requisite foundational knowledge as well as the practical skills necessary for subsequent completion of the baccalaureate degree. Upon successful completion of the Political Science program, the student will be able to: 1. Identify major aspects of governmental systems of the United States, for individual states (especially California), and compare governmental systems on a global basis. 2. Place various governmental systems within a developmental/historical framework. Methods of description, analysis, and theory will also be important factors for students who select Political Science as their major. The AA-T degree in Political Science is a newer program, listed for the first time in the 2013-2014 catalog. The number of students earning the degree is on the rise, with 3 degrees awarded in the 2014 academic year, 4 in 2015, and 9 in 2016. There are currently 95 declared majors, a dozen more than a year ago. The courses that comprise the AA-T degree are also for Butte and transfer General Education. With about 65 sections offered each academic year, Political Science serves a significant number of students and meets an array of important General Education and transfer requirements. Currently, there are 2 full-time faculty in the discipline, and 7 associate faculty. In Spring 2018, 66% of sections offered in Political Science were taught by associate faculty.
From recent "deep-dive" SLO assessment activities, Political Science faculty have identified two areas of focus to improve student learning:
- One recommendation is to have full time faculty instruction throughout the major AA-T course work (POS program) to identify curriculum needs as they relate to transfer. This following example is taken from the SLO Deep Dive:
"POS faculty decided to focus on SLO D in POS 18 because there was a bit of overlap with this SLO and a similar SLO in POS 16. Because our classes are taught so infrequently, faculty thought it would be helpful (for faculty, and for future student success) to have some dialogue and comparison. Both classes were taught in Spring 2017.
POS 18 SLO D: Analyze and evaluate key topics such as globalization, conflict, cooperation, diplomacy, international law, human rights, and international political economy.
POS 16 SLO E: Analyze political behavior in international affairs.Faculty decided to discuss globalization, as well as the other concepts bolded above, but to a lesser extent in POS 16. Then, both instructors would meet to dialogue about their class discussions and exam results- both mid semester and after the conclusion of the semester. Faculty are also working to bring guest speakers and weave this work into other campus programs with similar curriculum. This is a lot of work for only one active full-time faculty, and especially burdensome for unpaid part-time faculty. It is not possible to know the curriculum needs until you teach the course and have firsthand experience with the majors.
This work is done by part-time faculty who are willing to go above the duties of their job, but this labor is not consistent among part-timers.
2. Also, full time leadership is needed to help expand the civic engagement component of the program. The POS program is struggling to have real world application of the curriculum. The following example is taken from an ongoing plan to incorporate a real world civic engagement component with our main transfer institution:
An important POS 2 course outcome for students is, "analyze how to effectively participate in politics at the national, state, county and/or city levels." The faculty are excited about Chico State's Town Hall Meeting event, and how well this supports students in achieving this outcome. A planned improvement is to make participation in this event more consistent, and to also try to create more events on the Butte College campus where students are able to discuss their research with policy actors. Currently this involves a lot of outside time for one faculty member to handle alone. One example is that the THM team meets every Friday, and each CSUC course is assigned an instructor and a graduate student. Butte faculty are alone in their preparations, and communications with CSUC’s FYE program to handle all the logistics for Butte Students. The Butte POS program tried this with the Fireside Program, but found it to be too much work and not cost effective for only one active full member to handle.
Course Success
There has been an upward trend in course success in POS over the last 3 years: 69.1%, 71.2% and 72.3%. Currently, the course success rate exceeds the college standard and shows progress toward the college goal of 74%.
Degrees
The number of students earning the POS AA-T is on the rise, with 3 degrees awarded in the 2014 academic year, 4 in 2015, and 9 in 2016. There are currently 95 declared majors, a dozen more than a year ago.
Transfer
According to the CSU Transfer Information website, there was a total of 33 Political Science transfers for the 2013, 2014, and 2015 academic years.
Findings
Student achievement data in POS shows steady improvement in all areas and correlates with the hiring of full-time instructor Cynthia Bynoe in 2013. With only one full-time instructor actively working on curriculum, SLO assessment, and student engagement for the POS program, however, it will be difficult to maintain consistent levels of student achievement or to reach new goals.
