At present, this page provides alumni with the annual newsletter. This particular newsletter addresses 1998-1999. If you have ideas on how to improve or add to this page, please e-mail 
Susan L. Schrader, Chair of the Department.
This is the second newsletter for Sociology at Augustana. We are enthused about this as a way of communicating with you as alumni. After this mailing, we will be forwarding subsequent summer mailings to you via our webpage; if you are not an Internet user and would continue to appreciate receiving this newsletter, we are hopeful that you will let us know, and we will then send the newsletter to you through U.S. mail. In either case, we are hopeful you will find the Sociology newsletter to be an informative addition to the news you regularly receive through Augustana Today and other college publications.
Six people graduated from Augustana in May with degrees in Sociology. They are Kristoff Baseman, Teri Kerkvliet, Yoko Kitagawa, Lori Mader, Stacy Quissell, and Nicole Woizeschke. Kristoff will be attending Luther Northwestern Seminary, Teri is working with youth in Florida, Yoko has taken a position in Boston, Lori is seeking employment, Stacy will be teaching English in Japan, and Nicole is employed at Citibank. Congratulations to these fine people on their accomplishments here at Augustana! We will miss them!
At long last, we bade a fond farewell to the old Social Science Building "deconstructed" and now a memory! Through the month of June, we have moved into the new Madsen Center a grand facility full of possibilities for teaching and learning. Our offices are located on the first floor of the building. We will be facing the east (toward Summit Avenue). We share the first floor with Social Work, Native American Studies, Psychology, Economics, and Business Administration. Already the interpersonal dynamics are proving interesting (once a sociologist, always a sociologist!)! Second floor of the Madsen Center is occupied by Government, History, and Education; computer services and labs are located in the lower level. You will simply have to come to visit and take a tour!
The "whole department" remains as last year seven of us in three disciplines (Sociology: Glenda Sehested, Susan Schrader, Bill Swart; Social Work: Harriet Scott, Andy Eastwood, Barb Barclay; Native American Studies: Martin Brokenleg).
In Sociology, we (Glenda, Bill, and Susan) began an examination of the Sociology curriculum. As an initial step in this process, some courses with Sociology listings were moved to the Gender Studies Minor, where they rightfully belong. We hope to suggest major changes in year 2000, based in part on the feedback we received from the Alumni Survey (see center page). We also conducted a survey of students enrolled in our courses, to develop a baseline on the degree to which students felt we were accomplishing goals for the major; this data should assist us as we continue to prepare for curricular revision and the upcoming NCATE accreditation in 2001.
We are looking forward to working with the new and returning students as we begin the 1999- 2000 school year. It promises to be a good year!
I'm completing the second year of my term as Chair of the Social Science Division. The new building and moving continue to be consuming projects, with all the usual frustrations of any new building project, especially one catering to the needs of some 50 faculty members. But the frustrations will be worth it when we welcome students to a building specially designed for excellence in education! I know that many of you have contributed to make this dream come true. THANK YOU!
Although my administrative duties are interesting and time-consuming, teaching remains my primary love. In addition to the usual Contemporary Society, Social Theory, and Social Psychology courses (which never become routine because each year brings a new set of students to challenge me to keep learning), I also had the opportunity to teach a Capstone Course for the first time. We called it "The Gender Knot," stealing the title of Allan Johnson's excellent book. (I highly recommend it to you copyright 1997 from Temple University Press.) I was privileged to co- teach the course with Dr. Sandra Looney (English) and Dr. Richard Hanson (Academic Dean and a fellow sociologist). We had 50 graduating seniors with a wide range of majors who proved that excellent and lively discussions can occur even in "big" classes.
I also reviewed several proposed text books for publishers, published a book review, and worked with Susan on preliminary analysis of data on South Dakota centenarians. This summer, Susan and I hope to write an article for publication.
All in all life is good! I sincerely hope that each of you has also had an enjoyable, challenging, and learning-filled year.
This year I taught two sections of Social Science Research Methods, Family, Aging & Society, Social Gerontology, and Contemporary Society. In service- learning capacities, students enrolled in the Methods courses helped with two research studies--entry of data from the Alumni Survey, and the development of a study of ridership for Sioux Falls Transit. Gerontology students were given chances to interact with and learn from elders in the area. Overall, teaching is refreshing and challenging!
My January leave of absence was spent learning about the New Zealand culture. What a marvelous learning experience especially for someone who has never been abroad! I believe that my personal perspective and teaching has been enlivened by this opportunity. If you have a chance to travel, I'd strongly recommend New Zealand in January (their summer)!
