UNION COUNTY COLLEGE ACADEMIC PROGRAM REVIEW. Liberal Arts/Fine Arts/Music Associate in Arts Degree

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1 I. Program Objectives UNION COUNTY COLLEGE ACADEMIC PROGRAM REVIEW Liberal Arts/Fine Arts/Music Associate in Arts Degree The study of music will include an exploration of the various styles and periods of music throughout history, as well as the acquisition of basic music skills such as reading music, playing simple instruments, and conducting song sessions. Discussions and listening will illuminate the different forms of music. The specific objectives of this program are that the graduate must be able to demonstrate: basic general musicianship skills; a basic understanding and appreciation of various musical styles; a general understanding of formal creative issues, including musical form, melody, harmony, rhythm, texture, motive, instruments, and orchestra; basic music theory, including notation, intervals, scales, and triads; the necessary knowledge for teaching general music at the elementary school level. After Union County College (Union) graduates may transfer to a four-year college or university and are eligible to take advantage of the many transfer/articulation agreements Union has with some of the top four-year colleges and universities in the country. II. Departmental Organization and Administration The FIAM program is an associate in arts degree program. The coordinator of the program has limited responsibilities for student advisement and the administrative maintenance of the program such as program updates. The professors of the FIAM program report to their respective department chairpersons and to the Vice President for Academic Affairs, who reports to the President of Union County College. III. Curriculum Communications (18 credits): History (6 credits): Government (6 credits): ENG 101 English Composition I ENG 102 English Composition II ENG 128 Dynamics of Communication or ENG 129 Public Speaking 200-Level literature course 2 Modern Language courses HIS 101 Intro to Western Civilization HIS 102 Intro to Western Civilization II GOV 201 American Government & Politics or PHI 205 Intro to Philosophy GOV 202 American National Government 1

2 Mathematics, Science and Technology (12 credits): Social Sciences (6 credits): Fine Arts (18 credits): Total (66 credits) MAT 119 Algebra MAT 127 Elementary Statistics or Laboratory Science 1 Laboratory Science PSY 101 General Psychology PSY 102 Psychology of Personality FIA 103 Fundamentals of Music FIA 105 Music Appreciation FIA 106 History of Music FIA 117 Music in the 20 th Century Fine Arts Elective Fine Arts Diversity Course (FIA 108, FIA 111, or FIA 112) The total number of credits required in the FIAM program meets the criteria for being awarded an Associate in Arts degree and the distribution of courses is appropriate for a typical Music/Fine Arts curriculum. The importance of the English communications courses cannot be overemphasized; repeatedly employer feedback highlights the need for good communications skills from employees. The remaining courses help contribute to developing students wellrounded general education. All of these courses have the appropriate content and level as indicated by the course descriptions in the Union course catalog. IV. Students A. Program Enrollment Analysis The proportionate change in total FIAM majors has a history of fluctuating. The total enrollment in the academic year included 53 FIAM majors, most of whom were continuing (24) or first-time (19) students. Table 1 details FIAM enrollment patterns over the past several years. Table 2 further details fall enrollment patterns by attendance status. As can be seen in this table, there was an decrease in the amount of students enrolled in the Fall of 2008 (42) to the Fall of 2009 (37). Table 3 shows the number of transfers into the FIAM program. The FIAM program had a decrease in the amount of 1 external transfer students into the program from to followed by an increase of 1 from to and another increase of 5 from to From to the amount of external transfer students into the program remained at 1 before increasing to 2 in Student attrition throughout the FIAM program can be seen in Table 4. As Table 4 depicts, there were 18 first-time FIAM students in the Fall of Of the 18 first-time students 1 (6%) remained in the program after four semesters. Those who did not continue in the program either stopped attending Union County College (14 students, or 78%), or were academically dismissed (3 students, or 17%). Table 5 illustrates the number of graduates from the FIAM program. There was 1 graduate from the FIAM program in and The number of FIAM graduates 2

