Enrollment Trends and Recruitment Strategies for Undergraduate Programs of Poultry Science

Enrollment Trends and Recruitment Strategies for Undergraduate Programs of Poultry Science s. L. PARDUE1 Department of Poultry Science, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Texas A&M University System, College Station, Texas 77843-2472 (Received for publication June 23, 1989)

1990 Poultry Science 69:563-567 INTRODUCTION

A crisis in declining undergraduate enrollments developed in colleges of agriculture during the 1980s. For example, undergraduate enrollment in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University fell from 3,714 students in 1977 to 1,858 in the fall of 1985, a decline of 50% (Reisch, 1986). Similar reductions have occurred at other land-grant institutions. Nationwide, undergraduate enrollment in agricultural degree programs has declined by approximately 30% (Gelinas, 1988, Figure 1). The enrollment decline has been a source of concern for one official at the USDA who predicts that difficulties may be encountered in providing personnel for the speciality segments of agriculture and food technology in the future (Poultry Times, 1988). The problem is so great at some institutions that D. A. Gelinas, Associate Dean of Life

'Current address: Department of Poultry Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7608.

Science and Agriculture at the University of Maine in Orono has proposed that one response to declining enrollments would be to abandon undergraduate agricultural programs. He stated: "I suspect that focusing less on undergraduates and becoming smaller, primarily graduate institutions may be the only way to insure that agricultural colleges remain to any significant extent agricultural" (Gelinas, 1988). In opposition to the trends at colleges of agriculture, enrollments in poultry-science degree programs nationally have experienced a slight increase (13%) from 1983 to 1987 (Figure 2). Graduate enrollment remained relatively stable during the same period (Figure 3). The increase in undergraduate enrollments for poultry-science programs may be attributed to a greater public awareness about employment opportunities in this segment of animal agriculture, the success of poultry in the market place or both. Specific institutions, however, exhibit markedly different trends in enrollment (Figure 4). Certainly, the regional strength of the poultry industry exerts a significant influence

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ABSTRACT Within the past decade, undergraduate enrollment in agricultural programs has declined approximately 30% in the United States. This dramatic reduction has generated predictions that personnel shortages will occur in essential food and agricultural segments of the economy. However, undergraduate enrollment for poultry science in degree programs at all of the land-grant institutions has increased from 295 in 1983 to 334 in 1987, an increase of 13%. When one examines the overall enrollment trends at specific institutions, a highly variable picture emerges. For many institutions, their colleges of agriculture have maintained relatively stable enrollments, others have declined by approximately 40%, and still others have witnessed an explosive growth of 200% during the past 5 yr. A survey was conducted to evaluate the factors influencing the selection of a poultry science major by undergraduate students. Approximately 53% of the students surveyed were from farm, ranch, or rural backgrounds. Eighty percent of the students responding had some previous poultry experience, with 54% participating in 4H or FFA projects. The major factors influencing the selection of a poultry science major included: 1) poultry science faculty at the university: 2) influence of parents or family: 3) influence of friends; and 4) influence of high-school agricultural-technology teachers. Of the 43 respondents, surprisingly, none indicated that high-school guidance counselors had any positive influence in their selection of a major in poultry science. (Key words: enrollment, recruitment, undergraduate students, poultry science)

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NUMBER OF STUDENTS X 10"

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A recruitment-assessment survey was distributed to all undergraduate majors in poultry science at a major land-grant university. Of the 43 respondents, 9 (20.9%) were classified as freshmen, 6 (14.0%) as sophomores, 14 (32.5%) as juniors, 11 (25.6%) as seniors, and 3 (7%) as postbaccalaureate second-degree majors. The male and female respondents represented 76.7% and 23.3% of those completing the survey, respectively.

YEAR

on undergraduate enrollment in poultry science at a given institution. However, other factors must exist which are producing such great differences in enrollment trends. In order to ascertain the nature of some of these factors, the present survey was conducted at a major land-grant university that had experienced an increase in poultry science enrollment by undergraduates of approximately 200% from 1984 to 1988.

