2022-23 Unit Plan
Philosophy

Mission Statement

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

Program Description

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 global cultures. 

PHIL-006 (Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking) and PHIL-008 (Methods of Argument) meet the CSU and IGETC Critical thinking requirements.

PHIL-016 (Western Religions) and PHIL-018 (Eastern Religions) are part of the Certificate of Achievement Certificate in Peace and Global Studies.

Student Learning/Administrative Unit Outcomes

In 2021FA, Philosophy teaching faculty were asked to assess the alignment of our cSLOs (course-level SLOs) with our new Program Learning Outcomes.

Here are the PLOs:

Upon successful completion of the program, the student will be able to:

1. Analyze and evaluate arguments from philosophical and non-philosophical sources.

2. Identify philosophical principles and concepts as they developed in the history of philosophy.

3. Discuss and evaluate claims and arguments from the main branches of philosophy, including logic, metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics.

4. Formulate and defend philosophical positions in response to the diverse assumptions and viewpoints shaping human lives.

The results, with comments from faculty who teach the various sections, can be found here:

http://airtable.com/invite/l?inviteId=invFXhuHKe2WYtZqm&inviteToken=6728cb9d265bc640e59298b0dd859f4ac970c9291945c847bf5ee683ad96076a&utm_source=email

In general, we found good alignment of our cSLOs with our PLOs, though the six cSLOs for PHIL-008 tend to be repetitious and it's recommended the department pare them down as part of Curriculum Review.

Standards/Goals for Student Achievement (Instruction Departments)

Success and retention

The 2021 overall success rate of 66% is below the Vision for Success scorecard goal for 2021-2022 of 75%, though more limportant is the improvement within the Department from 2016 (54% success) to 2021 2021 (66%). There was a rise after the Camp Fire but it's unclear the underlying statistical reasons for an anomalous time. The retention rate of 83% in 2021 has remained relatively stable throughout the time period on the graph and far exceeds the 2021-2022 Vision for Sucess goal of 73%.

success and retention

While the sucess/retention metrics are on a hopeful trajectory, the FTES generated by Philosophy has shown a significant drop since 2016. There are a number of factors at play:

The department has lost two FT Philosophy faculty who have not been replaced; Ric Machuga retired in 2016 and Wei-Ming Wu in 2018.
With the Philosophy AA-T only just recently approved, all of our Philosophy courses have until now silmply been part of a large GE menu from which students could choose.
In the early part of the 21st century, with some 10 FT and PT faculty, there were half a dozen or so of PHIL-006 (Intro to Logic) classes, which counted as a critical thinking course, and six or eight PHIL-018 (Eastern Religion) sections, which counted as "non-Western" (now Global Studies) for Chico State transfers; though even then, ENGL-011 (the critical thining IGETC class) had some 8 sections, the last few years as the number of Logic sections has diminished (to 3 or 4), the number of ENGL-011 sections has multipled (17), and the implementation of AB 705 has, in our estimation, exacerbated the trend, and we also think that the new Ethnic Studies requirement will impact PHIL-018, which offers just one section each semester (it is a course recommended by those going into Allied Health, though it's not known how or if the new requirement will impact the course).
Unlike ENGL, POLS, HIST and COMM (which also teaches a critical thinking course), PHIL has no state-required courses. So an alternative "pipeline" is needed.

Demographics matter, and one of the questions we must consider as a college is how smaller departments can be sustained, and not just sustained, but resourced so they can prosper.

FTES

Standards/Goals for Student Achievement (All Other Departments)

Strategic Direction

The PHIL Department, with its new AA-T degree, can help improve student educational goal completion through integration with Guided Pathways and the Explorer Pathway Project (in which the department is participating).

Philosophy Faculty are being trained in creating anti-racist classrooms; they have presented flex workshops on the meaning of Critical Race Theory (and the myths surrounding it in the media) and how to read older works with an equity lens. Additionally, FT faculty Dan Barnett is part of the year-long Cultural Awareness Commuinity of Practice program, which meets for 3.5 hours each month, as well as FAIR Classrooms, and a book discussion group considering Dr. Gina Garcia's "How To Become An Hispanic Serving Institution." This work helps forward a number of strategic directions, including becoming a signifcant HSI institution that intentionally contributes to the success of Latinx students.

Program Review

The Philosophy Department is scheduled for Curriculum Review in 2022FA and to complete its Program Review 2023FA.

