Survey of Instruction on Post-Communist Economies,

Economics of Transition and Comparative Systems

Mark Foley of Davidson College and Will Pyle of Middlebury College are conducting this survey to assess the state of instruction on post-communist economies, the economics of transition, and comparative economic systems at U.S. colleges and universities. This form will take about 15 minutes to complete. We thank you for your participation and will be glad to share the results if you're interested.

Please answer the following questions:

Background Information

Name
Institution
Faculty Rank	Instructor/Adjunct Assistant Associate Full Emeritus Other
Degrees offered by your Dept.	Bachelor's Master'sPh.D.
Number of full-time faculty in your department
Where did you earn your Ph.D.?
Year Ph.D. received (if any)
Dissertation Title/Topic
Current areas of research	1.
(please mention specific countries, if applicable)	2.
Gender	Male Female
Age	20-29 30-3940-4950-59 60+

I. Current Courses (those that are still regularly offered)

1. Does your department currently have at least one course exclusively devoted to post-communist economies, the economics of transition, or comparative economic systems? Yes No If "no," please click here and skip to Question 12.

If "yes," please list each course related to comparative economic systems or post-communist countries/economies taught in your department.

Course Title	Offered how often?	Avg Enrollment	Grad or Undergrad?
A.	At least once per academic year Less frequently		Undergraduate course Graduate course
B.	At least once per academic year Less frequently		Undergraduate course Graduate course
C.	At least once per academic year Less frequently		Undergraduate course Graduate course
D.	At least once per academic year Less frequently		Undergraduate course Graduate course

Questions 2 through 11 refer to courses which you personally teach or have taught.

2. What are the prerequisites, if any, for the undergraduate courses?

Course A: Principles Intermediate theory Quantitative prereq

Course B: Principles Intermediate theory Quantitative prereq

Course C: Principles Intermediate theory Quantitative prereq

Course D: Principles Intermediate theory Quantitative prereq

3. Which textbooks or supplementary books are most important to each class? Please list abbreviated titles and authors.

	Book #1	Book #2	Book #3
Course A:
Course B:
Course C:
Course D:

4. How important are refereed journal articles to the class?

Journal articles are ...

Course A: Main reading material Moderately important Used infrequently or not at all

Course B: Main reading material Moderately important Used infrequently or not at all

Course C: Main reading material Moderately important Used infrequently or not at all

Course D: Main reading material Moderately important Used infrequently or not at all

5. How important to the class are articles from newspapers, periodicals, non-refereed journal articles?

Newspaper and periodical articles are ...

Course A: Main reading material Moderately important Used infrequently or not at all

Course B: Main reading material Moderately important Used infrequently or not at all

Course C: Main reading material Moderately important Used infrequently or not at all

Course D: Main reading material Moderately important Used infrequently or not at all

6. What has been the trend in enrollment over the past 5 years relative to the enrollment trend in other departmental electives?

Enrollment has ...

Course A: Increased Decreased Not changed I don't know

Course B: Increased Decreased Not changed I don't know

Course C: Increased Decreased Not changed I don't know

Course D: Increased Decreased Not changed I don't know

7. Please estimate the percentage of each course devoted to (1) the theory and/or practice of socialism, (2) post-socialist transition, and (3) other topics. Please make these add up to 100.

	Socialism		Post-socialism		Other topics
Course A:		+		+		= 100 %
Course B:		+		+		= 100 %
Course C:		+		+		= 100 %
Course D:		+		+		= 100 %

8. Please estimate what you expect these percentages to be 5 years from now (if you were to teach the class). Please make these add up to 100.

Course Title	Socialism		Post-socialism		Other topics
Course A:		+		+		= 100 %
Course B:		+		+		= 100 %
Course C:		+		+		= 100 %
Course D:		+		+		= 100 %

9. To the extent you cover specific regions and/or countries, what share of the country specific material is devoted to the following:

Course Title	Russia		Other FSU		China		Central & Eastern Europe		Other
Course A:		+		+		+		+		= 100 %
Course B:		+		+		+		+		= 100 %
Course C:		+		+		+		+		= 100 %
Course D:		+		+		+		+		= 100 %

10. Please estimate what you expect these percentages to be 5 years from now (if you were to teach the class). Please make these add up to 100.

