On the first day of his “Race and Ethnic Relations” class, Eli Gallaugher, a junior audio arts major, checked his fall schedule to see where the class had been taking place. But it was no longer on his schedule.
Frustrated and digging through emails, Gallaugher found one sent from the Office of the Registrar on Aug. 26 notifying him that his course section was canceled. The email did not specify the reason.
By the time the deadline to add a class came around, which was Sept. 9, Gallaugher said he still couldn’t find another course that would fill that humanities requirement and that would work with his schedule.
“I’m kind of in a position where I’m a full-time student, but I’m not taking enough credits where I think maybe I might not be graduating on time, or I’m gonna have to squeeze in more credits later,” he said.
Steven Corey, the dean of academic operations and programming, said the cancellations were due to low enrollment in individual sections and because of instructors who took buyouts.
The Chronicle requested the total number of cut sections on Sept. 17, but Corey had not yet provided it by Oct. 1.
The threshold for what constitutes low enrollment differs from class to class because the course may have a “different pedagogy,” Corey said. He gave an example of a class that may only have a seat cap of 15 due to it needing to be in a specialty room. However, if the section only has six seats filled, but students need it to graduate, then he said he wouldn’t cancel it.
“If it’s a class that runs at a historic number, and that percentage is below 50% but [students] need it to graduate, then we will let that class go, let it continue to be offered,” he added.
Sections that were canceled around early to mid-August were most likely due to low enrollment; while the “flurry” of sections canceled closer to the start of school were cut because the original instructors accepted the offer from the Voluntary Separation Incentive Program, said Corey.
The final deadline to accept or reject a buyout was Aug. 22, he said.
Eleven of the 18 faculty members offered a buyout accepted one, as the Chronicle previously reported.
Around Aug. 16, the school did their “final round of cuts for low enrollment” and allowed a couple of weeks to see if students switched around courses. Then changes were made because of the buyouts, Corey said.
Corey also said that he kept some course sections despite them having low enrollment. These courses were added later to replace another course that was initially offered for the fall. That is if the college couldn’t find another instructor to teach the same course at the same time and day as the previous instructor who accepted the VSIP offer, he said.
Since those sections were added late, Corey said, “those students need the class, so I’m not gonna cut it.”
The example he gave was the “Introduction to Economics” course taught by Patricia Walker, a part-time instructor, which at the time had 10 out of the 28 seats filled. The section now has nine students and is running.
“We really have to think carefully about the demand for a class because we have 1,000 fewer students than we did a year ago,” he said. “[We] try to have a schedule that we think fits in with the parameters of what’s necessary for the major and gen ed, and then add sections, but sometimes student demand fluctuates.”
Corey facilitates discussions with the eight school directors to figure out what courses or course sections to cancel, all keeping in mind the allocated budget and making sure required classes can be offered, he said.
As for how canceled sections affect faculty members, in theory, full-time faculty have priority over part-time instructors, Corey said. According to him, a full-time member can take a class from a part-time instructor due to a system in faculty contracts typically called “bumping.” Additionally, there are circumstances in which the college can start a new section of a course, he said.
Some senior part-time instructors can also take a course from part-time instructors who haven’t taught as long “if they qualified to teach the same class,” Corey said. The contract governing part-time instructions stipulates this, as the Chronicle previously reported.
Christopher Thale, a part-time instructor, is teaching “History of the American Working
Class” this fall. The class has 25 students with a course cap of 30. The course had a cap of 24 students in fall 2023. Hale said it is worth asking how much money the school is saving by having bigger classes and fewer faculty members.
“Advanced planning might have helped…letting people go and then having some kind of plan for transitioning into a world without those people,” Thale said.
“If students aren’t here, there’s not much they can do to make up for it… and since they’re trying to save money, maybe they’re backed into a corner, or maybe they backed themselves into a corner,” he added.
Besides academic advisors, Corey said that students can confide in and look toward faculty as mentors. “Faculty can advise students on some classes, especially classes that will help with maybe a concentration or a minor, or even within a major,” he said.
Kenzie Endlich, a sophomore computer animation major, found another course to replace her canceled “Cartoons and Satire” course.
“I immediately went to my audit and tried looking for something else to take,” she said. “Luckily, I was able to find a class that fit my schedule and that was on the same day, so thankfully, it wasn’t too bad, but I was freaking out for a couple minutes.”
For Wicky Gonzalez, a senior communications major, navigating their canceled “Joyfulness and Well-Being” course was less simple.
Gonzalez said they were notified of their canceled section through the professor who taught the class. They were also not given a reason for the cancellation, but given two other CCCX courses they could replace the cut course with. Out of those, only “Chicago Performs: Theatre Through Our Lens” worked with their schedule.
“In high school, we don’t get that choice to make your schedule…but through college, you’re in control of your life. You’re in control of the workload, the classes you build up, how you manage yourself. That’s what I thought I was getting at, to manage my wellbeing, just for my wellbeing class.”
Gonzalez also said that the cancellation of the “Joyfulness and Well-Being” course disrupted their grant from a program offered through their job at FedEx. The grant, which only covers classes that the program approves, can pay up to $5,000, but after the course was canceled, Gonzalez had to reapply to see if the program will cover the new class.
Additional reporting by Maya Liquigan.
Copy edited by Manuel Nocera
