2008 Woodie Awards
Overcrowded classes
Chris Miranda
Issue date: 9/23/03 Section: News
- Page 1 of 3 next >
" I got a letter in the mail that one of the classes I need for my major was cancelled, and that left me needing to find another class to take its place, but couldn't get into the lab class I needed because it was too full," said Keri Burgess, Yuba College Sophomore. "As a student, this is really annoying me because classes I need are all too crowded."
Burgess isn't alone in her frustration.
Overcrowded classes have been an issue for a large number of Yuba College Students this semester. Students have had to manipulate their schedules around cancelled classes and classes that are too full, or have had to go without classes they need. Both faculty and students have been faced with this problem.
" We still have a cap in English classes; however I did add some students over cap. I don't feel good about doing that because I feel it cheats all the students," said English Instructor Sally Harvey. " I also had to turn away many students, and that's very difficult to do."
History and Political Science professor David Rubiales feels that due to the statewide budget crisis, instances such as these are to be expected. " Ideally, we'd like to offer as many sections as possible, but realistically the less funding we're given, the less service we can provide," said Rubiales.
In the past three years, the ratio of class sections offered to the total number of Full Time Equivalent Students (FTES) has fluctuated. From the Spring of 2001 to the Spring of 2002, the Marysville campus saw a 7.5 percent increase in the total number FTES, with less than a one percent increase in the number of class sections offered. However, between the Spring 2002 and the Spring 2003 semesters, the Marysville campus saw a 3.7 percent decline in the number of FTES, with an 11.4 percent decrease in the number of class sections offered. In essence, the small increase of class offerings did not meet the significant increase in students in 2002, and the sizable decrease in class offerings was much more drastic than the small decrease in students in 2003. Over the years, students are finding fewer classes to meet their needs at Yuba College.
Burgess isn't alone in her frustration.
Overcrowded classes have been an issue for a large number of Yuba College Students this semester. Students have had to manipulate their schedules around cancelled classes and classes that are too full, or have had to go without classes they need. Both faculty and students have been faced with this problem.
" We still have a cap in English classes; however I did add some students over cap. I don't feel good about doing that because I feel it cheats all the students," said English Instructor Sally Harvey. " I also had to turn away many students, and that's very difficult to do."
History and Political Science professor David Rubiales feels that due to the statewide budget crisis, instances such as these are to be expected. " Ideally, we'd like to offer as many sections as possible, but realistically the less funding we're given, the less service we can provide," said Rubiales.
In the past three years, the ratio of class sections offered to the total number of Full Time Equivalent Students (FTES) has fluctuated. From the Spring of 2001 to the Spring of 2002, the Marysville campus saw a 7.5 percent increase in the total number FTES, with less than a one percent increase in the number of class sections offered. However, between the Spring 2002 and the Spring 2003 semesters, the Marysville campus saw a 3.7 percent decline in the number of FTES, with an 11.4 percent decrease in the number of class sections offered. In essence, the small increase of class offerings did not meet the significant increase in students in 2002, and the sizable decrease in class offerings was much more drastic than the small decrease in students in 2003. Over the years, students are finding fewer classes to meet their needs at Yuba College.