2019-20 Unit Plan
Philosophy

Mission Statement

Butte College Philosophy introduces students to the intellectual and religious traditions that shape western and non-western cultures while fostering skills in logical thinking, clear writing, sound argumentation and the thoughtful consideration of diverse world views.

Program Description

FA2016 (1 semester) - 56.5 FTES, 19 sections, 534 students
Faculty-  2 Full time (1 retiring May19);  4 Associate  

Butte Philosophy supports student success in meeting General Education transfer and diversity education requirements, strengthens student ability to think logically and write well while studying the rich intellectual traditions of both western and eastern cultures.  PHIL6, Logic and PHIL8, Methods of Argument meet the CSU and IGETC Critical thinking requirements. Philosophy courses also meet requirements for the Sustainability and Peace and Conflict Resolution Certificates.

Student Learning/Administrative Unit Outcomes (Optional)

Standards/Goals for Student Achievement (Instruction Departments) (Optional)

Standards/Goals for Student Achievement (All Other Departments) (Optional)

Strategic Direction (Optional)

Program Review (Optional)

Department Goals

Future Development Strategies

Strategy 1 - Strategically analyze the schedule to meet student need and increase enrollments by 3% in 2018/19

Increase online course offerings
Strategic scheduling analysis - identify optimal day/times for courses
Develop zero textbook costs courses
Add currilcum to establish the AA-T major and add vitiality and the program

Initiatives

Modeling Sustainability
Enhancing a Culture of Completion and Goal Achievement
Supporting Student, Faculty and Staff Success
Using Data-Informed Processes for Continuous Improvement
Maximizing Resources to Support Student Learning
Enhancing a Culture of Equity and Inclusiveness

Supporting Rationale

Addresses the campus wide goal to reach underserved students and provide a greater variety of educaitonal options

Supporting Rationale Alignment
Supports Previous Program Review Recommendations: No
Supports Changes from Student Learning Outcomes Assessment: Yes
Supports Meeting Standards and Goals for Student Achievement: Yes
Improving Student Achievement: No
Addressing Strategies Identified by the Department Learning Outcomes Reports: Yes
Addressing Outstanding Program Review Recommendations: Yes
Supporting the College's Strategic Direction and Priorities: Yes

Strategy 2 - Identify and implement strategies to raise student success rates in difficult courses (Phil6)

The content of Phil 6, Introduction to Logic is amongst the most challenging a student will encounter. Like other courses at this level the succeess rate is lower than the campus average of 73%. Our strategy is to incrementally improve the success rate while staying true to the rigorous intention of the material by

Reduce the high class size from 45 to 38 so that faculty can give students an appropriate level of attention to promote success
Provide PHIL6 Associate Faculty funds for 2 office hours/week, and/or a student assistant intern to work with individual students
Invest in Logic "drill" programs for student practice
Hire a full-time faculty with demonstrated excellence in teaching Phil6 and experience with Phl AA-T Majors. This is to prepare cfor the SP19 retirement of sernior Phil full time faculty Wei-Ming Wu.
Offer professional develpment opportunities for faculty on tested and successful methods for teaching Logic courses

Initiatives

Modeling Sustainability
Enhancing a Culture of Completion and Goal Achievement
Supporting Student, Faculty and Staff Success
Using Data-Informed Processes for Continuous Improvement
Maximizing Resources to Support Student Learning
Enhancing a Culture of Equity and Inclusiveness

Supporting Rationale

These actions are in respose to a primary course and program assessmet outcome and directly support student success

Supporting Rationale Alignment
Supports Previous Program Review Recommendations: Yes
Supports Changes from Student Learning Outcomes Assessment: Yes
Supports Meeting Standards and Goals for Student Achievement: Yes
Improving Student Achievement: No
Addressing Strategies Identified by the Department Learning Outcomes Reports: Yes
Addressing Outstanding Program Review Recommendations: Yes
Supporting the College's Strategic Direction and Priorities: Yes

Strategy 3 - Develop the currilum needed to establish a Phil AAT Major

Develop the coursework needed to launch a Phil AA-T Major

The Philosophy Department at Chico State in FA18 supports the need and development of the AA-T Philosophy major at Butte College. Philosphy courses sharpen student thinking, writing and oral skills it prepares students for careers in education, law, medicine, business, journalism, ministry, and government.
Develop the 3 new C-ID aligned courses needed to launch a Phil AA-T Major: Ancient Philosophy, Modern Philosophy and Western Civilization.