Current efforts in the Political Science program are classroom centered. Faculty are committed to excellence in the teaching of rich and rigorous course content. Surprisingly, there does not seem to be anything in the Strategic Direction that directly speaks to this, our core mission. This comes closest:
Creating a culture of meaningful interactions with students. (2.a.1)
To support these classroom efforts, in conjunction with ANTH, GEOG, and HIST faculty, instructors in Political Science participate in annual Sociocultural Studies Department Forums. The first forum was held in Spring 2015, and included presentations on Reading Strategies, Helping International Students Succeed, and Tried-and-Test Teaching Ideas. Held in Fall 2015, the second forum included presentations on Helping Student Athletes Succeed, No/Low Cost Textbooks, and Tried-and-Tested Teaching Ideas. Forum topics are "just-in-time" and meant to help instructors with recent and/or ongoing teaching challenges. The October 2016 forum included presentations on "Facilitating Difficult Conversations in the Classroom," "Library Resources," and "GIS Applications in SCS Classrooms." In our October 2017 event, we had two presentations focused on using Canvas as well as a Fair Classrooms presentation. The SCS Department Forum supports the college mission to meet this Strategic Direction:
Employee Development (2.b.1-4)
Participation by Political Science faculty and students in Chico State's Town Hall Meeting, Butte College's Fireside Debates, and the Butte College Civic Engagement student club supports these elements of the Strategic Direction:
Creating a culture of meaningful interactions with students. (2.a.1)
Engaging students in campus life (e.g. student government, participatory governance, activities, clubs, and committee service). (2.a.2)
Creating a positive campus culture aligned with its values. (2.b.2)
Political Science completed its most recent Program Review in May 2012. The Validation Team provided three Recommendations, one of which has not been adequately addressed:
- Recommends a full-time faculty hire. *** Cynthia Bynoe was hired as a full-time instructor in the discipline, starting in Fall 2013. She is currently the only active full-time faculty to manage the curriculum or extracurricular work = lack of ability to grow a program that could easily grow and expand, as well as have real world application to our local community and local government/policy makers.
- Recommends a full-time faculty hire. *** Cynthia Bynoe was hired as a full-time instructor in the discipline, starting in Fall 2013. She is currently the only active full-time faculty to manage the curriculum or extracurricular work = lack of ability to grow a program that could easily grow and expand, as well as have real-world application to our local community and local government/policy makers.
- Recommends more resources for the department to grow the civic engagement component of the program. Hire a dedicated intern, and money to pay for the logistics of the event: food, facilities, decor, materials, etc.
Strategy 1 - New Faculty Hire
Hire one full-time faculty member.
With only one active full-time faculty to manage the curriculum and extracurricular work, POS lacks the ability to develop a program that could easily grow and expand, as well as have greater real-world application to our local community and local government/policy makers. With another full-time instructor, we can better provide the kind of consistency and support for the discipline that is needed: to oversee curriculum matters; to steward the degree program and mentor students therein in support of Guided Pathways; to form and maintain relationships with high school and four year programs; to spearhead meaningful assessments and implement improvements, especially around civic engagement; and to meet reporting requirements for Student Learning Outcomes, Unit Planning, and Program Review.
Strategy 2 - Expand Civic Engagement Program
Political Science would like to hire an intern to help with the logistics of growing a civic engagement program. This can be done with Federal Work Study money or existing program funds. The estimated time commitment is 5-8 hours per week.
POS 2 makes up 75% of our course offerings and meets a unique GE requirement for transfer to CSUs and UCs. Expanding civic engagement opportunities for students will increase achievement of course outcomes, as well as contribute to greater course retention, success, persistence, and transfer. An important POS 2 course outcome for students is, "analyze how to effectively participate in politics at the national, state, county and/or city levels." The faculty are excited about Chico State's Town Hall Meeting event, and how well this supports students in achieving this outcome. A planned improvement is to make participation in this event more consistent, and to also try to create more events on the Butte College campus where students are able to discuss their research with policy actors. Currently this involves a lot of outside time for one faculty member to handle alone. One example is that the THM team meets every Friday, and each CSUC course is assigned an instructor and a graduate student. Butte faculty are alone in their preparations, and communications with CSUC’s FYE program to handle all the logistics for Butte Students. The Butte POS program tried this with the Fireside Program, but found it to be too much work and not cost effective for only one active full member to handle.
Political Science would like to hire an intern to help with the logistics of growing a civic engagement program. This can be done with Federal Work Study money or existing program funds. The estimated time commitment is 5-8 hours per week.
The Butte College General Fund is the sole source of financial support for the Political Science discipline. The annual budget allocation is $1617. This money should be spent on growing the civic engagement component of the program, this is the real world application and our only current exposure to transfer institutions.
| Original Priority | Program, Unit, Area | Resource Type | Account Number | Object Code | One Time Augment | Ongoing Augment |
| Description | Supporting Rationale | Potential Alternative Funding Sources | Prioritization Criteria | |||
| 1 | Political Science (POS) | Personnel | $0.00 | $109,877.00 | ||
| Full-time Faculty Hire | With only one active full-time faculty to manage the curriculum and extracurricular work, POS lacks the ability to develop a program that could easily grow and expand, as well as have greater real-world application to our local community and local government/policy makers. With another full-time instructor, we can better provide the kind of consistency and support for the discipline that is needed: to oversee curriculum matters; to steward the degree program and mentor students therein in support of Guided Pathways; to form and maintain relationships with high school and four year programs; to spearhead meaningful assessments and implement improvements, especially around civic engagement; and to meet reporting requirements for Student Learning Outcomes, Unit Planning, and Program Review. |
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