Housed in the Sociocultural Studies Department, Anthropology promotes student success, completion and transfer, and seeks to create lifelong learners who understand and appreciate the significance of culture as a major factor in the lives of humans.
Anthropology is the study of humans worldwide, both in the past and present. The program is designed to introduce students to culture as the core concept for understanding human behavior. The four subfields of anthropology (physical, archaeological, linguistics and cultural) are used as a foundation to examine varied perspectives about the world. Anthropology students graduate with an awareness of cultural and biological diversity and the complexity of past and contemporary societies. The degree offers preparatory courses for the major core program at CSU Chico, in addition to courses approved for CSU General Education. The program in anthropology is designed to prepare students for a variety of exciting careers, which may include education, research, medicine, business, non-profit and public service fields. As an example, anthropologists may be employed on international research teams, such as with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists working to control Ebola outbreaks in West Africa. Anthropologists may also be employed as resident scientists at the Intel Corporation or as curation specialists in the US Army Corps of Engineers. Numerous anthropological skills, such as the ability to think critically and creatively about the world and the ability to apply research methods to solve problems, translate to various employment sectors. Upon successful completion of the Anthropology program, the student will be able to: 1. Identify and discuss major topics relevant to Physical Anthropology, including human and primate evolution and variation among hominids. 2. Define culture and apply the concept to a broad cross-cultural understanding of human behavior. 3. Examine past cultural systems through analysis of physical cultural remains. 4. Describe and analyze human linguistic systems and the influence of language on human perceptions of the world. The AA-T degree in Anthropology is a recent development, listed for the first time in the 2014-2015 catalog. Thirty-four total students have graduated from the program between the 2013-2016 academic years. Currently, there are fifty-nine declared Anthropology majors. The courses that comprise the AA-T degree are also for Butte and transfer General Education. With almost 60 sections offered each school year, Anthropology serves a significant number of students and meets an array of important General Education and transfer requirements. Most Anthropology courses are dedicated to understanding culture process. One course, ANTH 2 Physical Anthropology, focuses on physical/natural phenomena. There is one full-time faculty in the discipline. Between 2015-2017, 2 full-time faculty have retired. Nine associate faculty teach in the current semester; 79% of sections offered in Anthropology are taught by associate faculty.
The Anthropology program has 2 areas of ongoing focus related to outcomes assessment:
1. Physical Anthropology instructors express dissatisfaction with student performance of SLO A (scientific process) and SLO H (hominin fossils and alternate phylogenies). One suggestion is to include additional in-class lab activities to better demonstrate concepts of the scientific process and to provide opportunities for fossil identification. Longer term strategies are to expand the fossil cast collection so that instructors at both the main campus and Chico Center can provide more hands-on learning activities, and to create a Physical Anthropology lab course. (One possibility for expanding the cast collection sooner than later is 3D printing -- which we plan to investigate.)
Update: a donation of casts from CSU Chico in Fall 2017 will be stored at the Chico Center for use by ANTH 2 instructors. However, the donation was of a few select items only so the need persists for an expanded collection.
2. The ANTH deep dive assessment schedule needs to be reset and made to be more sustainable. The goal is to build the schedule around program learning outcomes assessment, so that the same PLO is assessed in both Fall and Spring of an academic year -- thus providing an opportunity for improvements recommended in one semester to be implemented/reassessed in the next semester. The heavy reliance on associate faculty in this department has made it difficult to establish and maintain a regular cycle of PLO assessment.
Course Success
Student success in Anthropology courses is lower than the college standard of 70%. Success rates in ANTH for 2014-2016 are 63.3%, 62.4% and 63.7%.
Degrees
The number of students earning the ANTH AA-T is climbing, with 4 degrees awarded in the 2013 academic year, 5 in 2015, 14 in 2016, and 11 in 2017. There are currently 59 declared majors.
Transfer
According to the CSU Transfer Information website, there was a total of 22 Anthropology transfers for the 2013, 2014, and 2015 academic years.