3 increased to 2 in and then decreased to 0 in The number of graduated then increased again to 1 in and to 2 in before decreasing back to 0 in The cohort of first-time, full-time freshmen who entered the FIAM program in the Fall of 2006 were tracked for three-years. During the three year time period the graduation rate was 20.0%, the transfer rate was 20.0%, 6.7% of the students were persisters, and the attrition rate was 53.3%. Table 6 contains this information. Credit hours generated from FIAM students increased 244 hours to 980 credit hours from fiscal year (FY) 2004 to FY Table 7 contains this information. The FIAM direct instructional cost has increased over $20,000 between the 2004 and 2009 fiscal years, to $88, while the cost per full-time equivalent (FTE) student has also increased to $2, Table 8 has figures since FY There is 1 similar Associate in Fine Arts degree program in the area, 22 similar Bachelor s degree programs, 8 Master s degree programs, and 3 Ph.D. programs. Table 9 lists these schools and programs. B. Core Course Scheduling and Enrollment Table 10 depicts the distribution of students among core FIAM courses from the to academic years. Overall, 3,995 (duplicate) students enrolled in 149 sections of core FIAM courses with an average class size of 26.8 students. A total of 584 (duplicate) students enrolled in the core FIAM courses in academic year There were 20 sections that ran, with an overall average class size of 29.2 students. During the academic year, 671 (duplicate) students enrolled in 21 sections for an average class size of 32.0 students. It should be noted that the History of Music (FIA 106) did not run during the to the academic years. All other FIAM core courses were offered and ran at least once during the to academic years. Additional required course enrollment is presented in Table 11. Table 12 contains core course scheduling information. There were a total of 158 core courses offered, of which 149 actually ran, over the seven year time period. Most FIAM major courses were offered (and ran) on the Cranford campus. Tuesday/Thursday courses dominated the schedule, with 52 of the 54 offered courses running. Apart from Tuesday/Thursday courses, the most popular days for courses were Monday/Wednesday/Friday (42 that ran) and classes that started between 9:00am - 9:59am (42 that ran). C. Student Outcomes The Office of Assessment, Planning and Research conducts an annual survey of Union graduates. All of the FIAM respondents reported that they accomplished their objective at Union. Survey results over the past four years also emphasize that the majority of FIAM would recommend Union to others. Further details from this survey are presented in Table 13. V. Summary and Conclusions 3

4 The obvious weakness of the FIAM program is low retention. In the Fall of 2008 the FIAM program had 18 first-time students enrolled. Of these 18 students, only 1 was still enrolled in the FIAM program after four semesters. While the amount of first time students entering the program is a good size (19 in the 09/10 academic year), the low retention rate shows the number of students surviving to the second and third semesters will likely be small. In fact, FIA 106, a sophomore level course in the program, has not been offered in the past seven years. The FIAM Program was not designated as a regional program because it is not unique among community colleges in the state, e.g., Raritan Valley Community College offers the program. Several 4-year colleges in the state offer the program as a bachelor s degree and master s degree and Rutgers University and Princeton University offer the program as a doctoral degree. The coordinator of the FIAM program did not attended meetings involving the program review. This review is being submitted without input from the coordinator. It is recommended that the program continue and that all core courses in the program be offered at least once every three years or that the curriculum be revised. 4

5 Table 1 Program Enrollment Seven Year Summary 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 Continuing First Admits Former Transfers (2 yr) Transfers (4 yr) Total Students % Change

6 Table 2 Full-Time/Part-Time Status Five Year Summary (Fall Enrollment) % change 2005 % change 2006 % change Full-Time Part-Time Total Students % change 2008 % change 2009 % change Full-Time Part-Time Total Students

7 Table 3 External Transfers Five Year Summary Academic Year 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 Number of students % change -25.0% 33.3% 125.0% -88.9% 0.0% 100.0% 7

8 Table 4 Attrition / Retention First Time in Fall 2008 # % Enrolled for 1 semester Enrolled full-time for 1 semester After 1 semester Enrolled for 2 semesters Enrolled full-time for 2 semesters 9 50 After 2 semesters Enrolled for 3 semesters 6 33 Enrolled full-time for 3 semesters 4 22 After 3 semesters Enrolled for 4 semesters 3 17 Enrolled full-time for 4 semesters 1 6 After 4 semesters students stopped attending Union; and 10 students were placed on academic probation. 2 5 students stopped attending Union; 2 students were academically dismissed; 2 students were placed on academic probation; 1 student continued probation; and 1 student had probation removed. 3 2 students stopped attending Union; 1 student was academically dismissed; and 1 student was placed on academic probation. 4 2 students stopped attending Union; and 1 student had continued probation. 8

9 Table 5 Degrees Conferred Five Year Summary Academic Year 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 Number of degrees % change N/A

