As a senior in a small undergraduate department like materials science and engineering, small class sizes have actually become a problem for me.
I chose to come to RPI over larger schools with similar programs in hopes of getting to know my professors rather than being one of 100 students in a class. Now that I’m a senior and none of my required classes have more than five students in them, I’m beginning to wonder what I was thinking back in high school.
There’s no blending into the backdrop on the days you’ve had too much to drink the night before or sneaking in late—its hard to conduct a class if a fifth of the students are missing.
Being in a small class has its benefits, too. Unfortunately, when your department is nearly as small as your classes, problems arise.
In my major, students are required to take elective courses in the department in addition to the courses required by the major. It’s nice because we get to pick courses we want to take, rather than what’s required. The problem lies in splitting five or even 10 students between three different elective classes. You’re left with barely enough students to justify running the course. And that’s exactly what happens—courses are cancelled, leaving students like me without a choice.
What should be done about it? RPI needs to change the policy for allowing a course to be run. Previously, my small department could run these elective classes because there was enough of a graduate student population to keep enrollment levels above the minimum. However, since the change in the graduate tuition policy, many area companies have stopped footing the bill for their employees to attend RPI for a graduate degree. Hence, departments must depend solely on undergrads for their numbers. This means that a lot of courses have stopped being offered.
When the new plan for graduate tuition was unveiled, it was made clear that part-time graduate students were no long welcomed by the Institute. Since this is the case, RPI needs to allow professors to teach courses with a smaller number of students. Otherwise, we get what is happening now: classes are cancelled and undergraduates aren’t able to take the classes they came here to take. Students in smaller departments shouldn’t be penalized. Everyone is paying the same tuition, and we should all be valued.
