8 What changes are anticipated to enhance or strengthen this program over the next five years? What is the driving force for the anticipated changes?

Macro perspective

The most important change for all higher education institutions across the state is the initial enrollment for Idaho Launch.  As has been reported, actual applications exceeded anticipation by roughly 50%.  Since this will initiate the distribution of the money to students pursuing degrees in high demand fields only, we anticipate an adverse impact on the History Program, which is not included in the high demand category.  The degree to which Idaho Launch will decrease enrollments in courses taught by NIC history faculty is difficult to determine now, but data will be gathered between now and the next program review.

Campus perspective

Based on data, the driving force for changes in the history program, is the increasing move to Dual Credit history courses, taught on high school campuses by high school faculty that meet the qualification standards.  This trend is expected to continue the steady increase in the number of students taking dual credit at their high schools combined with the steady decline in students being taught by full-time and adjunct NIC faculty.  The number of DC students in history courses rose from 102 in FA18 to 179 in FA23, while students in history courses taught by NIC faculty declined from 242 in FA18 to 148 (155 seats) in FA23.  Given these trends, the anticipated changes will not enhance the history program, but should make it possible to sustain it.  Though DC student enrollment has steadily increased in history courses, a number of factors indicate growth may reach a peak in the next year or two.