In accordance with the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) Institutional Quality Assurance Process (IQAP), this Final Assessment Report (FAR) provides a synthesis of the external evaluation and internal response and assessments of the undergraduate programs offered by the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities in Political Science. This report identifies the significant strengths of the programs, together with opportunities for improvement and enhancement, and sets out and prioritizes the recommendations that have been selected for implementation.
This report includes an Implementation Plan that identifies who will be responsible for approving the recommendations set out in the Final Assessment Report; who will be responsible for providing any resources entailed by those recommendations; any changes in organization, policy or governance that will be necessary to meet the recommendations and who will be responsible for acting on those recommendations; and timelines for acting on and monitoring the implementation of those recommendations.
Overview of Program Review Process
The Program Self-Study Report was completed in August 2022. For the programs under review (B.A. (Honours) Political Science and B.A. Political Science) it contained the degree level expectations for these programs, an analytical assessment of the programs, course outlines, program-related data, survey data from the Office of Quality Assurance and appendices with sample examinations and CVs of faculty members. For the External Review Committee (ERC), two arm’s-length external reviewers, Dr. Marc Doucet (Professor, Department of Political Science, Saint Mary’s University), and Dr. Gilbert Gagné (Professor, Department of Politics and International Studies, Bishop’s University) were selected from a list of possible reviewers and approved by the Dean of Social Science and Humanities. An internal reviewer, Dr. Greg Phillips (Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Dean of Engineering, Royal Military College) was also selected for participation on the ERC. They reviewed the self-study documentation and conducted an on-site visit to RMC from 16 to 17 January 2023. During the site visit, the ERC met with the VP Academic, the VP Research, the Director of Quality Assurance, the Dean of Social Science and Humanities, the Head of Department of Political Science and Economics, the Head of Political Science Program, faculty members, students registered in the programs under study, the librarian-in-chief, the PE curriculum program coordinator, the Director of the Success Centre, the Director of the Writing Centre, and the AVP in Indigenous Learning and Knowledge.
The reviewers submitted their report on 22 February 2023. In their report, the ERC expresses the opinion that this program conforms to normal expectations for an undergraduate degree, noting, of course, the unusual and unique role and mission of the Royal Military College of Canada in training officers for a career in the Canadian Armed Forces.
Significant Strengths and Areas of Concern of the Program
The ERC identified a number of strengths of the Political Science program:
- The program is well-regarded judging by the formal responses to surveys, and the feedback that we received from both current students, alumni and faculty;
- The resolve of Faculty to the success of students within the Political Science program at RMC Kingston in difficult circumstances (opening of St-Jean with a program in International studies and COVID); and
- The Department of Political Science and Economics has done its best to respond satisfactorily to the 2015 External Review Committee’s major concern regarding the quality of the Faculty (some members would not be competitive applicants at other Canadian universities). Since, all new hires are active, qualified scholars, which addressed the concerns raised by the 2015 External Review Committee.
The ERC identified a number of areas of concern for the Political Science program, all of which affect RMC’s ability to offer a program that matches or exceeds the quality of programs elsewhere:
- The program does not reflect the state of the discipline as it pertains to gender and politics;
- The program needs to indigenize its curriculum
- The normal teaching load in the Political Science department is higher than other departments at RMC and than other universities in Canada. This inequity is an obstacle to faculty's ability to maintain active high quality research agendas, thus reducing the quality of the program;
- The disjuncture between military and civilian faculty with respect to benefits and responsibilities constitutes a barrier to an active research agenda;
- There is a lack of incentives for research, post-graduate supervisions and administrative tasks;
- Lack of library and research resources; and
- The creation of an International Studies program at RMC St. Jean is more than likely to have adverse consequences for the Political Science program at RMC Kingston with respect to the number of Francophone students and the availability of courses in French.
The Program Chair, after consultation with faculty and staff in the programs, submitted a response to the ERC Report on 2 June 2023. The interim Dean of Social Science and Humanities prepared this Final Assessment Report on July 17, 2023. The newly nominated Dean of Social Sciences and Humanities made a few adjustment to this Report. Specific recommendations are discussed, and follow-up actions and timelines provided.
