University of Virginia Library

Overcrowding

It is not the quality of student,
then, that is declining (if we believe
Board scores), but rather, the
intellectual environment that he or
she is entering. One aspect of this
declining environment is the
overcrowding of classroom
buildings. Although David
Shannon, the new University
Provost, has stated that many
courses in the College are held to a
small size, many members of the
College faculty stated last year that
they felt that the classrooms were
overcrowded.

If the classes are overcrowded,
as many students attempting to get
into a general and popular course
would attest to, the major
proportion of responsibility should
be laid to the State Council of
Higher Education. It is this Council
that, along with the Governor, is
responsible for the demands for
more efficient use of classroom
space. And it is the conflict for this
financial efficiency that has
conflicted and will continue to
conflict with the desire of students
and faculty for small, intimate
classroom situations.