Department of Geography

Interpretation and Data

III A: Student Profile

Note: The Department of Geography does not have a graduate program nor does it offer graduate
courses. Therefore, the following discussions of data relating to students in Geography refer only to
undergraduates. In several instances a member of the Department has calculated percentages based on
raw data from the Office of Institutional Research (OIR) pertaining to undergraduates only. Those
percentages vary from the percentages shown directly in OIR data because the latter combine both
graduate and undergraduate students.

1. Enrollment Patterns in Majors, Minors, and Concentrations

a. The number of undergraduate majors in Geography for Fall semesters 1999 through 2003 has
varied from 58 to 77, averaging 65. The highest number occurred in Fall 2001, reflecting a larger
than usual number of transfers in that semester and Fall 2000. (Nearly 75% of the latter graduated
in just two years). Further investigation by the Department has revealed the existence of several
additional upper division students whose courses reflect the intention of completing a major in
Geography, although they have not yet declared it. In Fall 2003 there were also two students
completing Geography as a second major. Two additional such students graduated earlier in the
period under review.

The faculty in Geography routinely encourage students enrolled in the introductory courses to
consider Geography as a major. The tenured members regard the five new faculty appointed
during the recent four hiring cycles as attractive to students in ways that will help to increase the
number of majors. These new faculty will continue the Department’s dedication to teaching while
offering students some of the newest approaches to geographic understandings in both academic
and applied contexts.

b. Minors

OIR data for Fall semester 1998 through 2003 reveal a total of 28 students with a minor in
Geography. Sixteen of those have a major in Environmental Studies, a program that requires a
minor. The remaining 12 students are distributed among 8 other majors, with the highest number
being 3 in History.

c. Concentrations

Prior to Fall 2000 the Geography major had no concentrations. OIR data show 58 degrees
awarded in Geography 1998-99 through Fall 2000. Beginning in Spring 2001 many students
continued to graduate under the earlier pattern for which they had catalogue rights. That pattern
was nearly identical to the General Geography concentration. The 73 Geography degrees awarded
Spring 2001 through 2002-2003 show the following distribution among the concentrations:
General Geography 65; Cartography, Geographic Information Systems, Planning 7; Physical
Geography 1. For the 18 students who filed for graduation in 2003-2004, the respective numbers
are 8, 4 and 6.

In creating the concentrations nearly five years ago, the Department’s faculty intended to meet the
likely interest in the emerging sub-field of GIS and to respond to students’ expressed desire for a
concentration in physical geography. The students’ choices in the most recent years support that
decision to provide opportunities for depth of study beyond the pattern in general geography. The
Department has continued to strengthen its offerings in GIS and physical geography, including
applied work as noted in the discussion of curriculum in Section II B.

2. Gender and Ethnic Distribution

a. Gender

During the Fall semesters 1999 through 2003 the proportion of female undergraduate Geography
majors ranged from 49% to 33%, averaging 42%. The proportion of male undergraduate
Geography majors conversely ranged from 51% to 67%, averaging 58%. Although the proportion
of female undergraduate Geography majors has declined in the period under review and is lower
than the proportions of female undergraduates in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
(58%) and in the University (57%), the Department’s faculty can find no cause attributable to any
actions or omissions on its part. In each of the years under review, this proportion in the
Department has exceeded that in each preceding Fall semester from 1994 through 1998. The
addition of two full-time female faculty members in Fall 2002 and Fall 2004 to the one already in
the Department might increase the prospect of a growing number of female majors in the near
future.

b. Ethnicity

With regard to ethnicity, a majority of undergraduate Geography majors fall within the “White”
category. For Fall semesters 1999 through 2003 this proportion has declined from highs of 71%
and 74% in the first three years to 60% and 50% in the respective succeeding two years. The
proportion of “White” undergraduate majors is larger than the proportion of “White”
undergraduates in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (44%) and the University
(45%) during the period under review. However, whereas that proportion has varied by less than 7
percentage points in the college and by less than 2 percentage points in the University during the
five Fall semesters, it has declined by more than 20 percentage points in the Department.
The next largest ethnic category among undergraduate Geography majors is “other”, increasing
from 16% to 18% in the first three years to 22% and 26% in the last two years. The proportion of
undergraduate Geography majors in the “Other” category in the two most recent Fall semesters is
higher (22% and 26%) than that proportion of undergraduates in the college (16% and 15%) and is
increasing.

