The Department of Political Science is part of the College of Arts and Sciences. At the undergraduate level, the purpose of the college is to provide students with a solid, well-rounded, liberal arts education rather than train them for a specific profession. More courses are required to fulfill the College of Arts and Sciences requirements than are required for the major. Assessment of the kind of education political science majors receive at Ohio University can, therefore, only be made within the context of their whole liberal arts program.

The general goals of the department are the same as they have been for the last two years. They were developed through discussions within the department's Curriculum Committee and with the faculty as a whole during the process of our curricular review during 1993-96. They were discussed by the faculty as a whole again last year during the department's discussion of assessments of outcomes.

1. To develop the ability of majors to think critically and effectively express their views in written and verbal communication.

2. To provide majors with courses offering the requisite knowledge and skills for contemporary world citizenship.

3. To provide majors with a basic understanding of national and world politics as well as the broad discipline of political science.

4. To enable majors to gain that particular sense of exploration that comes from mastering a given area of study.

5. To provide majors with effective advice and preparation for their post-college life, including achieving jobs or advanced study.

6. To offer career-oriented programs for students interested in teaching, law, foreign service, or public service.

1. Master of Arts in Political Science: The goals of the M.A. program are similar to those of the B.A. except that there is considerably more focus on pre-professional training in a specialized area of political science. Among the goals of the M.A. program are to prepare students for a) entrance into Ph.D. programs in political science; b) entrance into law schools; c) entrance into the public service; d) upgrading credentials of persons working in secondary education and the public service.

2. Master of Public Administration: The goal of the M.P.A. is to prepare students for careers in the public service at the local, state and federal levels and to upgrade the knowledge and skills of persons already working in the public service.

While it is not a modification of the goals, all of our assessments so far have indicated that students felt that one of the weaker aspects of our program was advising. This resulted in an effort to improve the advising process during the past two years, though this proved difficult to achieve due to the fact that during this time the department had an unusual number of faculty on Group IV contracts and a growing number of experienced faculty taking early retirement.

A. Questionnaires: A questionnaire was developed two years ago by the department’s Assessment Committee. It asked students to rate on an A to F scale:

a. their overall educational experience at Ohio University

b. their experience in political science

c. the advising they received as majors

d. whether they received a good understanding of the American political system

e. whether they gained a good understanding of politics in other countries and the world

f. whether they had enough chances to write about political topics

It also included open-ended questions about:

a. the strengths of the political science program at Ohio University

b. the weaknesses of the political science program at Ohio University

c. what they would like to see improved or added to the program

This questionnaire was first given by all faculty members to their advisees during the spring 1996 advising period for fall quarter and it was included in the POLS News sent out to all alumni majors in July 1996. The same questionnaire was again given by faculty advisers to majors during the advising period in spring 1997. However, because we recognized from the previous spring's experience that graduating seniors tend not to come to see their adviser to pick up their DARS reports in their final quarter, the questionnaire was sent with a stamped envelope to all senior majors registered to graduate in June 1997. The number of returns from each of these methods was not very impressive so this year we tried a different method. During the 1997-98 academic year Michael Mumper, the Chair of our Undergraduate Advising Committee, developed an e-mail connection with all of our majors. This spring we sent the questionnaire to all majors through this connection. It has proved the most successful approach utilized so far in terms of the number of responses received.

The Office of Institutional Research provides Follow-up Studies of Graduates Results which tabulate the responses to alumni questionnaires sent to graduates of the university, college and department over the past five years in regard to their career and further education experiences. Institutional Research also provides a Change in Student Involvement from the First (Freshman) Year to the Senior Year report which provides information about changing student views about the instruction they received, the advice they were given, the interaction with faculty members, and other topics from university-wide and departmental samples.

The department's Assessment Committee takes the quarterly student evaluation of courses and instructors as a serious indication of the success or failure of faculty members in carrying out the instructional mission of the department. Awards for teaching excellence are also taken as an indication of teaching effectiveness.

