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Recruiting to Geosciences through

Campus Partnerships

Cinzia Cervato, Dept. of Geological & Atmospheric Sciences, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA

INTRODUCTION AGI data (Wilson, 2019) show steady most popular undergraduate geoscience
Increasing reliance of U.S. colleges and growth in geoscience undergraduates at degree in the U.S. (66.6% of 2013–2017 grad-
universities on student tuition makes recruit- four-year institutions since 2009 and a uates; Wilson, 2019).
ment a high priority for geoscience depart- slight rise in degrees awarded since 2013 The author has actively pursued STEM
ments. In 2017, ~70% of geoscience grad- that do not match recent concerns expressed recruitment for more than a decade in collabo-
uates did not enter university declaring by departments about decreasing under- ration with colleagues in other departments.
geology as a major, up by 10% since 2013 graduate enrollments. Data from the These efforts include the physics+ program,
(Wilson, 2019). They discovered geology Integrated Postsecondary Education Data an alternative path to a double major inspired
by taking an introductory geoscience course System (IPEDS, 2021) show that, of 288 by the Engineering Physics program at the
to fulfill general education or a previous geology programs at U.S. doctoral-granting University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.
major’s requirement (Stokes et al., 2015). institutions, 128 (44%) saw a decline in It consists of core physics courses to which
Thus, inspiring students to pursue a geosci- graduates from 2013 to 2019. Almost 40% additional physics courses can be added to
ence career through general education courses of these programs (112) had fewer than 10 create a traditional physics degree or courses
is a critical recruitment tool. However, what graduates in 2019, and 20 had none. Only in other majors that could replace equivalent
happens when these courses are taught 56 had ≥25 graduates. In the same period, physics courses. These degrees, e.g., B.S.
online because of a pandemic, budget cuts, the number of graduates in half of the 123 physics with aerospace engineering empha-
or to accommodate students’ need for flex- geology/earth-science programs at B.S.- sis, are considered double majors and intended
ibility? It is not easy to be inspired through and M.S.-granting institutions increased or for students who do not plan to pursue gradu-
a computer screen. stayed the same. ate studies in physics.
This paper aims to describe two innovative Unlike physics, only a few programs
pathways to recruit new undergraduate and GEOLOGY AS SECONDARY require a geology course. Thus, the author
graduate students at a large public research UNDERGRADUATE MAJOR adopted a different approach to creating
institution where, rather than focusing recruit- Most science, technology, engineering, “geology+” programs and focused instead
ment efforts on incoming students, a program and math (STEM) majors must complete one on identifying majors with an affinity for
recruits students who are already on campus year of calculus and physics and one or two geology to provide pathways to geology for
and majoring in high-enrollment programs by semesters (one to three quarters) of chemis- students in select majors. Similar paths
offering them a path to earn a geology degree try. Some degrees require additional math were created for meteorology and aerospace
as a secondary major. and physics courses, often enough to earn a and electrical engineering.
minor. On the other hand, a double major The first step of the year-long process was
GRADUATION RATES AND FUTURE adds several more courses and typically at producing a geology “core” program. By
EMPLOYMENT TRENDS least one year to the undergraduate degree, comparing our B.S. geology curriculum with
The American Geosciences Institute delaying students’ entrance into the work- Drummond and Markin’s (2008) analysis of
(AGI; Gonzales and Keane, 2020) projects force and adding to their financial burden. nearly 300 B.S. geology degrees offered in
growth of >20,000 geoscience jobs by 2029, The situation at Iowa State University the U.S., as well as the degree requirements
a 4.9% increase from 2019, higher than the (ISU) is typical of many geoscience depart- at ten peer land-grant institutions, we identi-
projected growth in the U.S. workforce of ments: More than half of the geology gradu- fied 31 credits of core courses and labs
3.7%. By comparing the number of pro- ates enrolled between 2004 and 2013 had (introductory physical and historical geol-
jected retirements and geoscience gradu- entered the university either as undeclared ogy, mineralogy and optical mineralogy,
ates, the expected shortfall is ~130,000 full- (13%), engineering (11%), meteorology (4%), petrology, sedimentology and stratigraphy,
time geoscientists. While some of these physics (4%), or one of 19 other majors. They structural geology, and field camp) that
positions will be covered by increased effi- had discovered geology through an introduc- include courses required by more than 60%
ciency and use of technology, the expecta- tory course or the learning community of the programs analyzed by Drummond and
tion is that the demand will exceed the num- (Cervato and Flory, 2015). Most enroll in the Markin (2008), with the addition of optical
ber of graduates and that programs will B.S. geology, with smaller numbers pursuing mineralogy. Although the department agreed
need an intentional focus on attracting and B.S./B.A. earth-science degrees. This paper that these courses represent the foundation of
training new students. focuses on the B.S. geology program, the geology, we also agreed that this reduced

GSA Today, v. 31, https://doi.org/10.1130/GSATG503GW.1. CC-BY-NC.

36 GSA Today | June 2021