Faculty, administrators react to proposed enrollment increase

Since the release of the Wythes Committee Report by the University Board of Trustees last week, administrators and faculty members have had an opportunity to examine the committee's proposal and assess its recommendations.

Many expressed concern that an increase in the size of the student body could adversely affect the quality of education at the University.

"In general, I'm skeptical of adding 500 students," economics professor Elizabeth Bogan said. "There are places where there is excess capacity, but I'd imagine that when we get more students, they'll want to know basic economics and take the other popular courses. I think this will just make the large departments more frayed."

The trustees also were concerned about a negative effect on the quality of instruction at the University, according to Ann Halliday, special assistant to President Shapiro.

"The trustees are very committed to addressing imbalances in the faculty — like in the economics and molecular biology departments," said Halliday, adding that the ratio of students to faculty is the lowest it has been since the beginning of coeducation.

The molecular biology department is not expecting any problems arising from the committee's recommendations, according to molecular biology professor Karen Malatesta. "We've never had to put a cap on [MOL 214] in the eight years I've taught here," she said.

"We're trying to offer an alternative class to MOL 214 because we'd like to decrease the size of the class and allow more students to take molecular biology," Malatesta said. "Even with the current size of the class, I don't feel [a 500-student increase in the student body] would be a problem."

The Wythes report states that even though no additional faculty growth is scheduled beyond the normal one percent annual increase, "It is possible that additional planned growth will need to occur in certain areas where pressure on teaching and advising is greatest."

Transfer students

Another recommendation of the Wythes committee is that the University consider accepting transfer students. "An increase in the size of the student body could also open the possibility of admitting a small number of transfer students of exceptional abilities and promise," the report states.

The University has not accepted transfer students in the past nine years, according to the admissions office. Both Harvard University and Yale University accept between four and seven percent of transfer students who apply, according to the universities' Webpages. For Harvard, this represents approximately 70 students per year.

Though no decisions have been made, the trustees plan to discuss the issue, Halliday said. "The trustees have general oversight of admission policy. [The possibility of accepting transfer students] would be included in any discussion. They didn't want to rule out any options," she said.

The committee also recommended the construction of a sixth residential college and proposed readjusting the size of the five existing colleges. Forbes College director of studies John Hodgson expressed concern that the initiative would have an adverse affect on the existing colleges.

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"You would probably have to divide the number of faculty advisors among the six colleges instead of five," Hodgson said.

Given the potential impact of the Wythes report, Shapiro is planning to hold several informational and feedback meetings with students, faculty and alumni, according to Halliday.

Shapiro will meet with the U-Council Feb. 14 and with the USG later this month, Halliday said. "The alumni leadership is also going to be sent a copy of the report," she added. "The president is planning to meet with alumni during alumni weekend."