Housed in the Sociocultural Studies Department, History supports student success, completion and transfer. We strive to cultivate in students historical reasoning skills that facilitate life-long learning and that will help them to become contributing members of a diverse society.
History is the study of how the society we live in came to be. Through contemplation and analysis of historical materials, historians interpret the past and construct collective memory. The Associate Degree for Transfer in History supplies students with foundational knowledge in United States and World History, as well as with an introduction to the historical inquiry process. The degree offers two of four courses required in the CSU, Chico major core program, in addition to courses approved as electives in the general history option. With successful completion of the History program, the student will be able to: 1. Identify major developments in the history of the United States and of the world, and to examine the past from diverse perspectives. 2. Apply historical reasoning to the study of the past and to think in terms of causation, context, chronology, and change and continuity. 3. Utilize historical method through posing questions and conducting research, analyzing evidence, and articulating defensible conclusions The courses that comprise the AA-T degree are also for Butte and transfer General Education. With about eighty sections offered each school year, History serves a significant number of students and meets an array of important General Education and transfer requirements. History course offerings are complimented by 2 courses listed under the Humanities discipline title. Currently, there are 2 full-time faculty in History, and 13 associate faculty. In Spring 2019, 82% of courses offered in History are taught by associate faculty. A contributing factor, albeit small, to this percentage is that one of the full-time History instructors has substantial reassign time for other duties on campus.
Full-time Faculty Hire
History was authorized to hire a new full-time faculty with a Fall 2019 start date. The hiring process for this position is currently underway.
History completed its most recent Program Review in May 2010, in conjunction with the Humanities and Philosophy disciplines. Of the Validation Team's ten Recommendations, eight are applicable to History/Humanities. Below is an abbreviated version of the Recommendations, with comments.
- Continue and expand offerings of theme-based history classes. *** History's experiment with theme-based classes was short-lived; the effort was abandoned after one semester. This was not due to lack of interest, though, on the part of students and instructors. Rather, there were logistical obstacles within our current systems (scheduling, classroom space, associate faculty seniority). There is hope that the Guided Pathways model under consideration by Butte College might introduce new avenues (and relevance) for theme-based history classes.
- Two new full-time history instructors to replace retirement and resignations. *** Still to be addressed.
- Evaluate the placement and viability of courses in the Humanities discipline. *** All but two courses in the Humanities discipline have been deleted. The two that remain provide content in the history of Western Civilizations -- areas no longer offered in History (due to changes at the CSU) but desired by some students seeking transfer to a UC. Low enrollments in HUM 17 and HUM 22 in recent semesters, and the college's new program-centered approach, mean that further evaluation of the viability of HUM courses is needed.
- Cross-list HIST 18 with MCS and reapply for HIST 18 to meet the U. S. History requirement for CSU and IGETC. *** Cross-listing of courses is now discouraged by the College's Curriculum Committee. In Fall 2017, HIST 18 was submitted to the CSU to meet the U. S. History requirement; we are awaiting approval.
- Complete SLO assessments and Curriculum Review in the Humanities discipline. *** The Humanities curriculum is current. While assessments are conducted regularly in Humanities courses, there has not been follow through in terms of reporting of "deep dives" in CurricUNET.
- Continue to work on assessment of PLOs. *** History did not have true PLOs back in 2010, as we didn't have a program (degree). Since then, we have implemented the AA-T in History with specific PLOs. Our PLOs are aligned with course SLOs, and PLO assessment has occur through assessments at the course level. A goal for 2018-2019 is to re-conceptualize our deep dive assessment schedule to make it more sustainable and to be more centered on PLOs.
- Work with Administration to ensure adequate and appropriate work space for part-time faculty. *** At the time, associate faculty had just lost access to dedicated work space in the LRC building. Since then, several offices in the LRC have been designated as associate faculty offices.
- Consider providing stipends for part-time faculty to help with department work. *** History had a much larger budget at the time of this Recommendation. It is no longer feasible with our existing budget. And besides, an institution-wide policy/fund for stipending associate faculty would be more appropriate and fair.
- In support of Guided Pathways, sustain a well-defined outreach program to guide and support students who have declared or who are considering a major in History. These efforts will be informed by regular tracking of students who have completed the History program, and collaboration with our Chico State colleagues.
- Identify root causes of History's lower than average course success rate and introduce teaching strategies in order to reach the college standard.
Strategy 1 - Support of Majors
Promotion Strategies:
Tracking Strategies:
To maximize student completion and success, the History degree program must be thoughtfully stewarded. Students must be made aware of the existence of the degree, the potential benefits (and limitations) upon transfer, career prospects, and how best to move through our program and to the next level.
Strategy 2 - Course Success Rate Study
During Fall 2019, the program faculty will review and analyze student success data, including distance education and equity focused data. From the discussion, next steps, strategies and a timeline will be developed for the 2019-2020 academic year.
Course success rates in HIST are at the high end of a five-year range (FA 2012 - FA 2016): 64.7, 65, 62.9, 61.5 and 66.5%. However, the course success rate is significantly lower than the overall college standard of 70%, as well as the course success rate of 72.9% (2015-2016) for all Transfer/GE courses.
The Butte College General Fund is the sole source of financial support for the History discipline. The annual budget allocation is $995.