While opportunities for interaction with professors and one-on-one learning abound in the form of special topics courses and theses, and while we don't expect or see the need for introductory or lecture classes (e.g., Psychology 11, LJST 1) to contain just 15 students, there are certain departments and courses that are overtaxed. Overenrollment becomes a problem not only for students who are shut out of classes they want to take, but also for students in courses meant to be taught Socratically that end up being taught as lectures. We are enticed to attend Amherst by teases of small classes–where are they?
Overenrollment of classes causes a sardine effect that hampers learning in a number of ways. Students may feel pressured to compete with their classmates for grades or be dissuaded from participating during class. At a place like Amherst, it shouldn't be a struggle for our professors to learn our names, but too often that becomes the case–and it's often the fault of neither party. We understand that some classes and professors will always be more popular than others, but at the same time we think that everyone, from first-years to seniors, should have at least one or two classes per semester that are truly small.
Professors suffer from large classes as well. They are often forced to take on more students than they'd planned, sometimes even switching rooms to accommodate the overflow. Large classes also put a squeeze on office hours as well as professors' ability to do things like read drafts. In addition, when students are forced out of overenrolled courses or even when they just crave a guaranteed small class, they often end up taking special topics courses that strain professors even more.
Unfortunately, hiring visiting professors is not a good long-term solution. By and large, visiting professors aren't invested in the College. In addition, it is difficult to establish a relationship with a professor who is only here for a year or a semester.
There are specific departments that, as an editorial board, we feel need more full-time professors in order to lower class sizes. Specifically, we'd like to see smaller courses in the English department in general, smaller courses in the Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought department, more professors of Asian Pacific American studies, smaller introductory courses in the foreign language departments and a change that will enable more non-majors to take psychology courses. However, this list is by no means comprehensive; it is merely what we compiled based on our own experiences.