Justice Studies - Department of Chemistry - San Jose State University

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university, learn about campus resources, organizations, activities, develop study skills, and thelike. Peer mentors are employed in these courses to assist students further in having a successfuluniversity experience. JS 115 also utilizes peer mentors and provides guidance similar to thatoffered in MUSE to juniors who have just transferred from community college to SJSU. JS100W helps students develop appropriate research and writing skills and prepare résumés. JS170 gives students field experience, assists them in connecting their academic studies to the “realworld” in regard to justice, and requires attendance at guest lectures given by speakers from localand national justice organizations.c. Analysis of student surveys: This semester, we have instituted an optional confidentialonline survey for currently enrolled internship students. The survey assesses the students’perceptions of how well the internship experience enhances their oral communication skills,written communication skills, their ability to bridge theory and real world experience, and theiroverall educational experience in Justice Studies. It also asks students how useful the internshipexperience is to help them establish, prepare for, and achieve career goals. It asks several openended questions about their experiences, and concludes by asking them how the internship hasshed light on how justice/injustice operates in the real world.Out of 97 students enrolled, 85 responded to the survey this term, so we achieved an 88%response rate. Results indicate that the students have found the internship program to be anexceptionally valuable experience in all respects. Over three quarters of the students indicatedthat they were regularly given opportunities to enhance their oral and written communicationskills, and 80% felt that their oral communication skills had improved as a result (53% agreedthat their written skills had improved). Nearly 85% of the students felt that their JS classes hadprepared them well for the internship and 92% agreed that they were able to apply their“theoretical” knowledge to understanding what occurs in their internship setting. Nine out of tenstudents felt that the internship experience was an important component of Justice Studieseducation, and nearly that many agreed that it “rounded out their educational experience.”In regard to career goals, all but one student (99%) felt that the internship helped them decide oncareer goals, almost all of them (95%) felt that the experience would help them obtain a positionin their desired field, and 84% felt that the internship was helpful in preparing them for theircareers. Respondents were asked to select up to three terms or phrases that best described theirinternship from a list of positive and negative descriptors. The most frequently selected were,“A valued learning experience,” “beneficial for career,” “interesting,” and “eye-opening.”Finally, when asked to rate the level of insight they had achieved in terms of howjustice/injustice works in the real world, the mean response was 4.02 on a 1-5 scale, with 1equaling no insight, and 5 indicating complete insight.These data indicate that the JS internship program has been very successful in helping studentsbridge the gap between the classroom and the real world, has helped students improve theircommunication skills through multiple modes, and is providing students with a very useful andpractical tool to prepare them for careers in justice related fields.17
4.3 Student Recruitment and Retentiona. Recruitment: JS actively participates in the university-wide summer orientation and yearroundTIP programs, recruits potential students at the now-named SJSU “Preview Day,” offersan Open House at the start of the academic year, and a Career and Internship Fair every spring.Our student groups generally also participate in the department events and the Preview Days.The career fair often draws students from local high schools and community colleges; academicadvising is provided to prospective and current students at the fair. Individual faculty also dooutreach to some area high schools and community colleges through guest lecturing andclassroom visits. Given the profile of JS students in regard to gender and ethnicity, and thenumber of undergraduate majors in the department, these recruitment activities seem sufficient.b. Retention: JS is strongly committed to improving retention. The department feels thatretention could be markedly strengthened through a change in advising procedures, specifically,the hiring and training of a central advisor to provide initial advising to all undergraduates. Suchan advisor would also address JS curricular issues such as JS 100W ensuring that students takethe WST in a timely way, understand how to prepare for the test, and the like. The centraladvisor would also perform directed retention/intervention efforts with struggling students, suchas students on academic probation, before they leave the department or university.In addition, the department’s efforts to increase the diversity of internship placements (seesection 3.4) and to broaden the curriculum’s consideration of cross-cultural issues are also, inpart, efforts to improve student retention.c. Time to graduation: Course scheduling and effective advising are the main ways in whichJS ensures that students graduate in a timely way. In the undergraduate program, multiplesections of required courses are offered each semester on different days and at different timesboth to ensure adequate space in required courses, and to assist students with work/familyconstraints to find courses that fit their schedules. All required classes are also offered at night atleast once each year, and every semester where resources allow. Advisors emphasize the need totake and pass the WST as soon as possible, to take prerequisites and required courses as soon asstudents are eligible to take them, to complete SJSU Studies courses for graduation, to submitmajor forms on time for graduation, and the like. Notices about deadlines, new requirements,etc., are posted on the 5 th floor of MacQuarrie Hall, on the department homepage, and announcedin class.Two courses, JS 100W and JS 159 (the senior capstone), have been bottlenecks in the past. Toalleviate that problem, more sections of JS 100W have been offered (including in summersession where student demand warrants) and instructors carefully check student standing andcompletion of prerequisites to ensure that available spaces are reserved for students with thegreatest need. For JS 159, the department has adopted a procedure in which students cannot preenrollbut instead attend the first class with the necessary documentation. First priority forenrollment is reserved for seniors graduating that semester, and new graduate students needingJS 159 as a prerequisite for graduate study. Second priority is given to seniors graduating thefollowing semester. This procedure has ensured that students do not enroll in JS 159 “early” andtake the spaces needed by graduating seniors.18
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Justice Studies - Department of Chemistry - San Jose State University

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