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Changing Animal Science Curriculum at a Non-Land Grant University
Teaching is central to the mission of many non-land grant universities. In these settings many faculty may have primarily teaching appointments, while also being expected to maintain research programs. There may also be a service expectation that includes service within the university, as well as service to professional organizations, industry, and the community. New faculty may be faced with the obligation of meeting each of these criteria, while remaining focused on teaching. Young faculty members may begin their employment well versed in teaching, research, or service, but the combination of those may be overwhelming. Furthermore, as a new faculty member you may be faced with delivering a curriculum that was developed prior to your employment, which can bring both opportunities and challenges. Positions teaching existing curriculum provide new instructors a platform for beginnings while not necessarily having to build a program from the ground up. However, as many agriculture departments increase in enrollment, they may also be faced with stable or declining faculty numbers. At Illinois State University, enrollment in the Department of Agriculture increased from approximately 235 undergraduates in 2007 to 580 in 2015. During this time period faculty numbers declined. Increases in animal science enrollment followed addition of a pre-veterinary medicine sequence. This can be challenging in that fewer faculty imply either more courses being required per instructor or more students per course. As an animal science instructor, increasing class sizes are problematic. When utilizing live animals, increasing enrollment is not only an issue in the areas of assignments and grading; student safety issues become more pronounced. At times these issues can be difficult to express to non-laboratory disciplines as well as administration if they are without a lab-intensive background. Maintaining a quality level of education becomes a challenge in courses conducive to writing assignments, as class sizes increase from fifteen students (when the curriculum was written) to forty or more. More classes per semester per faculty member while maintaining research and service obligations leave less time for grading. As animal science programs are faced with not only increasing enrollment, but also a changing student dynamic it may be even more important to openly discuss strategies for moving forward. In order to effectively teach the next generation of agricultural professionals, it is imperative that a high quality of education be maintained in a manner that is beneficial to the students while not discouraging the newest generation of educators.
Keywords:
animal science
curriculum
teaching