Rising enrollment, as reported by University figures, has made registering for courses in a number of academic departments increasingly difficult in recent years.
According to statistics made available by the Office of the Registrar, the number of students with a declared major in the social and behavioral sciences increased between Fall 2004 and 2005 by 147, while the number of students majoring in the natural sciences rose by 83 and humanities by 27.
Total enrollment in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences rose by 125.
According to Paula Burger, Dean of Undergraduate Education and Vice Provost, the University has been making a conscious effort to increase the number of students majoring in the humanities.
"We're trying to map our resources better," she explained. "Our strategy is to increase the number of students where we have faculty."
Many students, however, feel that the increase in enrollment has made registering for classes more difficult for majors in a number of departments in the humanities, like the Writing Seminars department, who can pre-register in person before online registration starts.
Emily Ethridge, a senior Writing Seminars major, said, "It used to be that everyone had a general understanding that you could register at 8:30, so if you really wanted to get into a class, you'd get there around 7:30.
But then all these freshmen and sophomores started showing up. People slept over in the Hut until 4 a.m. and then just sat outside the [Writing Seminars] department."
Ethridge said she got into the courses she wanted to take because of her relationships with professors.
"Soon, [getting into classes is] going to become all pulling strings and making connections with professors," she said.
"I don't know what to do other than to hire more professors and make more classes."
Burger commented that the University did not have specific plans to hire more professors to handle the increase in enrollment.
"There are some areas where clearly if we had the financial resources we would expand the faculty we have," she said, naming the Departments of Political Science, International Studies and Economics.
She added that it was "especially difficult this spring" to get into courses in the political science department.
"It seems to me we just need more course offerings in political science with that many majors," she said.
Registrar Hedy Schaedel, however, said that course offerings had increased over time with enrollment. "There has been adjustment all along, and we have been offering more classes," she said. "Over the years, there's been a gradual increase."
Associate Registrar Pat Coady said students who want to get into a course should persevere. "If you're in the right place at the right time, you can get into the course," she said.
But because many seminar-style classes meet only once a week, students often encounter difficulty even after attending the class.
Sophomore Jessica Wolowski said she was refused entry into a course on the death penalty in political science even though she attended class sessions and completed the coursework before the add/drop period ended.
"I stayed the whole class, only to have [the professor] say at the end [of the add/drop period] that she's not letting any sophomores in," Wolowski said.
"I had to find another class, but it was at the last minute and there was nothing I could easily get into. And then I had two weeks of make-up work."
Wolowski said the two-week add/drop period, implemented last semester, made it difficult to work out her schedule in time.
Burger explained that the reason for the new add/drop period was "to get students to make up their mind earlier so other students could get into the courses they wanted to take."
She also said a new "student information system" that will streamline registration so that more information is available to students will be put into place next year.
"I think we should have a system that does more to help students be notified when a space opens up," she said. "If people have other suggestions about what could be done that would keep people from gaming the system to the disadvantage of other students ... I'd welcome them."
Burger explained that she makes the effort to work with departments to provide more room for students trying to get into the courses they offer.
"When I get the list of closed courses after registration, I work with the directors of undergraduate studies and with the registrar's office to see if we can get [professors] to change course limits or to add sections," she said.
"Whenever we can, the dean's office will add graduate student positions so that we can expand the number of sections if that's the limitation."
Ethridge, however, believes that more professors are essential. "I don't think more grad students is the answer," she said.
"One of the really nice things about [Writing Seminars] is you always have real professors. ... Otherwise, what's the appeal of the department?"
Sophomore Writing Seminars major Annie Holstein said that, while she thinks her department offers enough classes, she's aware that other students have often encountered difficulty in getting into the classes they want.
"It would always be nice to have a couple more, for insurance or whatever, so you know you'll get into a class you really want to take," she said.
"I can't say that I've been in a situation where I've really been stuck. However, I know that a lot of people have been."
