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
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 2008-2010 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 2009-10 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 2003-04 to 2004-05 followed by an increase of 1 from 2004-05 to 2005-06 and another increase of 5 from 2005-06 to 2006-07. From 2007-08 to 2008-09 the amount of external transfer students into the program remained at 1 before increasing to 2 in 2009-10. 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 2008. 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 2003-04 and 2004-05. The number of FIAM graduates 2
increased to 2 in 2005-06 and then decreased to 0 in 2006-07. The number of graduated then increased again to 1 in 2007-08 and to 2 in 2008-09 before decreasing back to 0 in 2009-10. 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 2009. Table 7 contains this information. The FIAM direct instructional cost has increased over $20,000 between the 2004 and 2009 fiscal years, to $88,193.46 while the cost per full-time equivalent (FTE) student has also increased to $2,526.14. Table 8 has figures since FY 2004. 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 2003-04 to 2009-10 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 2003-04. There were 20 sections that ran, with an overall average class size of 29.2 students. During the 2009-10 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 2003-04 to the 2009-10 academic years. All other FIAM core courses were offered and ran at least once during the 2003-04 to 2009-10 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
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
Table 1 Program Enrollment Seven Year Summary 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 Continuing 12 17 12 15 14 23 24 First Admits 16 10 27 20 19 23 19 Former 6 5 2 5 9 7 8 Transfers (2 yr) 1 0 2 2 1 1 1 Transfers (4 yr) 3 3 2 7 0 0 1 Total Students 38 35 45 49 43 54 53 % Change -7.9 28.6 8.9-12.2 25.6-1.9 5
Table 2 Full-Time/Part-Time Status Five Year Summary (Fall Enrollment) 2003 2004 % change 2005 % change 2006 % change Full-Time 21 15-28.57 22 46.67 30 36.36 Part-Time 8 12 50.00 14 16.67 8-42.86 Total Students 29 27-6.90 36 33.33 38 5.56 2007 % change 2008 % change 2009 % change Full-Time 26-13.33 30 15.38 24-20.00 Part-Time 7-12.50 12 71.43 13 8.33 Total Students 33-13.16 42 27.27 37-11.90 6
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 4 3 4 9 1 1 2 % change -25.0% 33.3% 125.0% -88.9% 0.0% 100.0% 7
Table 4 Attrition / Retention First Time in Fall 2008 # % Enrolled for 1 semester 18 100 Enrolled full-time for 1 semester 16 89 After 1 semester 13 1 72 Enrolled for 2 semesters 13 72 Enrolled full-time for 2 semesters 9 50 After 2 semesters 6 2 33 Enrolled for 3 semesters 6 33 Enrolled full-time for 3 semesters 4 22 After 3 semesters 3 3 17 Enrolled for 4 semesters 3 17 Enrolled full-time for 4 semesters 1 6 After 4 semesters 1 4 6 1 5 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
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 1 1 2 0 1 2 0 degrees % change 0.0 100.0-100.0 N/A 100.0-100.0 9
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 15 100 **Note: Cohort was tracked for three years 10
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 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Liberal Arts/Fine Arts/Music (FIAM) 736 559 667 886 783 980 11
Table 8 Direct Instructional Cost (in dollars) FY 2004 FY 2005 FY 2006 FY 2007 FY 2008 FY 2009 Direct Cost 67,622.32 53,093.30 64,199.83 93,420.08 72,255.54 88,193.46 Cost per FTE 2,415.75 2,513.27 2,580.62 2,785.46 2,503.20 2,526.14 12
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
