Rice must hire professors to suit the growing student population
When I came to Rice University in 2010 as a freshman, the registration process was incredibly flawed. Some students would have a permanent advantage over others graduating at the same time solely because they came in with an extra Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate class credit. Freshmen would get into popular classes by having seniors hold the spot. Consequently, deserving juniors and sophomores were cut out. It was nearly impossible for me to get into any economics classes - even those that are prerequisites for most other economics classes. I could not wait to be an upperclassman because I figured that was how it went: You got the classes you needed when you were a senior.
But the administration saw a problem with our registration process and acted to fix it. The new shopping cart system eliminated some loopholes to make sure upperclassmen had the advantage. The waitlists prevented seniors from holding classes for freshmen. The potential changes to the add/drop policy, in the eyes of those proposing them, will deter students from signing up for classes they do not intend on taking. The administration even lowered the Lifetime Physical Activity Program requirement from two to one.
Yet these "fixes" are only distracting us from the real problem: Rice has grown drastically in size, but the number of course offerings has not proportionally increased. Even with all of the changes, this year's registration process is no better than any other I have endured. Rising seniors are being closed out of LPAPs. Upperclassmen are still unable to get into classes that they could not get into for the previous two years. Sophomores and juniors may have to delay taking a required class until the following year, potentially hindering their ability to take other, less frequently offered classes - or, even worse, to study abroad.
Students may get lucky by getting on the waitlist (for which sign-up is inexplicably scheduled at 7 a.m. on a Thursday, just before a chemistry exam, rather than on a weekend). Still, some classes do not offer waitlists. Many classes will likely not be expanded out of fear of lowering Rice's ranking with larger class sizes. It makes sense that a freshman may be unable to get into a popular class such as RELI 157: Religion and Hip-Hop or COLL 202: Cooking with Chef Roger. But there is no excuse for rising and graduating seniors to be closed out of all LPAPs and classes within their own majors.
There is only one solution for this problem, regardless of the mechanics of our registration system. Rice simply needs more professors and more classes. The student body has expanded by 30 percent as part of President David Leebron's Vision for the Second Century, yet Rice has not seen similar growth in course offerings. The problem is especially apparent in popular majors such as economics and mathematical economic analysis (where the department has actually contracted) and psychology (where professors refuse to teach more classes until more faculty are hired). This is bound to get worse over the next few years as Duncan and McMurtry Colleges finally reach full capacity. Students will be forced to wait until they are seniors to cram in classes. This will prevent underclassmen from getting into required and distribution classes until they are seniors. It is an incredibly dangerous cycle.
There are only two ways to get more students into the classes they want. First, we can make the classes larger. I was bluntly told at a college government meeting that, because of concerns regarding university rankings, this was not possible. If we cannot do that, we must add more courses. It is simply unfair if seniors graduate regretting their inability to take a class they wanted or having to take extra hours in their final semesters to graduate on time. We can constantly blame and tweak the registration system, but it is all smoke and mirrors. The problem is simple, and it is time the administration faced the truth: Rice needs more faculty and classes.
Justin Winikoff is a Duncan College junior.
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