Dropdown binding in MVC4

See more:

MVC

Hello,
I have added a dropdown in my view and binded from database ..
now i want to get the selected value in controller how can i get that?
below is my view and controller
View :
<script>
$(document).ready(function () {
$.post("/User/GetDepartment", { actionname: "GetDepartment" }, function (data) {
var sd = "";
if (data.status == "sucess") {
$("#department").append(data.department);

}
}, "json").success(function () {

var sd = "";
});

});

</script>
<select id="department"></select>


Controller:
public JsonResult GetDepartment()
{

SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(connStr);
SqlDataAdapter cmd = new SqlDataAdapter("select * from [Department]", con);
DataSet ds = new DataSet();
cmd.Fill(ds);

var str = "";
for (int i = 0; i < ds.Tables[0].Rows.Count; i++)
{
str += "<option>" + ds.Tables[0].Rows[i][1].ToString() + "</option>";

}

return Json(new { department = str, status = "sucess" });
}