Welcome to the new AACRAO website. While the site is live, development is ongoing, visitors can expect updates and new features in the weeks ahead.

Mobile Nav
Log in
Join
Get Involved

You must be logged in to view this content. Please login or learn more about joining AACRAO. If you have any questions or experience any issues logging in, please reach out to us atmembership@aacrao.org.

Log In Join

Topics

,

Article Type

Professional Proficiency

Article Abstract

Related Issue:

The issue of declining undergraduate enrollments has received considerable national attention over the past decade. The pandemic has exacerbated these concerns as year-on-year enrollments in several states have been severely affected by the pandemic. While this period has been unique, these trends have been a feature of political science enrollments and degrees conferred for decades. The issue facing political science departments (and all academic departments) is whether there are measures that can be taken to ameliorate these national and disciplinary trends. This article catalogs various measures that a department could enact to impact enrollments and major count actively and positively. The list presented is neither exhaustive nor mutually exclusive; rather, these measures can be used singularly or in tandem. The proposed measures are far-reaching, and some measures would take considerable effort on the part of a faculty and a department to implement; however, this effort should not stop departments from starting significant and meaningful conversations on enrollment.

Author(s)

Steven D. Roper, Ph.D., is a Professor of Political Science at Florida Atlantic University. Dr. Roper has extensive
experience in international education and has served as a consultant on the Bologna process and models of national
accreditation. He previously served as dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Nazarbayev University
in Kazakhstan working with faculty to design quality assurance programs for undergraduate and graduate recruitment
and retention. He is the author of four books and more than 50 articles and book chapters.

References

American Political Science Association. 2019. 2017-2018 APSA Departmental Survey. Washington, D.C.:
Author.

APSA. See American Political Science Association.

Barbera S. A., S. D. Berkshire, C. B. Boronat, and M. H. Kennedy. 2020. Review of undergraduate student retention
and graduation since 2010: Patterns, predictions, and recommendations for 2020. Journal of College Student
Retention: Research, Theory & Practice. 22(2): 227-250.

Bergen-Cico, D., and J. Viscomi. 2012. Exploring the association between campus co-curricular involvement and
academic achievement. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice. 14(3):
329-343.

Brooman, S., S. Darwent, and A. Pimor. 2015. The student voice in higher education curriculum design: Is there
value in listening? Innovations in Education & Teaching International. 52(6): 663-674.

Deardorff, M. 2005. Assessment through the grassroots: Assessing the department via student peer evaluations.
Journal of Political Science Education. 1(1): 109-127.

Dorimé-Williams, M. L., and M.S. Giani. 2022. Impact of race, class, and involvement on collegiate degree
attainment. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice. 23(4): 989-1017.

Furbeck, L. 2021. Partnering with faculty to recruit undergraduate students: Successful tactics for
collaboration. Strategic Enrollment Management Quarterly. 9(2): 19-28.

Ishiyama, J., and M. Breuning. 2008. Assessing assessment: Examining the assessment plans at 50 political science
department. PS: Political Science & Politics. 41(1): 167-170.

Jackson, R. 2018. Trends in the Degrees Awarded in the Social Sciences: 1946– 2016. Washington, D.C.:
American Political Science Association.

Kinnick, M. K., and M. F. Ricks. 1993. Student retention: Moving from numbers to action. Research in Higher
Education. 34(1): 55–69.

Knekta, E., and M. McCartney. 2021. What can departments do to increase students’ retention? A case study of
students’ sense of belonging and involvement in a biology department. Journal of College Student Retention:
Research, Theory & Practice. 22(4): 721-742.

Kammerer, E. F. 2021. Starting an intercollegiate moot court team: Tips and advice for faculty. Journal of
Political Science Education. 17(S1): 66-76.

National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. 2022. Current Term Enrollment Estimates Report Series.
2022. Herndon, VA: Author.

NSCRC. See National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

Perez-Vergara, K. 2020. Enrollment projections: A practitioner’s guide. Strategic Enrollment Management
Quarterly. 7(4): 17-24.

Rogers, M. T. 2021. A career-oriented approach to structuring the political science major. PS: Political
Science & Politics. 54(2): 387-393.

Smith, C., and L. Harris. 2021. Faculty involvement in strategic enrollment management at North American
postsecondary educational institutions. Strategic Enrollment Management Quarterly. 8(4): 23-32.

Smith, S. R., and M. McConaughey. 2021. The political science undergraduate major and its future: The Wahlke
report—revisited. PS: Political Science & Politics. 54(2): 358-362.

Todd, T. S., and J. Crofton. 2001. Road scholars: Faculty’s role in student recruitment. Planning for Higher
Education Journal. 29(3): 35-43.

Yang, C. 2022. Similar patterns, different implications: First-generation and continuing college students’ social
media use and its association with college social adjustment. Journal of College Student Retention:
Research, Theory & Practice. 24(1): 79-98.

Endnotes

  1. Over the past few years, our major count enrollment has
    decreased by almost 20 percent which has resulted in once extremely popular upper-division courses threatened
    with cancellation due to low enrollments.
  2. The definition of social sciences used for these data is
    based on the Classification of Instructional Programs family codes which are an aggregate of fifty-seven subject
    titles including political science and related subfield classifications.
  3. These data are taken from the APSA departmental survey.
  4. While there is scant literature which examines enrollment
    at the department level, there is a literature that explores faculty participation in general university
    recruitment efforts. See for example, Furbeck 2021; Smith and Harris 2021; Todd and Crofton 2001.
  5. For an excellent overview of several important retention
    and graduate rate student indicators, see Barbera, et al. 2020.
  6. As just one example, Kinnick and Ricks (1993) discuss
    Portland State University’s Retention Task Force and its relationship to curriculum development and curriculum
    committees on campus.
  7. Perez-Vergana (2020) provides an excellent step-by-step
    framework to conceptualize enrollment modeling that is instructive for faculty and departments alike.
  8. Pi Sigma Alpha is the national honorary society for
    political science students. Membership is available to students at both the undergraduate and graduate level
    that have attained a specific grade point average among all course work and course work in the discipline. This
    type of honorary society is found in all disciplines.

Related Posts

See all Posts