As class selections become increasingly limited, undergraduate students have said they are not prepared for the impact made by statewide UW System budget cuts on class size and course availability.
Administrators from UW schools and colleges across the board have reported relatively small budget cuts that have resulted in larger and less specialized class offerings for UW students next semester.
Many other schools and colleges have also felt the financial squeeze. Phil Certain, the dean of the College of Letters and Science, said the college faced a $6 million budget cut that forced administrators to cut courses.
The 1,873 lecture courses offered by L&S last fall have been reduced to 1,592 courses this semester and face further revision.
UW School of Engineering Associate Dean Patrick Farrell said the School of Engineering’s budget was cut by approximately 6 percent. Accounting for roughly $1.5 million, this year’s cuts will result in fewer nonessential engineering programs and course sections, Farrell said, resulting in larger classes.
“Nobody likes to have bigger sections … but it has been really difficult. We’re making decisions that we don’t want to make,” Farrell said. “There was never any extra money in the budget. If we have to pay 5 or 6 percent less … there are people that we just can’t pay.”
UW School of Business Associate Dean Jim Pavelko said the School of Business’s course offerings will also be affected due to cuts of more than a half million dollars, or roughly 6 percent, of budget cuts.
“Most of the cuts were administrative in nature; we tried to protect the academic units,” Pavelko said. “[But some] classes that would normally be [offered twice a year] will be offered only once, and that results in larger class sizes.”
The spring 2003-04 timetable was recently released, and enrollment has already started for graduate, professional, and upperclass undergraduate students. Freshmen and sophomores will begin enrolling in the upcoming weeks, depending on the amount of credits they have completed.
Most underclassmen have been contemplating upcoming course lists and weighing options, though some have somewhat different ways of approaching course registration than others.
“I register in a week and a half, but I have been thinking about what I want to take next semester since [my Summer Orientation, Advising and Registration session] last summer,” UW freshman Colin Hackbarth said.
Hackbarth also said that although he has many classes in mind, as course registration begins, they are already becoming unavailable due to high demand. Many students share this sentiment, and the number of credits and specific courses many need to take each semester in order to graduate is a constant influence on their decisions.
Other students, however, are less preoccupied with the daunting task of class registration.
“I have started thinking about what I want to take, but I haven’t started putting my schedule together yet,” UW sophomore Heather Deveny said. “I usually do it the day before I register because I know if I see an open class it will probably be open the next day.”
Similarly, UW freshman Jeff Shoemaker said planning ahead is sometimes difficult as students begin enrolling for classes.
“It does not matter how early you start looking at the timetable; the classes that are actually available will change drastically by the time you can enroll,” Shoemaker said.