The examination of the syllabi of all courses taught was used as a means of assessing whether or not faculty members are keeping up with the latest developments in their field but also to check on the degree to which they encourage students to think critically and to express themselves verbally and in writing.

The Public Affairs Internship program (POLS 4/595) allows students to gain practical experience in areas about which they have studied and where they hope to work in future. The reports by the internship sponsors, in turn, provides us with an indication of how well the department, college and university have prepared our students for work in these areas. The sample is biased somewhat by the requirement that the participants in the internship program must have at least a 3.0 G.P.A.

The views of alumni about their experience at Ohio University and particularly in Political Science are requested in the annual departmental newsletter, POLS News. Alumni feedback is also gathered informally by those faculty members who attend the luncheons for Political Science alumni in government service hosted by President Glidden in Columbus and Washington, DC. Alumni also participate on the advisory board to our M.P.A. program.

3. How Well Goals Been Accomplished: Strengths and Weaknesses

The goal of providing majors with an understanding of national and world politics is related to how effectively members of the department teach courses dealing with these subjects.

The report by the Office of Institutional Research on Change in Student Involvement from the First (Freshman) Year to the Senior Year for Political Science Majors distributed in May 1998 indicates that majors who were satisfied with instruction in their major courses rose 23% from 66% in the first year to 89% in their senior year. From this it would appear that the overwhelming majority of majors are pleased with the instruction they receive in Political Science. This is compared to a rise in the satisfaction with their non-major courses by only 4% from 67% to 71%. Similarly, the rise in the satisfaction of Political Science majors with instruction in their major was considerably greater than the university-wide rise in satisfaction with instruction in the major which rose 10% from 68% to 78%.

The same report indicates that the Political Science majors who were very or somewhat satisfied with the quality of instruction at Ohio University rose 14% from 83% to 97% whereas the university-wide rise was only 1% from 86% to 87%. Since students in their first year are likely to be fulfilling General Education and College requirements while seniors are more likely to be focusing on courses in their major, this statistic might be interpreted as another indication of Political Science majors’ satisfaction with the quality of instruction in their major.

The responses to our departmental e-mail questionnaire showed a similar result. The educational experience in the major received a grade of 3.38 (B+) while the overall educational experience at Ohio University received a grade of 3.0 (B). This was a decline for the department from the responses given by majors last year (i.e., in spring 1997 majors gave their experience in the department a grade of 3.7 or A- and their overall experience a 3.1 or B). Nevertheless the pattern is the same and is probably similar to that in other departments since students presumably major in the subjects and with the faculty whom they enjoy. The written comments both years emphasized that the respondents felt the instruction they received in the major was generally excellent.

To the extent that student evaluations of courses and instructors is a measure of effective teaching, the Department of Political Science rates extremely high. All courses are evaluated by the students. The mean student evaluation of all of the Political Science instructors during the past two calendar years (the period used in the annual faculty evaluations) was 4.272 on a five point scale and the median was 4.240.

To the extent that teaching awards are an indication of effective teaching, over half of the full-time faculty in the department in the 1997-98 (12 out of 22) have received awards at some time and two of the early retired part-time faculty have received teaching awards. Eight members of the department have been named University Professors one or more times (a total of 14 awards). Nine members (five of the UP's and four others) have received the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teacher Award. Patricia Weitsman received this in Fall 1997. Five members of the department have received the Jeannette G. Grasselli Outstanding Teacher Award in the social sciences. Two faculty members have received the Outstanding Tutor Award in the four years it has existed. Two faculty members have received the Outstanding Graduate Faculty Award in the past.

On the other hand, the Institutional Research study on Career and Further Education Study of graduates shows a different picture when it comes to alumni satisfaction with courses in the major in terms of helping them acquire the skills and knowledge needed to perform their job.

