Program Review:



Program Review

B.A. in Philosophy

April, 2008

Executive Summary

Judged in terms of Robert C. Dickeson's criteria for program review, the B.A. program in Philosophy at Southeast healthy. Though small in terms of majors, the program in philosophy is of exceptionally high quality, exceptionally low cost, and has an impact on campus that far exceeds the size of the major.

Productivity

• Philosophy is part of one of the most cost effective departments on campus. The department (PSPR) is consistently one of the top five departments across campus in terms of student credit hour productivity per faculty member. The 5 year average SCHR productivity for the department is 310. (Table 4)

• Faculty in philosophy and religion serve 1444 students per semester in University Studies courses producing 4332 credit hours.

• The program in philosophy has a very high ratio of graduates to majors indicating success in keeping students in the pipeline until graduation.

Revenue

• The program produces substantial revenues. 3.55 FTE in philosophy and religion, who cost just over $372,000/year, generate $907,000 in revenue. (Table 11)

• The program supplies substantial numbers of student credit hours in service courses that could not be absorbed by other departments without incurring costs equal to or greater than the costs of the program.

Costs

• The program in philosophy is exceptionally low, only $871 per major. (Table 11)

• The major in philosophy has been so fully integrated into the University Studies program that at most one section of one course per semester is devoted exclusively to the major.

Importance

• The program in philosophy provides mission essential service courses that serve 17 other programs on campus in 4 other colleges.

• The program is integrated with other curricula.

• The program provides knowledge and expertise essential to providing a liberal education.

Quality

• Philosophy majors regularly score well above College, University and National norms on standardized tests including WP 003, the CCTST, the LSAT, the GRE, and the GMAT.

• Philosophy majors applying to graduate and professional school for the past 5 years have a 100% acceptance rate.

Criterion I: Size, Scope and Productivity of the Program

The B.A. in Philosophy at Southeast is, always has been, and will likely always be relatively small. Since Phase I review, the major has been growing at a slow but stable rate. Our target has been to have between 20 and 25 majors, a very healthy number in a medium sized comprehensive regional university, and we have achieved or exceeded that target (See Table 4). Moreover, we have produced a number of graduates consistent with the size of the program indicating good retention until graduation. But the primary mission of the program in philosophy at Southeast has never been to generate large numbers of majors but rather to serve the needs of general education by providing top quality courses in the University Studies program.

How productive is the program in philosophy in terms of its mission?

• 16 programs across the University require at least one philosophy course. (See Table 1)

• More than half of the program's regularly scheduled (at least once a year) course offerings are required by other programs on campus.

• Philosophy and Religion deliver courses in 6 of the 12 lower division University Studies Categories. (See Table 2)

• Philosophy and Religion deliver 7 of the UI 300 level courses and 6 of the UI 400 level courses (many of those serving the needs of other programs).

• Since the 2002-2003 academic year the unit of which Philosophy and Religion is a part (PSPR) has consistently been one of the highest student credit hour producing programs on campus. (See Table 4)

• Faculty in philosophy and religion serve 1444 students per semester, both on and off campus, in University Studies courses producing 4332 credit hours.

• The major in philosophy has been more fully incorporated into the University Studies program to a greater degree than any other program on campus.

• Given the incorporation of the major into the University Studies program, it is necessary to provide at most one section of one course per semester devoted exclusively to the major. Even our specialized courses in the history of philosophy serve students enrolled in other majors (e.g., History and Political Science) and have reasonable enrollments in the mid teens.

The student credit hour productivity of the program in philosophy could be higher, but the department has been committed to University initiatives that actually reduce enrollments. For example, we have consistently provided courses for Southeast PM upon request and the Office of Off Campus Programs, even though those sections seldom reach capacity. Similarly, we have been committed to distance education through both ITV and Web-based courses, even though enrollments in those sections are regularly less than those for face to face sections. Finally, we have been committed to the University Honors program even though honors sections, which have lower capacities than regular sections to begin with, often fail to reach capacity. To the extent that the University is committed to these initiatives, we are.

