Growing pains at PSU

“There’s a lot of talk on campus about increasing class sizes,” Kevin Reynolds, vice provost of Academic Fiscal Strategies, said Wednesday. “I certainly wouldn’t discount anyone’s personal experience, but university-wide statistics indicate the opposite trend, overall.”

Figures provided by Reynolds’ office confirm that classes containing 50 or more students accounted for 35 percent of all credit hours at Portland State in fall 2009, and only 32 percent in fall 2010.

However, this data does not account for the possibility that instructors are being asked to handle more classes, some falling beneath the range presented in these statistics, nor does it reflect current concerns that some PSU faculty have for their departments.

David Kinsella, chair of the political science division of the Hatfield School of Government, shared concerns over the potential impact of rising enrollment in the department.

“We’ve yet to feel the pinch,” Kinsella said. “Our enrollment has steadily increased over the past 10 years, but we’ve always been well supported and handled it. We’re afraid that may be coming to an end.”

Political science courses, Kinsella explained, are experiencing high enrollment demands, particularly those dealing with law, both international and domestic. Traditionally, professors have met these demands with support from graduate students who share the burden of increased enrollment by grading papers and assisting instructors in exchange for tuition discounts.

According to Kinsella, Ph.D. and graduate assistantship programs were formerly budget line items, but have recently been given less support. This threatens the ability of instructors to effectively manage increased enrollment.

“Our staffing definitely rides on enrollment, and we get pressure to keep numbers on the rise,” Kinsella said. “If graduate assistantship programs go unsupported, we may be forced to cap enrollment in classes, which would probably lead to a decrease in our staffing budget.”

While budget line items formerly supported approximately 10 Ph.D. programs and five to seven graduate assistantship programs in previous years, they now support about five Ph.D. programs, with no remaining support for graduate assistantship in the budget. Kinsella said that these programs have continued through the use of “soft money,” or non-budget funds that are raised by faculty through research funding and grants.

This unstable flow of soft money means that Kinsella’s department can no longer guarantee Ph.D. candidates support for more than one academic year at a time, making it difficult to compete with programs offered at other universities. There are also very strict rules governing the spending of grant funds.

The academic fiscal strategies department, which provided enrollment statistics, is tasked with tracking institutional data concerning class sizes and making recommendations to the dean’s office based on this data.

 “Our goal is to determine where it makes sense to have larger classes, and where it makes sense to have smaller classes,” Reynolds said. “Our office is working with the different departments to make sure that we are in a position to accommodate current students next year, and to absorb a modest increase in enrollment in spite of budget difficulties.”

When asked if PSU President Wim Wiewel’s stated goal of increasing non-resident enrollment from 20 to 30 percent fell within the range of modesty, Reynolds said that it was too soon to tell.

 “That will depend on what resident enrollment looks like in the coming year,” Reynolds said. “It’s a delicate balancing act, bringing in non-resident students that keep the university diverse and economically healthy, while remaining an institution dedicated to educating Oregonians.”

He added that non-resident students pay higher tuition than resident students. Non-resident tuition is immediately available to the university and not subject to the same legislative oversight as Oregonians’ tuition dollars.

Most of these new students, both resident and non-resident, will pass through the University Studies program, where Michael J. Flower is Freshman Inquiry coordinator.

“With respect to Freshman Inquiry, we continue to hold the line,” Flower said. “We’re fortunate to be in a position where we can limit registration if we need to, but I have heard my colleagues in other settings mention that they can’t practice such restraint. Luckily, it isn’t a problem that I’ve experienced personally, but it certainly comes up in conversation on a daily basis amongst faculty.” ?