FOLLOW UP

Wishes/Vision:

• Over the past year a new department chair, lifespan and child development faculty member and researcher for the Center on the Family have been hired. A new youth and community development extension agent position to serve Molokai, Maui and Lanai has been filled. Plans for line faculty have been identified and prioritized into seven line positions
  
• More administrative support exists in recognizing and celebrating HR accomplishments than in the past. All associate deans are involved with and supportive of the human resource programs and there is an open door to the Dean
  
• Clearer expectations presently exist from the college with the scholarship unbound concept being more supportive of FCS types
  
• Extension faculty are presently more engaged than two years ago, feeling more supported and thus more pro-active
  
• Certain faculty continue to feel pressured regarding “counts.” Switching people could help in this area to spread the load.
  
• More resources are being provided, with special attention being given to heavy instructional departments
  
• Faculty are being asked to be more accountable, but are getting more support. Faculty also are experiencing greater flexibility to do things they want
  
• For the last 10+ years there has been a 100% success rate for FCS promotion and tenure. There is a feeling that the Dean is more approachable, the paperwork has improved and the process is smoother
  
• The role of extension agents is becoming clearer, also with them knowing more how to report their work
  
• The recent CSREES program review team looked at the department as “free agents” making greater collaboration within the department and within the college as the #1 department goal.
  
• Many FCS faculty are presently doing research through grants buying out their time. Although this enables them to do research, balancing the use of full-time faculty time with the replacement of lecturers will be necessary to maintain program quality
  
• Integration between instruction, research and extension continues to need to be worked on. Although more integration is happening, full integration has not yet occurred
  
• FAMR and APDM have developed program assessment tools that have garnered faculty in these programs assessment grants from the UHM VCAA’s office. These programs have recently put much effort into program assessment and are using it for program improvement. Case-based lectures, models and other innovative things are also being tried.
  
• The FCS department has recently met to establish its three major focuses: Family Life Education, Community Development and Retail seeing these areas as vehicles to not only serve the community, but also create greater collaboration within their department as well as between FCS and other departments in the college.
  
  

Challenges or Barriers:

• There is still some feeling that the agricultural side of the house is more valued than the human resource side, but this feeling is changing. College committees have helped reduce these feelings and further integration of programs is expected to help in this area
  
• Understanding the major tuition dollar contribution of the FCS department to the college, administration has provided additional support for equipment and professional development. Also FCS is provided 80% of the lecturer budget to support its programs.
  
• Although resources continue to be a concern, faculty do not feel as negative as a year ago due to a strong chair and good partnerships with the administration
  
• FCS faculty continue to receive strong course/teaching evaluations and many faculty within this department have received excellence in teaching awards to attest to the quality of their programs. Additionally FAMR and APDM have formal outcomes measurements in place.
  
• Because extension outcomes are harder to measure, CES faculty have taken classes to strengthen this area and recently 4-H won a national award for outcomes measurement
  
• 4-H continues to require more work on its program especially due to the long period of time required to bring students completely through its programs
  
• There continues to be a need to recruit more rural youth to 4-H programs
  
  

Action Strategies:

• The recent CSREES national program review in March, 2003 has helped to articulate the importance and strengths of the human resources part of CTAHR
  
• The needs assessment presently being created due to the review will help to drive the graduate program
  
• New program brochures serving as recruitment materials are being well-received by students (“love them”) and are helping to present the human resources side of the college to the public
  
• The new administration is very aware of the value of the FCS department, not only financially due to its high generation of student tuition dollars, but more importantly for its programs that contribute directly to CTAHR’s goals of strengthening the community and revitalizing the economy.
  
• The new FCS department chair is a very strong advocate for FCS
  
• Recent department meeting and strategizing has brought produced seven prioritized positions the department feels are needed to reach its newly set goals.
  
• The department continues to look for other ways to support the costume collection which requires additional resources for proper maintenance and display
  
• The recent departmental review, followed by a retreat has brought FCS faculty, statewide together to plan joint programs. The recent conversational skills workshops have provided mechanisms to bring faculty together, attending department meetings and workshops while on Oahu
  
• The department has tried the use of technology to bring members together for meetings statewide without faculty leaving their respective islands. Feelings are HITS was not very successful, polycom videoconferencing has worked quite well, but face-to-face meetings are still preferred, accomplished piggy-backing other meetings or events faculty come to Oahu for with department meetings. Adequate advance planning by the new department chair appears to be making more statewide department meetings occur.
  
• Extension is communicating more. Follow through continues to be needed
  
• The recent department review has provided the chair and faculty input for visioning which is now being incorporated into the development of the department’s strategic plan