Satisfaction with Major Courses (Extremely and Very Well)

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

Political Science Department BAs 21% 32% 38% 43% 51%

College of Arts and Science BAs 39% 41% 41% 37% 41%

University Wide BAs 52% 54% 57% 56% 58%

It does show a steady improvement in the satisfaction of Political Science majors but the level of satisfaction remains below the level of graduates of the university as a whole. Like most other disciplines in the College of Arts and Sciences, Political Science is not a professional program. The closest it comes to that is in the area of public administration. More about success of the program in terms of alumni careers is discussed below.

B. Effective Advising

All faculty members of the department participate in advising undergraduates, including new and most visiting faculty members. Faculty members who teach law-related courses act as pre-law advisers; those who teach international relations act as pre-foreign service advisers; and those who teach public administration act as pre-public administration advisers. The majority of the approximately 300 majors in political science do not indicate one of these pre-professional interest and are advised by those faculty who specialize in American politics, comparative politics and political theory. Several faculty members also advise University College exploratory students and Arts and Sciences undecided students.

The department’s e-mail survey of majors indicates that advising is perceived to be the weakest part of our program. The grade given to the question "How would you rate the advising you receive from Political Science" was 2.54 or a very low B-. This was similar to the grade given by our alumni and our graduating senior surveys last year - B- (2.7) and C+ (2.3) respectively - and lower than our two previous surveys of majors which graded advising as B+ (3.4).

The report by the Office of Institutional Research on Change in Student Involvement from the First (Freshman) Year to the Senior Year for Political Science Majors similarly indicates that majors are considerably less satisfied with their academic advising than with their instruction. Only 31% of the first year and 57% of the seniors were satisfied with it. While this shows a better rise in satisfaction with academic advising than in the university-wide sample (45% for first year students and 48% for seniors), it is another indication that the department needs to improve in this area.

Part of successful advising is faculty availability to students outside of the classroom. Here the report from the Office of Institutional Research indicates the situation is somewhat better than the satisfaction with the actual advising provided. The level of satisfaction with Political Science faculty availability rose 14% between the first year and senior year, from 66% to 80% as compared to the university-wide rise from 59% to 69%.

The statistics on the Frequency of Academic Conversations indicate that majors spent considerably more time in conversation with Academic Advisors and Faculty Members than with Residential Life Staff, Student Organization Advisors, Other Staff, about Research and Scholarship, or with Career Advisors. This is the same as the university-wide pattern. There are two areas where the Political Science pattern varies somewhat from the university-wide pattern. One is the greater rise in conversations with faculty members (91% of Political Science seniors as compared to 81% university-wide). The other is the increase from first year to senior year in conversations about research and scholarship where the Political Science percentage rose from 39% in the first year to 44% in the senior year whereas university-wide the percentage fell from 28% to 27%.

While the conversations with academic advisors actually declined 6% from 86% to 80% between first year and senior year, the average number of times increased 76%. This may be due to the seniors’ greater familiarity with requirements and DARS reports. Conversations with other faculty members, on the other hand, increased 42% from 49% to 91% in the senior year and the average number of times increased 183%. This presumably is due to the change from large introductory classes to smaller ones and from unknown faculty members to ones with whom the student is familiar and with whom they are engaged in research and scholarly activities.

The problem we have with advising appears not to be related to the accessibility of faculty members or with their willingness to discuss coursework or research. It seems to have more to do with the faculty advisers’ knowledge of university, college, and department requirements and of career opportunities.

Politics, by its nature, is an area of contention and debate where differing views are often expressed, at times with considerable emotion. The study of politics is, therefore, concerned with the critical analysis of different policies, programs, political theories, and political systems. Majors in political science are called upon to think critically in virtually all of their courses. The widespread use of in-class debate, essay exams and assignment of papers encourages this.

Writing skills can be promoted by the assignment of papers and the use of essay examinations. The annual examination of course syllabi in spring 1998 indicated that papers are assigned in 79% of all political science classes (up from 76% last year). The courses not assigning papers were mostly large introductory courses, but an increasing number of them now require papers. Essay exams are used in all courses above the 200 level.

