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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Solving the Rising Demand for Economics

 

An unprecedented number of Middlebury students are declaring economics majors. As featured in last week’s edition of the Campus, however, the College’s faculty supply is currently unable to meet this student demand. Between overenrolled classes and overworking professors, there are many problems facing Middlebury’s understaffed economics department. It is therefore clear to our editorial board that the College needs to address economics at Middlebury. Due to the department’s popularity, it is essential that a solution is found to ensure that economics majors are receiving as replete a liberal arts education as those with any other major.


One notable issue for the economics department to address is its staffing imbalance. Recently, Middlebury has come to recommend many experimental courses such as MiddCore and the Liberal Arts Plus curriculum, both of which cover material related to economics and as such pull from the department’s faculty. The Campus appreciates these opportunities to learn soft economics, but at the same time we must point out the repercussions they have on regular economics classes at Middlebury.


While the College boasts an overall nine to one student-faculty ratio, this claim does not apply to the economics department. Because there are not enough professors, there are not enough classes, and the quality of the existing ones suffers. In many of the popular classes that are required for the major, there are not enough desks for every student. To cover professors for all courses, some classes are even being split up and taught by multiple instructors. For example, five professors are teaching the course, the Economic Lens, this spring. 


The problems that plague the economics department have a range of effects on the students, too. Recently, many students found themselves unable to get into classes that they need in order to be on track for their major and, more pressingly, to study abroad. With no other viable options, they are forced to sacrifice studying abroad for a full year, if not entirely.


As the overcrowded economics department poses these dilemmas, we feel it is important to reassess why so many Middlebury students aspire to become economics majors in the first place. For many, the major appears to be one of necessity rather than academic interest. The most common misconceptions around the major seem to be that it ensures job security, or that an economics major will prepare you to work in the real world in a way that art history never will. 


As the editorial board for the newspaper of a liberal arts institution, we would like to challenge this notion. Middlebury does not have a pre-business program for a reason. The College offers its students the ability to develop analytical skills through departments like English, art history, and other social sciences. It encourages attendees to pursue a wide breadth of learning – to take classes in chemistry while at the same time learning Mandarin.


This well-rounded pursuit of academics and the cultivating of minds that can think, question and create is what the College has to offer. If one’s passion is for studying inflation, G.D.P., and other subject matter of the like, he or she should pursue a major in economics. If one just has a craving for greater knowledge, however, do not let the looming shadow of post-grad employment dictate one’s area of study. 


But because the economics major is so popular at the current moment, we at the Campus find it imperative that the department change its ways. One potential solution could be to reintroduce the economics minor, which would siphon off those only looking to take a minimum number of economics classes and keep spots open for those interested in the major. Additionally, the College might consider allowing for additional joint majors beyond the environmental economics major. Distributing people along these more specific fields could better regulate numbers in classes.


While we recognize the hard work the economics department at Middlebury currently puts in, we urge those with power to consider making these necessary amendments. The current state of economics at the College is unsustainable, yet the field clearly continues to draw in more students. So long as students desire to learn economics, let us continue to meet a standard of academic excellence in our teaching of this subject. While Middlebury might currently be recognized as a superior college, there is still room to improve. And in this case, the solution just so happens to be making more room, along with other adjustments, in the economics department. 


 

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