10 Table 6 Graduation/Transfer/Persister/Attritor First Time in Fall 2006 # % Graduation Rate 3 20 Transfer Rate 3 20 Persister Rate 1 7 Attritor Rate 8 53 Total Students **Note: Cohort was tracked for three years 10

11 Table 7 Credit Hours Generated The unadjusted student credit hours generated for the Liberal Arts/Fine Arts/Music program is as follows: FY FY FY FY FY FY Program Liberal Arts/Fine Arts/Music (FIAM)

12 Table 8 Direct Instructional Cost (in dollars) FY 2004 FY 2005 FY 2006 FY 2007 FY 2008 FY 2009 Direct Cost 67, , , , , , Cost per FTE 2, , , , , ,

13 Table 9 Local Business-Related Programs Institution Program Degree Liberal Arts/Fine Arts/Music Raritan Valley Community College Music A.F.A. Caldwell College Music B.A. College of Saint Elizabeth Music B.A. Drew University Music B.A. Felician College Music B.A. Georgian Court University Music B.A. Kean University Music B.A. Monmouth University Music B.A. New Jersey City University Music B.A. Princeton University Music B.A. Ramapo College of New Jersey Music B.A. Rider University Music B.A. Rowan University Music B.A. Rutgers University/Camden Music B.A. Rutgers University/New Brunswick Music B.A. Rutgers University/Newark Music B.A. Seton Hall University Music B.A. William Paterson University of NJ Music B.A. Montclair State University Music B.M. The College of New Jersey Music B.M. William Paterson University of NJ Music B.M. Montclair State University Music B.Mus. Rutgers University/New Brunswick Music B.Mus. Montclair State University Music M.A. Rutgers University/New Brunswick Music M.A. The College of New Jersey Music M.A. Princeton University Music-General M.A. Princeton University Music M.F.A. Rutgers University/New Brunswick Music M.M. William Paterson University of NJ Music M.M. Rutgers University/New Brunswick Music M.Phil. Rutgers University/New Brunswick Music D.M.A. Princeton University Music Ph.D. Rutgers University/New Brunswick Music Ph.D. * Source: New Jersey Commission on Higher Education 13

14 Course FIA 103 FIA 105 FIA 106 FIA 117 Liberal Arts/Fine Arts/Music Table 10 Core Course Enrollment Number Avg. Number Avg. Number Avg. Number Avg. Total of Class Total of Class Total of Class Total of Class Students Sections Size Students Sections Size Students Sections Size Students Sections Size Annual Total FIA 103 FIA Total FIA FIA Annual Total ,

15 Table 11 Additional Course Enrollment Number Avg. Number Avg. Number Avg. Number Avg. Course Total of Class Total of Class Total of Class Total of Class Students Sections Size Students Sections Size Students Sections Size Students Sections Size ENG 101 1, , , , ENG 102 1, , , , ENG ENG GOV GOV HIS 101 1, , , , HIS MAT , , , MAT PHI PSY 101 2, , , , PSY Annual Total 10, , , , TOTAL Number Avg. Number Avg. Number Avg. Number Avg. Course Total of Class Total of Class Total of Class Total of Class Students Sections Size Students Sections Size Students Sections Size Students Sections Size ENG 101 1, , , , ENG 102 1, , , , ENG , ENG , GOV , GOV , HIS 101 1, , , , HIS , MAT 119 1, , , , MAT , PHI , PSY 101 2, , , , PSY , Annual Total 11, , , ,

16 Table 12 FIAM Core Course Scheduling Academic Year to Frequency Offered Ran Campus Cranford Elizabeth Plainfield 9 4 Total Days Friday Saturday Monday/Wednesday Tuesday/Thursday Monday/Wednesday/Friday Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday 3 3 Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday/Fri day 5 4 Total Class Start Times 8:00-8:59 am :00-9:59 am :00-10:59 am :00-11:59 am :00-12:59 pm 2 2 1:00-1:59 pm :00-2:59 pm :00-5:59 pm 1 0 6:00-6:59 pm Total

17 Table 13 Graduate Survey Information Graduate Survey Information -- FIAM Majors n=1 n=0 n=0 n=0 n=0 Accomplished objective Currently employed full-time Currently employed part-time Satisfied with Union, in general Would choose Union again Recommend Union Transferred School Kean University Major Film/Cinema Studies Credits Accepted