HUMANITIES DEPARTMENT

1
HUMANITIES DEPARTMENT

• Mission
• Five-Year Plan

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Departmental Mission

• Provide leadership for the academy-wide
  commitment to four educational goals that are
  essential for successful management careers
• 1. Analytical reading and listening
• 2. Critical and creative thinking
• 3. Written communication
• 4. Oral communication

3
Departmental Mission

• Provide Breadth of Intellectual Experience and
  Knowledge
• Provide students with the cultural perspectives
  and breadth of learning beyond their majors that
  prepare them to engage effectively with the world
  in varied ways and to be lifelong learners

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Departmental Mission

• Association of American Colleges and
  Universities Survey of Employers on Graduates
  Preparedness (January 2008)
• 12 skill areas were surveyed
• Three of the four areas in which new employees
  were judged weakest were
• Critical Thinking
• Writing
• Global Knowledge

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Humanities Five Learning Outcomes

• The Humanities Department, along with other
  departments and programs at the Academy, is
  committed to enabling our graduates to become
• Educated and productive employees
• Significant contributors to society
• Lifelong learners
• To achieve this goal, the department seeks to
  achieve five outcomes in its courses

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Humanities Five Learning Outcomes

• Communication Mastery
• Higher-Order Thinking
• Artistic Appreciation
• Openness to Diversity and Varied Perspectives
• Reflective Self-Awareness

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Current Course Offerings

• Career-Oriented Courses
• English Composition
• Public Speaking
• Technical and Career-Oriented Writing
• Foreign Language
• General Education Breadth of Knowledge
• Analysis Interpretation of Literature
• Upper-Level Literature Electives
• Art Appreciation
• Philosophy

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Goals for the Next Five Years

• 1. Improve Students Writing Skills
• Part 1 Smaller Classes
• Cap enrollment in English Composition sections at
  15 students
• Cap enrollment in Analysis of Literature sections
  at 18 students
• Smaller class size allows greater individual
  attention to each students specific needs and
  problems
• Reduced class sizes are in line with other local
  special-mission colleges and with recommendations
  from the National Council of Teachers of English

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Goals for the Next Five Years

• National Council of Teachers of English
• Recommended Maximum Class Size
• for Writing Classes 15
• Students cannot learn to write without writing,
  editing, and rewriting many pieces of work. This
  process requires time and individual attention.
  Faculty members cannot work with individual
  students sufficiently to improve their skills if
  class sizes are too large. (NCTE Website
  http//www.ncte.org)

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Goals for the Next Five Years

• Typical Sizes of Writing Classes
• Massachusetts Maritime Typically 20-25
• (Or more in the past)
• Maine Maritime Academy Maximum 20
• Other Maritime Academies Maximum 25
• Other New England Public Colleges 20-25
• Average is around 22

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Goals for the Next Five Years

• Typical Sizes of Writing Classes
• Special-Mission Colleges

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Goals for the Next Five Years

• 1. Improve Students Writing Skills
• Part 2 Writing Assessment (Contingent on
  Funding)
• Continue freshman writing assessment
• During academic year 2008-2009, develop a writing
  assessment program for upper-level students in
  Humanities courses
• Explore working collaboratively with other
  departments on upper-level writing assessments

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Goals for the Next Five Years

• 1. Improve Students Writing Skills
• Part 3 e-Portfolios (Academy-wide initiative)
• Explore implementing an e-Portfolio system for
  developing, refining, and assessing students
  written projects across disciplines and
  throughout their Academy careers
• Collaborative reworking of major projects over
  time
• On-line showcase of achievements for employers
• Capstone projects for graduation

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Goals for the Next Five Years

• 1. Improve Students Writing Skills
• Part 4 Writing Resource Center
• Continue and enhance support for individual
  attention to students writing needs
• Greater financial support for additional
  resources
• Public Speaking, Remedial Reading, Interviewing
  Résumés
• Greater support and training for student tutors
• Encourage broader use of the WRC by students
• Support hiring of additional professional staff
  for WRC

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Goals for the Next Five Years

• 2. Manage Increasing Enrollment
• Enrollment in Humanities courses per term is
  projected to rise by nearly 150 students between
  Academic Year 2006 and Academic Year 2010
• Increased enrollment and reduced class size in
  writing courses will require adding at least
  seven additional classes each term by Fall 2010
• Hire one or two additional full-time faculty
  members and additional adjunct instructors

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Goals for the Next Five Years

• 3. New Courses Programs
• New Courses
• Religion
• Travel Literature
• Additional foreign language courses in
  conjunction with IMB increased enrollment and
  program development
• Joint Minor in American Studies
• with the Social Science Department

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Humanities Role in the Academy

• Analytical reading and listening
• Critical and creative thinking
• Written communication
• Oral communication
• Breadth of knowledge and intellectual experience
  beyond the major
• Appreciation of diversity and perspective