We have completed all of the recommendations from last Program Review.

Key accomplishments:

Development and approval of AA-T in Philosophy
Creation of PHIL-004 (Ethics and the Good Life) and PHIL-010 (Ancient Philosophy) as core courses.

Department Goals


Increase support for students taking PHIL-006 (Intro to Logic & Critical Thinking)
Create and develop a Philosophy Club for majors and non-majors
Sponsor a campus-wide theme of "Home" (in all its aspects) for 2022-2023
Focus on expanding enrollment by promoting Philosophy AA-T
Hire a full-time instructor

Future Development Strategies

Strategy 1 - Develop Student-Centric Schedule

Strategic scheduling analysis - identify optimal day/times/locations for face-to-face courses
Develop more online courses to meet student demand
Schedule and publicize late-start courses to meet demand of Butte College and Chico State students who may need additional units or a critical thinking course
Analyze Philosophy offerings for Winter and Summer terms in light of student needs
Strategically open new online sections to relieve waitlist pressure

Initiatives

Enhancing a Culture of Completion and Goal Achievement
Supporting Student, Faculty and Staff Success
Using Data-Informed Processes for Continuous Improvement

Supporting Rationale

Provide a variety of options to meet student needs

Supporting Rationale Alignment
Supports the College's Strategic Direction and Priorities: Yes
Supports Program Review Recommendations: No
Supports Course level SLOs: No
Supports PLOs: No
Supports ILO - Think Critically: No
Supports ILO - Communicate Competently: No
Supports ILO - Engage Collaboratively: No
Supports ILO - Work Effectively: No
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Credentials: No
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Transfer: Yes
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Time to Degree: No
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Employment in field of Study: No
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Reducing Equity Gaps: Yes

Strategy 2 - Work With CAS To Develop Consistent Availability of Logic Tutors

PHIL-006 (Introduction to Logic) introduces deductive, inductive, and scientific argumentation and proves to be a challenge for many students.

Especially with online class sections, students find they need more than text, videos, and demonstrations; they need just-in-time in-person or online help (including tutoring). Office hour meetings with instructors can be helpful, as well as the use of NetTutor, but both can present barriers especially to students who could benefit most from the services.

In the past, tutors were drawn from interested PHIL-006 students and had very few hours in CAS and received very little use in a kind of chicken-egg problem. We propose working with CAS to see if certain more regular tutors (in MATH, for example) might be able to extend their work to include Intro to Logic.

We would also want to work with CAS for such tutors to use Pisces or other software for online tutoring.

Initiatives

Enhancing a Culture of Completion and Goal Achievement
Supporting Student, Faculty and Staff Success
Maximizing Resources to Support Student Learning
Enhancing a Culture of Equity and Inclusiveness

Supporting Rationale

This strategy aims directly at increasing student success

Supporting Rationale Alignment
Supports the College's Strategic Direction and Priorities: Yes
Supports Program Review Recommendations: No
Supports Course level SLOs: Yes
Supports PLOs: No
Supports ILO - Think Critically: Yes
Supports ILO - Communicate Competently: Yes
Supports ILO - Engage Collaboratively: Yes
Supports ILO - Work Effectively: Yes
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Credentials: No
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Transfer: Yes
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Time to Degree: No
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Employment in field of Study: No
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Reducing Equity Gaps: Yes

Strategy 3 - Extend Awareness of AA-T in Philosophy

The Philosophy Department at Chico State supports the need and importance of the AA-T Philosophy degree at Butte College. Philosophy courses sharpen student thinking, writing and oral skills, preparing students for careers in education, law, medicine, business, journalism, ministry, and government.

Since PHIL as a discipline has no state-mandated courses (as does ENGL, COM, POLS, HIST and MATH), we must develop another pipeline for attracting interest majors (or non-majors who want Phil courses for GE).

To that end we propose the following:

Develop a Butte College Philosophy Club - At least five students are needed before the club can be established on BC Connect; each current Philosophy instructor asks students if they are interested and forwards responses tothe Advisor (the FT faculty member).
Sponsor a campus-wide, year-long project involving voices from across disciplines and staff departments centering on the idea of "Home," defined in a variety of ways--from finding or moving to a home to losing a home or what home means. The goal is to unite the campus community in hearing diverse stories and responses to the idea of "home" as well as to promote the existence of the AA-T. Presentations can be varied and the department would like to award some token to each participant (from poetry to contruction management to DSPS to unhoused students to retirees and on and on).
Continue promoting the AA-T at various campus events, like Welcome Days.

