WASC Testimonials

Jim Keville

Assistant Professor of Art, Visual Arts Department, CSUDH

I am a Assistant Professor in the Art Department, full time for a year and a half and previosly an adjunct instructor six years prior. I got my bachelors and masters degree from UCLA in the Design Department focusing primarily on ceramics. I also have a deep seeded interest in photography. I have been doing quite a bit of digital photography lately and had a opportunity to teach digital photography here for the first time.

What is your area of faculty expertise?

My area of expertise is ceramics and 3D sculpture and my knowledge of digital photography has allowed me to teach in that area as well.

When did you join the campus community?

As a part timer about 7 years, but as a full time instructor I joined last year.

In which Center for Teaching and Learning programs did you participate?

I was part of the new Faculty Success Seminar, which they did last fall semester. We met about five Fridays during the course of the 2007 semester. All the full time hires attended and they went over things like how to create a really successful syllabus, talked about incorporating writing into curriculum a little bit. They had different people from different departments come in and introduce us to quick think exercises that we could include in our classes. One of the things that I found particularly helpful was the explanation of the RTP process and how we were able to practice it and submit some drafts and it made the whole RTP process feel less intimidating. I felt really prepared when I turned in my first large scale WPAF. It also introduced me to other people from other departments outside of the Art Department. It has made a stronger sense of community here.

Do you feel that you’re networking more with colleagues from cross disciplines?

I am a member of the General Education Committee. I am interacting with members from other departments. It is giving me ideas for our own department. In regard to going to the Dean’s Office and meeting people there, it is creating a sort of cross pollenization. Hopefully people from our department will come on board.

How have they programs assisted you as a new member of the CSUDH faculty?

I was talking to Michele Allan about that. She said that when she came in as a full-time, there was no orientation. She said she wished some sort of program had existed when she came on. I had a good syllabus when I was a part-timer, but there were certain elements that needed a adjustment to make them stronger. The Faculty Success Seminar helped me find them and improve them. I just think that the RTP process was a big one because people talk about that. There are all these scary ideas of what it means and what they had to do. It didn’t turn our as bad as you might think in the beginning.

What kind of things do you have put do in the RTP process?

In the RTP process you, which stands for retention tenure promotion, you include a narrative about your teaching and how you find that it was effective. How well your students accomplished what you tried to teach.

How do you measure your outcomes?

Primarily through student work. I tell them what my expectations are, I tell them what my grading criteria are, then they come back and I evaluate it. It is very difficult to judge creative work and put a value on it. At least with regard to technical ability and measuring growth. If the student starts out at one area and shows growth and development over the course of the semester that is one way of measuring the outcomes that they have improved. They come away from it with a new experience. They demonstrate that they understand the concepts and skills that they were taught. The other thing about the PTE form is the student evaluation. I find it useful, but not as useful as seeing actual work within the student through a portfolio. At the end of the semester you look at the body of work the student created and look at that progress.

Anything else you want to add?

Michele Allan is my mentor in the program and depending on who you mentor is, she was very approachable anytime I needed a question answered I could ask her. Most of those questions revolved around student advisement. That was something new to me as a full time vs. a adjunct professor when a student asked me about what courses they should take next semester. Michelle had a form that I adjusted to fit with Studio Art. Hers was more designed for Graphic Design Option. Then of course helping student refer to the Catalog and helping the students understand the Catalog and what the requirements are. I always would tell the students to come next semester and come and see me and based on what courses were offered which would the student need to take, and to help them graduate in a timely fashion and aren’t here for five and six years. From the people that I talked to that went through it, they had a favorable opinion on it.

- Donna Cruz