Barnard course offerings in the humanities and social sciences will be cut by 6 percent in the upcoming fall semester, according to Barnard Provost Elizabeth Boylan.
Professors typically teach two courses in the fall semester and three courses in the spring semester. Starting next fall, professors will instead teach two courses per semester. After ongoing
discussions between administrators and Barnard and Columbia faculty, as well as the Barnard Student Government Association, the change in professors’ course loads was officially announced on March 29.
“There has been growing concern over the last several years that many of our peer liberal arts colleges have been reducing the number of class preparations a faculty member had to do each year,” Boylan said.
Boylan said the cuts are coming not from the recession or cutbacks in Barnard spending, but at the request of professors—who had told administrators that their top priority in improving Barnard faculty life was reducing course loads. Some research universities, including Columbia, already have professors teaching only four classes per school year.
Despite the slight reduction in course offerings per year, Boylan said that students will most likely not notice a change since the classes offered at Barnard and Columbia are combined.
“All of our students will be taught. There will be no reduction in our teaching load,” she said.
“Having to teach this extra course separated us from our peer institutions and made scholarship—a serious expectation for tenured and tenure-track faculty at Barnard—all but impossible to carry out in the dreaded ‘term of three,’” Professor Peter Platt, chair of the English department at Barnard, said in an email.
He added, “President Spar recognized that the burden of this extra course was significant: that faculty members might not come to Barnard because of having to teach the extra course; and that faculty members might leave Barnard because of the extra work load.”
Professors, according to Boylan, had brought forward a group mantra: “No fewer students, just one less preparation.” All professors will teach the same number of students, regardless of instructing one fewer class. Teaching the same number of students with one fewer class, though, may mean an increase in the number of students per class.
Boylan said there was some concern about professors’ abilities to maintain close contact between students and faculty both inside and outside of the classroom.
“We have done an analysis of the distribution in class size, and while there may be fewer classes per semester, there will be more students allowed in each class,” she said. “Some seminars have between five and 12 students, and it would not change the experience to increase a class from five to 12—in fact, it might enhance the class discussion and quality overall.”
Seminars capped at 16 may now be capped at 18, which could allow more popular classes to be taken by a greater number of students.
While Boylan said that students will most likely not notice a change in the courses, some students say that even a slight increase will be noticeable.
“I really like taking smaller classes. I think a class is a lot better the smaller it is,” Talia Harcsztark, BC ’13, said. “I would notice even a change from 13 to 15 students, and I think other students who prefer smaller classes would notice too.”
“Students are going to be upset. As a political science major, it will directly affect me,” Kelly Holloway, BC ’12, said. “How are they deciding which classes not to offer? I feel like it may decrease the likelihood of new classes being developed. You won’t notice overall, but by department you will—if there are seven professors in a department, that’s seven less classes.”
“The problem is that the class sizes are already often bigger then promised for courses, and Barnard already highlights itself on small classes. So this change is disappointing. I hope I don’t feel the difference, but I feel like the focus should have been on making smaller classes—even if by two or three people. The best class I have ever taken here was my first year English, and it was the smallest class I have ever taken,” Nina Ahuja, BC ’12, said.
Boylan said that cutting down professors’ course loads will be considered successful “if no student feels their expectations for classes aren’t met or even notices a change.”
COMMENTS
Comments will be moderated in accordance with our comment policy