As part of the effort to improve the writing skills of majors, the department offers a junior composition course, Writing on Political Topics (POLS 305J). This has, however, only been offered once a year and is therefore available only to a minority of majors.

The department requires both its Honors-Tutorial and in its departmental honors programs to write theses. Of the total of 13 students listed as receiving departmental honors in the Ohio University Commencement Program for 1997-98, six were political science majors. Of the honors-tutorial students listed, there were five in Political Science (third most behind the Department of English and the College of Business Administration).The combined figures mean that again this year more undergraduate theses were written by political science majors than in any other department on campus.

The questionnaire that the department has used includes the question "Do you feel that you have had enough chance to write about political topics." The responses (on a 4 point scale) to this have been mixed.

1996 1997 1997 1997 1998

Majors Majors Seniors Alumni Majors

2.9 2.8 3.3 2.8 3.4

Comparing the difference in the between evaluation of the seniors and the majors as a whole in last year’s survey, we suspected that it might be a reflection of the greater amount of writing required in upper level courses as compared to the large introductory ones. In this year’s survey we asked respondents to provide the year in which they expected to graduate. When only responses from juniors and seniors were examined, the grade on this question rose from 3.4 to 3.9, confirming our suspicion. The problem now appears to lie in how to get more writing into the large introductory courses.

Skills in oral expression can be promoted by in-class discussion and debate and by oral presentations. Class discussions are part of virtually all upper-level political science courses and several instructors include considerable discussion and debate in their large introductory courses. An examination of written student course evaluations and the comments on the questionnaires indicates that students generally appreciate the chance for discussion and are critical of instructors who only lecture. The amount of student participation in class and its weight in grading was not measured in the examination of syllabi this year. On the other hand, it was found that 22% of the courses had students deliver some form of oral presentation (up slightly from 21% in 1997). These courses were primarily at the upper level.

The e-mail questionnaire again asked majors two graded questions regarding knowledge attained in two general areas of political science. One concerned their understanding of the American political system and how it works. The results for this question are:

1996 1997 1997 1997 1998

Majors Majors Seniors Alumni Majors

3.4 3.8 3.3 3.6 3.4

These are reasonably consistent good grades. On the other hand, the question about their increased understanding of the world situation did not do as well (except in 1996):

1996 1997 1997 1997 1998

Majors Majors Seniors Alumni Majors

3.5 2.9 2.8 2.8 2.9

This difference undoubtedly is because majors have tended to focus more on American politics than on international relations or comparative politics. The department has taken steps to remedy this situation. In the past we have not required all majors to take an introductory course in world politics. Beginning in fall quarter 1997 all new majors must take the new introductory course, POLS 150, Current World Problems. Future assessments will be able to see if this has an impact on the rating on this question. Some of the responses this year from first year students indicated that this course has indeed stimulated their interest in world affairs.

The Institutional Research provides statistics on the percentages of a sample of alumni of the department, college and university concerning how well they feel they were prepared to meet their career goals. The fact that a number of our alumni respondents were not very satisfied with how well our courses provided them with the kind of career skills and knowledge they needed has been noted. This can also be seen from their responses about how well the university prepared them to meet their career goals.

How Well Ohio University Prepared Them for Career Goals (Extremely and Very Well)

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

Political Science Department BAs 29% 65% 57% 69% 74%

College of Arts and Science BAs 49% 53% 53% 52% 63%

University Wide BAs 47% 61% 56% 64% 64%

Except for the graduates of 1992, the Political Science graduates have felt somewhat more prepared to meet their career goals than the sample of graduates from the college and university. Again, except for 1992, the graduates of the university have felt somewhat more prepared for their career goals than the graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences. The latter would seem to make sense since the non-Arts and Sciences students are in professional schools which are designed to prepare them for careers whereas Arts and Sciences provides a broad liberal arts education. What seems unusual is that the Political Science graduates feel more prepared for their careers than university graduates as a whole.

