Study Confirms Quality of Faculty, Staff

Photo of Mike Nietzel
Mike Nietzel

“If we just look at student satisfaction across this period of time, we have not been able to find any negative impact associated with the larger enrollment,” he added. “But without some additional help, we can't be expected to sustain this record.”

-- Mike Nietzel,
Provost,
University of Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 10, 2005) -- While the number of freshmen at the University of Kentucky has grown to record levels, student performance has continued to increase because of the high quality of students and faculty instruction, according to a new study of undergraduate enrollment.

However, the study released today also demonstrates that it will be difficult to maintain that high quality, if enrollment levels continue to grow without a corresponding increase in resources for faculty and instruction.

Those are the primary findings of the study – conducted by UK’s Office of Institutional Research, Planning and Effectiveness -- of undergraduate enrollment growth between 2001 and 2004, said UK Provost Mike Nietzel. Nietzel is reporting the study’s findings to the UK Board of Trustees, Tuesday, Jan. 11.

“These results have come with great effort by students, faculty and staff; they have done an outstanding job,” Nietzel said. “We have tried to be very efficient in our use of our resources during this time and still insist on the kind of education that a student who comes to UK should receive.”

Highlights from the study include:

The size of the freshman class increased 30 percent between 2001 and 2004, from 3,037 to 3,961.
The number of students receiving high grades has continued to increase and student satisfaction with courses and instruction has remained steady or increased as well. Nietzel said the university is attracting more top-quality students through its recruitment efforts and the continued use of selective admissions. For example, more than one-third of this year’s freshman class had a high school GPA of 3.8 or higher.
Even though enrollment overall has increased substantially, the average class size for all students – including freshmen – has not changed significantly, according to the study. About 55 percent of freshmen in 2004 were enrolled in at least three classes with 30 or fewer students in their initial semester at UK and nearly 100 percent of freshmen had at least one class with 30 or fewer students.
About 50 percent of freshmen were enrolled in at least two classes with 100 or more students, figures that are comparable with other public research institutions, Nietzel said. But only 15 percent of freshmen have three or more large classes in their first semester. And, as is the case at most universities, as students progress through the university, class sizes become smaller.
Even with the enrollment increases student satisfaction levels have remained high with freshmen giving faculty high grades for accessibility, time spent with students, and quality of instruction.

In fact, Nietzel said that the university is likely at the outer limits of the numbers of students it can enroll each year – just under 4,000 – and still provide the high-quality of instruction and academic support reflected in the study.

“Paying for public higher education is a shared responsibility from the student and from the state with an absolute insistence that the institution use its resources effectively and efficiently,” Nietzel said. “That is a shared responsibility that must be addressed adequately from all sources as we move forward trying to educate more Kentuckians.”