Dartblog

A professor at Indiana University, in response to Jake Baron’s piece below, writes:

First, I’m a bit mystified by the implication that there exist classes that aren’t capped. Enrollments are capped by resources, if nothing else. You can continue to open sections only so long as you have rooms and faculty to teach them. But at Indiana University, classroom maximum enrollments are set by the Fire Marshall.

How can a university offer a non-capped class?

The order of priorities seems unworkable to me, especially since different classes have different hierarchies. How could it be enforced? IU has a strict order for undergrad registration based on class: Freshmen, Seniors, Juniors, Sophomores. Anything beyond this would surely break down.

Would that no one had a word to say about class caps but the Hanover, New Hampshire Fire Department. Alas, until budget priorities match up to student demands—and they have only begun moving in that direction since petition Trustees began raising the issue four years ago—and the faculty enters a period of serious growth, caps and blown caps will continue to be de rigueur at Dartmouth.