A classroom in Plassmann Hall
Photo: The Bona Venture Archives
BY CHRIS DOODY, STAFF WRITER
St. Bonaventure University’s general education class sizes are increasing again this coming spring due to an increased student body.
“We did the same thing last year,” said David Hilmey, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. “It should mirror the same outcome for how our instruction went in the years past.”
Himley said there is no reason to worry — the university has increased class sizes in the past.
“We increased course caps last year as well, and this is specifically only for general education courses,” said Hilmey.
If more than 35 students need to take one course it will be split and the professor will teach a second section, said Hilmey.
“If courses get split and a professor has to teach a whole different section of students they would get a pay increase or an overload payment,” said Hilmey. “But they do not for larger classes.”
Hilmey said Bonaventure is not able to hire new professors for every department so course caps will continue to be increased. Bonaventure will continue to increase course caps.
“We weren’t in the position to hire a lot, as [professors] are needed all across campus,” said Hilmey. “We hired wherever we could but we kept in mind that we handled the class increase last year.”
In years past, class sizes are normally in the lower 20s.
“Courses that in the past 10 to 12 years had around 25 students, now have around 30,” said Russell Woodruff, department chair of philosophy at Bonaventure.
Class sizes are increasing faster compared to prior years, said Woodruff.
“This is larger [over the last 2 years] than it has been over the past decade or so,” said Woodruff.
Woodruff said larger class sizes make class discussions more difficult to get everyone involved.
“In philosophy, we seek to talk with students about issues,” said Woodruff. “Larger class sizes make such dialogue more difficult.”
Though the class sizes will be larger, the quality of education will remain the same, said Hilmey. The way professors are teaching may have to adjust though.
“Teaching 30 students is different from teaching 25 and that’s even more different than teaching 15 or 10 students,” said Hilmey.
Hilmey said he will be teaching a course above the 35-student max this semester.
“I’m teaching a chemistry course of 40 students, that’s a lot,” said Hilmey. “I have to change the way I’m planning on teaching them.”
Hilmey said mostly general education courses will be increasing sizes, and degree-specific courses will likely stay smaller.
“General education courses have a limit set at 25 students,” said Hilmey. “We haven’t exceeded 35 yet for these courses. There are some major specific courses that have gone above, but that is up to the professor.”
Multiple sections for most classes are offered, and hopefully, students can get into the courses they need, said Hilmey.
“We hope that these students that need [these courses] are able to get in,” said Hilmey. “We try to keep these courses below 25 but we do raise course caps to 35 if we have to.”
doodycd24@bonaventure.edu