Findings
Student achievement data in ANTH falls below current expectations both in the department and institutionally, especially in regard to course success. The most critical factor, we believe, is the lack of full-time leadership. It takes a lot of time to drill into the data to examine the root causes of lower success rates in Anthropology courses, and even more time and energy to devise and implement strategies for improvement. The problem is a difficult one to tackle in a program with only one full-time faculty member and in which 79% of sections are taught by associate faculty.
Current efforts in the Anthropology 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 POS, GEOG, and HIST faculty, instructors in Anthropology 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)
Anthropology completed its most recent Program Review in July 2015. The Validation Team provided 12 Recommendations. Due to the recency of the last Program Review and the lack of full-time leadership, there has been limited progress on meeting the Recommendations. Below is an abbreviated version of the Recommendations, with comments.
- Hire two additional full-time faculty members in the discipline (one as a replacement hire). One hire should be a Cultural Anthropologist, the other a Physical Anthropologist. *** Melissa Artstein-McNassar joined the program in the Spring 2017 semester, as a full-time replacement for Mike Findlay. The Program Review Recommendation called for a second full-time hire, though, which should have brought the number of full-time instructors in the program to 3. At the end of the Spring 2017, however, another retirement (Ayse Taskiran) dropped the program down to just one full-time faculty. A replacement hire for Taskiran was not approved in the Fall 2017 prioritization process. Thus, we remain at one full-time faculty member now, rather than the 3 total recommended by the Validation Team.
- Ensure compliance with associate faculty evaluation timelines. *** The area dean has offered a stipend payment of $150 per evaluation to full-time faculty who assist the department chair in completing associate faculty evaluations as scheduled. However, because our one full-time faculty in ANTH is only in her first year, reaching compliance in the near future is unlikely. The department chair will continue to work toward meeting this Recommendation.
- Enhance comprehensive SLO/PLO/GELO analysis and reporting by increasing associate faculty participation. *** Still to be addressed.
- Engage in collaborative activities with faculty in other social science and relevant science disciplines. *** Still to be addressed. While important, right now this is a lower priority for the program.
- Maintain breadth of course offerings, especially ANTH 14 and 33 (at risk due to Mike Findlay's retirement). *** Currently, we are still able to offer these two courses because Mike Findlay has made himself available as an associate faculty. However, the prospect for continuing to offer these two courses long-term is uncertain.
- Encourage Administration to approve/adopt the policies and procedures of Archaeology collections. *** Still to be addressed.
- Enhance the relationship with Chico State. *** Still to be addressed.
- Provide opportunities for student learning experiences outside of the classroom (field trips, Chico State events, student club activities, etc.) *** Still to be addressed.
- Lower pedagogical caps in Anthropology courses to encourage the use of more student-centered instructions. *** Still to be addressed. This would be ideal, but likely would be exceedingly difficult if not impossible to achieve. Right now, this is a lower priority for the program.
- Increase the program budget for travel and conference, and media and databases. *** The ANTH program is seeking additional funds in 2018-2019 for travel and conference. With only one full-time faculty to oversee the curriculum and SLO assessments covering 4 distinct subfields (Cultural, Physical, Archeology, Linguistics), it is essential that her connections and knowledge is varied.
- Advocate with Professional Development to change the policy that currently limits to 50% (75% with dean approval) the FLEX hours awarded for Individual Activity Contracts. *** Still to be addressed. Right now, this is a lower priority for the program.
- Explore the viability of a multidisciplinary Certificate in Museum Studies. *** Not a priority, as this is not feasible to implement with current faculty.
1. Provided a program of guidance and support to students who have chosen Anthropology as their major.
2. Identify root causes of Anthropology's lower than average course success rate or, at least rule out possible causes. This will help us to identify remedies and make progress toward meeting the college standard.
3. Enhance comprehensive SLO/PLO/GELO analysis and reporting by rebuilding the deep dive assessment schedule, and by increasing associate faculty participation in assessment activities and dialogue.
4. Review and make changes to the ANTH program curriculum.
Strategy 1 - Program Promotion
To maximize student success, completion, and transfer the ANTH program must be thoughtfully stewarded in terms of program learning outcomes, supporting curriculum, and scheduling of courses. Students must also be made aware of the existence of the degree, the potential benefits upon transfer, career prospects, and how best to move through the program.