The report by the Office of Institutional Research on Change in Student Involvement from the First (Freshman) Year to the Senior Year for Political Science Majors reports the percentage satisfaction as:

First Year Senior % Change

Making Progress Toward Personal Goals 86% 91% 5%

Making Progress Toward Academic Goals 80% 91% 11%

Making Progress Toward Career Goals 71% 86% 15%

The figures from the university-wide sample were:

First Year Senior % Change

Making Progress Toward Personal Goals 80% 87% 7%

Making Progress Toward Academic Goals 77% 84% 7%

Making Progress Toward Career Goals 68% 75% 7%

This would seem to indicate that Political Science is doing better than average in all three areas. Again, most interesting are the statistics on career goals. It is lowest in both samples and more work needs to be done in helping our students in their career goals. The department’s Public Affairs Internship program has been of considerable benefit to majors in this area.

The survey of graduates indicates that the faculty played a very minor role in helping majors find jobs for majors, though somewhat better than Career Services.

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

Political Science Department BAs 9% 2% 5% 0% 17%

College of Arts and Science BAs 7% 5% 5% 5% 6%

University Wide BAs 5% 5% 5% 7% 5%

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

Political Science Department BAs 0% 0% 7% 4% 0%

College of Arts and Science BAs 3% 3% 3% 6% 3%

University Wide BAs 6% 6% 7% 7% 9%

The only area of political science that is directly career-oriented is the Master of Public Administration. Undergraduate pre-law, pre-foreign service and pre-public administration concentrations are primarily aimed at giving a foundation in these areas and preparing students for advanced study. At the same time, the department does try to provide selected majors with career-related experience through the Political Workshop (POLS 390) on election campaigns and in the Public Affairs Internship (POLS 4/595). An internship is a requirement for the M.P.A.. degree but M.A. students and undergraduate majors with a 3.0 or higher grade point average can apply for them.

The work on campaigns has led some of our students into careers as campaign managers, probably the best know being David Wilhelm, who took POLS 390 and went on to manage the campaigns of a number of prominent politicians including President Bill Clinton in 1992. Governor Voinovich's campaign manager is also a former participant in this workshop. In fall 1996 seventeen students participated in this program, working for candidates for local, state, and U.S. Congressional offices. So far ten students have registered for fall 1998.

The Public Affairs Internship places pre-law students in law offices and in the offices of prosecuting attorneys, public defenders, and judges. It places students interested in careers in the public service in government offices at the local, state and federal levels as well as in various non-profit organizations. We have been told that it is the largest internship program in the College of Arts and Sciences. From summer 1997 through summer 1998 a total of 85 students will have participated in this program, 25% of them working in government, 26% in non-profits, 20% in political campaigns, and 29% in legal offices. Of this group 67% were undergraduates and 33% were graduate students. In terms of location, 35% worked in Athens, 30% elsewhere in Ohio, 18% in Washington, DC, and 17% elsewhere.

One means by which we assess the Public Affairs Internship program is by having the students' sponsors fill out an evaluation form concerning the performance of our interns. These records are kept by the directors of the programs. From summer 1997 through spring 1998, of the 56 interns whose records are complete, 46 were rated as Excellent, 7 as Good, 2 as Satisfactory, and 1 as Poor.

As a result of this program, Ohio University has developed a network of alumni who are willing to help place and, in some cases, hire our students. Of those participating in the program during the 1997-98 academic year, 48% received offers of further employment.

Evidence of the success of this program at the state level can be seen in the large turnout at our 15th annual Department of Political Science State Government Alumni Luncheon, hosted each May by President Glidden. Our alumni include, among others, the Governor (who has not attended), the director of the Legislative Budget Office, the director of the Ohio Office of Budget and Management, the chiefs of staff of the majority leader in the Ohio Senate and of the speaker of the House, the chief of staff of the Democratic Caucus, and many others various state agencies. The luncheons provide the department faculty who attend with a chance to discuss with our alumni their experience with our interns and to inquire about the kind of qualities and skills they are looking for. An outside assessment of the success of our program in Columbus was made by William Hanger, the director of institutional relations (i.e. lobbyist) for Miami University. He has attended our luncheons in recent years and has stated that O.U. has developed the best and most loyal alumni network and intern sponsors in state government of any university in Ohio. This network is informally referred to as the O.U. Mafia. These alumni continue to be very satisfied with our interns and to find positions for them. For example, this year our students worked as interns both in the Ohio Office of Budget and Management and in the Legislative Budget Office.