The third largest ethnic category among undergraduate Geography majors is “Hispanic”, with a
range of 4% to 8% during the period under review. The proportion of “Hispanic” undergraduate
Geography majors is smaller than the average proportion of “Hispanic” undergraduates in the
College (12%) and University (14%), and has been growing slowly in the last three years.
The proportion of undergraduate Geography majors in all remaining ethnic categories combined
has increased from comprising 3% to 5% of the total in Fall semesters 1999 through 2001 to 13%
and 17% of the total in Fall semesters 2002 and 2003. Thus that proportion has grown
significantly although, based on data for the two most recent fall semesters, it remains below the
corresponding ratios for both the college (29% and 33%) and University (28% and 27%) levels.
The Department faculty in general notes that the ethnic diversity of its undergraduate majors has
increased significantly during the period under review. We realize that given the number of
majors each student represents as much as 1.5 to 2 percent of total ethnicity. However, we regard
the changing proportions as representing the process of the Department’s reducing the gap to an
important extent between it and the College and University in this aspect of students’
characteristics.

3. Retention and Graduation Rates

Nearly all of the undergraduate majors in Geography enter as transfer students, making OIR data for
undergraduate transfers the most relevant. The one-year retention rate in Geography is 80%, compared to
the College at 67% and the University at 80%. The respective data for the five-year retention rates are
67%, 43% and 63%. The three-year graduation rate in Geography is 58%, compared to the College (30%)
and the University (47%). The respective data for the six-year graduation rates are 67%, 41% and 60%.
Thus undergraduate Geography majors are retained and graduated at higher rates in all but one
measurement, in which the Geography rate was equal to that of the University.

4. Part-Time and Full-Time Enrollments

During Fall semesters 1999 through 2003 undergraduate Geography majors enrolled part-time ranged
between 25% and 29% in four of the years and hit an unusually high 40% in Fall 2002. Conversely those
enrolled full-time ranged between 75% and 71%, with Fall 2002 at 60%. There are no particular trends
over the period.

The data for undergraduate students in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics reveal a range
for part-time students of 24% to 29% and conversely for full-time students of 76% to 71%. The
respective figures for the University are 24% to 25% and 76% to 75%.

There are no significant differences in the proportions of students enrolled part-time as contrasted to fulltime among the Department, College and University, especially considering the number of Geography
majors in relation to the College and University enrollments.

5. Native and Transfer Students

Nearly all of the undergraduate majors in Geography enter as transfer students. OIR data for Fall
semesters 1999 through 2003 show a total of 63 entering transfers, averaging 13 each Fall. In contrast, no
more than 1 native student on average entered the Geography major. Transfer students comprise the
majority of enrollment in the College and University. The Department faculty attributes the particularly
low number of native Geography majors to the relative lack of familiarity with the major among middle
and high school students. Although geographic understandings have been incorporated more fully into
elementary and secondary education in the past several years, most of our students do not develop an
interest in geography as a field of inquiry until they have taken a course in it at a community college or at
CSUS.

III B. Student Academic Performance

1. Grading Distribution

The distribution of undergraduate grades in Geography courses as calculated for the period under review
is shown below.

