University projects enrollment drop
Administrators announced projections for a 2 percent decline in undergraduate enrollment for the upcoming academic year earlier this month.
Executive Vice President and Treasurer Lou Katz said at the President’s Council meeting earlier this month that the projected decline in enrollment is attributed to the University’s desire for smaller, more manageable class sizes.
Katz also said both the University’s undergraduate and graduate programs have become more selective, and that selectivity has some bearing on admissions rates. He added that the University Campus Plan, which requires all freshmen and sophomores to live on campus, also contributed to the University’s decision about three years ago to begin scaling back class sizes.
In 2001, the undergraduate admission rate was 48 percent, whereas in 2005 the rate dropped by 11 percentage points to 37 percent.
“This isn’t your grandfather’s university,” Trachtenberg said about the University’s extensive academic improvement in the last 30 years at the President’s Council meeting.
– Eric Snyderman
Writing program may change format
The University Writing program’s Writing in the Disciplines courses may change its format next semester to allow for more flexibility.
UW20 organizers are considering adding a WID breakout session to non-UW20 courses. The breakout session would be a separate meeting for WID students and would allow more classes to meet the UW20 requirements.
“We want to make sure there are enough classes for everyone,” said Melinda Knight, director of the University Writing program.
The new format was tested in two courses this past year and Knight said the program “went very well.”
Knight said the change is not yet finalized and she did not say when a final decision will be made. “We’re going to experiment with different models until we find the best one,” she said.
Two WID courses are required as part of the general curriculum requirements for students in UW20. Undergraduates take one as a sophomore and the other as a junior, usually within their area of concentration.
– Nathan Grossman
