Upperclassmen have completed preregistration for the fall 2011 semester, leaving many introductory-level courses completely filled. Departments including politics, philosophy, sociology and psychology are struggling to find space for incoming first-year students. Meanwhile, the administration plans to solve the problem by increasing class sizes or creating more classes, which will most likely be taught by visiting professors.

Enrollment pressure for incoming first-years has increased with the introduction of the 3-2 course switch, but other factors also contribute to the problem. According to ASWC Vice President senior John Loranger, the 3-2 switch is a major reason for enrollment pressure, but is not the only problem.

“We’re having faculty teaching fewer courses this year, and then we have the largest student body in the history of the college, and to compound those two issues we have course compression,” he said.

Provost and Dean of Faculty Timothy Kaufman-Osborn will decide in the upcoming week which departments will have courses added to make up for a lack of available course seats. He anticipates that if additional faculty are needed, the hiring process will begin over the summer.

“There’s two criteria that I need [to add courses]. I need the financial resources available to me, but I also want to ensure that I find qualified people,” Kaufman-Osborn said.

Chair of the Sociology Department Keith Farrington worries, however, that hiring professors this late in the academic year may not bode well for next semester.

“I think that when you’re hiring someone to teach the next year, you’re at the end of the hiring year and the most excellent of candidates are already hired, meaning we’re not dealing with the best pool of possible candidates,” he said.

First-year ASWC Senator Brian Choe believes that increasing class sizes and opening new sections of intro-level courses taught by visiting professors may be a short-term solution, but it may not be doing incoming students justice in the long run.

“As a liberal arts school, we pride ourselves in small class sizes. As classes get bigger, it’s going to affect our image and the way we learn,” Choe said. “For first-years who have a hard time in an introductory class with a visiting professor, the solid foundation of what they want to major in is not solid at all and they don’t have anything to work off of.”

Hiring new professors to teach sections of classes for incoming students is not an easy task. Choe’s opinion of professors echoes the sentiments of many Whitman students who have had classes taught by visiting professors.

“I’m really frustrated because my experience in the science department has swayed me away from majoring in science because of the negative experience of having a visiting professor in place of a tenure-track faculty,” said first-year Julia Stone.

Incoming first-years, however, are not too worried about having to wait to take classes from tenure track faculty. Sarah Cronk, an incoming student from Bettendorf, Iowa is disappointed that she will have a hard time getting into introductory-level courses taught by regular Whitman faculty; however, she is confident that Whitman is working on the issue and holds out hope that her following three years of registration won’t be as difficult.

“I’m a little disappointed because you hear about certain classes that are taught by amazing professors, and we won’t get to take them at first,” Cronk said. “I figure that I have four years to eventually get into classes I want.”

First-year ASWC Senator Kayvon Behroozian believes the key to getting an ideal schedule for incoming students is planning ahead.

“I didn’t get into any classes I wanted during pre-registration, but what I had done before pre-registration is I e-mailed professors to be put on my waiting list and I was let into those classes,” Behroozian said. “It’s frustrating, but if you plan ahead, you have a chance of getting into the classes you want.”

Kaufman-Osborn ensures incoming students that while registration may be difficult for students initially, Whitman guarantees students sufficient credits to stay on track for graduation in declared majors within four years and the opportunity to satisfy distribution requirements and elective courses corresponding to their interests.

“The college cannot guarantee that every student is going to get the course he/she wants in the semester he/she wants,” he said. “[But] it does have an obligation that students meet the requirements [expected] of them as a condition of graduation, and I fully intend to keep that commitment.”