Strategy 2 - Course Success Rate Study
The department chair will organize a meeting of Anthropology faculty with an institutional researcher to review and analyze student success data, including equity focused data. From the discussion, next steps, strategies and a timeline will be developed.
Student success in Anthropology courses is lower than the college standard of 70%. Success rates in ANTH for 2014-2016 are 63.3%, 62.4% and 63.7%. Before any meaningful attempt can be made to improve course success rates, more information is needed on the root causes of Anthropology's lower rate.
Strategy 3 - Enhance SLO Participation
The department chair will facilitate the semester SLO meeting (before the eighth week) -- giving a complete overview of current processes, sharing SLO work completed thus far in the discipline, providing a guide sheet for faculty participation, and soliciting suggestions for making the work meaningful. A tangible product of this meeting will be a refreshed deep dive assessment schedule/strategy for the program.
In recent Institute Night meetings, Anthropology associate faculty expressed a general unawareness of the assessment schedule and a lack of understanding of the utility of SLOs other than as a checkbox. Additionally, Program Review Recommendations call for the enhancement of the program's SLO work by increasing associate faculty participations.
Strategy 4 - Review and Update ANTH Program Curriculum
A few needed changes that have been identified include:
The ANTH program curriculum needs an overhaul in light of recent changes, including 2 full-time faculty retirements and the hiring of Melissa Artstein-McNassar. Further, changes are needed to bring course offerings into better alignment with C-ID and with CSU/UC programs.
Strategy 5 - Full-time Faculty Hire
Hire an additional full-time instructor.
Melissa Artstein-McNassar joined the program in the Spring 2017 semester, as a full-time replacement for Mike Findlay. The Program Review Recommendation called for a second full-time hire, though, which should have brought the number of full-time instructors in the program to 3. At the end of the Spring 2017, however, another retirement (Ayse Taskiran) dropped the program down to just one full-time faculty. A replacement hire for Taskiran was not approved in the Fall 2017 prioritization process. Thus, we remain at one full-time faculty member now, rather than the 3 total recommended by the Validation Team.
Anthropology is a program that needs adequate full-time faculty to maintain basic operations and to reach student learning, success and completion goals. Although Anthropology is a single discipline, the core program of study for transfer includes four fields: Physical, Cultural, Cultural Linguistics, and Archeology. It is exceedingly difficult for a single full-time faculty to provide adequate support (curriculum, assessment, advising, outreach and growth) in all four areas. Finally, low course success rates and a high number of majors both demand proactive full-time leadership.
The Butte College General Fund is the sole source of financial support for the Anthropology discipline. The annual budget allocation is $1618.00.
| 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 | ANTH, SCS, Monlux | Personnel | $0.00 | $109,877.00 | ||
| Full-Time Faculty Hire | Melissa Artstein-McNassar joined the program in the Spring 2017 semester, as a full-time replacement for Mike Findlay. The Program Review Recommendation called for a second full-time hire, though, which should have brought the number of full-time instructors in the program to 3. At the end of the Spring 2017, however, another retirement (Ayse Taskiran) dropped the program down to just one full-time faculty. A replacement hire for Taskiran was not approved in the Fall 2017 prioritization process. Thus, we remain at one full-time faculty member now, rather than the 3 total recommended by the Validation Team. Anthropology is a program that needs adequate full-time faculty to maintain basic operations and to reach student learning, success and completion goals. Although Anthropology is a single discipline, the core program of study for transfer includes four fields: Physical, Cultural, Cultural Linguistics, and Archeology. It is exceedingly difficult for a single full-time faculty to provide adequate support (curriculum, assessment, advising, outreach and growth) in all four areas. Finally, low course success rates and a high number of majors both demand proactive full-time leadership. Finally, low course success rates and a high number of majors both demand proactive full-time leadership. |
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| 2 | Anthropology (ANTH) | Operating Expenses | $2,500.00 | $0.00 | ||
| Travel and Conference | The ANTH program is seeking additional funds in 2018-2019 for travel and conference. With only one full-time faculty to oversee the curriculum and SLO assessments covering 4 distinct subfields (Cultural, Physical, Archeology, Linguistics), it is essential that her connections and knowledge is varied. |
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