Assessment of Textiles and Clothing Academic Programs in the United States

This project sought to establish baseline data about textiles and clothing in higher education settings. All academic units with four-year programs were included in the population. Characteristics of the unit, curricula and faculty were obtained through a 1991-92 mail survey (78% response-see Volume 13 #3 for a description of the sample and research methods). There are 51 (36%) Category I (doctoral level), 56 (39%) Category IIA (comprehensive) and 24 (17%) Category IIB (general baccalaureate) institutions offering programs in textiles and clothing. The numbers of faculty yet to complete the terminal degree, the proportion of faculty who completed the highest degree held within the last decade, the number of untenured doctoral degree holders, the observation that almost half (48%) of all faculty had been appointed within the last decade and that close to four out of five had been promoted to the current rank within the last decade, and that approximately half of the faculty have yet to earn tenure, established an issue of concern. ITAA should make an ongoing commitment to professional development of the membership. A productivity index was calculated for each textiles and clothing program based on numbers of journal articles, theses and dissertations each year per FTE faculty. In descending order, the most productive were: (1) Tennessee, (2) Cornell, (3) Ohio State, (4) Oregon State, (5) Nebraska, (6) Missouri, (7) Illinois, (8) Oklahoma State, (9) Iowa State, and (10) Louisiana State.