Malthusian Confusion

I had to sit on the floor in my Shakespeare class today. No, not because I was naughty, because it's a 70-person class (with a handful more added in later) in a room with 50 seats. And there's nowhere else to put our class since all the other lecture rooms are filled too. Class size has spiraled out of control, in the English department and elsewhere. I've been in several (300-level and up) classes of 40 or more in which professors have attempted to lead discussions, more than one of these in those awful rooms in Cabell where the desks are bolted to the floor, so you can't look at anyone behind you. The professors can't learn the names of more than a few students, and any real discussion in such an environment is impossible. So maybe, lectures are the best option. But what kind of an education is that? Nothing like what should be possible at a school like U.Va., renowned for its high standards and excellent departments (go English!). But under current conditions and budget restrictions, it just isn't going to happen.

According to Plato, the ideal size for a class is five people. That's a far cry from even the small seminar classes I've taken. Most of the opportunities for small discussion classes lie (ideally) in sections of larger courses. However, we run into a gigantic problem here, one that's bigger than just U.Va. (yes, such a thing is possible). State schools in Virginia are admitting more students every year in an attempt to garner money in the form of tuition. Hell, we can't even house all the first years here anymore, and we're far better off than, say, JMU, which has taken to putting them up at HoJo's. But no subsequent increase in faculty or facilities has taken place. So we have: more students every year, being crammed into too-small classrooms, with not enough professors to teach them in reasonably-sized classes. Let me note here that I admire the efforts my professors have made to stimulate discussion in a more or less hostile environment. This isn't your fault. Exacerbating the problem is the current trend of scaling down Ph.D. programs, resulting in dwindling numbers of T.A.'s, who are absolutely essential in maintaining any kind of academic integrity and smaller discussion sections..

I realize the university needs more money. But its present method of acquiring it, admitting ever larger numbers of students, is causing many more problems than it is solving, and that cheats every student out of the education we so desperately need.

-- JLP

Viewpoint is written by a member of the managing board of The Declaration on a weekly basis.