I recently started a new job as the Dean of Humanities, Fine Arts, and Social Sciences at a small community college in central Illinois. I was hesitant to apply at first because there has been so much writing about the enrollment decline and “crisis” in the Humanities (see examples in The Atlantic, The American Academic of Arts & Sciences, The Chronicle of Higher Education), and I wasn’t sure if the position would provide long-term career assurance. So, I challenged myself to look into the research, and I was pleased to discover so many strategies for how the Humanities and Fine Arts can be sustained.
First, let me say that I think I am a perfect candidate for the position. I have a Bachelor’s in English with minors in Philosophy and Latin, and many years of involvement in Theater in high school and college. I also have a Master’s in the Humanities and a Ph.D. in English. My dissertation focused on 19th-century poetic drama and the Victorian theater. As an English instructor, I taught academic writing, literature, speech, and technical and professional writing. I am also bilingual, and I have lived outside the U.S. In short, my academic background has touched on many of the Humanities and Fine Arts disciplines that are in the division.
Second, the Humanities and Fine Arts need institutional support. Courses in these disciplines – Art History, Studio Art (ceramics, painting, drawing), Music Appreciation, Music Performance (Wind Ensemble, Chorus, Jazz Ensemble), Religion, Philosophy, Foreign Languages, Literature, Acting, Theater Production, Film – are core components of higher education. All academic programs require courses in these disciplines, and many student learning outcomes are directly aligned to these disciplines.
However, although individual courses in these areas contribute to a two or four year degree, few students major in these disciplines. These disciplines can also have high costs: theaters/auditoriums with hundreds of seats and professional audio and lighting equipment, concert halls with grand pianos, art studios with dark rooms and gas-fired kilns, many specialized practice studios, and faculty and staff who can work nights and weekends. As a result, institutions that measure “program viability” through numerical and financial metrics such as the number of majors and the contribution margin (how much profit the discipline makes over expenses) are going to end up ranking Humanities and Fine Arts disciplines pretty low. The few number of students who major in these disciplines are not enough to offset these large expenses.
Instead, the institution would need to commit to the Humanities and Fine Arts as a public good, student life activity, and recruiting tool. This requires capital investment for theaters, concert halls, practice studios, and expensive equipment. It also requires an understanding and a commitment to the life of the artist and musician. And it requires an understanding of the kind of work Fine Arts professors do. (Rather than securing grants and writing publications, these professors train future professionals, organize shows, and perform. And, yes, they also secure grants, write scholarship, and speak at conferences.)
If this understanding and environment exists, the Humanities and Fine Arts can be successful. Here are a few strategies I discovered through my research. These are also ideas I proposed to the college’s hiring committee during the interview process.
Courses for Transfer. Students attend community colleges for two main reasons: a job-specific credential they can obtain in a short amount of time and courses they can transfer to a four-year college or university. The Humanities and Fine Arts area is considered part of the transfer program. Unlike four-year institutions, community colleges don’t have discipline-specific programs such as Psychology or English; instead, students take a number of courses within broad categories (such as Communication, Social Sciences, Lab Sciences, Math, Humanities), and they receive a general Associate’s degree, or they transfer individual courses. In this environment, students are going to take only the courses that transfer; these are arranged through transfer and articulation agreements with individual colleges and universities and through broad, state-level agreements such as the Illinois Articulation Initiative. In this environment, course offerings are going to be limited to general, introductory courses (such as Introduction to Psychology, Music Appreciation, World Religions) that have a broad appeal to students in many disciplines. Understanding this limitation can help the Humanities and Fine Arts division focus on the few courses that can attract the most students.
General Education “Pathways.” There are many definitions of a “pathway.” The one I like is a thematic collection of courses from many disciplines. Many four-year institutions have minors and undergraduate certificates in a particular area, such as ethics, digital media, communication, or leadership. These credentials help students concentrate on a particular topic or skill in depth. Unfortunately, community colleges can’t offer this kind of depth of study; they don’t have the upper-level courses for an advanced study. Instead, community colleges can offer a “concentration” or “emphasis” from a wide range of courses. So, instead of taking many courses in a particular area, students can learn about a particular topic from multiple perspectives. A few examples are “global studies,” “communication,” and “environmentalism.” Students will take the same transfer courses, but different course sections will highlight a unique skill, and they will be connected with specific course sections in other disciplines. For example, one section of a Biology, Chemistry, English Composition, and Philosophy course may focus on topics of environmentalism, while course sections in Foreign Language, History, Political Science, and Sociology may provide a global perspective.