The department has placed an increasing number of students in federal government positions, in offices of Senators and Representatives, on Congressional Staffs, and in recent years in the Office of the Vice President. One indication of the success of our program is the staff director for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has said that she prefers O.U. interns to those from Ivy League universities because they have been consistently not only bright and able but also hardworking and unpretentious. Vice President Gore's office has been sufficiently impressed by our students that they have taken on a series of our interns and then given them jobs on his staff. Another political science alumnus who has taken on a number of our interns in Washington is Richard May, the Chief of Staff of House Budget Committee.

As part of the effort to improve the opportunities for our interns in Washington, in spring 1998 for the third time a luncheon was held in Washington, DC, for political science alumni and interns in federal government service with support from President Glidden. It included our interns and former students working for Vice President Gore, Senator Glenn, Congressmen Ney and Strickland, other congressional staffs, and government agencies. This was a considerably smaller luncheon than the one in Columbus but similarly gave the faculty members attending it an opportunity to find new sources for internships and to receive feedback concerning the qualities and skills that the alumni in office are looking for in the interns.

The department has a Public Administration External Advisory Board composed of alumni and friends who serve in public offices at all levels of government. A major purpose of the board meets with the public administration faculty annually to discuss the program and ways in which it could be improved. It is a good means of receiving an outside assessment of our program but it has not been as active in the past few years as it was earlier. Efforts will have to be made to reenergize it.

The other directly career-oriented aspects of the political science program can be assessed by success in getting graduates into law schools and graduate programs in political science. A large percentage of our graduates enter graduate programs. The figures from Institutional Research reflect this and show that this occurs at a slightly higher rate than in the College of Arts and Sciences and considerably higher than for the university.

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

Political Science Department BAs 50% 44% 50% 48% 49%

College of Arts and Science BAs 42% 48% 47% 46% 46%

University Wide BAs 28% 29% 30% 28% 30%

The Survey of Graduates indicates that the majority felt the university prepared them extremely or very well for additional graduate work.

How Well Ohio University Prepared Them for Academic Work (Extremely and Very Well)

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

Political Science Department BAs 81% 86% 83% 78% 81%

College of Arts and Science BAs 79% 77% 83% 71% 82%

University Wide BAs 78% 76% 77% 74% 79%

Again, while there is considerable room for improvement, the Political Science majors have generally been slightly more satisfied than is the case in the college and university.

While the faculty members who write the letters of recommendation for their students have an idea of where they have been accepted, no exact statistics have been maintained on the number who have applied, whether they have been accepted and where they have been accepted. Our better students are accepted into some of the most competitive graduate programs in the country. In 1998 we have students admitted to the law schools at Harvard, the University of Michigan, Georgetown, Rutgers, Ohio State, Cincinnati and elsewhere. Others have been admitted to Ph.D. programs at the University of Washington, George Washington, Pittsburgh, Ohio State, and elsewhere. Several undergraduates each year enter our Masters program before going on for the Ph.D. or law school.

The Harry S. Truman Scholarship is a very competitive $30,000 national scholarship for students interested in careers in the public service. In the past 15 years five O.U. students have won it and as many have been finalists. All of the winners so far have been H.T.C. political science majors, though students in other departments and programs have been selected as O.U. candidates. Members of department and of the O.U. Truman Selection Committee work with students who are interested in this scholarship (from any department) to help with their application essays and to get them prepared for the scholarship competition. We clearly have excellent candidates for this scholarship but more work needs to be done in preparing them for intensive interviews. For example, both in 1996-97 and again in 1997-98 one of our students succeeded in being chosen as a finalist to be interviewed but neither was selected for the scholarship.