Summary of the Reviewers’ Recommendations with Dean’s Responses
The ERC identified several areas of concern or issues that require attention. These issues are discussed in the order that they appear in the ERC Report:
Recommendation 1
The Committee recommends the mainstreaming of gender in the Political Science curriculum. This is to be achieved as the Department sees fit. This includes, but is not exclusive of, specific courses dealing with gender and politics. This recommendation reiterates a recommendation made in the previous external review but not implemented, as acknowledged. The mainstreaming of gender and politics could be considered as part of the short-term curriculum consolidation exercise, the reassessment of the Geography option, and the proposed certificate programs, identified by the Department in its Self-Study. Mainstreaming gender in a broader range of course offerings could also be considered as part of the Department’s suggested plan to reassess its departmental mission statement and as an exercise in thinking about the long-term future of the Political Science program at RMC Kingston.
Departmental Response:
The department will work with professors offering existing courses at RMC/CFC to make content available for onsite and online undergraduate students. The recommendation to this effect in the previous IQAP external review was not implemented because the department was designing and implementing a new structure for its program as a whole, shifting it from five fields to three streams. The plan was that once that transformation happened, the department could then turn to issues like developing courses specific to gender. Now that the three stream structure is in place, the department is about to engage in a curriculum review, which will prioritize gender mainstreaming. As a first step, the department has initiated a new course on gender. We expect the new gender course to go to be adopted at Syllabus committee this fall.
Dean’s Response:
The Dean of SSH agrees that gender mainstreaming is important and that the department should pay attention on how to integrate it into programmes and courses. The integration is a long-term strategy that goes hand in hand with specific measures that reduce inequality and increase equality. It is important that members of the department begin – as soon as possible – to reassess their courses and curriculums by looking at their content, implementation and development activities. This reassessment might be – as suggested by the ERC committee – a way to think about the future of the POL programme at RMC. It is suggested that the department meet sooner rather than later to discuss ways to implement and/or improve gender mainstreaming across the curriculum. Of notice, since the department produced its answer above, the new gender course has been proposed and was adopted by the Syllabus Committee.
Recommendation 2
The Committee recommends that the Department give consideration to expanding the indigenization of the curriculum in ways that complement POE301 Indigenous Issues in Canadian Politics. As with recommendation one (1), indigenizing the curriculum could be considered as part of the short-term course consolidation work and the renewal of the Department’s mission statement identified as action areas in the Self-Study.
Departmental Response:
A committee on the Indigenization of curriculum for RMC is pending. This College-wide committee includes a representative from this department. Since departmental efforts need to be guided by College-wide principles on the Indigenization of curriculum the Department will consult with Dr. Danielle Lussier on interim efforts pending a College-wide policy. The Department will identify a SME for continuous engagement on this issue and maintain a departmental input.
Dean’s Response:
The focus of recommendation 2 follows the points already mentioned in recommendation 1. While the course (POE301) is a good example on how Indigenous perspectives could be integrated into the POL curriculum, there is a need to incorporate Indigenous knowledge in other courses in order to reach students at different level of their learning journey. As mentioned in recommendation 1, it is suggested that members of the department meet sooner rather than later to discuss ways to implement this recommendation. The Dean strongly encourages the department to consult Dr. Danielle Lussier, associate vice-principal, Indigenous knowledge and learning in order to consult regarding the best practices for incorporating and integrating Indigenous knowledge into courses and curriculum. To avoid overburdening Dr. Lussier, who is servicing all RMC departments, it is recommended that the Chair of the Political science program coordinate individual efforts of the faculty members of the department and meet her, instead of faculty members asking for each and every course individually.
Recommendation 3
The Committee concurs with the Program’s Self-Study and recommends, for sake of equity, an end to the discrepancy in the number of courses per year Faculty have to teach across departments and/or fields at RMC. As noted previously, this discrepancy is at odds with what is, save for perhaps exceptional individual cases or lecturer stream hires, a standard of equal course distribution among cognate programs in most faculties of Social Sciences in Canada.
Departmental Response:
[Two years ago] the College established a committee to examine the question of workload equity. The Department’s understanding is that this committee has a draft report in place. If that report recommends a change that would bring the course loading for Politics in line with the rest of the College and other Canadian universities, the Department will focus on ensuring that the policy is implemented.
