Special Edition Spring 2023: Spacing Out

Why do some students feel their majors aren’t being given space?

By Mia Timlin

If you’re majoring within the arts and humanities — and even some smaller sections of the social sciences — you’ve probably heard the rumors that spread from student to student: Classes are dwindling, faculty is shorthanded and programs that aren’t in the healthcare field are at risk of going the way of the undergraduate education program, which is to say, gone. While students working toward degrees in the liberal arts needn't necessarily worry that their programs will be cut (President Becky Roloff herself said at an April Student Senate meeting that she would not let the liberal arts programs go under), we need to look at the underlying cause of these majors shrinking.

Between the years 2012 and 2022, St. Kate’s has seen a shift in enrollment both overall and in specific areas of study. According to the St. Catherine Office of Institutional Research, as of 2012 69% of the student body was made up of STEM and healthcare students, a percentage that has jumped to 74% as of 2022. This means all other majors make up 26% of the university’s population. Erin White, director of institutional research, says that this drop in overall percentage isn’t shocking or unique to St. Kate’s.

The view from the window of Lauren Trowbridge ‘25’s hotel room at an English convention in Denver.

“2012 was a much higher enrollment time period for higher education overall so comparing 2012 to 2022 is going to show decline for most majors at most colleges in the U.S. outside of health, business, engineering, biological/biomedical science and computer sciences/tech,” White says. “Minnesota enrollment declined 4% this spring after already declining 2.8% last spring so even comparing in recent years — which saw the highest declines in new student enrollment on record in the U..S—will show downturns in many majors. The enrollment of women also continued to see declines in enrollment in the U.S. while men seemed to rebound a bit this spring.”

While even large programs such as Nursing have seen an overall decline during that 10-year period (going from 468 enrollments in 2016 to 411 in 2022), it’s programs within the Arts and Humanities that have taken the greatest hits. The Office of Institutional Research’s data has the English program dropping from 71 students in 2012 to 31 in 2022. Other programs that have seen lower levels of enrollment include Psychology (a 24.24% drop) and Studio Art (a 55.56% drop). Smaller programs such as Political Science, Fashion Design, Art History and Philosophy have had fluctuating levels of enrollment over the past 10 years, but in 2022 were in the same or a very similar position as in 2012.

When looking for the reason behind these declining numbers, Dean of Humanities, Arts and Sciences Bindhu Alappat and Associate Dean Jeff Johnson have some ideas.

“There’s a perception out there that these humanities are useless,” Johnson says. “Why would you pay to get a degree? The challenge is to think about how to help people see more clearly that taking these courses has a value.”

Alappat and Johnson are passionate about the role the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences play on campus and are working to address the issue of low enrollment in the liberal arts areas of study. A big part of this problem, they say, comes from a growing societal bias against programs that don’t have a clearly labeled occupation in the name.

“The students we get here are first-gen BIPOC, and those families want to see a job immediately after students graduate. It’s expensive,” Alappat says. “In my view, what we could do is showcase that liberal arts education gives you a path to work to — it doesn’t mean one particular job, but that [students] can find one well paid job.”

This concern from well-meaning family members isn’t new. Johnson recalls an experience as a humanities student that is a prime example of the mentality St. Kate’s — and many other higher education institutions — are trying to combat.

“My grandpa was a businessman and asked me what I was going to do with a degree in Philosophy. I didn’t know what to say. If I’d known what I know now about the career benefits we’re currently trying to be more transparent [with students] about, I would’ve had a long list to tell him,” Johnson says. “But my answer at the time was, ‘I’m going to live a good life.’ It’s hard because his view is not uncommon. The price of college is what it is, and more and more employers are deciding it’s not as inclusive to need a college degree. It’s not anything St. Kate’s is doing, it’s something St. Kate’s is trying to respond to.”

The author reading, a hobby that lots of humanities majors have in common.

So how do we address this? Alappat and Johnson are focusing on what can be done to make connections and be more involved within high schools, and show potential students what St. Kate’s offers that won’t be found anywhere else. 

“The ASL department does a great job connecting with students, but every university offers History. How are we unique and how do we attract those students?” Alappat asks. “We need to articulate how we are different. Any institution has the social justice lens, so that’s not enough — we need to bring more than that. We need to re-envision that history and make it unique. I have been asking department chairs to work with their divisions to see what they market and how they bring people into programs.”

