Sociology Program Self-Study

The Sociology program began in Fall 2005. Dr. Hartung was the founding faculty member who hired three additional tenure-track faculty. Dr. Downey, Dr. Lee, and Dr. Wagner all began in Fall 2007. These were the four tenure-track faculty in the program at the time of our last program review self-study in Spring 2013. Currently, only Dr. Downey is left, as Dr. Hartung retired, Dr. Lee tragically passed away, and Dr. Wagner moved to Health Sciences. Dr. Wagner still teaches fifty percent time in Sociology, but all of his service lies in Health Sciences. In Fall 2013, Dr. Trimble O'Connor, Dr. Sanchez, and Dr. Sowers all joined the program. In Spring 2016, Dr. Kadakal joined the program as a replacement Theory hire. In Spring 2017, Dr. Soper joined the program after a tenure-line search in Environmental Sociology. In Fall 2018, Dr. Chavarria joined the program after a tenure-line search in Latinx Sociology. In addition to these tenure-track faculty, we have numerous long-standing, full-time lecturers, including Dr. Nam, Dr. Jepson, and Dr. Abell. Three core faculty members will not be teaching in the program during AY 21-22. Dr. Downey was appointed Interim Associate Vice President of Academic Programs and Continuous Improvement, while Dr. Sanchez and Dr. Trimble O'Connor are both on sabbatical/leave.