In 1993 the department applied for and received an 1804 Grant to carry out a thorough review of the Political Science curriculum. This was basically completed in 1993-95 on undergraduate curriculum and in 1995-96 on the graduate curriculum. This review included an examination and comparison of the curricula of a variety of departments at other universities; study of the American Political Science Association's materials on developments in the various subfields of political science and of their sample syllabi; and bringing in outside reviewers to assess our program and suggest changes (from Harvard, Berkeley, Stanford, University of South Carolina, University of New Mexico, University of Washington, and the City University of New York). Most of the department's present curriculum was found to be very much in line with those at comparable departments. Ours was stronger than most in the area of comparative politics but not as fully staffed in some areas of international relations, political theory and public law. Inclusion of courses in international political economy and in rational choice theory were recommended by some of the visiting assessors. The department has acted on these recommendations in its hiring during 1997-98.

The proposed changes in the undergraduate curriculum were discussed and approved by the department in spring 1995. Because the changes would have an impact on the graduate curriculum and on the staffing of courses, the Curriculum Review Committee decided to spend 1995-96 working on the graduate program in order to present all of the changes as a package. The graduate portion of the changes was also a reaction to the UCC report on our last five year review which called for more graduate-only courses.

The changes in the curriculum worked out as part of the department's assessment of the curriculum in 1993-96 were submitted to the curriculum approval process in 1996-97 and the text of the 1997-98 undergraduate and graduate catalogs was modified to reflect this. New courses and requirements at the undergraduate level should address some problems seen in our assessments, such as the relatively low scores on knowledge of the world situation. Several new graduate-only courses have been designed to improve the writing and research skills of our graduate students.

As a result of the previous assessments, the department's Undergraduate Advising Committee become significantly more active in 1997-98. Among other things, the department had a reception for all majors in the fall and reactivated the Political Science Majors Club; an e-mail connection with all majors was established to announce events and opportunities; speakers were invited to discuss career and internship opportunities; and social events such as pizza parties with the showing and discussion of faculty members’ favorite political movies were arranged. At the same time, the department’s Pre-Law Club invited several speakers to discuss various career options in the law. However, the full-scale reexamination by the faculty of the advising system was pushed off the agenda by the need to discuss the revision of promotion and tenure guidelines and by staffing questions.

Since the department introduced its curricular changes during 1997-98, no new changes are anticipated until the impact of these has been evaluated.

Since advising seems to be the area that need most improvement, several things need to be done. These include:

1. Having a formal session with all faculty members, but especially the new ones, on university, college, and department requirements and how they appear on the DARS reports. It seems impossible but there are still some faculty members who do not know these things. Emphasis will be placed on having all advisees, even those who say they "know it all," sit down and discuss there academic progress and future plans rather than just handing out the DARS reports.

2. Having the faculty members actually read and hand out to advisees the American Political Science Association’s pamphlet on Careers and the Study of Political Science: A Guide for Undergraduates.

3. Consider moving toward an advising system in which a select group of knowledgeable faculty do all of the advising of majors. This will only work if sufficient rewards in terms of service evaluations are given to them so they will be willing to volunteer and take this work seriously. Given the pressure of teaching and research, this may not be feasible but should be discussed.

1. The e-mail questionnaire will be modified to gain more specific answers about the strengths and weaknesses of the program and about post-graduation plans of seniors.

2. A questionnaire will be sent to alumni presently in law schools and graduate programs at other universities to find out what might be improved in their training at O.U. to help them in their academic work.

3. A letter will be sent to the internship supervisors asking about the kinds of knowledge, skills and abilities they value most highly in students who come to work for them.

4. Exit interviews with graduating seniors was part of the department's plan for this year but failed to be implemented. We will try to get this organized next year.