From: Provost
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2015
To: Columbia College Chicago
Subject: A Message from the Provost re: Class Section Sizes
Dear Colleagues,
There has been a lot of conversation and confusion on campus recently about the college’s average class section
size, and I hope this message will address your concerns.
First, let me say that I as provost and we as a college remain committed to maintaining our small average class
section size. We continue to believe that, for most courses, smaller section sizes allow for more effective studentinstructor communication.
But as you know, I also have asked department chairs and deans to examine section sizes and determine where
they can make incremental adjustments to increase our overall average by a very small number. Right now, our
average class section size is just under 17. I’m hoping to see the average section size increase to around 18 for fall
2015. This will put us in line with the early 2000s when our average section size was between 18 and 20. Even at
that time, we were known as a college that prided itself on small class sections. My decision to increase average
class section size is an effort to be more efficient with students’ hard-earned tuition dollars, but I assure you that
my foremost commitment is to maintaining high-quality education at Columbia College Chicago. I am confident
that a small increase in average class section size will not have a negative impact on the quality of education our
students receive.
So, why have I asked for this small increase? As recently as 2008, our college enrolled about 12,500 students. Since
that time, enrollment has declined to about 9,500 students. But we have continued to offer pretty much the same
number of course sections, which also continued to shrink in size. Over time, this has become quite expensive.
What I am trying to do is get us back on track in terms of efficiency, while never exceeding the college’s historically
low average class section sizes.
Just to give you a sense of how we compare to other institutions, please look at the table below:
Institution
Columbia College Chicago
University of Chicago
Northwestern University
Roosevelt University
DePaul University
Loyola University Chicago
Source: U.S. News and World Report Website
Percentage of Class Sections with Fewer than 20
students
77%
75.8%
74.6%
60.3%
41%
37.5%
As you can see, with 77% of our class sections having fewer than 20 students, we rank very well compared to other
Chicago-area colleges and universities. This excellent percentage will not change. But it is important for you to
understand that a small increase in average section size will save the college as much as $1.6 million annually in
student tuition funds. That’s $1.6 million we will be able to invest in our future as a college.
I’m sure you also have heard that there will be a few large sections of what is being referred to as the “Big
Chicago” courses, which will temporarily replace the First Year Seminar. As I indicated in a message last week, the
“Big Chicago” courses are a one-year experiment that will be in place while a committee of faculty, both full-time
and part-time, works on a proposal for the future of the first-semester required course for new students. We
eliminated First Year Seminar in response to several years’ worth of student data showing us that students did not
see the relevance of the course. We will make it relevant. We are offering the experimental “Big Chicago” courses
to test the possibility of doing the first-semester required course as a lecture course, with our best and most
dynamic faculty members in every section. But even in these experimental large sections, we will have teaching
assistants, discussion leaders, and small breakout groups. There is national evidence that this approach can be
highly effective for some subject areas. But again, this is a one-year experimental approach. The faculty committee
will review data from the “Big Chicago” sections and see if this is a viable approach or if some other approach will
work better.
We know, however, that First Year Seminar was no longer viable. The student evaluation data showed us this, and
we also have anecdotal evidence that freshmen were leaving Columbia because of their dissatisfaction with this
course. We want the course to be relevant, deeply connected to the city of Chicago, focused on diversity,
connected to students’ overall curricula, and connected to the departments and the very best departmental
faculty.
Rather than being concerned about the small increase in average section size or the “Big Chicago” experimental
courses, I encourage the college community to welcome these moves. The effort to modestly increase our average
section size will make us more efficient, while still preserving our historically small class sections. This efficiency
will allow us to invest in making the college even better in the future. The “Big Chicago” courses are the first
exciting step in creating a much more interesting and relevant first-semester course.
I hope this message will begin to establish greater clarity about the compelling reasons for recent decisions.
Best regards,
Stan
Stanley T. Wearden, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President and Provost
Columbia College Chicago
Provost’s Office | 600 S. Michigan Ave. | Chicago, IL 60605-1996 | (312) 369-7495