Thirty Five Years of Viewing Sociology as an External Program Reviewer: A Dean’s Perspective on How Administrators View Sociology

The author, who has served as an external program reviewer for 17 sociology program reviews, gives his perspective on the views that academic administrators have of sociology. On the plus side, administrators view sociology as a discipline that teaches many students; values and incorporates diversity; produces research aimed at ameliorating societal problems; and is involved in interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary projects. On the negative side, administrators are likely to see sociology as (1) deficient in grants, research and peer reviewed publications; (2) deficient in rigor of curriculum; (3) contentious and non-collegial; (4) too ideological; (5) isolated within the college/university and not sufficiently involved in campus governance; (6) too focused on tenure track positions lost over the years; (7) not sufficiently involved with assessment of student learning outcomes and community service learning; and (8) unable to understand the values and priorities of academic institutions and administrators. The author offers some suggestions on how sociology can eliminate these deficiencies.