Despite overall enrollment growth, some colleges in OU are decreasing
Fewer students at Ohio University are pursuing fine arts and communication degrees than they were in 2007, university enrollment figures show.
The number of students attending OU is growing, but enrollment figures show some colleges have fewer students enrolled in its programs compared to years past.
More than 39,000 students were enrolled at OU’s campuses last fall, a total enrollment increase by around 1 percent from the previous year. OU’s 2014 freshman class was the largest in its history, with 4,379 students, a 3.1-percent increase from the previous year.
But this growth isn’t mirrored in all of OU’s nine undergraduate academic colleges.
Some colleges even had a decrease in enrolled students compared to 2007 figures.
The Scripps College of Communication and the College of Fine Arts had the greatest decrease in enrolled students, according to data from the Office of Institutional Research.
Scripps decreased by 10.4 percent; COFA decreased by 7.2 percent.
Scripps’ enrollment decrease reflects national journalism trends among journalism and communication colleges.
U.S. journalism and mass communication programs fell by 2.9 percent in 2012, the first decrease in such programs since 1993, according to a report by the American Journalism Review.
Scripps College of Communication
The dip in enrollment in the Scripps College started after the 2009-10 academic year, which Scott Titsworth, dean of the college, attributes to the university’s transition from quarters to semesters.
Students are able to graduate from the program faster under semesters, which allows them to graduate earlier than years previous.
“Overall numbers decreased, but we just graduated a lot more students,” Titsworth said.
He said the college’s goal is to grow the college to 2,500 students.
Titsworth said the average time it takes students to graduate from Scripps is 4.16 years, the lowest of all of OU’s colleges.
“I’m not concerned about it, but it’s certainly something that we’re monitoring,” Titsworth said.
Though enrollment numbers have decreased, “enrollments in our actual courses have remained stable,” he said.
While some colleges have decreased in enrollment, others increased.
Russ College of Engineering and Technology
The Russ College of Engineering and Technology saw the highest rate of enrollment growth, with an overall enrollment increase of 29.3 percent since 2007. The second highest was the College of Business, which grew by 10.8 percent.
This growth is a result of many factors, including an increase in funding, said Dennis Irwin, dean of the Russ College.
The Russ Estate donated $124 million to the college in 2008, which has supported scholarships, research opportunities, conference attendance and other activities.
“As early as 2006 or 2007, the Provost challenged the Russ College to increase our enrollment by 300 students, and we’ve done a lot better than that,” Irwin said.
The college invested more than $5 million to educate students who are “prepared to contribute not just as technical experts, but as leaders and skilled communicators when they graduate” from 2010 to 2014.
A demand for engineers and technologists in the job market and the opening of the Academic and Research Center in 2010 also encouraged an increased enrollment, said Jeff Giesey, associate dean for academics in the Russ College.
“The design of the ARC allowed us to highlight what’s important in the Russ College, like development of community via the living room atrium, working together via the project rooms, and learning beyond the classroom via the project hangar,” Giesey said.
All in all, these enrollment numbers are good news for the college, Giesey said.
“More students means more student activities and organizations, more employers at our career fairs and more diversity,” he said.
Russ College department chairs will discuss the college’s ideal number of enrolled students in Fall 2015.
“The college of engineering is run really well, it has great professors, great facilities, and I really enjoy being a part of it,” said Adam Cutright, a freshman studying chemical engineering on the biology track.
@AlxMeyer
am095013@ohio.edu
