Political Science

• Certificate (Not Applicable)

   

• Associate Degree (Not Applicable)

   

• Bachelor Degrees

  At the end of their study of Political Science at Weber State University:

  • Students should be able to identify the political institutions and processes of the government of the United States.
  • Students should be able to explain at least one of the following five subfields of the discipline:  American Government and Public Administration, Comparative Politics, International Politics, Public and Constitutional Law, or Political Theory.
  • Students should be able to demonstrate critical thinking skills or formulate and defend a thesis in a written or oral format.
  • Students should be able to use a proper methodology necessary for writing a paper in the field of Political Science.
  • Students should be able to synthesize and demonstrate advanced accomplishment across general and specialized studies.

Political Science, in the broadest sense, is the study of politics particularly as it relates to governments and people. Political scientists study governments: The origins and preconditions for governments, the growth and evolution of governments, and the decline and conflict among governments. Political scientists also are interested in how governments are structured, how governments make decisions, the policies that result from political decisions and the consequences of these policies, and how governments manage societal and international conflicts. Political scientists also study people: Their values and positions on issues, their preferences among candidates, their support for public officials, and their appraisals of their government. True to their oldest academic traditions, political scientists retain their concern with the fundamental questions of how governments ought to be constituted, and how they can best serve their citizens.

The study of political science has value in several different ways. First, it contributes to a solid liberal arts education and preparation for citizenship. The Greek word "idiot" was used to refer to one who took no interest in the affairs of state. Today, no less than twenty centuries later, it is incumbent upon all useful citizens to learn something about the political system in which they will spend their lives. Educated people ought to know something of the nature of government even if they have no professional interest in political science.

Second, a degree in political science furnishes an excellent background for graduate study in political science, law, administration, business, and international relations. Political science helps students develop reasoning and analytical skills and build competence in oral and written expression. In addition, the department of political science requires students to acquire basic skills in statistical analysis and computer competency.

Third, there are some careers for which an extensive training in political science can be most useful. This is true especially for those planning to seek careers in higher education, the legal profession, state and local government, urban planning, the federal bureaucracy, journalism, the military, law enforcement, teaching, the civil service, or in any of the proliferating organizations that seek to monitor the political processes to influence content of public policy. Further, the training students receive in political science will be useful to students no matter what their ultimate career choices.

Political Science Department Website

Program Courses:

• Learning Outcomes 4 and 5 will be assessed in 2015-2016
• Learning Outcome 1 will be assessed in 2016-17
• Learning Outcome 2 and 3 will be assessed in 2017-18
• Learning Outcome 1 will be assessed in 2018-19

American Institutions:

• Pols 1100 will be assessed in 2016-17 and again in 2018-19

Social Science General Education:

• Pols SS 1520, Pols SS 2100, Pols SS 2200, Pols SS 2300, and Pols SS 2500 will be assessed in 2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18. 
• Each course will be assessed once during each academic year for all 3 social science general education learning outcomes.

• 2021-2022

   

• 2019-2020
   
• 2016-2017

  1) Based on your program’s assessment findings, what subsequent action will your program take?

  • We will continue to proceed with gathering assessment data. Nothing in the current data suggests any significant action to be taken.

   

  2) We are interested in better understanding how departments/programs assess their graduating seniors or graduate students. Please provide a short narrative describing the practices/curriculum in place for your department/program. Please include both direct and indirect measures employed. Finally, what were your findings from this past year’s graduates?

  • All of our graduating seniors must take our Pols 4990 Senior Seminar/Thesis where they are required to complete a 20-25 page thesis. This paper is used to conduct our assessment for outcomes 2, 3, and 4. Since we did not conduct assessment on those outcomes this past year, we have no findings to report. 

   

  The full report is available for viewing.

• 2016

  The Political Science Department conducted a 5 year program review with full self-study during the spring of 2016. Those results are presented in place of the Annual Assessment. Please reference those documents for information that includes data for the 2015/16 academic year.

• 2015

  1) Based on your program’s assessment findings, what subsequent action will your program take?

  • First and foremost we will pursue a yearly assessment of our Social Science general education courses beginning this year. Second, we need to work on a better way to have students take the pre-test and post-test for our assessment of the department’s learning outcome #1 in order to insure that the data we collect is significant.

   

  2) Are there assessment strategies within your department or program that you feel are particularly effective and/or innovative? If so, what are those strategies and what do you learn about your students by using them?

  • No. We do not feel that any of our assessment strategies are particularly effective or innovative. We do feel that that they do the job, however. 

   

  The full report is available for viewing.

• 2014

  1) Reflecting on this year’s assessment(s), how does the evidence of student learning impact your faculty’s confidence in the program being reviewed; how does that analysis change when compared with previous assessment evidence?

  • On the whole, the faculty are confident in the direction the department is going with regards to future reviews of our assessment process. 

   
  2) With whom did you share the results of the year’s assessment efforts? 

  • Gail Niklason (Provost’s Office) and Dr. Frank Harrold, Dean of the College.

  
  3) Based on your program’s assessment findings, what subsequent action will your program take?

  • No major action is planned. 

   

  The full report is available for viewing 

• 2013

  1) Reflecting on this year’s assessment(s), how does the evidence of student learning impact your faculty’s confidence in the program being reviewed; how does that analysis change when compared with previous assessment evidence?

  •  On the whole, the faculty are confident in the direction the department is going with regards to future reviews of our assessment process. 

   

  2) With whom did you share the results of the year’s assessment efforts?

  • Gail Niklason (Provost’s Office) and Dr. Frank Harrold, Dean of the College.

  
  3) Based on your program’s assessment findings, what subsequent action will your program take?

  •  No major action is planned. Our goal at this point is to maintain a consistent assessment plan from year to year so that we can begin to collect data that may be meaningful.  

   

  To access the full report, select this link: Political Science 2012/13 Annual Assessment Report

2021-22

2016-17

2011-12