In other professional arenas, I succeeded in having an article published in a refereed journal this year, and I made two presentations (one on South Dakota's centenarians with Glenda and the other on Sioux Falls' urban Indian census data) at the Midwest Sociological Society conference in Minneapolis. I enjoy the rigors of being chair and committee participation.
Beyond that, I am blessed with good colleagues and good students. It's been a fun year here at Augustana.
My second year at Augustana College provided many opportunities for development in the areas of teaching and research. The 1998-99 school year saw me though the end of one full teaching rotation, meaning that I have now taught all of my courses at least once, and many of my courses twice. I look forward to being able to build from this foundation in the semesters that follow.
I also traveled to Ireland and Northern Ireland on three occasions during 1998-99. In June '98, I spent three weeks in Ireland doing research on the effects of the European Union on the peace process and national identity in Northern Ireland. During January '99 a colleague and I offered our "Social Conflict and Reconciliation in Ireland" Interim course, and traveled to Ireland with 32 students from the regional Lutheran colleges. We will offer this course again during Interim 2000. Finally, in June '99, I was given the opportunity to participate in a faculty seminar hosted by the Norwegian Nobel Institute on the peace process in Northern Ireland. We are hopeful that in the future, the regional Lutheran colleges might create a joint Conflict and Peace Studies major that would teach students about the dynamics of ethnic conflict and international diplomacy.
In addition, I had two articles and a book review published this year, and I am currently reviewing manuscripts for Social Problems, American Sociological Review, and The State University of New York Press. I also gave presentations this year at the Midwest Sociological Society, Peace Prize Forum, and Shalom Lay School of Theology.
Overall, I continue to enjoy the atmosphere at Augustana, and look forward to new year's challenges, in both the classroom as well as with my ongoing scholarship.
Last spring, all Sociology alums graduating since 1965 were asked to complete a survey. We were pleased that 140 people returned the questionnaire to us. The following information is a brief summary of the results. Of those completing the survey, about half graduated prior to 1970. Only eight of the 140 graduated since 1993 (a distinction we were interested in to assess recent patterns).
For the sample as whole, half reported having a second major in addition to Sociology. Most frequently cited as a second major were Social Work (23%), Psychology (23%), or another major in the social sciences (21%). About four in ten reported working less than 10 hours a week for pay during their time at Augustana; almost half said they worked 10-29 hours/week.
Alumni were given a chance to "grade" the department on different criteria. Table 1 is the "report card" from the respondents:
Alumni were asked to what extent they felt that the Sociology major had prepared them for life (in what would be termed "outcomes" today). The rating scale included choices of "very well," "adequately," "poorly," and "not at all." The following summary in Table 2 shows the percentage of alums who responded "very well" to each outcome.
Interestingly, about half of Sociology alums indicated they had attained additional degrees beyond the B.S. degree; about 70% had obtained an MSW or other master's degree, while about one-fifth completed an MDiv. Others (14%) finished a PhD. Happily, 80% of Sociology alumni use e-mail, and 60% use the Internet a new way to contact many of you!
Bivariate analyses were also done on the data. Results showed that there were statistically significant differences among cohorts, where recent cohorts (since 1993) were more likely to (1) have double majors, (2) feel better prepared to use technology, (3) be a critical consumer, (4) specialize in the major, (5) understand social problems, (6) write effectively, and (7) be satisfied with career advising and variety of topical courses. It's important to note that there were no statistical differences among cohorts on use of the internet or e-mail nor assessments of the quality of teaching.
Many respondents offered written comments as well. A database of qualitative information has also been developed to guide our future discussions about curricular revision. We also plan to put into useable form the offers from alums to assist us with classes and internships.
All in all, the information was very helpful to us, showing strengths to continue and weaknesses to address. To those of you who chose to participate in the study, thank you very much! We are very grateful!
Obviously, you are reading this newsletter on the Internet. However, some of your Sociology alumni friends may not be connected to the web. Our year 2000 newsletter will be available only on the Internet, so if you'd like to share your web newsletter with them, do so! Otherwise, please suggest to them that they request a paper copy of the newsletter in the mail by completing the following information and sending it to us at:
Please print and return this form to us ONLY if you want a mailed, paper copy of next year's newsletter:
So, all in all, we have had a fine, optimistic and eventful year. We watched with pride as six fine Sociology majors graduated in the Class of 1999, and we are pleased with growing enrollment within the major and the College at large.
Should you have occasion to return to campus, please know that the welcome mat is out for you!