Assessment Plan and Assessment Mapping: Master of Arts/Sciences in Folklore Studies

We have instituted four points of assessment that all Folklore students must participate in. These are:

All Folklore graduate students must complete a minimum of 30 credits
All Folklore graduate students must write and defend a thesis proposal (Plan A and Plan B)
All Folklore graduate students must write and defend a thesis (Plan A and Plan B)
All Folklore graduate students must fulfill their Program of Study, which will be reviewed by the English department’s Graduate Program Coordinator (GPC) and Director of Graduate Studies (DGS)

Prior to 2022, the Folklore Studies program was a component of the English Department’s MA/MS in American Studies and Folklore and was assessed as such.

In 2022, the newly developed Literature, Culture, and Composition (LCC) specialization of the English MA/MS program absorbed the American Studies graduate program within the English Department, and the Folklore Studies MA/MS program remained as a standalone degree.

During the period between 2018 and 2024, when a restructuring effort for all of the English Department’s graduate programs was in the planning stages and then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, program assessment was put on hiatus across the English Department. As of this year (2024), the Folklore Studies MA/MS has resumed assessment, using the graduate students’ defenses of their thesis proposals and theses as the main marker of success.

As indicated below, each of the graduate courses available for students to fulfill their programs of study have also been assessed for the degree to which they meet each of the program’s learning objectives, with the goal of ensuring a balanced approach to all three objectives across the offerings. In addition to an overview assessment of classes and the ongoing assessment of student defenses, the department’s GPC and DGS will also meet regularly (at least yearly) with students to assess the viability of their individual Programs of Study and the general Folklore Studies Program of Study requirements overall.

L1: Evaluate a range of texts and examine those texts within specific disciplinary frameworks
L2: Express ideas and arguments in well-crafted, convincing forms (written, visual, and oral)
L3: Conduct effective research, locating and analyzing primary and secondary sources using appropriate methods dictated by the relevant discipline(s)

A. Assessment Mapping: Folklore Courses

Folkore graduate students are required to complete a minimum of 30 credits of classes. All classes must be completed with a B- or higher to be counted on a student’s Program of Study. Note that classes from other programs and departments (English, History, Communication & Media) may also be included in the Folklore students’ Programs of Study. As these are classes offered by other degree programs, they are assessed by their own curriculum committees and are included in this document under their appropriate degrees.

Course	L1	L2	L3
ENGL 6700	H	M	H
ENGL 6710	H	M	H
ENGL 6720	H	L	H
ENGL 6730	H	M	H
ENGL 6740	H	M	H
ENGL 6750	H	M	M
ENGL 6760	H	H	H
ENGL 6770	H	H	H

B. Assessment Mapping: Thesis Proposal

Writing a thesis, either Plan A or Plan B, is a requirement of all Folklore graduate students. Students typically write and defend their thesis proposal during the second semester of their first year. Students form a thesis committee of at least three faculty members who are appointed to the graduate faculty: A major advisor, a committee member, and an outside member.

The thesis proposal is a written document produced by the student, revised under the guidance of the thesis advisor, and then shared with the entire thesis committee for defense and approval. Students may be required by the advisor and/or entire committee to revise their thesis proposal multiple times before they are allowed to go to oral defense.

The thesis proposal oral defense results in one of four decisions, which is voted on by the entire thesis committee:

Pass: No revision required. Student may proceed directly to researching and writing the thesis.
Pass with minor revisions: Student may be required to make these minor revisions before he/she is allowed to proceed to the researching/writing of the thesis, or the committee may allow the student to proceed to the researching/writing of the thesis and to address the minor revisions in the thesis itself.
Pass with major revisions: Student may be required to make these major revisions before he/she is allowed to proceed to the researching/writing of the thesis, or the committee may allow the student to proceed to the researching/writing of the thesis and to address the major revisions in the thesis itself.
Fail: Student is required to rewrite most or all of the proposal and must re-sit the oral defense.

Assessment of Learning Objectives: The thesis proposal requires mastery of Learning Objectives 1, 2, and 3. Below is a table that describes how the thesis proposal and thesis proposal defense address the learning objectives.

Event	L1	L2	L3
Oral Defence of Written Thesis Proposal	H	M	H

C. Assessment Mapping: Thesis and Thesis Defense

The thesis is typically written during a student’s second year. The Plan A thesis requires students to enroll in 6 credits over one or two semesters.  The department minimum length for a Plan A thesis is 50 pages, but committees are free to set their own minimum above 50. The Plan B thesis requires students to enroll in three thesis credits. The department minimum for a Plan B is 25 pages, but committees are free to set their own minimum above 25.

When the advisor and/or thesis committee decide the thesis is defendable (sometimes after multiple revisions), the defendable version of the thesis is then shared with the entire committee and an appointment for examination is filed (at least two weeks before the defense date) with the Graduate School.

The thesis defense is an oral examination of the thesis. The thesis oral defense results in one of four decisions, which is voted on by the entire thesis committee:

Pass: No revision of thesis required.
Pass with minor revisions: Student must make minor revisions before submitting the thesis to the Graduate School for review (for Plan A) or the library (for Plan B). Unless the revisions are extremely light, the thesis advisor reviews them to make certain they have been completed satisfactorily.
Pass with major revisions: Student must make major revisions before submitting the thesis to the Graduate School for review (for Plan A) or the library (for Plan B). The thesis advisor and/or entire committee reviews the revised thesis to make certain the revisions have been completed satisfactorily.
Fail: Student is required to rewrite most or all of the thesis and must re-sit the oral defense.

Assessment of Learning Objectives: The thesis and thesis defense require mastery of Learning Objectives 1, 2, and 3. Below is a table that describes how the thesis and thesis proposal defense address the learning objectives.

Event	L1	L2	L3
ENGL 6970: Thesis Credits (Plan A requires 6, Plan B requires 3)	H	H	H
Oral defense of written thesis	H	H	H

D. Assessment Mapping: Completed Programs of Study

Under the guidance of the Graduate Program Coordinator (GPC) and Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), Folklore graduate students develop a Program of Study that draws from classes offered in the English Department and other departments on campus, as long as they meet the requirements of the Program of Study as outlined in the USU Catalog.

At least once a year, the Director of Graduate Studies and the Graduate Program Coordinator meets with all enrolled students to discuss their individual Programs of Study. The Folklore graduate program requires that students take (and pass with a B- or higher) 30 credits of coursework, including a thesis (Plan A or Plan B). The Folklore Studies curriculum committee, in collaboration with the GPC and DGS, monitors the classes being taken by students to determine if the course offerings need to be adjusted.