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WGS Recommendation Report
1. Evaluating the State of the York College of Pennsylvania
Women and Gender Studies Program:
A Recommendation Report
Prepared for: Madeline Yonker, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Composition
York College of Pennsylvania
Prepared by: Kyle Frost, Junior
Professional Writing Major
November 11, 2015
2. 1
Abstract
“Evaluating the State of the York College of Pennsylvania Women and Gender Studies Program:
A Recommendation Report”
Prepared by: Kyle Frost, Junior Professional Writing Major
On October 29, 2015, Dr. Madeline Yonker, Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Composition,
assigned a research project in which my colleagues and I were to investigate the current state of
the Women and Gender Studies Minor here at York College of Pennsylvania and develop a
recommendation for the future course of action to take with the program. First, a list of tasks
were developed in order to determine the state of the WGS minor. Interviews were conducted
with staff here at York College, to acquire a better understanding of the state of the minor.
Additionally, the minor and courses available at nearby schools were looked into to see how the
program compares. A brief survey was also verbally given to 56 random students to judge the
awareness and desirability of the WGS minor. Finally, interviews were conducted of several
members of the LAMBDA organization to determine the views of the WGS minor from the
perspective of related organizations. Overall, there was an overwhelming agreement between the
interviews that the minor is lacking and has been stagnant for many years with as few as zero
participants during some years. Furthermore, the surveys revealed that students have incredibly
low awareness of the minor as well as low interest. However, they did show some interest in the
courses themselves, as did the LAMBDA members who expressed a desire for more courses.
This desire was supported by the lack of course diversity of the WGS minor at YCP in
comparison to nearby schools. Additionally, the LAMBDA members and the YCP staff noted
that career or real world applicability of the minor were issues. Thus, I recommend that we
revamp the current WGS minor. The current curriculum needs to be expanded upon to
encompass a larger variety of course topics. In addition, the current courses should be renamed
or rebranded in a way that will allow students to connect with them better. Once those are
completed, advertising must be done to increase the program visibility and bring more students
in.
Keywords: WGS, women, gender, studies, minor, York,
4. 3
Executive Summary
To determine the best course of action to take with the Women and Gender Studies minor here at
York College, Dr. Madeline Yonker asked my colleagues and I to investigate the current state of
the minor and develop a recommendation.
The minor itself was founded over a decade ago with Dr. Julie Amberg being one of the co-
founders. There are roughly 14 unique courses available to take in the minor. Additionally, there
are only 3 students currently enrolled in the minor program.
In order to carry out this research, we completed the tasks listed in our memo submitted on
October 30, 2015. Our tasks included: interviewing WGS-related professors at YCP, completing
online research of other schools, distributing a student awareness survey, interviewing members
of the YCP LAMBDA organization, and reviewing and compiling the data with all colleagues.
Once this was complete, the information was analyzed and a recommendation was formed.
Our findings were that currently the minor is stagnant. There are only 3 students currently
involved in it and that number has never risen past 7 in previous years with as few as 0 in other
years. Also, the minor is not as advertised as other minors on campus, and student awareness and
desirability of the minor is very low with only 45% of students being aware it even exists.
Students showed interest in courses themselves more so than the WGS minor. This is all likely a
result of several factors including: limited number and variety of courses, incredibly poor
advertising, and poor perceptions of real world applicability of the minor. As a result, I conclude
that the minor is not achieving its full potential on campus and needs to be revised to increase
desirability and awareness, and thus increase student participation.
Thus, I recommend that the current WGS minor be revamped in order to solve this problem. The
current curriculum needs to be expanded upon greatly. Both a larger number and variety of
courses needs to be offered to meet the desires of students. In addition, the current courses
should be renamed or rebranded in a way that will allow students to connect and resonate with
them better. Once those are completed, advertising must be done to increase the program
visibility and bring more students in. The advertising should emphasize the real world
applicability of the minor in order to draw in students that would otherwise be deterred by a
minor they perceive as impractical.
5. 4
Introduction
In order to determine the state of the Women’s and Gender Studies minor and to determine the
best course of action for the minor, Dr. Madeline Yonker has requested that we research the
programs and curriculum at other schools, interview York College staff involved in the minor on
potential areas of improvement, collect data on the attitudes of students towards the minor and
make a recommendation on the direction that should be taken with the Women and Gender
Studies minor.
Currently there has been a general stagnation with the minor with little change in the curriculum
or popularity. Of the nearly 5,000 enrolled students at YCP, there are only three WGS minor
students this year. In previous years there have been less than ten students involved in the minor
per year with as few as zero students in a given year. This is not ideal because it is the student
body to its full potential while simultaneously affecting the school’s and the Humanities
Department’s image negatively. A negative image of the school and the program may lead to
even further degeneration of the minor even beyond its current level.