Criterion II: Revenue and other resources generated by the program

Philosophy and Religion at Southeast are revenue producing programs. The principal source of revenue generated by the programs comes from student tuition and fees. The total cost of running the programs in philosophy and religion at Southeast is $372,049 per year. The net revenue from courses in the major and service courses combined is $907,091 per year. Accordingly, the programs in philosophy and religion produce a profit for the University of at least $535,042 per year. (Table 11) With only 3.55 FTE, this is extraordinary revenue generation. The Department of which political science is a part has a net cost of $917,859 (with an average cost per major for political science and philosophy of only $980) with net revenues of $2,138,705 and a profit to the university of $1,220,840. Only 2 departments, Mathematics and English, produce more net revenue. (Table 10) Only 3 departments have a lower departmental cost per major. (Table 10)

Much of the service burden borne by the program in philosophy simply could not be shifted to other programs on campus. Many of our courses required by other programs (e.g., PL 204 Ethical Theory, PL 245 Social Philosophy, UI 422 Scientific Reasoning, and UI 429 Environmental Ethics) require specialized training and expertise that will not be found outside a program in philosophy. In other cases, it would simply be unwise to shift the service burden borne by philosophy to another program. Consider UI 400, Business and Ethics. While that course is also taught by faculty in the College of Business, the student load carried by philosophy could not be absorbed by the College of Business without additional faculty resources. Since business faculty salaries are higher than philosophy faculty salaries, it is difficult to see how shifting the UI 400 service load to the College of Business addresses the current financial crisis.

Criterion III: Costs and other expenses associated with the program

Despite the small size of the major, the program in philosophy is very low cost. The low cost for the major is the result of careful and intentional design. Philosophy, more than any other major in the University, has integrated the major into the University Studies program, so that we can deliver a top quality program that piggybacks on our basic service mission. The adjusted cost for the program in philosophy is $32,232. With 37 majors, that produces, using the general set of assumptions for calculating costs of the program, a cost per student majoring in philosophy of $871. This is an exceptionally low cost per major. Unfortunately, the data sets provided for determining cost per major are incomplete (some programs do not have numbers of majors entered and so no cost per major totals are available), but of the 49 programs for which the data are available, the program in philosophy is the 13th least costly on the list, and well within a cluster of some 15 programs that cost between $398 and $980 per major. Philosophy is not an equipment intensive discipline and, sadly for us, faculty salaries are not high. Accordingly, an efficiently run philosophy program that is fully integrated into the general education program, though small, has a low cost per major and produces a very high return on the investment.

Criterion IV: Impact, Justification, and Overall Essentiality to the Southeast Mission

The impact of the program in philosophy at Southeast is disproportionately large given the size of the program and the number of faculty. Philosophy is represented in more University Studies categories than any other program at the University. Moreover, philosophy provides essential service courses that are required by programs in the Harrison College of Business, the College of Education, the College of Health and Human Services, and the College of Science and Mathematics. This disproportionate impact is to be expected, however, given the nature of philosophy as a discipline and the structure of the University Studies program at Southeast. University Studies Objectives 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 all relate directly to traditional areas of philosophical inquiry: epistemology, logic, and value theory. Of particular importance are the courses that philosophy offers in applied ethics—Business & Ethics, Environmental Ethics, Medical Ethics, Media Ethics. Most of these courses cannot be delivered by other units on campus because of the specialized training needed to deliver them and, if they can be, the cost of shifting the burden to another unit would be greater than the cost of delivery by philosophy (e.g., Business & Ethics). In light of Southeast’s mission and its internal decisions about fundamental goals of liberal education, philosophy provides essential services.

Historically, philosophy has always been closely linked to the ideal of liberal education. Philosophy seeks to develop in students the intellectual curiosity and the specific inquisitive skills that mark a liberally educated person. Philosophy fully embraces Thomas Jefferson’s admonition that an educated person should "fix reason firmly in her seat and call before her tribunal every fact, every opinion.” It is difficult to imagine a program of liberal education worthy of the name that does not include philosophy as a component. (cf. Dickson, p. 6s) The major in philosophy is of exceptionally high quality, exceptionally low cost and it serves a particular cross section of the student body without which the University would be much worse off.

Similar arguments apply to the minor in Religion and to the courses offered in religion. Elimination of the minor saves no money at all, since the minor is comprised entirely of service courses. Eliminating the academic study of religion entirely from the University is unwise. External demand is relatively high, and many students from our service region have a deep interest in examining both their own religious tradition and those of others. Courses in religion tend to make students more tolerant of religious diversity and more informed about the religious roots of many social and political conflicts.