Initiatives

Enhancing a Culture of Completion and Goal Achievement
Supporting Student, Faculty and Staff Success
Using Data-Informed Processes for Continuous Improvement
Maximizing Resources to Support Student Learning
Enhancing a Culture of Equity and Inclusiveness

Supporting Rationale

Outcome and program reivew feedback data support the developmet of the Phil AA-T Major. It provides a direct pathway for students to the CSUC and other Philosophy programs and hones crtiical thinking skills essential to student success.

Supporting Rationale Alignment
Supports Previous Program Review Recommendations: Yes
Supports Changes from Student Learning Outcomes Assessment: Yes
Supports Meeting Standards and Goals for Student Achievement: Yes
Improving Student Achievement: Yes
Addressing Strategies Identified by the Department Learning Outcomes Reports: Yes
Addressing Outstanding Program Review Recommendations: Yes
Supporting the College's Strategic Direction and Priorities: Yes

Strategy 4 - Define and outreach career pathways and market value of a Phil AA-T

Provide career and transfer information that inspires student retention and completion
Develop Philosophy outreach materials with Transfer pathway and career information for public events, high school visits, etc.

Initiatives

Modeling Sustainability
Enhancing a Culture of Completion and Goal Achievement
Supporting Student, Faculty and Staff Success
Using Data-Informed Processes for Continuous Improvement
Maximizing Resources to Support Student Learning
Enhancing a Culture of Equity and Inclusiveness

Supporting Rationale

Raise awareness and opportuntiies for student success

Supporting Rationale Alignment
Supports Previous Program Review Recommendations: Yes
Supports Changes from Student Learning Outcomes Assessment: Yes
Supports Meeting Standards and Goals for Student Achievement: Yes
Improving Student Achievement: Yes
Addressing Strategies Identified by the Department Learning Outcomes Reports: Yes
Addressing Outstanding Program Review Recommendations: Yes
Supporting the College's Strategic Direction and Priorities: Yes

Strategy 5 - Hire a full-time faculty member to ensure the strength of the program

Hire a full-time faculty with demonstrated excellence in teaching Phil6 and experience with Phl AA-T Majors.

Initiatives

Modeling Sustainability
Enhancing a Culture of Completion and Goal Achievement
Supporting Student, Faculty and Staff Success
Using Data-Informed Processes for Continuous Improvement
Maximizing Resources to Support Student Learning
Enhancing a Culture of Equity and Inclusiveness

Supporting Rationale

Prepare for the SP19 retirement of sernior Phil full time faculty Wei-Ming Wu

Supporting Rationale Alignment
Supports Previous Program Review Recommendations: Yes
Supports Changes from Student Learning Outcomes Assessment: Yes
Supports Meeting Standards and Goals for Student Achievement: Yes
Improving Student Achievement: Yes
Addressing Strategies Identified by the Department Learning Outcomes Reports: Yes
Addressing Outstanding Program Review Recommendations: Yes
Supporting the College's Strategic Direction and Priorities: Yes

Requested Non-Financial Resources

Current Financial Resources

Augmentation Requests

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	Philosophy	Personnel		51110	$0.00	$114,000.00
Full Time Faculty	One full-time faculty with expertise in core courses in the AA-T major is needed to support program growth and integrity in preparation for the SP20 retirement of a senior full-time faculty member.				Meeting Standards and Goals for Student Achievement Addressing Program Review Recommendations Implementing improvements identified during Outcomes Assessment Maintaining ongoing operations at current levels (excludes grants) Meeting enrollment targets Meeting student achievement goals Fostering a Culture of Inclusiveness
2	Philosophy				$0.00	$0.00
Softchalk License	Philosophy faculty are creating interactive teaching exercises to improve student success rates in Phil6: Logic, which can be a difficult class. Softchalk software enables the development of a collective source creative interactive exercises that enhance student learning. All faculty can contribute and use the resources available. Butte currently has a Softchalk license, which we hope will continue as is it a major asset for this project.		Instructional Equipment		Meeting student achievement goals Meeting Standards and Goals for Student Achievement Addressing Program Review Recommendations Implementing improvements identified during Outcomes Assessment