Provost explains how class sizes are determined

Southeast Missouri State University provost Bill Eddleman talked to the Southeast Missourian about class sizes, what determines where classes are held and ease of signing up for needed classes, among other items.

Q: How do you determine where classes are held?

A: The chairperson of the academic department in which the course is taught does the scheduling in consultation with their administrative assistant and chairs in other departments. Most classes are scheduled in standard time blocks.

Smaller classrooms are under the jurisdiction of academic departments, and classes of appropriate size are placed in those. Sometimes if classrooms are not available in the department's area, other departments are asked for available classrooms. Larger classrooms or the relatively few lecture halls are scheduled at the college level by working with the college dean's office, or at the university level by working with Centralized Scheduling. Fire code and room size place upper limits on the size of class that can be scheduled in a given room.

There is competition for prime time slots -- 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and classes not meeting on Friday afternoons. Generally, there are ample locations available for classes taught 8 to 10 a.m., or after 3 p.m.

Q: Is it by number of students, available professors?

A: Student demand based on past experience determines the limit on the number of students initially, and students may be added up to a point. That upper limit may be determined by room size, fire code, or demands of teaching methods or facilities.

For example, if there are only 15 microscopes available in a classroom, and every student needs one for labs, that sets a limit of 15. Other limits may be lower (instrumental music classes are an example) or higher.

Q: I talked to some students at random on campus, and they said, generally, it was harder to get into classes as freshmen and sophomores. Any theories as to why that is, or do you think it has to do with the coveted time slots you mentioned?

A: Time slots is probably part of it. Unfamiliarity with procedures is probably part. In addition, your enrollment date as a student depends on the number of credits you have completed, with those completing the fewest credits enrolling last.

From my former advising responsibilities, I observed that many underclassmen were less likely to pay attention to enrollment open dates and closing dates than were upperclassmen. Typically, juniors and seniors enroll as soon as enrollment opens, whereas some underclassmen pay less attention to this. A few first-year and sophomore students also came for advising very late -- sometimes so late that enrollment had closed (which it does for a time at the end of the previous semester).

In my experience as a faculty adviser, transfer students may often also have difficulty getting into classes if they decide to transfer to Southeast late in the time line. The "take home" message from both of these issues is that the earlier we know about additional demand for courses, the better we can account for it.

Q: Is there a limit on the number of students per class?

A: This depends on the class (see above). In any event, we have very, very few really large classes, and no plans to have more. Online courses have a minimum cap of 30 students for undergraduate and 25 students for graduate (departments can go higher).

Q: Are there enough professors to go around in each subject area?

A: For the most part, yes. However, in some high-demand courses or programs, we temporarily supplement with part-time faculty hired on a term (semester or year) basis. These are hired for a variety of other reasons (filling in for teaching of faculty who have retired or left the university, for example).

We are currently searching for five additional full-time faculty in high-demand subject areas because of increased demand in those programs, and may add a few more if demand and resources allow.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639