The impact of philosophy at Southeast extends beyond the curriculum. Philosophy faculty regularly provide workshops, participate in colloquia and panel discussions, and take leadership roles in important University initiatives such as student outcomes assessment. The impact of philosophy is enormous, and the services provided by the program and its faculty are essential.

Criterion V: External Demand for the Program

The external demand for philosophy in Missouri is moderate to low. The ACT interest data indicate that interest in philosophy falls right in the middle of the programs currently under review. It is important to note that philosophy is one of only three programs under review in which 100% of the students interested in the discipline who sent their scores to Southeast actually enrolled at Southeast. Unlike almost all other majors on campus, philosophy must recruit students with no prior experience with or exposure to the discipline. Very few students have any formal exposure to philosophy in their primary or secondary schooling.

When religion and theology are added to philosophy, however, the external demand increases to being moderately high. The ACT interest data place philosophy, religion and theology solidly in the top third of the programs currently under review. Many students in Missouri wish to engage in the formal, academic study of religion. A number of Southeast religion minors have gone on to pursue either advanced degrees in the academic study of religion or degrees in divinity or theology (preparation for entry into the ministry).

Criterion VI: Internal Demand for the Program

Internal demand for philosophy is very high.

• 16 programs across the University require at least one course offered by the philosophy program. (Table 1)

• Philosophy courses are fully integrated into the University Studies curriculum at both the lower and upper division levels, being represented in 6 of the 12 University Studies categories. (Table 2)

• In 3 of those University Studies categories, philosophy courses are essential for curriculum diversity; that is, absent philosophy and religion those 3 categories would be dominated by courses from one department.

• Philosophy faculty members regularly provide 60 – 75% of the sections of UI 400, Business and Ethics, a core course requirement for all students in the Harrison College of Business.

• UI 422, Scientific Reasoning, satisfies a Missouri State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (D.E.S.E.) requirement for secondary science education (history and philosophy of science).

• UI 429, Environmental Ethics, is a capstone requirement for the Environmental Sciences program.

• Philosophy is a part of a unit that consistently produces one of the highest student credit hour per faculty member production ratios in the University. (Table 4)

Criterion VII: Quality of Program Inputs and Processes

Without a doubt, the highest quality input into the program in philosophy is the set of students we serve. Philosophy tends to attract some of the best and brightest students in the University, providing them with a vehicle to satisfy their particular kinds of intellectual curiosity. Many of these students take a degree in philosophy as part of a double major or double degree, and without an opportunity to study philosophy these excellent students may well seek other universities. Philosophy students have consistently high ACT scores, well above College, University, and National averages.(See Table 5) Moreover, a disproportionate number of philosophy majors (53%) are scholarship students. Finally, the average number of graduates in philosophy per year compared to the average number of majors indicates that the vast majority of our majors are retained to graduation (Table 3). These are all indicators of the excellence of the student population served by the program in philosophy.

Other program inputs and processes in the major in philosophy are of exceptionally high quality. 100% of the courses in philosophy are delivered by faculty with doctoral degrees (including the one continuing non-tenure track faculty member). Each faculty member in philosophy is actively engaged in productive scholarly activities. Faculty regularly publish papers in refereed journals and give scholarly presentations at international, national and regional conferences.(Documentation available in Departmental Annual Reports) The curriculum has been reviewed and refined several times over the past decade to make it current and compatible with the majority of courses we offer in the University Studies program. The program has been highly adaptable to advances in technology. PL 120, Symbolic Logic I, was one of the first courses on campus to fully embrace CAI programs to supplement classroom instruction. 3 of the 4 faculty members have modified their courses to fit the ITV/Distance Education thrust of the University, and 3 of the 4 faculty have developed courses for WEB-based delivery. Finally, it is important to note that the former department of Philosophy and Religion was a campus leader in student outcomes assessment. Not only did the department embrace the idea of outcomes assessment as a tool to measure quality, several other departments on campus modeled their assessment plans and procedures on those developed by Philosophy and Religion.