M Yeager and their newspapers.

Arts and Humanities Division Chair Kristen Lillvis says that the work currently being done to bring people into the programs is happening on a current-student level. 

“We started doing exit interviews with students who were graduating, and one of the things that they mentioned was, one, they were really excited about how arts and humanities helped them develop their passions, but they also said they wanted even more of a focus on how skills translate to careers,” Lillvis says. “We’re working with other units on campus to make sure that we’re talking about that more in our courses and helping students get some of the exact language to translate what they do in a class to skills that employers want. There’s data out there about ‘What do you do with English?’ and you can do a million things. And that’s true, but what do our students do with English?”

Effort is being put in to make space for these majors and keep them here, but are students feeling it? For many, a lack of courses to choose from left students feeling frustrated. Tara Harbo ‘25 (English and Studio Art) says she felt limited in choosing classes for both her majors, specifically in upper-level English and literature classes.

“I’m taking the topics course with Dr. [Taiyon] Coleman this semester, and I’m pretty sure that was one of, if not the only, upper-level literature course that I could find,” Harbo says. “I’m very happy to be in it, and it’s been an amazing class, but that lack of choice could very easily have been an issue.”

Many ran into issues of courses they were enrolled for the spring 2023 semester being canceled over winter break. And uncertainty when it comes to whether or not classes will be offered isn’t unique to the Arts, Humanities and Sciences. There was a Wheel article done on it a few weeks ago. 

“For me, it’s quite crazy being as I’m on an accelerated track to get my undergrad done in two years and my graduate in three,” says Skylar Mattson ‘26 (Exercise Science for Pre-Occupational Therapy). She explains that the process of getting all the classes she needs when on such a tight schedule is something that can be chaotic and overwhelming, especially when looking at summer courses.

“It may look like you can register for classes, but then it’s not totally reliable,” Mattson says. “I prepare to take my class here but then need three other backup plans, because some of us need those summer classes to graduate.”

Even though many feel uncertain in their individual fields of study, there seems to be a common theme of appreciation for the faculty they interact with on a day-to-day basis.

“It’s really the professors that make me feel like the program is supported, and even if it isn’t then they’re willing to build it up for us,” says Melody Her ‘24 (Political Science and Economics). “At St. Kate’s, especially in the Political Science and Economics departments, there’s a lot of powerful women of color who have been doing this really great work. That’s where St. Kate’s has been doing a really good job of ensuring that kind of empowerment. Not everyone can say that about their department, and I feel really lucky. I’m saying this with the sentiment of the professors in my brain, and that’s how much I feel they support us.”

With this appreciation comes the feeling of student guilt for placing extra pressure on professors by asking them to do things that aren’t in their job description.

“I think the people actively doing the supporting are the professors, and it places a lot of burden on them to do all of the work of guiding you through your major and focus,” Harbo says. “The work that the professors do has made it possible for me to appreciate the education that I’m getting. I just feel bad because of the stress that it places on their shoulders.”

There may be levels of stress and frustration for students in the Arts and Humanities right now, but what we do know is that there are people at St. Kate’s who are passionate about building these programs up to a level where both students and faculty can be comfortable and proud to be a part of them. 

“The headwinds are strong, but I’m going to take that challenge,” Johnson says. “It’s a core value of mine to get the word out [on these programs]. The issues stem from external challenges, declining enrollment and offering courses to students in a way that’s financially feasible. It’s hard but worth finding a pathway through. It’s the good fight. I would sooner be working on this problem than working at a place that didn’t have the liberal arts as a core value.”

Looking at the decline of the Arts and Humanities both on a localized level at St. Kate’s and on a national one, it’s vital to remember why these areas of study are so important. 

“It plays a role in building the future,” Her says. “St. Kate’s centers the voices of very powerful women that I’ve gotten to meet in my department and build relationships with. It’s encouraging women to really not second guess themselves or doubt any of their abilities. It really empowers them to push through. You see online that these students are doing really great things. They’re doing research projects, they’re studying abroad and they’re really building this great future that I don’t think that the world is ready for.”