Chicago tribune, Aug 29, 2003
page 1
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As colleges cut costs, class size mushrooms 
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State campuses face hard choices

By Robert Becker
Tribune higher education reporter

August 29, 2003

DEKALB -- The impact of two consecutive years of sharp state cuts to 
Illinois public colleges was on display this week at Northern Illinois 
University's Cole Hall as sociology professor Jim Thomas gamely tried to 
engage the 300-plus undergraduates in his Intro to Sociology class.

The NIU megaclass, which used to be taught only every three years or so, is 
now a regular offering, replacing several 50-student sections with a single 
large lecture taught by Thomas and a lone graduate student.

But at NIU and other public institutions across the state, students 
returning from summer break are finding fewer course offerings, increased 
class sizes and more part-time faculty behind the lectern.

For example, students who began classes Wednesday at the University of 
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found 506 fewer classes being offered this 
fall than last, even as the school welcomes a record number of freshmen. The
university also has lopped its ballyhooed "discovery" course offerings 
from 145 sections to 104 and eliminated all 90 such offerings slated for 
the spring term.

At the University of Illinois at Chicago, Provost Michael Tanner said class 
sizes will increase an average of 15 percent. More than 100 faculty spots 
were eliminated along with 375 class sections.

NIU officials said they are relying more heavily on part-time faculty as 
the DeKalb school braces for its largest freshman class in 15 years.

But though larger classes may save the university money in terms of salary 
costs, they are far from popular with NIU students.

"I think this is a lot worse than being in a small classroom with 20 
people," senior Jon Giebultowski said as packs of students filed out of 
Thomas' first class this week. "I think the more intimate it is, the better 
educated you get."

Harder to finish on time

The combination of shrinking support from Springfield--the U. of I. system 
alone has experienced funding cuts totaling nearly $200 million in the last 
two fiscal years--and near record enrollment have administrators scrambling
to offer the classes students need to graduate on time.

"We have the students, and they've made the commitment to spend their 
time," Tanner said. "You don't want to say OK, you're going to have to go 
longer because you're not getting the courses."

Not every state school has cut classes. Southern Illinois University's 
Carbondale campus lopped 82 clerical and civil service positions--many of 
whom found other jobs at the school--but left class offerings untouched, 
officials there said. Western Illinois University had to lay off a bowling 
alley attendant but managed not to trim course offerings. And at Eastern 
Illinois University, President Lou Hencken said classes have actually been 
added to accommodate 400 additional students this semester--although some 
classes will have more students.

At NIU, President John Peters said students are still getting the core 
courses they need, "but it's a stretch."

Peters said the real question facing the state--given the increasing number 
of college-age students--is simply "how is the State of Illinois going to 
address the burgeoning demand for higher education?"

It's a question that public schools across the country are confronting. 
State support for higher education in some states is as low as it has been 
in decades, experts say. And the cuts cannot continue without damaging the 
quality of the universities.

"Budget cuts have consequences, and even if these trends are soon reversed, 
we run the risk of busting some of those golden eggs produced by American 
higher education," said C. Peter Magrath, president of the National 
Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges.

As the state budget vise has tightened, Illinois colleges have engaged in a 
shuffle of people and finances in an effort to trim their budgets without 
sinking the curriculum.

But along the way, many of the schools have lost some of that personal 
touch. Larger classes mean fewer opportunities to interact with faculty, 
fewer electives and less individualized attention.

Take classes like Thomas' introductory sociology course.

Thomas said he enjoys teaching large classes--"it turns you into something 
of a performance artist"--but acknowledges that the chances for interaction 
with students are limited.

Less faculty-student contact

"You can look them right in the eyes [in a smaller class] and say this 
guy's got a problem--you're right there," Thomas said. "You can't do that in 
a large class."

Thomas and co-instructor Kim Jurgenson said that on the days before an exam 
or a paper is due, the line of students seeking help extends well down the 
hall outside Thomas' eighth-floor office.

"It's impossible to do when you're one person," Jurgenson said. "It gets 
really, really hectic around crunch time."

The budget crunch has touched class sizes at schools around the state.

For example, at Urbana-Champaign, English 100: Introduction to Literary 
Study is required for English majors but is also a popular course for 
students across the campus.

The classes for English majors have been maintained with the same 36-student
class size as last year, officials say, but non-majors taking the course 
have been enrolled in a large lecture section enrolling 200.

For History 100: Global History, which was designed for freshmen but serves
students in secondary education, international studies and others, class 
size has been increased from 50 to 240 under a faculty-lecture, 
Web-supported format.

And Classical Civilization 114: Introduction to Greek Culture enrollment 
has been increased from 267 in fall 2002 to more than 500 this fall.

U. of I. officials like Provost Richard Herman said consecutive years of 
cuts "are having an effect on class size, how we organize our courses and 
how we use our instructors."

"The changes we have been forced to make represent our best effort to 
balance students' need for access to required courses in their majors, 
general education courses and small interactive courses particularly at the 
beginning and end of their undergraduate careers," Herman said.

Illinois State University, which is offering 400 fewer classes and 
restructuring the Office of Undergraduate Studies, took an interesting step 
to make sure that students beginning their studies this fall would get 
through ISU as efficiently as possible. Provost John Presley said the 
university monitored class schedules for incoming freshmen.

Those who preregistered for fewer than 14 hours received a polite e-mail 
during the summer from the coordinator of academic advisement telling 
students they "might be interested in adding a class to your fall schedule."

Copyright (c) 2003, Chicago Tribune