Criterion VIII: Quality of Program Outputs

By any reasonable measure, the program in Philosophy must be judged as one of the highest quality programs in the entire University. As the attached data tables (taken from annual student outcomes assessment reports) show, for the past 5 years Philosophy majors have consistently performed significantly above College and University averages on the California Critical Thinking Skills Test, and above College and University averages on each subscore. (See Table 6) Of the programs currently under review, Philosophy majors have the highest overall CCTST average. On the University's own WP 003 Writing Assessment examination, Philosophy majors score significantly above College and University averages, and regularly rank as one of the top 3 performing departments in the University. (See Table 7) The GRE and LSAT scores of Philosophy majors are consistently above national averages. (See Tables 8 & 9) This is particularly significant, as a chief goal of the major is to prepare students for graduate or professional study. For the past 5 years, 100% of the philosophy students who have sought admission to graduate or law school have gained admission. There can be no doubt that the B.A. in Philosophy at Southeast is an exceptionally high quality program that is run efficiently and economically and serves a small but important segment of the student population.

Summary

The primary mission of philosophy at Southeast is to provide service courses to support liberal education. Philosophy has embraced the ideals of liberal education and the University Studies program more than any other program on campus. The program delivers a wide array of courses, many of them essential to other programs on campus, which generate significant student credit hours and revenues that cannot be recouped elsewhere in the university without incurring costs. As noted earlier, the program can increase our student credit hour productivity, but doing so would come at the cost of other important University initiatives. Finally, the courses the program provides require specialized training and expertise, and cannot be provided by other units on campus. Quite simply, philosophy provides cost effective services that are essential to Southeast’s mission.

Respectfully submitted,

H. Hamner Hill,

Chairperson, Department of Political Science, Philosophy, and Religion

hhill@semo.edu

651-2816

Supporting Data Tables

Table 1

Philosophy courses required by other Programs

|Course Number |Course Name |Required by |

|PL 204 |Ethical Theory |Sports Management |

|PL 245 |Social Philosophy |Music Education |

|UI 400 |Business & Ethics |Accounting |

| | |Administrative Systems Management |

| | |Economics |

| | |Finance |

| | |International Business |

| | |Management |

| | |Management Information Systems |

| | |Marketing |

| | |Organizational Administration |

|UI 422 |Scientific Reasoning |Biology Education |

| | |Chemistry education |

| | |Earth Science Education |

| | |Physics Education |

|UI 429 |Environmental Ethics |Environmental Science |

Table 2

Lower Division Philosophy & Religion Courses Offered by University Studies Category

|Artistic Expression |Behavioral Systems |Major Civilizations |

|PL 203 Aesthetics & the Arts |PL 204 Ethical Theory | |

|Literary Expression |Living Systems |Economic Systems |

|PL 110 Readings in Philosophy | | |

|RS 201 New Testament Literature | | |

|RS 202 Old Testament Literature | | |

|Written Expression |Physical Systems |Political Systems |

|PL 115 Philosophical Writing | | |

|Oral Expression |Logical Systems |Social Systems |

| |PL 120 Symbolic Logic I |PL 245 Social Philosophy |

| | |RS 101 World Religions |

Table 3

Majors and Graduate Over Time

|Philosophy |F2001-SU2002 |F2002-SU2003 |F2003-SU2004 |F2004-SU2005 |F2005-SU2006 |F2006-SU2007 |