To evaluate and assess the relevance of the WGS minor curriculum, we completed the following
tasks:
● Interviewing WGS professors at YCP to determine the state of the minor and search of
suggestions to improve it.
● Performing online research of the WGS minor and related curriculum at other schools to
compare to YCP.
● Interviewing students involved with the LAMBDA organization at YCP as to the state of
the WGS minor and their opinions of it.
● Distributing a brief survey to judge the awareness and attitudes of current YCP students
towards the WGS minor.
We determined that the current state of the WGS minor here at YCP is that it is not satisfactory
in comparison to that of other schools. Other schools have a greater number of WGS-oriented
courses available with seemingly more student interest in the minor than at YCP. Even staff,
including Dr. Taylor, Chair of the English and Humanities Department, agree that the WGS
program is out of date. Among the YCP students surveyed, some students expressed desire for
the WGS courses, but that did not necessarily translate to desire for the minor itself.
Furthermore, less than half of them were even aware that the minor existed at all.
Overall, our principal findings were that the current curriculum were outdated. Moreover,
students showed little interest in the minor and generally prefer simply taking WGS courses
instead of minoring in it.
6. 5
We recommend that in order to bring more interest into the WGS minor, we first need to revamp
the minor as well as expand and update the current course selection. Once that is done, we can
move forward with increasing awareness of the minor through advertisement from the professors
and the Humanities department. It is also suggested that the practicality of a WGS minor be
stressed in order to gain further support. A lack of a real-world application of the minor may be
one reason why those interested in the courses are not interested in the minor.
7. 6
Research Methods
We began our research by collaborating with Dr. Yonker on how we should conduct our
research. She instructed that we should compare the state of our current WGS program with that
of other schools. She recommended this be accomplished through secondary research online as
well as primary research interviews with staff from the schools. Additionally, she recommended
we interview Dr. Amberg, who co-founded the minor, and Dr. Shusko who is the head of the
minor. Additionally, I independently suggested that we also interview Dr. Taylor as he is Chair
of the English and Humanities Department and likely had useful insight into the minor.
In order to determine the current state of the minor and its desirability, we divided our project
into several tasks:
1. interview the YCP staff related to the WGS minor
2. perform secondary research on the WGS minors found at other schools
3. distribute a survey to the current student body in regards to awareness and interest in the
WGS minor and related courses
4. interview members of the YCP LAMBDA to judge their awareness, desire, and opinions
of the WGS minor
The following discussion contains information on how each task was performed and then
justifies its purpose in our research.
Task 1. Acquire an understanding of the current state of the WGS minor at YCP
After failing to interview Dr. Amberg, we contacted Dr. Taylor, Dr. Carsey, and Dr. Shusko. We
sent them the same set of questions in order to get both male and female opinions on the state of
the minor. Additionally it gave us the general perspective of the head of the department while
also providing the point of view of a professor directly involved with the minor.
The list of questions sent to Dr. Taylor, Dr. Carsey, and Dr. Shusko can be found in Appendix
A: YCP Staff Interview Questions.
Task 2. Determine the state of the WGS minor at other schools
We conducted this task by first looking at the WGS minor courses at YCP. Then we began
researching other colleges online, looking in particular at their WGS course list and analyzing
the number of courses available and the diversity of said courses. We did so to have a standard
on which to compare the current WGS curriculum found at YCP.
Task 3. Develop an understanding of the student awareness and desirability of the WGS minor
at YCP
8. 7
We decided to draft a brief, three-question survey to give to verbally administer to YCP students
at random in order to understand the current visibility and desirability of the minor. The survey
was primarily given to students found in the Humanities building as they would be the most
likely to have a WGS minor in the future or at least be interested in it. Additionally, the survey
was kept brief so that responses could be collected and analyzed quickly.
With the survey we were only able to collect 56 results in the given timeframe, but we decided
that would be sufficient in gauging the current student awareness and desire for the minor. We
also realized that we were limited in time and resources because only one student was
administering the survey and we did not want to repeat respondents accidentally.
The survey questions can be found in Appendix B: YCP Student Survey.
Task 4. Determine the awareness, desirability, and opinions of LAMBDA members in regards
to the WGS minor
To interview the students from LAMBDA, we first drafted a list of questions to pose to the
members. The list contained questions very similar to that of the questions asked of Drs. Taylor
and Carsey. We then sent the list to each LAMBDA member and received three responses in
total.
The list of questions sent to LAMBDA members can be found in Appendix C: LAMBDA
Member Questions.
9. 8
Results
In this section, we present the results of our research. For each of the tasks we carried out, we
present the most important data we acquired.
