Students cram into upper year courses
Aurora’s mistake leads to overflowing political studies classes
TESSA VANDERHART STAFF
High enrolment levels in past years are causing a crunch for spaces this year in some third- and fourth- year classes.
The official enrolment numbers aren’t yet available, but the Aurora registration system shows the number of spaces allocated and filled for each class — and that the trend toward higher enrolment in fourthyear undergraduate classes noted by students and professors alike is continuing.
In faculties like arts and science, where many students are registered in three-year programs, enrolment in fourth year is significantly lower. Last year, according to the university’s “Student Enrolment Report,” there were 269 fourth-year students in arts, up from 246 in 2004-05. The number of third-year students increased proportionally over that same time from 1375 to 1504. There were 43 pre-master's students last year, down from 55.
The number of arts students in four-year programs varies by department, from a low of one in Canadian studies to a mid-range of 22 in sociology, to a high of 150 in psychology. Political studies has the second-highest number of four-year degree students, at 51.
In four-year programs like nursing, the upper-years push is more evident: the 2004-05 nursing graduating class had 214 students, and 157 thirdyears. In the previous year, there were 194 fourth-year students registered, 20 fewer, and 153 third-years.
“Actually, some of the classes I need to graduate were full within the first week of registration,” said Ashley Thiessen, a third-year sociology student. “So that sucks for someone who wants to graduate on time.”
Thiessen hopes to take the class next year — and said she’d prefer larger class sizes to not being able to take a class.
“That was what I hated about arts,” said Erika Sammons, who no longer has to contend with large class sizes as she started her master’s degree in interior design this fall, in a program of 10 students.
“It was hard to form personal relationships with your mentors and profs — so definitely in my master’s, that’s what I’ve been enjoying.”
George Maclean, graduate chair of political studies, said that there are simply too many students in seminar classes designed for substantially fewer students.
“I don’t think it gets much worse than not being able to admit premaster’s students,” he said. Political studies students filling undergraduate requirements before continuing in graduate studies were unable to register in classes this year due to problems with the Aurora registration system — departmental holds on the 3000- and 4000-level classes these students needed were removed by the system, and eager third- and fourthyear students filled the classes before the department realized what had happened. As a result, many classes admitted additional students.
“You’re up against a brick wall: you can’t simply say ‘cut enrolment’ or ‘hire more profs,’” Maclean said. “It gets to a stage where you simply can’t deliver the program as well as you could.”
He suggested offering fewer seminar classes, imposing prerequisites, and targeting class offerings to the classes students want to take as ways to mediate the crunch — with the caveat that he’s “not crazy about any of these ideas.”
Maclean also teaches the largest second-year class the faculty has ever offered — 146 students are enrolled in international relations.
Diane Court, assistant head of microbiology, said that third- and fourth-year classes in the department often have as many as 100 students — but most of the complaints about class sizes come from second-year students trying to take required courses.
Her honours class, molecular genetics of prokaryotes, has 130 students — up from 105 last year, and 75 in previous years — is much larger than most fourth-year laboratory classes that fill up with between 30 and 91 students.
Tyler Green, a fourth-year geography student, said that “big classes don’t really bother” him — and that he’s talked his way into three or four required classes.
“I’ve had problems with original enrolment, like on web services and stuff, but I’ve gone to profs in the fist couple days of class and it’s never been a problem, getting in, after talking to them and letting them know that it’s a requirement,” he said.
Dean of arts Richard Sigurdson said he’s less concerned about high enrolment now than the effects of this year’s lower enrolment levels — preliminary registration numbers show that this year’s University 1 class is two per cent smaller than last year’s 5,195 students, which was the secondlargest first-year class ever (the largest was in 2004-05). And, Sigurdson noted, the population of high school students nearing university age is decreasing, so enrolment could continue to drop.
“We’re in the same boat as other Canadian universities,” he said, adding that low enrolment levels at other schools has led to increased out-of-province and international recruitment — something the faculty of arts is looking to step up.
Sigurdson added that the increase in enrolment is not uniform across the faculty — many programs struggle to attract fourth-year students at all.