Humanities as a Support Program. Realistically, college enrollment is not going to grow from a rush of students wanting to major in Art History, Music, Theater, British Literature, Sociology, and other related disciplines. However, enrollment in these disciplines may grow as a consequence of enrollment growth in other areas of the college that require these courses. For example, one large area of enrollment growth is Nursing, and there is always a steady interest in Engineering, Business, and the Health Sciences. All of these majors require that students take courses in the Humanities, Fine Arts, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Communication, Lab Sciences, Mathematics, and more. While the Humanities and Fine Arts may not be able to grow directly, they may be able to grow indirectly from students who are majoring in other disciplines.
Contextualized Courses for Specialized Student Populations. This is a fancy way of saying that academic disciplines can create specialized courses that meet the General Education or Transfer requirement but are tailored to the needs of students in a specific discipline. For example, all students need to take an English Composition course and some kind of Philosophy or Religion course. But, instead of taking the generic, all purpose course in writing, philosophy, or religion, students can take a specialized version of these courses that would address their particular learning needs. For example, instead of a generic English Composition, take “Writing for the Health Sciences.” Instead of a generic Intro to Philosophy, take a specific course on “Medical Ethics” or “Business Ethics.” Instead of a generic Spanish course, take “Spanish for Healthcare Workers.”
Partnerships. Pathways and specialized courses are one way to partner with other academic disciplines. But Humanities and Fine Arts disciplines can also reach further and partner with Career & Technical programs, Workforce Development programs, and Continuing Education programs. Many of these partnerships are going to be specialized non-transfer courses. For example, students in Career & Technical programs such as Welding and Auto Mechanics may need a specialized writing course such as Technical Writing instead of English Composition. This course would fulfill the college’s graduation requirement for a Communication course, but it may not fulfil the requirement for a traditional transfer-level English Composition course. Nevertheless, the Humanities division can help students gain similar skills in a different course format. Additionally, many people in the community crave short Arts & Crafts courses in painting, drawing, or ceramics, or they may want to take a few guitar or piano lessons. While these course won’t become the primary work of Art and Music professors, these evening and weekend sessions may be fun to teach, may help with recruiting and program advertising, and may allow professors to share their skills and knowledge in a different way.
Online Courses. Many Fine Arts courses such as Theater Production, Music Performance, and Studio Art cannot be conducted online. But many courses in these disciplines – such as Art History, Music Appreciation, Literature, Introduction to Theater, Philosophy, World Religions – don’t have such a high hands-on, experiential component, and these courses can be offered online more easily. There are several other reasons for offering courses online:
- Students Prefer Them. With today’s labor shortage, college students have many opportunities to work. Many students also have to work in a family business, care for their own children, or support elderly parents. As a result, they have little time for traditional in-person classes that require a commute, transportation expenses, day-time attendance, and childcare services. Online classes allow students to attend school even as they work and care for children and parents.
- A Sign of the Times. The Covid pandemic moved many aspects of everyday life to an online and virtual format. We shop online instead of at a brick-and-mortar store. We order groceries and dinner online and delivery instead of drive-thru, take-out, or dine-in. We watch streaming video services instead of going to the theater. We do online banking instead of standing in line at the teller counter. In short, the Covid pandemic moved many things online, and students/faculty have now become accustomed to studying/teaching online as well.
- Easier to Schedule. It is very difficult for administrators to schedule courses at appropriate days/times in a way that don’t conflict with other popular courses. Some students prefer Monday-Wednesday-Friday courses, while others prefer Tuesday-Thursday. Some prefer mornings, while others prefer afternoons. Catering to one group leaves out the other, but scheduling multiple course sections results in low enrollments in each section and high expenses because of the multiple teaching contracts. Asynchronous online courses can fit anyone’s schedule.
- Fewer Traditional Students, More Adults. In many Midwestern and Northeastern states, including Illinois, the traditional student population is shrinking. There are fewer and fewer students and high school graduates each year – partly because of smaller families, partly because people are moving away, and partly because students are taking college courses at high school through Dual Credit and Advanced Placement programs. As a result, colleges have to recruit non-traditional and adult students, and many of these students work and have families, so online courses are the most convenient option for them.
Variety of Course Formats. Online classes are one way to attract more working, non-traditional, and adult students. But these students may not be able to commit to a full 16-week semester of study. Instead, they may need more concentrated courses over a shorter period of time. These include “late-start” (14-week, 12-week), 8-week (half-semester), winter interim (December/January), and Summer courses. These course formats allow students to take fewer courses at once but stay on track over the school year, and they give prospective students more “points of entry” than traditional courses that start in August and January.