|Number of majors |22 |15 |21 |21 |32 |37 |

|Number of graduates |8 |3 |2 |0 |6 |3 |

|Phase III data | | | | | | |

Table 4

Student Credit Hour Productivity Per Faculty Member By Department Over Time

|DEPT |2002-2003| |2003-2004| |2004-2005|

|Department |26.0 |26.2 |25.5 |25.9 |25.6 |

|College |21.8 |21.2 |20.8 |21.2 |22.6 |

|University |22.3 |22.3 |22.2 |22.1 |22.1 |

Table 6

California Critical Thinking Skills Test

| |2003 |Sp2004 |2005 |2006 |2007 |2007 |2007 |

| |Dept. |Dept. |Dept. |Dept. |Dept |College |University |

|CCTST Total |18 |25.5 |n/a |27.5 |23 |16 |16 |

|Analysis |6.0 |7.0 |n/a |8.5 |5.0 |4.4 |4.4 |

|Evaluation |6.5 |10.5 |n/a |11.5 |8.8 |6.0 |5.7 |

|Inference |10.5 |8.0 |n/a |7.5 |7.8 |5.9 |5.8 |

|Deduction |10.5 |12.0 |n/a |13.0 |10.5 |7.9 |7.7 |

|Induction |9.0 |10.0 |n/a |10.5 |9.0 |6.6 |6.4 |

Table 7

WP 003 Results

|Mean by |2003 |Sp2004 |2005 |2006 |2007 |

|Department |9.0 |9.0 |n/a |9.0 |8.7 |

|College |8.3 |8.4 |8.3 |8.3 |8.2 |

|University |8.2 |8.3 |8.3 |8.4 |8.2 |

Table 8

GRE Results

|Sub-Score |2002 |2003 |Sp2004 |2005 |2006 |2007 |National Average |

|Analytic |720 |560 |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |

|Quantitative |660 |570 |740 |n/a |720 |700 |600 |

|Verbal |610 |610 |550 |n/a |660 |650 |490 |

|Analytic |--- |--- |5.5 |n/a |5.0 |5.0 |4.37 |

|Writing | | | | | | | |

Table 9

LSAT Results

|Average Score |2002 |2003 |Sp2004 |2005 |2006 |2007 |

|Department |158 |n/a |n/a |162 |157 |155 |

|National |153 |152 |153 |153 |153 |154 |

Table 10

Departmental Profit (Loss) Comparison and Cost per Major Comparison

|DEPT |TOTAL COST |TOTAL Revenue |Profit (Loss) |DEPT |COST PER  MAJOR |

|MATH |$1,547,457 |$4,377,909 |$2,830,452 |MUSC |$5,422 |

|ENGL |$1,881,178 |$3,975,312 |$2,094,134 |THDA |$5,009 |

|PSPR |$917,859 |$2,138,705 |$1,220,846 |CMDS |$4,692 |

|PSYC |$1,096,576 |$2,198,839 |$1,102,263 |ART |$2,655 |

|HHPR |$1,067,807 |$1,962,357 |$894,550 |ECFI |$2,146 |

|COMM |$1,407,931 |$2,161,191 |$753,260 |ENGL |$2,085 |

|CJSO |$708,029 |$1,365,828 |$657,799 |NURS |$2,034 |

|HIST |$964,876 |$1,592,200 |$627,324 |HES |$1,840 |

|FLAN |$739,280 |$1,354,426 |$615,146 |PHYS |$1,780 |

|MSED |$594,666 |$1,150,758 |$556,092 |SW |$1,731 |

|BIOL |$1,401,731 |$1,918,509 |$516,778 |MSED |$1,655 |

|MGMK |$1,374,200 |$1,841,925 |$467,725 |CHEM |$1,653 |

|IET |$1,165,398 |$1,588,559 |$423,161 |AMIS |$1,652 |

|SW |$533,519 |$953,372 |$419,853 |EDAD |$1,553 |

|AMIS |$1,929,400 |$2,250,090 |$320,690 |AGRI |$1,515 |

|PHYS |$854,097 |$1,166,797 |$312,700 |MATH |$1,403 |

|EDAD |$689,756 |$924,721 |$234,965 |IET |$1,361 |

|ART |$837,133 |$1,048,178 |$211,045 |PSYC |$1,292 |

|CHEM |$861,801 |$1,059,838 |$198,037 |MGMK |$1,271 |

|ECFI |$1,124,652 |$1,286,141 |$161,489 |CJSO |$1,155 |

|AGRI |$607,439 |$691,834 |$84,395 |HIST |$1,098 |

|CSCI |$527,667 |$356,431 |($171,236) |COMM |$1,064 |

|CMDS |$607,222 |$427,105 |($180,117) |HHPR |$1,017 |

|THDA |$676,044 |$473,996 |($202,048) |PSPR |$980 |

|NURS |$1,423,871 |$1,057,788 |($366,083) |BIOL |$830 |

|HES |$1,619,509 |$950,147 |($669,362) |FLAN |$747 |

Table 11

Unit Cost, Revenue, and Cost per Major

|DEPT |UNIT |Total Cost |Total Revenue |Cost per Major |

|PSPR |PL |$301,604 |$580,467 |$871 |

|PSPR |RS |$70,445 |$326,624 |n/a |

| |PLRS Total |$372,049 |$907,091 |$871 |

Derived from data presented by the Office of the Provost at

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