Department Initiatives Research Articles

Student satisfaction with initiatives for the national examination during the COVID-19 pandemic.

[Purpose] To examine the impact of the state of emergency declared with the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID) on the initiatives for the national examination. [Participants and Methods] The participants were 257 students who graduated from the International University of Health and Welfare, in March of the years 2019–2021 (non-COVID group; graduation in 2019 and 2020, COVID group; graduation in 2021). The levels of satisfaction with the department’s initiatives, test scores, and frequency of mock examinations were assessed using a visual analog scale. [Results] The COVID group was significantly more satisfied with the department’s initiatives and frequency of mock examinations than the non-COVID group. [Conclusion] The results suggest that despite the pandemic, it is possible to improve student satisfaction through measures to familiarize students with the examination.

Overcoming Curricular Bifurcation: A Departmental Approach to Curriculum Reform1

AbstractThe collegiate foreign language profession has become increasingly aware of the unnecessarily detrimental effects of bifurcated curricula on student learning and departmental governance, yet there have been few instances to date of departments that have been able to achieve unified, articulated programs of study. This article presents one foreign language department's initiatives and activities to do just that. We describe the collaborative process that the German Studies Department at Emory University underwent in its full‐scale revision of the undergraduate curriculum. The chairperson begins the description by explaining his role in the reform process. Other faculty members continue the description by outlining the institutional and department context, the impetus for reform, the curriculum's theoretical framework, and the different curricular levels. An ongoing, multi‐year project, the revised curriculum has placed demands on students and faculty but also indicated promise for enhanced departmental identity and student learning.

Put an end to triage by practice receptionists

Having returned to practice nursing two years ago, I am increasingly horrified by the over use of antibiotics. Given the health department's initiatives for cutting down their use, the theory/practice gap is a huge abyss.

Creating Partnerships in Developing School Leaders: Florida State University's Specialist Degree Program in Educational Leadership

During the decade of the 1980s, the Department of Educational Leadership at Florida State University became proactive in its orientation to legislative efforts to improve the quality of school-based leadership throughout the state of Florida. The department's early initiatives set the foundation for creating a variety of partnerships with school districts, other universities and national organizations that would refocus the department's vision for leadership development of school personnel. What might have been the onset of reduced credibility and influence for the department and the university, became instead a window of opportunity for productive collaboration and program restructuring. This paper presents an abridged documentation of the restructuring that has occurred in the department's program of Educational Administration during the late 1980s and early ‘90s. It describes from a faculty member's perspective the historical context for the department's initiatives, the creation of a variety of partnerships with other organizations and the installation of a new field-based specialist degree program in educational leadership. Finally, the paper addresses a few of the key lessons learned about collaboration during the evolution of partnerships and program.