Dean’s Response:
This recommendation highlights the continuing discrepancy of the number of courses the faculty members deliver per semester. The Dean of SSH agrees that a workload report is needed in order to make a sound decision on the issue. However, the RMC Joint Committee on Workload has yet to produce their report, and it is difficult to foresee their answer on that particular issue. While the whole college is waiting for the report’s recommendations, it is suggested that a departmental committee begins evaluating the impact (e.g., courses not offered) of 5 courses instead of 6. When the report is made available, the departmental members would be ready to implement what is suggested by the report, knowing what is and not feasible.
Once results from the committee are received, the Dean will ascertain the implementation within the Faculty of SSH to ensure consistency across all programs.
Recommendation 4
The [External Review] Committee recognizes that many of the administrative hurdles identified by Faculty during the review, which were also highlighted in the Program’s Self-Study, are beyond the control of the Department. Nonetheless, where warranted, the Committee recommends that the Department examines how it might reduce, through its own internal processes, the administrative hurdles faced by Faculty, notably in their research endeavours. This process of rethinking the Department’s support for Faculty research should be considered as part
of the Department’s review of its mission statement.
Departmental Response:
As the External Review Committee indicated, many of these obstacles exist outside Departmental control. The Department will, however, ensure that its new mission statement includes a firm statement on the importance of research excellence as a means to fulfilling the College mission. The Department will also continue to advocate for change where this is possible.
Dean’s Response:
The departmental response is limited and does not fully answer recommendation 4, which highlights hurdles experienced by faculty members. In the Program’s self-study (p.45), hurdles are identified as control over travelling and time to process paperwork for attending conference, as an example. Another hurdle mentioned was the “heavier administrative burden.”
While the Dean of SSH understands that paperwork can be, at times, a burden when professors are travelling to attend conferences, he recommends that faculty members prepare their requests to travel earlier (or in advance) in order to avoid the hurdles mentioned. We cannot forget that RMC is a university and a federal institution. Therefore, RMC does have to follow government regulations. This is an issue falling beyond our control. Operating within the federal framework and within the Department of National Defense imposes a certain number of administrative constraints on us. The freedom to travel is one of them. The possibility of traveling to participate in conferences or to carry out research is always possible, but the travel authorization process, which is based on standards issued outside the College, is long and time-consuming.
The challenges noted above are the result of a virtual shutdown of travel during the COVID-19 pandemic and an administratively burdensome travel approval process. As faculty re-learn how to travel, it is important to note that a new travel policy will soon be in place. This is an issue that affects the entire College, and not just the Department of Political Science and Economics. With this new policy, approval procedures will be modified, as will the distribution of tasks relating to the preparation of travel requests among administrative support staff. The implementation of this new policy will be a good opportunity to educate staff on these new procedures and facilitate the entire process. As for the burden of administrative tasks and duties, the Dean recognizes that these tasks and duties can be a challenge when a department is small. However, it is important to remember that each faculty member is evaluated on the service to the college, department or/and to the profession. Unfortunately, some members have accepted duties and tasks beyond what is required (20%). As you have new hires in your department, a redistribution of tasks and duties is suggested to prevent an imbalance in service between faculty members. The Dean also suggests that departmental members meet to discuss which tasks and duties they would accept as a department.
Recommendation 5
The [External Review] Committee concurs with the Program’s Self-Study and recommends that mechanisms be put in place to help cooperation, limit overlap and maximize complementarity between the Political Science program at RMC Kingston and the International Studies program at RMC St. Jean. The Committee is of the view that given the small number of Francophone students, a collaborative approach with the new program at RMC St. Jean, emphasizing the Department’s existing strengths in terms of courses offered in French by Faculty whose research is complementary to the RMC St. Jean, is likely the best approach in the short-to-medium term.
Departmental Response:
Department Head, Program Chair, with the Program Chair of MSS will open regular communication with RMC-SJ faculty. Expanding dual-delivery and online options for RMC and RMC-SJ students as well as conducting regular surveys of student demand for elective courses will be the basis for planning.
Dean’s Response:
Undeniably, the offering of an International Studies program at RMC St-Jean had an impact on the Politics programmes as they offer some courses that can be accepted in both programmes and cater – to a certain extend – the same clientele, especially the francophone students. The Dean supports the ERC recommendation and agrees that courses taught at RMC can be offered to RMC St-Jean students (and vice versa). While this initiative is possible (and encouraged), the department – in close collaboration with the Registrar- should examine the challenges (e.g., scheduling) of such an exchange. This initiative is supported by the RMC interim Principal, the RMC-SJ Academic director and the Dean of SSH.
