HAYLEY LERCH
News Assistant
Registration for the spring semester meant confusion and competition for some political science majors, but the Political Science Division has made efforts to remedy these issues for the upcoming semester.
Because the Political Science Division was experiencing the absence of a few professors and the need for a new faculty member, students faced a shortage of classes. However, the division has hired another faculty member and all political science professors have returned to their teaching activities.
“It was an unusual semester, this last one, because we had one faculty member teaching in the SAAJ program,” said Dr. Christopher Soper, chair of the division. “We had three faculty members who had received course reductions for grant proposals that they had written, and next fall we don’t have that situation.”
According to Soper, the division offered 18 political science courses this semester and will offer 21 next semester, 17 of which are upper-division courses. Another class may also be added, which would bring the total to 22.
“I noticed that there were a lot more classes offered this semester,” said Kristen Compean, junior political science major. “However, I wish that there was more variety, but some courses are only offered in the spring or fall.”
Junior political science major Brendan Groves also said he would like to see more variety in course offerings and that he didn’t notice a change in the number of classes offered.
“Honestly, it’s hardly a noticeable difference from last semester,” Groves said. “I feel bad for the freshman because last semester was a debacle.”
While some students suggest that a greater variety of courses would be beneficial, the division has responded to the shortage of classes last semester so that registration would be easier.
“There’s only one or two classes that are closed, so there are plenty of spots available in most of our classes,” Soper said.
Freshman Kijhana Friday said she noticed a lot of classes were offered, but that many of them didn’t have a specified professor.
“That’s the only question is who my professor is,” Friday said. “A lot of people don’t want to take classes when they don’t know about the professor.”
Not only did students during the fall notice a shortage of classes, but some suggested that the class meeting times were not very flexible. This was still an issue this semester for some students, including Compean.
“A lot of classes are offered at the same time,” Compean said. “There are very few on Mondays and Thursdays, so I will have a lot of class on Tuesdays and Fridays.”
In response to student complaints about class times, Soper said that with the greater number of classes, he doesn’t think scheduling will be an issue.
“I assume that students have been able to find classes offered throughout the week because I haven’t heard any complaints,” Soper said.
The political science major is the second largest in the Social Science Division, behind psychology. Many political science majors go on to law school and according to Soper, the largest percent of students who go on to study law are from the political science department.
Because the major has very few lower division requirements, many political science majors chose to double major or select a minor course of study.
With an increase in classes offered next semester, the division will be more able to accommodate the growing number of students interested in political science.
03-23-2006