Task 1. Acquire an understanding of the current state of the WGS minor at YCP
Drs. Taylor, Shusko, and Carsey stated that there needs to be some change in the current WGS
minor. Both Dr. Taylor and Dr. Shusko noted that the current WGS minor at YCP needs to be
modified from its original form to fit the interdisciplinary nature of the field of women and
gender studies. Taylor also believed that updating the minor and taking a more interdisciplinary
approach would increase desire in the WGS courses and minor. Carsey and Shusko felt that the
minor has potential for expansion and could update to integrate courses such as those regarding
transgender issues.
Taylor believed that there is interest in the minor in general, but not necessarily the minor in its
current state. He stated that the WGS minor has never had a particularly large amount of students
and thus its population has not changed much. However, Drs. Carsey and Shusko believed that
there is very little interest in the minor and that this is because of a lack of awareness. Shusko
also felt that renaming/rebranding the courses for the minor could increase interest and give
students a better connection to the courses. Finally, Shusko thought that having a web and social
media presence for the minor would be a good avenue for marketing it.
Task 2. Determine the state of the WGS minor at other schools
Research of other schools such as Millersville University and Franklin & Marshall College
showed that York College is not up-to-par with other nearby schools in regards to the WGS
courses offered. While York College only offers roughly 14 courses in WGS, both Millersville
and Franklin & Marshall had over double that amount.
To start, they both offered Introductory courses which York College is currently lacking.
Furthermore, Millersville and Franklin & Marshall had a greater diversity of WGS-related
courses and more specified courses. For example, they offered courses such as “Feminist
Theory”, “Gender and the Law”, and “Journalism Through Women’s Perspectives”.
Task 3. Develop an understanding of the student awareness and desirability of the WGS minor
at YCP
Between October 30, 2015 through November 4, 2015 a survey was verbally conducted to
determine the awareness of the minor, the desirability of the WGS minor, and the desirability of
the WGS courses. A total of 56 responses were collected.
10. 9
In regards to awareness, only 45% of students were aware of the minor while 55% stated that
they did not even know the minor existed at YCP. Additionally, 55% showed little to no interest
in the minor at all, 39% had low to moderate interest, and only 6% showed higher interest in the
minor. Even in regards to just the WGS courses in general, 43% of students showed little to no
interest at all. Meanwhile, 34% showed lower to moderate interest and 23% showed higher levels
of interest.
Task 4. Determine the awareness, desirability, and opinions of LAMBDA members in regards
to the WGS minor
The interview of the LAMBDA members in regards to the WGS minor revealed that they felt the
minor was rather stagnant in the number of students involved. Also, they felt that students were
interested in Women and Gender Studies because of the number of students looking into and
registering for the courses.
However, they generally felt that something could be done to increase the number of courses
available. One LAMBDA member stated that there were “chronological” gaps in the courses that
they would like to see filled. Another member expressed that they were interested, but did not
think it would benefit their future career. They all generally expressed that it was not as well
advertised as some other minors and that the advertising in general for the course could be
improved.
11. 10
Conclusion
In this section, I will present conclusions drawn based on the analyses of the aforementioned
tasks.
Task 1. Acquire an understanding of the current state of the WGS minor at YCP
Judging based on the responses of Drs. Taylor, Shusko, and Carsey that the minor needs to be
updated. On top of that, the WGS minor needs to be better advertised. Currently, there is little
interest and much stagnation in the program’s population and that is a result of low awareness.
To further advertise, the minor needs to associate itself better with both on and off campus
WGS-related organizations and events while also increasing the perceived applicability of the
minor. Rebranding of the minor courses may also improve interest among students who are
unfamiliar with it.
Task 2. Determine the state of the WGS minor at other schools
After researching into the state of the WGS minor available at other schools, I have come to the
conclusion that York College could greatly benefit from updating and especially from expanding
the current curriculum. We are lacking in both the number and variety of courses. Integrating
courses involving more LGBTQ issues such as transgender studies may improve popularity.
Furthermore, the minor could benefit greatly from having an Intro to Women and Gender Studies
course that may promote more students to at least look into the field if they are unfamiliar.
Task 3. Develop an understanding of the student awareness and desirability of the WGS minor
at YCP
Through the survey results my colleagues and I were able to determine that few students were
aware the WGS minor existed let alone had interest for it. This may be because very little
visibility of the minor on campus in comparison to other minors. Thus more advertising needs to
be done to increase the visibility.
Also it should be noted that students showed more interest in the WGS courses, but not the
minor. This may be because students find that other minors would have better real world
applicability or would be more practical. Thus advertising the applicability of the WGS minor
would help increase participation in the program.
Task 4. Determine the awareness, desirability, and opinions of LAMBDA members in regards
to the WGS minor
From the interview questions sent to LAMBDA, my colleagues and I determined that the
students were aware of the WGS minor. However, only one of the three of them showed interest
in the minor. Similar to the general student population, they tended to show more interest in the
courses than the WGS minor itself.
