At a time when residence halls, J Street and classrooms are teeming with students, GW administrators are trying to prevent overcrowding problems in academics.
“Every seat is filled in most of my classes, but (they are) not necessarily overcrowded,” freshman Emily Appleman said.
After learning that 300 more freshmen chose to attend GW than expected, the University took steps to ensure students would receive adequate academic support, including the addition of faculty and classes and restructuring registration.
The University spent more than $1 million to add more faculty members who could cover more sections of introductory classes for freshmen.
GW added 54 lecture classes, 18 discussions and 9 labs to the schedule, said Craig Linebaugh, associate vice president for academic planning and special projects. Courses added were those that are historically taken by freshmen, regardless of school, he said, because freshmen in other schools also take their general curriculum requirements in Colombian College.
But Linebaugh said he thought freshman registration went well.
“It’s typical that not everyone got their top five choices,” he said.
GW also created a new requirement for freshmen to sign up for classes at untraditional times, locations and even academic levels.
Linebaugh said freshmen were told by Colonial Inauguration advisers that they must register for three class sessions – not necessarily classes – that fit under one or more of these requirements: before 9:30 a.m., after 5:30 p.m., a 100-level class or a class at Mount Vernon Campus.
The steps were designed to “even things out for all the students,” Linebaugh said. He also said most people followed the guidelines, although no one checked each registrant.
Students interviewed for this story said they were told the guidelines were required for all freshmen.
Another precautionary measure was the use of rolling cap numbers for classes at each CI, Linebaugh said. This is the first time caps varied depending on which CI a student attended.
At the first CI 20 percent of seats were released for registration, and another 20 percent were added for each additional CI until they were filled so students had an equal chance of getting into the classes they wanted, he said. In previous years, registration was on a first come, first served basis.
English department Chair Faye Moskowitz said she is not aware of any additional problems caused by this year’s large class.
The department is staffing extra courses and put 17 extra sections of English 9, 10 and 11, she said.
Vice President of Academic Affairs Donald Lehman said he hired additional faculty last May and June, a process that normally starts a year ahead of time.
The Colombian College has eight new full-time faculty members – four in English; one in math; one in philosophy; one in speech and hearing; and one upgraded from part-time to full-time in anthropology.
Lehman said he also created five teaching fellow positions, which are filled by “late-stage doctoral students who intend to pursue an academic career after they graduate.” The process is highly selective, and, because they are essentially finished, fellows are more qualified than graduate teaching assistants, he said.
Lehman also allocated more money to the Colombian College for 16 additional part-time faculty, teaching assistants and undergraduate professional advisers.
In the School of Business and Public Management, Lehman hired one full-time faculty member in information systems, one teaching fellow and one professional adviser. In the Elliott School of International Affairs, he added one professional adviser. The total cost for new faculty exceeds $1 million.
The problem of too little classroom space is a result of professors letting people into classes that have caps, Lehman said. He said there are sufficient seats when students register. He also said he did not think the average class size of 25 to 26 students increased.
There is a potential problem as freshmen get older, Linebaugh said. He said he plans to work closely with schools monitoring which majors are most popular to identify future problem areas.
The surprise enrollment increase “may permit us an opportunity to become more selective in the future,” Lehman said.
-Josh Riezman contributed to this report.
