With the economic downturn, skyrocketing enrollment growth is a fact of life at community colleges as are classrooms bursting at the seams from the increased demand. This certainly seems to reflect our situation here at TCC. In this week’s Chronicle of Higher Education, http://chronicle.com/weekly/v55/i29/29b01101.htm there is a story on the phenomenon, and some of the measures that the colleges are taking to address the rising demand and the pressures on resources (like space and faculty) including more classes, weekend sections, more on-line and even 24/7 scheduling, but this raises an important question for us:
What role should the faculty be playing in the formulating of the policies addressing these demographic changes?
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7 comments:
None, let the Administration finally earn their keep.
I'd prefer to be part of the solution.
Is this something on which faculty can be proactive?
Of course faculty can be proactive! What do you want to do?
Perhaps when Anonymous said "Is this something on which faculty can be proactive?", the person meant is this something on which faculty can be effectively and responsibly proactive.
I too think faculty should be part of the solution, but it is important to understand the full scope of the issue before possibly jumping in with what might be untenable "solutions".
I think the college needs to address this both an administrative and faculty issue. I have noticed, ever so slightly, that the cap on classes is creeping up.
There is a policy on class size, and it is supposed to be at the "permission" of the instructor to raise the class size.
So is this a planned increase or was it an oversight not to ask faculty?
Either way - it needs talking about before any issues or problems come forth. I understand that the Community Colleges will see an increase in enrollment, but it really cannot be at the expense of overworking/overloading faculty. I also object to raising class sizes as a solution to higher enrollment (especially when the administration has limited adjunct hours) because students come to a Community College to have small class sizes (yes, there are other reasons, but this is one). I don't want to see us having an auditorium style class where the instructor never knows the names of all of the students. I believe that quality of instruction is sacrificed with larger size classes for both the student and instructor.
It is the responsibility of the community college to serve the community. Whether my class has 25 or 30 students is not a matter of concern to me. My students are better this year than they have been in the past. I'm enjoying them. As long as the college has the money to pay the faculty for the classes, I say use the facility on nights and weekends to meet the need.
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