Welcome Message
January, 2008
To Our Majors:
As the Chair of the Department of Sociology/Anthropology/Criminal Justice, I welcome you to our programs trust that your studies are going well. I am writing to inform you of the Department's academic assessment efforts and your role in this vitally important process.
To assess the effectiveness of the Anthropology, Criminal Justice and Sociology Programs at the University of Michigan-Flint, the Department will annually examine portfolios of our graduating students. We have chosen this method to assess student learning within our three programs because from a student's perspective, it is the least intrusive and burdensome method of assessment. Equally important, portfolios will (if properly constructed) capture the academic growth of our students. Therefore, it is important that students begin constructing their portfolios as soon as possible. Once you have chosen your major, suitable items for inclusion would be research papers, book reviews, take-home exams, and the essay portions of in class exams. We suggest one or two samples from each class in Anthropology, Criminal Justice, or Sociology. You should feel free to include your best work from these classes. I strongly encourage you to be an active participant in amassing your portfolio. Your faculty advisor will help you organize and assemble your portfolio throughout your career at the University of Michigan-Flint. If you have not begun this process, I invite you to meet with your faculty advisor to begin this process as soon as possible. Therefore, when you graduate, we will have all the material necessary to accurately evaluate our program. If you do not have a faculty advisor, please contact the Department at your earliest convenience.
As a student, it is important to realize that our academic assessment plan is designed to give the faculty within the Anthropology, Criminal Justice, and Sociology programs valuable information on how well our programs are working. In other words, the goal of assessment is to determine how well we are achieving our educational goals for your education. As such, the results will be used to improve our academic programs and not to evaluate your performance as a graduating student. In fact, the actual assessment of your portfolio is anonymous, with your name, grade, and instructor's name and comments removed. Furthermore, the review of your work does not take place until after you have graduated.
If you have any questions, please contact your faculty advisor or me. The Department of Sociology/Anthropology/Criminal Justice greatly appreciates your cooperation in this important and ongoing process.
Sincerely,
Kathy Schellenberg, Chair
Department of Sociology/Anthropology/Criminal Justice