Less than 35% of the respondents to the survey indicated that poultry science had been their initial selection for a major as freshmen. Approximately 45% had transferred from another program of study at the same institution, while 19.5% had transferred into the program from another institution. A majority of those responding indicated that they had been reared in a farm, ranch, or rural environment (Figure 5). Approximately 30% had resided in communities with populations of 10,000 or more. Previous poultry experience was a common feature among the respondents (Figure 6). Of those respondents, 79% had worked with poultry in some capacity as a hobby, 4H or FFA project, family business, or as an employee of a poultry firm. The major factors influencing the respondents to choose poultry science as a field of study are displayed in Figure 7. The most-influential

NUMBER OF STUDENTS NUMBER OF STUDENTS

1985

YEAR FIGURE 2. Undergraduate enrollment in poultry science degree programs at land-grant institutions. Source: Food and Agricultural Education Information System, USDA, Washington, DC. (This database may exclude individuals who are double majors.)

FIGURE 3. Graduate enrollment in poultry science degree programs at land-grant institutions. Source: Food and Agricultural Education Information System, USDA, Washington, DC.

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RESULTS FIGURE 1. Undergraduate enrollment in agricultural programs of state land-grant colleges and universities. Source: National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, 1 Dupont Circle Northwest, Suite 710, Washington, DC 20036-1191.

ENROLLMENT AND RECRUITMENT INSTITUTION #1

INSTITUTION tf4

I1..1 hlii INSTITUTION #2

PERCENTAGE (%) 50

INSTITUTION #5

FIGURE 6. Incidence of previous poultry experience among poultry science undergraduates participating in the survey.

INSTITUTION #6

!!!!... . ..ll FIGURE 4. Number of undergraduates enrolled in poultry science degree programs of six land-grant institutions. Source: Food and Agricultural Education Information System, and data from USDA, Washington, DC.

factor was the poultry science faculty. More than 51% of the respondents indicated that this was a significant component in their decision-

making process. The influence of parents or family members, friends, and agriculturaltechnology teachers in high school were also considered as important elements in choosing to major in poultry science. Surprisingly, highschool guidance counselors were viewed as exerting no positive influence in terms of selecting a program of study in poultry science. When asked how they were contacted by the institution's poultry-science faculty or staff members, the respondents indicated three major modes: approximately 60% had spoken directly with an institutional representative during a campus visit, livestock-judging con-

PERCENTAGE (%) PERCENTAGE (%) 25

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POSC F a c u l t y

FIGURE 5. Distribution of childhood environments among poultry science undergraduates participating in the survey. A "small town" was defined as one with a population of 10,000 or less. A "large town" was defined as a community with less than 100,000 residents, but greater than 10,000.

Parents

FIGURE 7. Major sources of influence in selecting poultry science as an undergraduate major, as indicated by survey participants. Abbreviations: poultry science (POSC); agricultural technology instructor (Ag Tech Ins); high school (HS).

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l l l l l l i :• • • 11 INSTITUTION * 3

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test, or some 4H or FFA event. In addition, 37.2% had received printed materials and 30% had been contacted by telephone. DISCUSSION

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The challenge presented to colleges of agriculture over the next decade will be to attract a critical mass of students to their programs. In order to be successful, strategies must be developed to overcome the negative perception of agricultural careers held by some students, parents, high-school teachers, and guidance counselors. The task is to alter the "plow and cow" image of agriculture and of present academic-study programs in agriculture. Today the motivational basis for many students attending institutions of higher learning has changed from the altruistic attitudes of the 1960s. A leading writer portrays the pool of potential students as concerned primarily with cash and career advancement (Krukowski, 1985). In a recent survey, students at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University listed job opportunities as the major reason for choosing a college; also, the perception of a subject area as being interesting influenced the selectio of a major field of study (Schuster and Costantino, 1986). According to one agricultural recruitment coordinator, students resisted considering poultry science as a major, because the did not think they could do something exciting with chickens (personal communication, James McCoy, Agricultural Recruitment Coordinator, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA). Parents are also concerned with what kind of return they or their child may receive from the substantial investment required for a baccalaureate degree. While parents can be an ally, they are becoming an ever-increasing adversary in terms of recruiting for poultryscience programs. Even parents in an agriculturally related field, who recognize a high level of satisfaction with their own occupation, frequently discourage their children from entering a similar career (Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, 1988). Finally, highschool teachers and guidance counselors must be better informed about the career opportunities in poultry science and agriculturally allied industries. Without better educating guidance personnel, the best expectation poultry science recruiters could anticipate would be that the

