Mission Statement

Housed in the Sociocultural Studies Department, Geography promotes student success, completion and transfer. The program seeks to create lifelong learners who understand and appreciate the significance of culture and human interaction with the physical environment as a major factor in their lives and the health of the planet.

Program Description

The Associate in Arts in Geography for Transfer degree (AA-T Geography) creates a transfer pathway for students who plan to complete a four-year degree at a California State University. Upon completion of the AA-T degree in Geography students will possess the requisite foundational knowledge as well as the practical skills necessary for subsequent completion of the baccalaureate degree.

The associate transfer degrees (AA-T or AS-T) require completion and certification of the California State University General Education (CSU GE) or the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) as well as the specific AA-T or AS-T major degree requirements. Students earning either an AA-T or an AS-T will not be held to additional Butte College graduation requirements (including Physical Education and the multicultural competency). Students should work with a counselor to identify major coursework that can be used to fulfill CSU GE or IGETC categories.

To obtain an Associate's degree, students must complete both the major requirements and the graduation requirements listed in this catalog.

Note that some courses have a prerequisite (P), corequisite (C), or both (P/C). Prerequisites and corequisites are listed within each course description in that catalog.

Transfer majors designated as AA-T or AS-T are designed for transfer to a similar major at an unspecified CSU. 

Transfer majors designated as AA or AS are designed for transfer to the corresponding major at a specific CSU and are based on articulation. See a counselor for more information. Read about the difference between these types of degrees at the beginning of the Transfer section of this catalog.

Upon successful completion of the Geography program, the student will be able to:

1. Identify fundamental concepts specific to physical and cultural Geography.
2. Identify conceptual and theoretical models pertaining to world, regional, and local Geography.
3. Apply applications associated with various thematic maps as well as use of geographical computer modeling.

The courses that comprise the AA-T degree are also for Butte and transfer General Education. With 34 sections offered each school year, Geography serves a significant number of students and meets an array of important General Education and transfer requirements. Most Geography courses are dedicated to understanding culture process as they relate to the interaction with the physical environment. One course, GEOG 2 Physical Geography, focuses on physical/natural phenomena.

Currently, there is one full-time faculty in the discipline and 4 associate faculty. In Spring 2019, 68% of courses offered in Geography are being taught by associate faculty.

Accountability for Previously Funded Items

Student Learning/Administrative Unit Outcomes

Part 1 - Findings
GEOG 02 –SLO A: Demonstrate an understanding of the size, shape, and movements of the Earth in space and their importance to environmental patterns and processes.
For two sections of GEOG 2, a short answer question was used to discover the ability to understand environmental processes and patterns: What was missing from Wegener’s hypothesis of continental drift, which made it difficult to accept his proposition? The quantitative results were: 40 percent received an 80 percent or higher, thirty-five percent received 60 –79 percent; twenty-five percent received less than 60 percent. GEOG 04 –SLO D: Interpret information about spatial features and relationships revealed through maps. For the two sections of GEOG 04, a short answer question was used to determine the understanding of the relationships of spatial features as they relate to maps: Describe distance decay, how it relates to friction of distance, and how has it changed over time. The quantitative results were: seventy percent received an 80 percent or greater, twenty percent received between 60 –79 percent, and ten percent received a score of less than 60 percent.. GEOG 08 –SLO C: Compare and contrast the major regions of the world with respect to their relative locations, natural environments, peoples, resources, economies, and contemporary problems. For GEOG 08, a short answer question was used to determine the student’s understanding of the relationship to relative locations, natural environments, people, resources, economies, and contemporary problems: Described what sparked the Arab Spring, how did the rest of the Arab world react, and what are/were the ramifications for Europe. GEOG 10 –SLO A: Examine the physical processes which shape the natural environments of California. For GEOG 10, a test essay question was used to determine student’s understanding of physical processes that shape the natural environments of California: Describe why snow surveys are so in California. Quantitative results: Nearly one hundred percent of students received an 80 percent or greater. 
Part 2 –Strategies 
Discuss how the findings above will be used to inform practice.  For example: planned improvements in individual courses; department-wide trainings; altering the assessment; or moving the focus to a different learning outcome. GEOG 02 –SLO A: Demonstrate an understanding of the size, shape, and movements of the Earth in space and their importance to environmental patterns and processes. Qualitative reflection and next step: students do not understand the technical changes necessary in order for certain concepts or ideas to become accepted scientifically, and therefore need to make the scientific method more relevant to the students. GEOG 04 –SLO D: Interpret information about spatial features and relationships revealed through maps. Qualitative reflection and next step: Most students understand the basic concept of distance decay and friction of distance, but fewer understand the relationship between the ways those concepts change over time and how they affect the development of infrastructure, therefore an assignment that would require students to illustrate those relationships would help them better understand how development of transportation has related to the progress or contraction of the patterns of cities on the landscape. 
GEOG 08 –SLO C: Compare and contrast the major regions of the world with respect to their relative locations, natural environments, peoples, resources, economies, and contemporary problems.The quantitative results were: fifty percent of the students received 80 percent or greater; twenty-five percent received 60-79 percent; twenty-five percent received less than 60 percent. Qualitative reflection and next step: Those students who did understand were spot on their analysis. This topic generally takes more lecture time to go over, but due to extenuating circumstances, not as much time was spent. Need to spend more time on this topic. GEOG 10 –SLO A: Examine the physical processes which shape the natural environments of California. Quantitative results: Nearly one hundred percent of students received an 80 percent or greater. Qualitative reflection and next step: Since students tend to do well with material they are allowed to do outside of class, use of more of this type of coursework may improve SLO attainment.
Part 3 –Resource Needs
As was stated previously, providing compensation for associate faculty to assist them in new course development, not just for OER adoption, but also for overall improvement of their courses would be beneficial. Since most of the courses are taught by associate faculty anything that would improve their course development outside of the classroom would likely be beneficial to the success rates of the student.

