Addressing the IS Enrollment Crisis: A 12-step Program to Bring about Change through the Introductory IS Course

David Firth, University of Montana
Cameron Lawrence, University of Montana
Clayton Arlen Looney, University of Montana

Abstract

An enrollment crisis continues to plague the Information Systems (IS) discipline. Although recent studies have begun to offer several potentially profitable strategies to reverse plummeting student enrollments, little evidence has been put forth to document comprehensive intervention initiatives aimed at attracting students in higher education institutions. To this end, this study describes a 12-step program targeted at the introductory IS course at one such institution. Developed based on empirical evidence from the literature, discussions with our IS colleagues, and best practices at other institutions, the 12-step program covers all aspects of the course including faculty assignment, tenor and approaches used in class, and innovative ways to tell the IS story. As a result of implementing the program, enrollments in core upper-division IS courses at the institution doubled. This paper presents a powerful, integrated program that is replicable and can be used by other IS departments to address the enrollment crisis at their institutions.

Recommended Citation

Firth, David; Lawrence, Cameron; and Looney, Clayton Arlen (2008) "Addressing the IS Enrollment Crisis: A 12-step Program to Bring about Change through the Introductory IS Course," Communications of the Association for Information Systems: Vol. 23, Article 2.
Available at: http://aisel.aisnet.org/cais/vol23/iss1/2