Course FIA 103 FIA 105 FIA 106 FIA 117 Liberal Arts/Fine Arts/Music Table 10 Core Course Enrollment 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 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 76 3 25.3 88 4 22.0 83 3 27.7 75 4 18.8 453 15 30.2 500 17 29.4 429 16 26.8 349 16 21.8 - - -.- - - -.- - - -.- - - -.- 55 2 27.5 53 2 26.5 53 2 26.5 40 2 20.0 Annual Total 584 20 29.2 641 23 27.9 565 21 26.9 464 22 21.1 FIA 103 FIA 105 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 Total 86 3 28.7 93 3 31.0 83 3 27.7 584 23 25.4 355 16 22.2 436 16 27.3 522 16 32.6 3044 112 27.2 FIA 106 - - -.- FIA 117 36 2 18.0 - - -.- - - -.- 0 0 -.- 64 2 32.0 66 2 33.0 367 14 26.2 Annual Total 477 21 22.7 593 21 28.2 671 21 32.0 3,995 149 26.8 14
Table 11 Additional Course Enrollment 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 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 1,651 73 22.6 1,700 78 21.8 1,791 81 22.1 1,896 85 22.3 ENG 102 1,596 71 22.5 1,652 73 22.6 1,704 75 22.7 1,711 80 21.4 ENG 128 486 22 22.1 570 26 21.9 619 30 20.6 564 26 21.7 ENG 129 325 15 21.7 320 15 21.3 315 16 19.7 309 17 18.2 GOV 201 340 14 24.3 274 14 19.6 317 13 24.4 281 14 20.1 GOV 202 194 10 19.4 180 10 18.0 180 11 16.4 193 9 21.4 HIS 101 1,171 31 37.8 1,271 35 36.3 1,227 33 37.2 1,132 35 32.3 HIS 102 658 24 27.4 615 23 26.7 697 23 30.3 572 22 26.0 MAT 119 837 27 31.0 1,227 22 55.8 1,508 52 29.0 1,453 53 27.4 MAT 127 191 9 21.2 228 10 22.8 246 10 24.6 286 13 22.0 PHI 205 120 4 30.0 128 4 32.0 135 4 33.8 152 5 30.4 PSY 101 2,410 63 38.3 2,479 64 38.7 2,358 66 35.7 2,053 57 36.0 PSY 102 555 22 25.2 538 24 22.4 552 24 23.0 524 22 23.8 Annual Total 10,534 385 27.4 11,182 398 28.1 11,649 438 26.6 11,126 438 25.4 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 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 1,875 78 24.0 1,967 79 24.9 2,001 39 51.3 12,881 513 25.1 ENG 102 1,643 77 21.3 1,787 75 23.8 1,996 88 22.7 12,089 539 22.4 ENG 128 638 26 24.5 683 26 26.3 694 27 25.7 4,254 183 23.2 ENG 129 375 18 20.8 421 17 24.8 425 17 25.0 2,490 115 21.7 GOV 201 305 14 21.8 359 14 25.6 418 13 32.2 2,294 96 23.9 GOV 202 214 9 23.8 219 10 21.9 264 9 29.3 1,444 68 21.2 HIS 101 1,168 37 31.6 1,299 37 35.1 1,308 36 36.3 8,576 244 35.1 HIS 102 588 22 26.7 642 21 30.6 709 22 32.2 4,481 157 28.5 MAT 119 1,561 58 26.9 1,557 74 21.0 1,580 66 23.9 6,867 290 23.7 MAT 127 283 12 23.6 320 12 26.7 357 17 21.0 1,911 83 23.0 PHI 205 170 6 28.3 192 6 32.0 200 6 33.3 1,097 35 31.3 PSY 101 2,512 72 34.9 2,579 69 37.4 2,781 72 38.6 17,172 463 37.1 PSY 102 537 23 23.3 643 26 24.7 800 28 28.6 4,149 169 24.6 Annual Total 11,869 452 26.3 12,668 466 27.2 13,533 440 30.8 79,705 2955 27.0 15
Table 12 FIAM Core Course Scheduling Academic Year 2003-04 to 2009-10 Frequency Offered Ran Campus Cranford 134 131 Elizabeth 15 14 Plainfield 9 4 Total 158 149 Days Friday 14 14 Saturday 14 14 Monday/Wednesday 26 20 Tuesday/Thursday 54 52 Monday/Wednesday/Friday 42 42 Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday 3 3 Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday/Fri day 5 4 Total 158 149 Class Start Times 8:00-8:59 am 21 20 9:00-9:59 am 42 42 10:00-10:59 am 20 18 11:00-11:59 am 29 28 12:00-12:59 pm 2 2 1:00-1:59 pm 15 12 2:00-2:59 pm 14 13 5:00-5:59 pm 1 0 6:00-6:59 pm 14 14 Total 158 149 16
Table 13 Graduate Survey Information Graduate Survey Information -- FIAM Majors 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 n=1 n=0 n=0 n=0 n=0 Accomplished objective 1 - - - - Currently employed full-time 0 - - - - Currently employed part-time 0 - - - - Satisfied with Union, in general 1 - - - - Would choose Union again 1 - - - - Recommend Union 1 - - - - Transferred 1 - - - - School Kean University - - - - Major Film/Cinema Studies - - - - Credits Accepted 60 - - - - 17