Standards/Goals for Student Achievement (Instruction Departments)

Student Retention and Success Rates
 

 
The retention rate is well above the 2020-2021 goal of 73 percent. Concerning the student success rate varies between courses, with four of the seven courses above the 2020-2021 goal of 75 percent. Geography 5 and 12 are no longer offered, while Geography 95 and 100, limited in the number of offerings. The three courses that fall below the student success rate are Geography 3 – Physical Geography Lab, Geography 4 – Cultural Geography, and Geography 8 – World Region Geography.
 
Conferred Awards
 
The number of conferred awards and certificates from Geography are very low. According to internal data for Fall 2019, there were no transfers to the CSU system in Geography. In relation, the Geography Department at CSU Chico has also shown a declining enrollment. Considering that only 28 percent of students at CSU Chico come from their service area (Butte, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta, Siskiyou, Sutter, Eastern Trinity, Tehama, and  Yuba Counties), this may reflect an overall decline in students interest in Geography. Geography has seen a reduction in the number of sections in recent years, including a reduction from 39 course offerings in 2018-2019, to 26 sections in 2019-2020. That said, the SURE Report Revenue to Cost Ration was 2.06 in 2017-2018.

Standards/Goals for Student Achievement (All Other Departments)

To support these classroom efforts, in conjunction with ANTH, GEOG, HIST, and POS faculty, the Sociocultural Studies Department will continue to hold special Forums each fall. Previous Forums included presentations on Reading Strategies, Helping International Students Succeed, and Tried-and-Test Teaching Ideas, Helping Student Athletes Succeed, No/Low Cost Textbooks, and Tried-and-Tested Teaching Ideas. Forum topics are "just-in-time" -- meant to help instructors with recent and/or ongoing teaching challenges, and help associate faculty, which carries the bulk of the teaching duties, to keep up-to-date on what is happening at the College.

Strategic Direction

Strategic Direction 
Current efforts in the Geography program are classroom centered. Committed to excellence in the teaching of rich and rigorous course content, discipline faculty play a key role in supporting the college to meet these strategic directions.
Implementing AB 705 
AB 705 does not directly impact Anthropology, and it is too soon to determine any impacts beyond math and English, but it may improve the writing capabilities of students within Anthropology courses, which typically require a great deal of writing.
 
Implementing Guided Pathways
               a. Strategic Scheduling
While most faculty will not have a direct position on developing strategic scheduling, they will be involved on accomplishing those goals. Strategic scheduling may require a major overhaul of the current scheduling system of rolling over sections and thereby when and what is offered. This is the point at which the faculty, especially associate faculty, will begin to notice the changes.  
b. Hobsons Starfish
The most important aspect at the discipline is to keep faculty informed on how Hobsons/Starfish is being implemented at the College, and what they should expect as it relates to them.
 
