More students and fewer class sections means bloated classrooms for the U.
Students returning to the U this fall can expect to choose from approximately 70 fewer class sections, according to John Francis, senior vice president of academic affairs.
Because of budget cuts in departments across campus, some colleges are not offering as many sections as they did last fall.
The budget cuts, coupled with an increase in undergraduates, will create larger class sizes, Francis said.
Official numbers won’t be available until the third week of the semester, after the student census is done, he said.
Barb Snyder, vice president of academic affairs, said the U saw a three percent to four percent increase in the number of new undergraduates. In contrast to the influx of students, Snyder said there was a slight decline in the number of sections of classes available across all departments.
“Classes will be full,” she said.
Courtney Gwinn, a junior in biomedical engineering, advises a business LEAP class at the U. She said the reason for the increase in undergraduates is family support.
“Students are realizing how important an education is and some are even seeing their parents going back to school,” she said. “There is more opportunity with an education.”
Gwinn said the LEAP program experienced a 33 percent growth in student enrollment8212;about 1,000 new students, all freshmen.
Although her class might be more crowded this semester, Gwinn said she thinks it’s a good thing.
“It’s easier to relate to more people when there is a more diverse group of students. The U will benefit from having students of all different backgrounds,” she said.
Francis was positive about class availability despite the budget cuts and said the 18 new classrooms recently completed in the Marriot Library are an example of how the U is working to serve its students.
The change in financial resources is not the state’s fault, it’s from the recession, Francis said. Although the U doesn’t expect to see a mid-year budget cut, Francis said it would depend on what the economy looks like when the state begins to project the budget for next year.
Francis said the U was able to pull funding from building maintenance and other areas to keep teachers in their positions.
“It could be a lot worse,” Francis said, noting that not every department is necessarily on a hiring freeze, but some departments have opted to save money by leaving faculty positions unfilled.
Snyder said each department and college has had to make its own decisions regarding budget cuts and where they will reallocate funds.
Unlike other state universities, the U has opted to keep its existing admissions criteria to accommodate more students. Some schools have restructured their entrance requirements because they can’t handle anymore incoming students, Francis said.
“Everyone is conscious of the efforts being made,” he said.