The economics department is facing a real example of the laws of supply and demand as the number of undergraduate economics majors has risen dramatically over the last 10 years and at a much faster rate than the department's full-time faculty.
The number of economics majors more than doubled from 258 in 1991 to 612 in 2000. During this same period, the number of full-time faculty members rose from 22 to 29. The student-to-teacher ratio in the department increased from 1:12 to 1:21. In 2000, the department employed 13 part-time faculty members.
"The number of majors is a cyclical matter and we really don't know why it's happening," Economics Department Chairman David Mills said. "Numbers are going up nationwide in economics, but are rising here more."
"Class sizes haven't increased that much from last year to this, but 10 years ago I had 40 students in my intermediate microeconomics class and now I have 120," Mills said.
To meet the demand, the economics department is expanding its class sizes in many courses and adding new courses such as the Economics of Gender and Family and the Economics of Sports.
Four new professors were hired this year to replace three who departed after last year. The department employs lecturers and visiting professors, as well as graduate students, to teach a number of classes.
"The problem with crowding is exacerbated by the very competitive academic market for economists," Mills said. "It makes it very hard to hire and retain professors."
Of the seven different sections of ECON 301, a required course for majors, three are taught by graduate students, two by an assistant professor, and one each by a visiting lecturer and a full professor. All 400-level classes are taught by full or assistant professors.
Crowding woes are not new to the College, and students in other departments, including government and foreign affairs, have long complained about the shortage of professors in their crowded major.
"Everybody realizes there is a problem with increasing student demand in these departments [economics and government], but without a large increase in funding from outside, not everybody will agree on how to fix it," said Richard Handler, associate dean of academic programs.
Handler explained that the College has to assess the financial needs of many departments and try to meet demand in large departments such as economics without cutting funds from small, but often well respected, departments including modern languages.
"Classes are a lot bigger, but they've hired a bunch of new professors and offered more classes this semester," said Jen Shalley, a fourth-year economics major and president of the undergraduate economics club.
"It's tough now for us now in the transition, but with the demand better resources and facilities should follow, so the increase is a good thing," Shalley said. "The more the merrier"
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