Efforts should continue to coordinate and implement synchronous delivery between RMC Kingston and RMC St-Jean. The next step is to seek the RMC-SJ’s COC supports ongoing efforts to coordinate synchronous delivery of courses between the two institutions. The intent is to ensure that future efforts are prioritized by the DND COC.
Recommendation 6 to 8
These recommendations were developed by the program following the submission of the external review committee (ERC) report. RMC deems it is appropriate to include recommendations that were generated from the internal review process even if they have not been specifically commented on by the ERC. The Program will provide no response as they are the authors of these recommendations.
Dean’s Responses
The recommendations 6 to 8 listed in the Implementation plan below are fully supported by the Dean of SSH. It is recommended that student input be included in the Committee’s review as this will further facilitate communication and promoting the program.
Implementation Plan
| Recommendation | Proposed Follow-up | Responsibility for Leading Follow-up | Timeline for Addressing Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. The Committee recommends the mainstreaming of gender in the Political Science curriculum. | Program will work with professors offering existing courses at RMC. | Department Head and departmental members | In fall 2023, the course on Gender issues was proposed and approved. The course will be offered for the first time during AY 2024-25. |
| 2. The Committee recommends that the Department consider expanding the indigenization of the curriculum. | A committee on the Indigenization of curriculum for RMC is pending. Will require departmental input. Dept. will identify SME within for continuous engagement. |
Department Head; Departmental members; Associate Vice principal: Indigenous, Knowledge and Learning |
Autumn 2023 through Fall 2025. Evaluation of progress Summer 2024 and Summer 2025 |
| 3. The Committee recommends ending the discrepancy in teaching loads across departments at RMC. | The Dept. will review the findings of the workload committee report. Subsequent recommendations for work reductions will be reviewed by the Dean to ensure consistency across all program. |
Department Head; Dean of SSH; VPA; Principal; CMCFA |
Fall 2023 with completion after the report on Workload |
| 4. The Committee recommends that the Department examine how to reduce administrative hurdles faced by Faculty, notably in their research endeavours. | Department will review and make recommendations to the Dean of SSH on possible improvements. |
Department Head; Departmental members; Dean of SSH; Principal; CMCFA |
Proposal to the Dean of SSH by Winter 2025 |
| 5. The Committee recommends that mechanisms be put in place to help cooperation, limit overlap and maximize complementarity between the Political Science program at RMC Kingston and the International Studies program at RMC St. Jean. | The Dept. Head of Politics with Program Chair of MSS to open regular communication with RMC-SJ faculty. The department representative in existing discussions with RMC-SJ will propose establishing a more institutionalized arrangement for cooperation and discussion. Discussion will include the expansion of dual-delivery and online options for RMC and RMC-SJ students. As a preliminary step the Dean of SSH will speak with Dr. Parenteau to determine RMC-SJ support. |
Department Head; RMC registrar; Dean of SSH; CMR’s Director of Academics |
Updated annually in June |
| 6. Review Curriculum and course offerings |
Department head to establish a committee(s) to complete the following tasks:
|
Dept. Head; Person in charge (faculty member) |
Fall 2024 – Winter 2025 |
| 7. Develop a communications strategy to ensure students have a better understanding of the structure of the program and its requirements | Dept. Head to designate faculty member to complete this task. Use of student forum on Moodle as a communications tool. |
Dept. Head; Person in charge (faculty member) |
Updated annually in June |
| 8. Promote Politics major to Francophone students | Reach out to first year Francophone students to encourage them to choose Politics as a major. Consider appointing an academic advisor for Francophone students. |
Dept. Head; Person in charge and Student representative |
Updated annually in June |
Conclusion:
The ERC Report provided positive feedback on the outcomes of the undergraduate programs in Political Science and confirmed that RMC generally succeeds in accomplishing its mission and providing its students with a sound liberal arts education, as provided in other small-size universities in Canada and elsewhere. However, the ERC did identify areas that had room for improvement, and RMC is taking steps to address the issues raised. RMC notes that the ERC identified areas of concerns (5 to 7) not included in the recommendations, we will continue to work toward program enhancement and improve student success in the Political Science program.
The Dean of Social Science and Humanities, in consultation with the program Department Head for Political Science, is responsible for monitoring the Implementation Plan.