Dual Credit, Dual Enrollment, and Early College. “Dual Credit” are college-level courses students take at the high school; these courses count simultaneously for both college and high school credit, and they are taught by a high school teacher. “Dual Enrollment” are college-level courses that high school students take; these courses count only for college credit, and they are often taught at the high school or online by a college instructor. “Early College” is similar to Dual Enrollment, but the high school students often take the college-level class at the college or online rather than at the high school. These definitions are not always clear or consistent; the terms may be different at different schools, but the general idea is that high school students are taking college-level courses.
Dual Credit has many, many benefits for students: they get college credit as high schoolers, they become encouraged to go to college, tuition is free or very inexpensive, they can shorten the number of years at college, they have room to take additional courses or majors at college.
Unfortunately, Dual Credit can reduce the number of enrollments at college. Instead of going to a community college for one year, students complete these courses during high school, and they go directly to a university as a second-year student, thus skipping the community college. However, Dual Credit programs can provide colleges with a reliable and steady source of student enrollments, and a large number of students in some high school districts end up going to the community college for another year or two before going to a university. If managed effectively, Dual Credit programs can provide a steady source enrollments, and it can serve as a recruitment pathway or bridge for subsequent years. Additionally, the college can become integrated into the student life and curriculum of the high school, so the college is influencing the high school both academically and culturally.
Honors Program. The Honors program is traditionally housed in the Humanities division, and it can be a useful way of recruiting top-performing students who may otherwise attend a four-year institution. The Honors program can give these students academic distinction, financial scholarships, and a shared student experience. In turn, these students can generate many credit hours in the Transfer and General Education area, and they can help improve the college’s success rate in retention, persistence, course grade distribution, and other assessments. Honors students are also often involved on campus through students clubs and leadership positions, so they can also contribute to the college outside of class. These students also often require few academic services, and they can actually serve as tutors and student workers.
Digital Humanities, or Humanities in the 21st Century. Many of today’s digital and social media tools require skills from the Humanities, Communication, and Fine Arts disciplines. These include writing, storytelling, video and audio production/editing, photography, cinematography (camera angles, lighting), acting/dancing, oral communication, reading, graphic design, and many more. Students can use these skills in popular apps and websites such as TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, podcasting platforms, and website hosting platforms. Traditionally, courses that develop these skills – such as Art History, Photography, Writing, Speech, and Film – are taught from an academic perspective. They teach students to analyze literature and film and classical artwork, write five-paragraph thesis-driven essays, give a speech, and read for comprehension. However, these courses may be more interesting for students if they demonstrate how these skills could be applied to non-academic situations in today’s digital world.
Local History and Culture. Many courses in Humanities, Fine Arts, and Social Sciences focus on a traditional curriculum that may be too alien and foreign for college-age students. For example, Art History, Theater, and Western History courses span from ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Greece to international and theoretical concepts such as the Enlightenment, the Renaissance, and Postmodernism. While this history, theory, and art is useful to know because it provides a shared understanding of a common heritage, it does little to help students understand how these ideas are integrated into everyday life at the local level. And they erase any unique distinctions that can be found at the particular college. Students are thus left to wonder why they should study that subject at that specific college when they could learn the same thing at any college.
Colleges can overcome this lack of distinction by differentiating themselves through their local community. Each of these disciplines can teach these concepts, but they can also ground them or contextualize them within the local history and culture of the community. For example, instead of learning about the American colonies broadly, the class can focus on the specific history of native, indigenous populations and the early settlers of that community. Every American community has some kind of history of when European immigrants displaced the native American population. Other communities may have a deep history of slavery and racial discrimination. This focus can provide a new sense of understanding that becomes “real” for students. Similarly, Literature, Art, Music, and Theater courses can also explore the work of local writers, artists, musicians, and arts and crafts workers. Psychology and Sociology courses can also study and describe the unique cultures, social structures, and mental health challenges of the particular community.
Experiential Learning. Many Fine Arts courses in Studio Art, Theater Production, Music Performance, and Dance require hands-on, experiential learning in a studio, theater, or concert hall. These courses require students to be on campus in person, and they are fun, community-building, and life-changing. When these disciplines have skilled and accomplished instructors and state-of-the-art facilities, they can recruit talented and skilled students, and they can endow the college community with a vibrant artistic culture. These courses can also contribute to a hands-on, experiential style of teaching/learning that is shared across the college in academic programs as diverse as the Biology and Chemistry labs, Nursing clinicals, the Welding shop, the Machine Fabrication lab, and the Auto Mechanics garage. Through these hands-on, experiential courses, the Humanities and Fine Arts area can contribute to a style of teaching and learning that is a signature feature of the college.
Lirim Neziroski, Ph.D., MBA is a higher education administrator, education consultant, and previous faculty member with expertise in higher education leadership, instructional technology, curriculum development, academic assessment, online programs, and strategic planning. Contact Lirim for consulting, research, writing, and public speaking services.
Lirim Neziroski 
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