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

Supporting Rationale

Development of the AA-T in Philosophy helps meet institutional goals by increasing the degrees offered and fitting into the Guided Pathways schema, as well as offering students a more consistent and directed Philosophy experience at Butte College.

Supporting Rationale Alignment
Supports the College's Strategic Direction and Priorities: Yes
Supports Program Review Recommendations: Yes
Supports Course level SLOs: Yes
Supports PLOs: No
Supports ILO - Think Critically: Yes
Supports ILO - Communicate Competently: Yes
Supports ILO - Engage Collaboratively: Yes
Supports ILO - Work Effectively: Yes
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Credentials: No
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Transfer: Yes
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Time to Degree: Yes
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Employment in field of Study: No
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Reducing Equity Gaps: No

Strategy 4 - Align Online Philosophy Courses With CVC Rubric

The CVC (California Virtual Campus) has found that student success improves when online courses are "fully resourced" (e.g., with online tutoring, counseling, proctoring, video chat sessions) and aligned to the CVC rubric.

CVC Rubric: http://onlinenetworkofeducators.org/course-design-academy/online-course-rubric/

Accordingly, strategies for improving student success in online Philosophy courses include:

Participation in local POCR (Peer Onine Course Review) groups (see http://onlinenetworkofeducators.org/course-design-academy/pocr-resources/)
Review of courses in light of the Online Equity Rubric (http://web.peralta.edu/de/equity-initiative/equity/) developed by the Peralta Community College District
Provision of professional development workshops and stipends to enable online Philosophy instructors to bring their courses into alignment with the CVC rubric
Submission of aligned courses for a final review by the statewide CVC standards group

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

Alignment of online Philosophy courses not only raises the quality of such courses but helps meet equity goals determined by the institution.

Supporting Rationale Alignment
Supports the College's Strategic Direction and Priorities: Yes
Supports Program Review Recommendations: No
Supports Course level SLOs: Yes
Supports PLOs: No
Supports ILO - Think Critically: Yes
Supports ILO - Communicate Competently: Yes
Supports ILO - Engage Collaboratively: Yes
Supports ILO - Work Effectively: Yes
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Credentials: No
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Transfer: Yes
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Time to Degree: Yes
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Employment in field of Study: No
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Reducing Equity Gaps: Yes

Strategy 5 - Hire a Full Time Philosopher

· Hire a full time faculty member before retirement considerations are made to help new faculty successfully transition into a lead role with the AA-T degree and student transfer goals.

Initiatives

Enhancing a Culture of Completion and Goal Achievement
Supporting Student, Faculty and Staff Success

Supporting Rationale

Supporting Rationale Alignment
Supports the College's Strategic Direction and Priorities: Yes
Supports Program Review Recommendations: Yes
Supports Course level SLOs: No
Supports PLOs: No
Supports ILO - Think Critically: No
Supports ILO - Communicate Competently: No
Supports ILO - Engage Collaboratively: No
Supports ILO - Work Effectively: No
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Credentials: No
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Transfer: Yes
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Time to Degree: No
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Employment in field of Study: No
Supports Meeting Vision for Success Goal - Reducing Equity Gaps: No

Requested Non-Financial Resources

N/A

Current Financial Resources

N/A

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	Operating Expenses			$552.00	$0.00
Softchalk Software License (1 year renewal)	The continued use of SoftChalk-created content will help PHIL-006 and PHIL-018 courses fully align to CVC Rubric.				Supporting improvements in Student Learning Outcomes Addressing Program Review Recommendations Closing Equity Gaps Meeting student achievement goals (Vision for Success Goals) Meeting enrollment targets
2	Philosophy	Operating Expenses			$1,000.00	$0.00
Promotional Materials	Tangible recognition of participants in year-long, campus-wide "home" theme will help increase awareness of Philosophy AA-T.				Supporting improvements in Student Learning Outcomes Addressing Program Review Recommendations Meeting California Community Colleges Vision for Success Goals Fostering a Culture of Inclusiveness Implementing the college's Strategic Direction Priorities Meeting enrollment targets Closing Equity Gaps Meeting student achievement goals (Vision for Success Goals)