Closing Equity Gaps
Closing equity gaps requires an understanding of where those gaps are. Data has been a gap in that understanding, but is quickly being filled. For example, below are the retention and success rates for all Ethnicities except white, in Geography.
 

 
Retention rates for all courses are well above the 2020-2021 goal of 73 percent, but there is considerable progress that needs to be made concerning student success rate in some classes with some above the 2020-2021 goal of 75 percent. Currently, GEOG 2 – Physical Geography, GEOG 20 – Introduction to GIS above the 2020-2021 goal, while GEOG 3 – Physical Geography Lab, GEOG 4 – Cultural Geography, and GEOG 8 – World Region Geography below the 75 percent goal. GEOG 5 – Economic Geography and GEOG 12 – American West are no longer.
Below are the retention and success rates based upon gender; 1) F, 2) M, 3) U, 4) X.
1) F
 
2) M
 
3) U
 
4) X
 
               All categories are showing improvement concerning the student retention and success rates, except for the U Gender group.
Meeting enrollment targets 
Geography:
 
College:
 
Anthropology has seen a 17 percent drop in FTES while the College experienced a 10.6 percent drop in FTES during the same time. This may be in part due to the conversion to Guided Pathways, which means if a course is not listed in an ADT program, students are not likely to take those courses. Geography courses still meet GE requirement, but are not found on ADT course list.
Meeting student achievement goals 
Geography
 
College
 
Fostering a Culture of Inclusiveness
Promote attendance to the Cultural Awareness Community of Practice (CACP) professional development program to assist faculty in better understanding and fully meeting the needs of culturally diverse students and colleagues.

Program Review

2. We recommend that serious consideration be given to hiring an additional full-time geographer, bringing the number of full-time faculty up to two. By historic standards, this would still be below the three full-time geographers teaching at Butte 15 years ago. A second full-time faculty is also necessary to implement our recommendation that the GIS program be restored. It is the committee’s considered judgment that a vibrant, up-to-date GIS program, providing professional courses for other CTE degrees and a standalone certificate of completion, cannot be developed, maintained, and taught without significant full-time involvement and oversight from a professional geographer. 
Geography is still in need of another full-time position and it is not only related to the GIS program as outlined above, but also to Recommendation #3. Most of the associate faculty teaching geography are retired individuals who may or may not continue teaching for long. Also, the associate faculty hiring pool was frequently filled by CSU Chico master’s program graduates; however, the CSU Chico Geography Department no longer maintains a master’s program. The Butte College hiring pool for geography is virtually nonexistent at this time. Qualified individuals have been siphoned off by CSU Chico, and others are not enticed to relocate to the area for only a part time teaching position. Finally, the expansion of Geography into GIS courses will place further strain on the single full-time faculty member. Geography's latest program review recommended that an additional full-time faculty position be funded to allow the department to focus on GIS.
3. The team recommends that the department consider closely aligning instruction in Geography 3 (Physical Geography Lab) with instruction in Geography 2 (Physical Geography) so that the courses are complementary and that students who take the courses concurrently have a consistent learning experience.
The department would like to better align Geography 2 and Geography 3, as it would be most beneficial to the student, and it would also better align Butte College with Chico State and other CSUs in the system. However, this would require another full-time position. A dedicated space because the current room is not set up for labs would also be a benefit.

Department Goals

Continue to provide GIS curriculum and grow enrollments.


Increase student achievement of the course SLOs and overall success in the classroom by focusing on improving on-time assignment completion and reduce absenteeism.


Identify opportunities to improve students success rates so that they align or exceed the college’s rate and 5-year goal.


Develop and sustain a well-defined program to guide and support students who have declared or who are considering a major in Geography. These efforts will be informed by regular tracking of students who have completed the Geography program and by eliciting help from the Chico State Geography and Planning Advisory Board.

Online Course Alignment to meet CCC system standards. California Community college must have 20% of their online courses aligned to the @ONE Rubric in order to continue receive CVC-OEI Consortium benefits at reduced charge. Without this state-wide support, the cost to the district will be $125,000. The requested funding will provide training, travel, and stipends to align X number our current online courses.

Future Development Strategies

Requested Non-Financial Resources

Current Financial Resources

Augmentation Requests