Distribution of Undergraduate Grades in Geography Courses
Average Percentage from Fall Semesters 1998 through 2003

The Department’s proportion of A’s is slightly higher than the College’s and significantly lower than the
University’s. The Department’s proportions of B’s and C’s are higher than the College’s and
University’s. The Department has very few individual undergraduates enrolled on a CR/NC basis and
offers no courses graded entirely on that basis. Therefore the proportion of CR grades is quite small. The
table includes proportions of undergraduate CR grades in the subtotal, because CR under University
policy denotes a level of performance equivalent to a C- or higher. The subtotals of A, B, C, and CR
grades show the Department as nearly identical to the University in giving degree-qualifying grades. The
Department’s proportion of such grades is higher than that of the College. This is likely attributable to
undergraduate students’ finding the work in most of the departments in the College of Natural Sciences
and Mathematics somewhat more difficult to manage. In addition, a high proportion of students in
geography courses are enrolled as part of their preparation to enter teaching credential programs and are
highly motivated to obtain at least a C- to avoid repeating such courses. (In Fall 2003, approximately
25% of the Department’s FTES was in such courses.) The proportions of undergraduate D’s and F’s in
the Department, while lower than those of the College are higher than those of the University. The
distribution of the remaining grades varies little among the Department, College and University.
In general, the Department does not regard the grade distribution data as raising any issues requiring
specific action. Nevertheless, the Department has recently received approval to its proposal routinely to
include in the evaluation of all faculty members a summary of the grade distributions in all of its courses
for each respective period of review as a means of becoming aware of any patterns of grading that might
warrant inquiry.

In the lower division courses the Department’s proportions of undergraduate A’s and B’s are lower and
the proportion of C’s is higher than in the upper division courses. This pattern is typical in the College’s
and University’s grades as well.

2. Grade Point Averages

For Fall semesters 1999 through 2003 undergraduate overall grade point averages in the Department have
ranged from 2.91 to 3.02. These are slightly higher than the range in the College (2.85 to 2.89) or the
University (2.83 to 2.88), but not significantly so.

3. Students on Probation

OIR data for Fall semesters 1999 through 2003 indicate the proportion of students in good standing. The
remaining students are therefore presumably on probation or in another similar status. The proportion of
the Department’s undergraduate majors who are not in good standing ranges from 13% to 15%, which
represent 8 to 10 individual students in a given recent Fall semester. The Department’s proportion of
students not in good standing is in nearly every instance lower than the proportions in the College (a
range of 19% to 24% except for one semester at 15%) and the University (a range of 14% to 20%).
Source: “Program Profile” Fall Semesters 1999-2003

4. Writing Proficiency Exam Pass Rates

Undergraduate majors in Geography during Fall semesters 1999 through 2003 have passed the WPE at
rates of 56%, 75%, 60%, 80%, and 71%. The rates for undergraduates in the College ranged from 69% to 71% and in the University from 63% to 69%. Three of the five years (including the two most recent) the Department’s rates exceeded those in the College and University. In the other two years they fell below them. Given the relatively small number of undergraduate Geography majors taking the WPE in any given Fall semester, the variation in rates is most likely attributable to the performance of one or two individuals. On the whole the Department’s rates do not raise concern. The coursework in Geography provides many opportunities for students to practice their writing skills and to receive suggestions for their improvement.

5. Preparation for Upper Division and Graduate Coursework

Undergraduate majors in Geography have been prepared well for upper division coursework in
Geography. With respect to subject matter, the lower division courses in Geography at the community
colleges and CSUS are designed to introduce students to concepts and spatial distributions pertaining to
physical geography and human geography. These are presented in the contexts of both description and
explanation and with numerous examples of geographic tools and techniques, such as maps, spatial
statistics and slides. The upper division courses in Geography build upon these topics and methods in the
form of greater depth of inquiry into subtopics in physical and human geography or their distinctive
combination of characteristics in a particular region or in students’ acquiring skills in cartography, map
reading, geographic information systems and field methods.

The Department does not have a graduate program. However, several of our majors have entered
graduate programs in other departments on campus (e.g., Government, Recreation and Leisure Studies,
and Special Masters) or at other universities. A very high proportion of these students have successfully
completed graduate study. Several who have kept in contact with the Department have reported that their
undergraduate work in Geography was very helpful to their later study.