guidance personnel of the high schools would remain neutral in terms of advising students who are considering a career in poultry science. This perspective is supported by the findings of the present survey, in which none of the respondents believed that their guidance counselor significantly influenced their decision to enroll in a poultry-science program leading to a baccalaureate degree. The present survey also revealed that the poultry-science faculty members are a pivotal factor in the student's selection of a major in poultry science. So faculty involvement is crucial. However, a mechanism must be in place to reward recruiting efforts by faculty members, which does not necessarily exist, at a majority of the land-grant universities. To simply add the responsibility of recruitment to a faculty member without support or compensation will not engender the required enthusiasm or promote a true sense of importance about the task. Dickason (1988) describes recruitment in the terms of four general aspects: 1) a student who has not applied will not be admitted; 2) to apply, a student must be aware of the poultry science program; 3) never assume that potential students are aware of the poultry science program; and 4) failure to manage recruitment leaves recruitment to chance. To emphasize the need for enhancing agricultural awareness, a recent national survey of college-bound high school students revealed that only 44% of the students selecting a nonagriculture major knew of any institution with a well-known college of agriculture (American College Testing Program, 1989). Successful recruitment programs utilize a variety of methods to enhance awareness among prospective students. These include: contact by direct mail, telephone contacts, offcampus seminars, on-campus events, alumni networking, and industrial liaison. Once an initial contact has been made, each prospect should be entered into a computerized database in order to facilitate all tracking and followup activities on a coordinated basis. Maintaining contact with a prospect is an essential element in successful recruitment efforts, even after a student has been accepted into a poultry program. Unfortunately, 38% of the students who anticipate pursuing a major in agriculture at the time they take their college-entrance examinations, ultimately select a nonagriculture major (American College Testing Program, 1989).

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Modern technologies need to be incorporated into the programs of study at departments of poultry science. Programs of study that abandon the commodity linkages within an academic department may, however, produce a negative impact on recruitment and on program survival. ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of R. P. Thompson in the retrieval of data from the USDA's Food and Agricultural Education Information System. REFERENCES American College Testing Program, 1989. Pages 1-10 in: High school student perceptions of agricultural college majors and careers (March). The Farm Foundation, 1211 West 22nd Street, Suite 216, Oak Brook, IL 60521. Anonymous, 1988. Job outlook brighter for most ag graduates. Poult. Times. (May 30). USDA, Washington, DC. Dickason, D. G., 1988. Pages 1-9 in: Report on graduate recruiting and enrollment. (November) Peterson's Guides, 166 Bunn Drive, P.O. Box 2123, Princeton, NJ 08543. Gelinas, D. A., 1988. Pages 1-56 in: To survive, agricultural colleges may need to abandon their undergraduate programs. (April, vol. 13) Chronicle of Higher Education, Washington, DC. Krukowski, J., 1985. Pages 21-28 in: What do students want? Status. Change, The Magazine of Higher Learning. (May/June). Reisch, K. W., 1986. Pages 1-10 in: Enrollment/Recruiting-College of Agriculture. (September) Quality Teaching. The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210. Schuster, C. P., and P. Costantino, 1986. Using marketing research to develop student recruiting strategies. Natl. Assoc. College Teachers Agric. J.: (June) 4-8. Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, 1988. Educational assessment and labor force experiences of former agricultural students at Land Grant universities in the Southwest: A preliminary report. Tech. Rep. 88-1, Department of Rural Sociology, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Texas A&M University, College Station.TX 77843.

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At the institution surveyed, early exposure to the poultry program was a dominant factor for the student in terms of selecting a major in poultry science. The concept should be adopted that an initial contact can never be made too early. College athletic departments frequently begin contacts at the junior-highschool level, or even earlier. Through 4H or FFA, universities have an excellent opportunity to reach prospective students while they are considering a number of career options. Ideally, students should be contacted initially before their junior year in high school. In the present survey, approximately twothirds of the respondents had not selected poultry science initially as their major. The largest segment of those surveyed had transferred into a poultry-science program from another major at the same institution or from another institution. The reasons for the transfer varied. At most institutions, a large pool exists of students who have not declared a major, or who are general-studies students. These students should be the target of local or oncampus recruitment efforts. However, safeguards should be developed to prevent the perception that poultry science is a dumping ground, as it were, for students who are academically deficient. In order to attract urban and academically superior students to poultry science, one temptation would be to mold the curriculum more or less in the image of a biology department. While the science in poultry science must be emphasized in order to survive and grow, a wholesale deletion of productionoriented courses would run the risk of losing the historical identity of the program and of alienating the regional poultry industry. That industry serves as the primary source of employment for graduates in poultry science and as a politically vocal advocate for poultry programs.