Bigger freshman class: What that
means for MU
by Thomas Mershon, posted Dec. 11, 2008
As the fall semester draws to a close, MU gets a chance to look back on its record-setting freshman class of 2008. While most people immediately think of higher admission numbers and applications as proving how successful the university is, one has to wonder about the negative connotations introduced because of more students.
According to Mizzou Magazine, MU accepted 15.6 percent more freshmen this year than in 2007. That equates to more than 800 incoming freshmen this year alone. Add that to an expected larger freshman class for next year; 20 percent more early applications have already been received this year than in 2007, and MU can easily be considered crowded.
“Coming from Rolla, (Mo.) MU is completely different, and there are so many more people and more activities and diversity at Mizzou,” said sophomore Patrick McDonagh, an electrical engineering major.
An increase in students most likely means bigger class sizes right? That means more students in lecture halls that are already overcrowded. A serious question of whether or not more students per teacher is going to increase the quality of education has to be raised when speaking on the subject of higher enrollment rates.
Larger class sizes don’t have to be issues for larger enrollment rates. By simply hiring more teachers, the university eliminates this issue. However, this is not the case. As of Nov. 17, the president of the university, Gary Forsee, instituted a hiring freeze on all teaching positions in response to the recent economic turmoil troubling the nation.
This freeze has already affected teaching departments at MU.
“The history department is currently understaffed, particularly in the East Asian department,” said Robert Smale, assistant professor in the history department. “To not have someone in East Asian history is particularly difficult on the department because we require all our students to take a number of courses outside of U.S. and European history.
"We currently only have three professors who teach outside of these topics. This is most definitely going to diminish the quality of the University of Missouri because the ultimate result of the hiring freeze is MU will have fewer professors to teach an ever increasing, and projected to increase, students enrollment.”
Professors are not the only ones frustrated by the university’s new policies.
“I think it’s ridiculous to not have more teachers being brought in along with more students,” said Daniel Williams, a freshman pre-physical therapy major.
Not only can students expect larger class sizes, but also can expect less one-on-one experience with professors.
“Professors will not have as much time to work one-on-one with students; there is a decrease in time that professors will have to spend with individuals and small groups of students, and this can only negatively impact the university,” Smale said.
Reasons for why enrollment has increased vary. Many point toward the large variety of majors offered by MU, along with new facilities such as the recreation center and new dorms. Also, the national attention the football team has brought to MU with its recent success.