12. 11
Because one LAMBDA member cited that they did not think the minor would help with their
career field, promoting the benefits of taking the minor to those already taking the courses may
increase interest. Furthermore, expanding the current curriculum might make it more accessible
to those interested in certain aspects of WGS studies.
13. 12
Recommendation
After my research and analysis of the current state of the Women and Gender Studies program
here at York College, I recommend that we take a multifaceted approach in reforming and
increasing awareness and desirability. The minor and its curriculum needs to be revamped. After
all, it does not even have an introductory course of any kind. Having an Introduction to Women
and Gender Studies as an elective course would provide the students with a good starting point to
look into the field of WGS. Moreover, it would allow them the opportunity to look into the
minor and learn more about it and the real world applicability of it without pressuring them to
commit to it necessarily which would improve desirability.
Furthermore, we need to expand the current curriculum to meet the interests of the students.
Currently, students take the courses, but they do not involve themselves fully in the minor. By
increasing the number of courses available and the diversity of them, this could motivate
students to enter the minor because of the higher desirability in the courses themselves. Also,
rebranding or renaming the current courses to something that may resonate better with students
would motivate them to look into the courses.
Finally, the WGS minor needs to be advertised considerably better. Considering most students
had not even heard the minor existed, it could benefit from even minimal, low-cost advertising.
For example, advertising through word of mouth of the students and professors could help. It
could also benefit from more of a web and social media presence that would be more likely to be
seen by students today. Moreover, the applicability of the minor should be more visible in the
advertising. Students would be more inclined to enter the minor if career applicability and other
more tangible benefits were to be associated with the minor.
14. 13
References
"WGSS Curriculum and Courses." Franklin & Marshall. Web. 5 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.fandm.edu/wgs/courses>.
"Women's and Gender Studies Minor." York College of Pennylvania. York College of
Pennsylvania. Web. 4 Nov. 2015.
"Women's Studies." Millersville University Undergraduate Catalog 2015-2016. 2015. 238-240.
Print. <http://www.millersville.edu/catalogs/undergraduate/index.pdf>.
15. 14
Appendix A: YCP Staff Interview Questions
The following is the the list of questions posed to Dr. Taylor and Dr. Carsey regarding the
Women and Gender Studies minor at YCP.
Women and Gender Studies Questions
How do you feel York’s Women and Gender Studies Minor program compares to others in the
area? In the country?
Have you noticed an increase, decline, or stagnation in our program size?
Do you think students are interested in the WGS Minor program? Why or why not?
There are currently only three WGS Minors, why do you think that is? How does that make you
feel about the state of the Minor Program?
How do you think we might be lacking in our Women and Gender Studies Minor/Courses?
What would you like to see done with our program? What direction would like it to take?
Do you think students are aware that this minor is available? How would you recommend we
increase awareness of the minor?
Do you think some of the courses should be added to the general education curriculum?
How do you think taking this minor could be applicable in everyday life? The job market?
How could the minor affiliate itself with other student programs or events on campus? How
could it affiliate itself with organizations or programs in the area?
16. 15
Appendix B: YCP Student Survey
This is the survey that was distributed to 56 York College students in regards to the WGS Minor.
1. Were you aware that there was a Women and Gender Studies Minor available at YCP?
2. On a scale of 1 to 5 (with 1 being least desired and 5 being very desired), how interested
are you in a WGS Minor?
3. On a scale of 1 to 5 (with 1 being the uninterested and 5 being very interested), how
interested are you in WGS courses in general (not necessarily the minor)?
Awareness of Students of the WGS Minor
Awareness of Students Number of Students Percentage of Students
Aware 25 45%
Unaware 31 55%
Desirability of WGS Minor (1 Being Least Desire and 5 Being Most Desire)
Desirability Number of Students Percentage of Students
1 31 55%
2 13 23%
3 9 16%
4 3 6%
5 0 0%
Desirability of WGS Courses in General (1 Being Least Desire and 5 Being Most Desire)
Desirability Number of Students Percentage of Students
1 24 43%
2 10 18%
3 9 16%
4 4 7%
5 9 16%
Appendix C: LAMBDA Member Questions
17. 16
The following is the list of questions posed to members of the YCP group LAMBDA.
1. How do you feel York’s program compares to others in the area? In general?
2. Have you noticed an increase, decline, or stagnation in our program?
3. Do you think students are interested in the program? Why or why not?
4. Are our courses up to date with the field of women and gender studies?
5. What would you like to see done with our program? What direction would like it to take?
6. Did you know that York College offers a Women and Gender Studies minor?
7. Do you think students are aware that this minor is available?
8. --How can we increase awareness?
9. Do you think the course should be added to the general education curriculum?
10. On a scale of 1-5 (1 being least interested, 5 being most interested), how interested are you
in the Women and Gender Studies minor?
11. On a scale of 1-5 (1 being least interested, 5 being most interested), how interested are you
in taking a Women and Gender Studies course?