Course Title	Russia		Other FSU		China		Central & Eastern Europe		Other
Course A:		+		+		+		+		= 100 %
Course B:		+		+		+		+		= 100 %
Course C:		+		+		+		+		= 100 %
Course D:		+		+		+		+		= 100 %

11. With regard to your goals for students learning about transition economies, please RANK the following from 1 (most important) to 3 (least important). I want the students ...
(a) to better understand economic developments and political economy in the FSU, Eastern Europe, China, etc.
(b) to better understand economic principles in general as illustrated by applications from these countries.
(c) to better understand the limitations of economic theory as illustrated by applications from these countries.

12. For those who answered "no" to question 1, does your department offer a course in which a significant component is about "comparative systems or transition issues" (e.g., World Development or World Economy class)? Yes No

II. Former Courses (those that are no longer offered)

1. Do you feel qualified to comment on the history of courses related to comparative systems and the economics of transition in your department?

Yes No

2. Since 1985, did your department ever offer a course, which is no longer taught, on ...
(a) comparative systems?	Yes No
(b) transition economies?	Yes No
(c) socialist economies?	Yes No

3. For those courses no longer being taught, please list the course title and summarize why the course was dropped.

Course Title #1

Course #1 was discontinued due to ... (you may check more than 1 box if applicable)

Last year taught:

Primary instructor left dept & was not replaced by choice

Primary instructor left dept & new search unsuccessful

Course content became less important (U.S.S.R. dissolved, Cold War ends)

Lack of student interest

Course content was transferred to other classes

Additional comments/reasons for #1

Course Title #2

Course #2 was discontinued due to ... (you may check more than 1 box if applicable)

Last year taught:

Primary instructor left dept & was not replaced by choice

Primary instructor left dept & new search unsuccessful

Course content became less important (U.S.S.R. dissolved, Cold War ends)

Lack of student interest

Course content was transferred to other classes

Additional comments/reasons for #2

III. Graduate study (if applicable)

1. Does your department currently offer qualifying examinations in comparative systems or economics of transition (or similar subjects)?

Yes No If you answer "Yes," please skip to question 3.

2. If you answered "No" to question 1, was comparative systems or economics of transition (or similar subjects) ever a field in your graduate program? Yes No If "yes," what year was this field option eliminated?

3. Do you feel that comparative systems or economics of transition (or similar fields) will continue to be a field in your graduate program? Yes No

4. Please comment on why the field was dropped, why you expect it to be dropped, or why the field should be maintained:

IV. Additional Questions

1. If there were no staffing constraints, what do you feel would be the best combination of systems/transition classes for an undergraduate economics program? Please choose only one answer.

A single Comparative Systems class which has little to no emphasis on current economic transitions

A single Comparative Systems class with significant emphasis on current economic transitions

A Comparative Systems class with little to no emphasis on current economic transitions plus a separate Economics of Transition class

A Comparative Systems class with significant emphasis on current economic transitions plus a separate Economics of Transition class

An Economics of Transition class only, which emphasizes the history of central planning and the Soviet system

An Economics of Transition class only, which does not emphasize the history of central planning and the Soviet system

Not needed; the Comparative Systems and Economics of Transition topics can be integrated into other courses

2. In your opinion, what has the study of the post-socialist transition contributed to economics generally?

3. Lastly, are you willing to share your syllabi? Yes No

If you are willing to share your syllabus with other faculty, please send us a copy of the latest syllabus for your classes via separate email (Will Pyle or Mark Foley) . We will build a database of syllabi which you can access to learn what others are doing in the field, get new ideas for your own classes, and just to share information. Thank you very much for your participation.

4.Would you like to receive a summary report of the results? Yes No

Thanks for taking the time to fill out the survey.

Survey of Instruction on Post-Communist Economies,

Economics of Transition and Comparative Systems

Copyright © 2001 Mark C. Foley. All rights reserved. Revised: October 02, 2001

Copyright © 2001 Mark C. Foley. All rights reserved.
Revised: October 02, 2001