Popular Departments Feel the Pressure

Author: Caroline Stauffer

The ease of getting into classes this fall seems to depend on the class, the department - and on who you talk to.

"Historical data from MARS registrations over the last three years show that between 80 and 85 percent of classes never close," Secretary of the College Eric Davis said. "Those classes with enrollment pressures tend to be concentrated in a few departments - Spanish and psychology are good examples." Indeed, five departments made up 36 percent of enrollments in the entire College for the 2002-03 academic year, according to Davis. These departments are economics, history, political science, English and psychology.

Yet, students in such departments do seem to encounter difficulty enrolling in courses, as do students who have their eye on specific "popular" courses in other departments. These courses constitute what Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs Alison Byerly calls "pressure points." Interdisciplinary programs, which attract more students because they often satisfy more than one requirement, comprise one pressure point, according to Byerly. For instance, some English courses satisfy requirements for women and gender studies, and some history courses satisfy requirements for environmental studies. Other pressure points occur within departments for very popular courses.

"We try very hard to make sure there are enough slots so students wishing to do so can take Introduction to Psychology sometime during their first year at Middlebury," Professor of Psychology Michelle McCauley said. "There is not a lot of room for first year students in upper level courses, but this is not a problem with regard to finishing the major."

Psychology major Larissa Robtoy '04 agreed that students are able to get the classes they need to finish their majors, but said that it is harder to get into classes as an underclassman. "I can certainly say that I haven't experienced any trouble getting into classes as a senior, but due to the ever increasing popularity of psychology as a major, there are often many freshmen and sophomores who are shut out of classes," she said.

According to Davis, the increased size of the class of 2007 did not significantly impact students' chances of getting into classes. "While I was not at the registration for first-year students held in Kenyon Arena earlier this month, colleagues report that most first-year students were able to get the courses they wanted, even though the first-year class was larger than anticipated," he said.

Some first-years beg to differ. "At the academic forum, one of the psychology department representatives told me, after hearing of my high number, that I didn't really have a realistic chance of getting into Intro to Psychology because it quickly fills up, but to try and get on some sort of a list to give me a better chance of getting into the class next semester," said Ben Wiechman said. "After I shared this news with my advisor, she helped me pick a class that I had a more realistic shot of getting into."

McCauley confirmed that the Psychology Department has grown steadily in popularity over the last 10 years, reflecting a national trend. Furthermore, the Teacher Education and Neuroscience programs have become popular as well, bumping up enrollment in psychology courses.

The nature Middlebury College students' courses of sutdy also affects class enrollment. Byerly reported that students are taking on a "more complex schedule than five or 10 years ago." More students are now choosing to complete double and joint majors, requiring a specific selection of courses in more than one department. "Some other liberal arts colleges are more restrictive than Middlebury in not permitting students to major in more than one subject, or requiring students who want to do double majors to present their case for double majoring to a faculty committee," Davis said.

Davis and Byerly believe that the majority of students who reported trouble getting into classes this fall were returning students who had not registered using MARS in the spring, or waited to contact faculty over the summer when their classes were already full. "If students register with MARS, we can add new sections of courses if necessary," Byerly said. "Some problems arise when students don't register, and then are disappointed if they can't get into courses when they show up at the beginning of the term." Because the process of hiring faculty must begin well in advance of classes beginning, it is imperative that students enroll accurately in MARS in the spring to allow for the adjustment of the number of sections of classes offered in the next term.

The Educational Affairs Committee (EAC) is responsible for recommending new faculty positions to the College, and takes enrollments into consideration in order to decide which departments should receive new positions, along with the administration. "Situations in which students are consistently closed out of classes are taken seriously, and the EAC and the academic administration will attempt to address those situations," Davis said.

"At the same time, we have to be mindful of the need to offer a full and balanced liberal arts curriculum that appeals to students with a wide range of academic interests, and to keep the size of the faculty within the overall 11-to-1 student-faculty ratio that has been established as a College policy by the Board of Trustees."

It remains to be seen whether getting into classes will be made easier or more difficult when the new Banner technology is implemented for winter and spring enrollment.

At a recent psychology social event, students were encouraged to become well versed in the new technology. "The comment was basically that since the registration process will be in real time, the difficulty of getting into classes is expected to increase, and if you don't have a waiver or pre-approval already set up with a member of the psychology department before class registration begins, it might be too late to get a seat in the class if you have to wait a day to get a hold of a faculty member," Robtoy said.

Byerly claims that the new technology is "much smoother and provides students with the 'instant gratification' of knowing whether they got into a course right away." It also means students will need to be prepared for registration since it will happen quickly.

"Although everyone knows a few anecdotes about students who couldn't get into a specific course the specific term they wanted it, in general this was not a particularly problematic registration period, and there aren't 'too few' courses or professors available," Byerly said. "The teaching resources allocated are appropriate for the number of students registered for courses this term, and consistent with our 11:1 student/faculty ratio."

In terms of recommendations for registering classes, Byerly encourages students to be familiar with requirements and try to determine what classes best fit their interests in time for registration to avoid changes during the first week.

"Middlebury students have very broad interests, and students should use those interests to look at the curriculum as a whole. If a particular course is full, look at other courses, in the same department or in other departments, that satisfy the same requirements," Byerly said.