Realigning instructional capacity with student demand: Implementing strategies to address changing enrollment patterns

Dr. Matt Applegate

Associate Dean, School of Arts and Sciences, Molloy University

The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of EAB.

Challenge and analysis

Changing enrollment patterns at Molloy University have created a significant number of small and under-filled courses (underutilized capacity) in the School of Arts and Sciences (SoAS). This has negatively impacted both course scheduling practices and faculty workload within the school. For example, from fall 2021 to spring 2023, 11 disciplines contributing to general education offered 10% or more courses under-enrolled during at least half of all terms (summer and winter intersession included).

When the disciplines that comprise general education at Molloy are analyzed for their native capacity (major requirements and major electives), underutilization multiplies. Nine of 17 disciplines offered 50% or more of their native courses under-enrolled during at least half of all terms. This resulted in eight disciplines consistently offering 10% or more of their general education courses under-enrolled and at least 50% of their native courses under-enrolled from fall 2021 to spring 2023.

Pinpointing problems and finding solutions

EAB’s Instructional Capacity Playbook outlines numerous strategies to help identify enrollment issues and correct underutilization of the kind we see at Molloy. In the summer of 2023, I identified and implemented the following strategies as being the most impactful in addressing our immediate needs. These are as follows:

Problem and strategy one:

• Problem: Rolling over the schedule no longer produces an accurate picture of demand in an increasingly volatile enrollment environment.
• Strategy: Predict demand accurately and early to reduce mismatches between course offerings and enrollment.

I used two promising practices from The Instructional Capacity Playbook to help address this issue. The first is referred to as curricular interdependence, and it better allows institutions to predict course demand. I analyzed the number of courses that fulfill major requirements versus those that fulfill service enrollments to determine where underutilization is and which departments it impacts the most (this resulted in the enrollment description above). I used this information to work with department chairs to adjust their current course offerings and future course schedules to better match student demand.

Problem and strategy two:

• Problem: A proliferation of small and under-filled courses increases teaching demands on faculty without a proportional increase in student credit hour (SCH) production.
• Strategy: Consolidate small and underutilized course sections while preserving student access to instruction.

As above, I used two promising practices from The Instructional Capacity Playbook to address this issue as well. Specifically, I analyzed total enrollments across all sections of each course to determine whether fewer sections could accommodate all demands. I also analyzed small courses (independent studies, research, and internships) to determine if any could be consolidated. By implementing these strategies and those bulleted above, the dean’s office estimates that we saved approximately $300,000 in instructional costs during the 2023–2024 academic year without disrupting student progress.

Future initiatives

In addition to utilizing these and other strategies from The Instructional Capacity Playbook to realign instructional capacity with student demand, I am currently researching and preparing a policy that would allow faculty to waive payment for summer, winter intersession, and overload courses and apply that credit to their annual 24-credit teaching requirement. This would allow SoAS to be more responsive to predictable student demand on a semester-to-semester basis. It would also potentially cause less disruption to a faculty person’s and students’ preferred schedules; planning based on identifiable needs as opposed to canceling courses that do not enroll helps us better serve all constituencies and act as efficiently as possible in a volatile enrollment climate.