Minutes of the

Academic Task Force Meeting

27 February 2007

Class Size

We spent the hour talking about class sizes. We seemed to agree on the following items:

• We are restricted by SUS formula funding, which for most undergraduate classes assumes class sizes of about 33; our current average class size university-wide is in the mid-20’s
• Unless there’s money from other sources, we’ve got to live with state formula funding.
• Class sizes below formula funding result in below-average salaries and an inability to purchase some equipment.
• Some classes must be below formula finding (labs, comp classes, speech classes)
• If we have bigger classes, we’ll need a greater number of big classrooms.
• If we use our current space efficiently (including many more early-morning, late-afternoon, and Friday classes), we could support a campus enrollment of about 5,700.
• Increasing efficiency will lead to more work.
• We don’t really assess ourselves well; we don’t really have data for what works and what doesn’t

Possible Solutions

The following are possible solutions for increasing our efficiency:

• More part-timers
• Use of Georgia Tech graduate students and Post-docs
• Thin administration
• Big lecture/small group classes
• Better technology use
• A required Hitchhiker’s course to help motivate our students in the core
• More seminars, where students do more of the work of the class

Worries about big class sizes:

• A reduction in the quality of instruction and of student learning
• Multiple-choice evaluation instead of essays, essay tests, and lab reports
• The inability to turn back once we go to the big-class model
• The greater difficulty of large core classes to motivate students, who often aren’t much motivated for them in the first place.
• Using technology often adds more work to a class, not less.

Next Meeting: We’ll talk more about class size and university size.

Homework Assignment: How could we increase efficiencies in a course or sub-program in your department?