Assessment Details
Academic Year: 2020-2021 Level: Graduate
Campus Department: Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences [UG and Grad]
Program Type: Major [UG] / Program [Grad]
Program Name: History MA (Link)
Description of Data Collection:
Faculty are required to fill out an evaluation form at the end of the semester for each graduate student in every course. The form asks not only for the student’s grade, but asks for specific details about student performance and achievements. Faculty are asked whether they recommend that the student continue in the program. The Director of Graduate Studies reads all the evaluation forms at the end of each semester. The DGS also consults with faculty about specific graduate students whose performance has raised questions.
A key requirement for the MA program is the completion of a graduate seminar in which students write a formal research paper based on extensive primary source research. Faculty evaluations of student performance in seminars is taken especially seriously as a comment on the student’s progress in the program.
At the end of the second (final) year in the program, MA students are required do one of the following: to take a comprehensive exam on two historical fields, to defend an MA thesis, to submit a teaching portfolio, or to submit a public history project for review. The student’s advisor(s) and the Director of Graduate Studies review the paperwork for all of these capstone requirements.
Review Process:
The Director of Graduate Studies and the student’s advisor and teachers interpret the evidence of the student’s progress. The DGS monitors all student progress, and consults with advisors and the students’ teachers as a result of reviewing grades and faculty evaluations at the end of each semester. The Graduate Programs Assistant plays an important role in the process by flagging issues of special concern and calling them to the attention of the DGS.
The DGS meets regularly with a Graduate Committee of three faculty members and the Graduate Programs Assistant to evaluate MA program requirements, course offerings, and career preparation.
Resulting Program Changes:
We have taken several steps to expand and refine the skills that MA students gain in our program and the competencies they can take with them into the job market. Our primary achievement this year (several years in preparation) is the inauguration of the new Digital Humanities Graduate Certificate.
The DH certificate program is directed by a faculty member (currently Marilynn Johnson of the History Department), and has a board of advisors from humanities departments. The program is a collaborative effort between humanities departments and the digital scholarship team in O’Neill Library. The DH certificate consists of three courses: an introductory course (taught by digital scholarship librarians, all of them holding doctorates), a second graduate course in which the student completes a DH project, and a capstone course (also taught by digital scholarship librarians). The introductory course was taught for the first time in spring 2021, and attracted 15 students, mostly from the History Department and many of them MA students.
For more information on the DH certificate program see https://www.bc.edu/content/bc-web/schools/mcas/departments/history/graduate/certificate-in-digital-humanities.html .
This year two of our faculty members (Virginia Reinburg, DGS, and Dana Sajdi, director of graduate placement) attended a Career Diversity Institute sponsored by the American Historical Association. As a result of what they learned, the department plans to take a closer look at the learning objectives of the MA program next year. An issue on our agenda is how well prepared our MA graduates are for careers in teaching, public history and archives, or other fields.
Date of Most Recent Program Review:
We have taken several steps to expand and refine the skills that MA students gain in our program and the competencies they can take with them into the job market. Our primary achievement this year (several years in preparation) is the inauguration of the new Digital Humanities Graduate Certificate.
The DH certificate program is directed by a faculty member (currently Marilynn Johnson of the History Department), and has a board of advisors from humanities departments. The program is a collaborative effort between humanities departments and the digital scholarship team in O’Neill Library. The DH certificate consists of three courses: an introductory course (taught by digital scholarship librarians, all of them holding doctorates), a second graduate course in which the student completes a DH project, and a capstone course (also taught by digital scholarship librarians). The introductory course was taught for the first time in spring 2021, and attracted 15 students, mostly from the History Department and many of them MA students.
For more information on the DH certificate program see https://www.bc.edu/content/bc-web/schools/mcas/departments/history/graduate/certificate-in-digital-humanities.html .
This year two of our faculty members (Virginia Reinburg, DGS, and Dana Sajdi, director of graduate placement) attended a Career Diversity Institute sponsored by the American Historical Association. As a result of what they learned, the department plans to take a closer look at the learning objectives of the MA program next year. An issue on our agenda is how well prepared our MA graduates are for careers in teaching, public history and archives, or other fields.
Attachments (if available)