Dear Mina,
Let me begin by letting you know what a rich experience it was to meet one on
one with the head advisors of each college. We are extremely fortunate to have
these committed and dedicated professionals helping our students navigate a
system that is often daunting. After the initial meeting many brought the issue of
access to their fellow college advisors for discussion and feedback. In every
meeting appreciation was expressed for our concern, for asking the questions
and for listening, some even dared to hope for intervention.
The question did not take long for most to address, they are well aware of the
problem areas. There were specific problems for each college and for particular
majors. Some are due to a large increase in the program and others due to a
chronic lack of resources. Many advisors were able to suggest possible solutions
and point out the roadblocks. The courses that struck us the most were basic
lower division courses designed as building blocks for many or all programs
across campus. Some have been an issue for several years while others are
newer problems that will join the chronic if issues are not addressed.
It is clear that something needs to happen. As Mary Ann Matzke said, “This
request generated a huge response from the advisors in the College of Science. I
think you can tell from their comments that they feel that they are on the edge of
a cliff and just hanging on.” Their problems are predominately due to inadequate
space. In the College of Liberal Arts, they have no money to hire faculty to teach
courses. If they could staff the courses, credit hours would increase which would
generate additional funding. The current funding model is not working for the
“service courses” taught across campus. They need money up front to establish
the means to catch up. The determination is there, but they are wearing out.
In each conversation, advisors linked access problems with student retention.
Each time a student is shut out of a course or is required to twist arms and beg
their way into a class, they become disillusioned and increasingly dissatisfied. If it
were possible to channel some resources into these top three problematic course
areas, the effects would be far reaching. Not only would more students be able to
get the courses they need, faculty all over campus would have the sense they
had been heard and that the administration cares. Some of the things shared
with us pointed to the abyss many feel between the academics and the
administration.
I have attached all the original responses, but keep in mind that we took notes
during our meetings as well.
Sincerely,
Susie Leslie
Results of Access Inquiry to College Head Advisors*,
November, 2004
The worst cases in approximate order of severity:
COMM 111 – Public Speaking
COMM 114 – Argumentation and Critical Discourse
COMM 218 – Interpersonal Communication
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Virtually no freshmen or sophomores can register for these courses.
Some students can’t get in until their senior year.
The intent of these courses is to develop presentation skills students will
use in future courses.
There is little opportunity for OSU students to further develop oral
communication skills if they cannot get into a speech course until their
junior or senior year
CH 221/222/223 – General Chemistry
CH 331/332 – Organic Chemistry
CH 337 – Organic Chemistry Lab
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Chemistry is a huge problem. The most pressing issue is space. They
have had a 50% increase in students taking general chemistry since 1997,
and the number of chemistry majors has increased from 60 to 190 in four
years. No new lab space has been created and the number of faculty has
decreased.
CH 221/222/223 and CH 331/332 are required by many majors and many
upper division courses are dependent on their content. Students must wait
a year or more to take the lab after completing the lecture series. Currently
there is a backlog of over 200 students needing the lab.
Another concern expressed is that some students repeat these courses to
improve their grade, thus shutting out new students.
The access problems in chemistry courses will initially result in delaying
students a year for their class and eventually the time to degree will
increase from four to five years.
SPAN 111/211/311 – 1st, 2nd, 3rd year Spanish
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All languages are a problem, but Spanish is by far the worst.
Several advisors noted that many students are admitted to OSU with a
deficiency in language. This is a requirement by OUS that states all
entering students must have two years of a second language in high
school. This remains on their transcript until they take two terms of a
college-level language.
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This access problem is in opposition to the greater goals of OSU to
provide an international education. It is also a setback for those wanting to
live and work in the Northwest where the need for Spanish is ever
increasing.
The point was made that to fix this problem, foreign languages need to be
able to plan ahead to hire the instructors; language instructors aren’t easy
to find locally.
The following courses represent serious problematic situations, but they are not
as universal across campus.
WR 121 – English Composition
WR 327 – Technical Writing
 The problems here are much the same as those for COMM courses. WR
121 is a skill building class. WR 327 is a requirement for all COE students
to move forward.
PH 201 – General Physics
PH 211 – General Physics with Calculus
 These courses always fill to capacity and they are seen as a future big
problem area. Again, when a student is shut out, it may delay graduation
or entry into a Professional School.
MTH 251 – Differential Calculus
 Required by many majors and regularly fills. For engineering students this
course cannot be delayed. It is a prerequisite into all future engineering
courses.
HSTS 415 – History of Evolution Science
 This is a WIC and Synthesis course used by many life science majors. It is
always over-subscribed. It is larger than is reasonable for a WIC course
and should be offered more than once a year.
BI 211H – Honors Biology
 The difficulty is not just resources, but availability of staff that meet the
constraints of the Honors program staffing. Attention needs to be paid as
the Honors College is a recruiting tool for OSU, but students can’t get into
Honors Biology.
HST (capstone course problematic due to staffing constraints)
ART (closed to non-majors, multi-media minors and DHE majors have difficulty
getting required courses)
DHE (78% increase in majors in last five years, foundation courses are
backlogged affecting graduation)
SOC (unable to offer a minor with academic integrity due to staffing, major limited
to 60 majors/year, only majors receive theory and methods courses)
COS (many courses are problematic, see attachments)
*Responding advisors,
Business
Engineering
Forestry
HHS
CLA
Pharmacy
COS
Vet Med (reported they are only a graduate program and therefore did not have problems)
UESP