New student demand and limited classroom space has resulted in scheduling and overcrowding conflicts in modern language classes this semester.
"Every time I enter the Dean's office, before I say anything else, I say 'Hello, Dean! Space!'" said Professor Hosea Hirata, Chair of the Department of German, Russian and Asian Languages and Literature.
Language coordinators point to a lack of available classrooms during the middle of the day, unanticipated demand, and campus construction as key factors.
The Department of German, Russian and Asian Languages and the Department of Romance Languages share classroom and office space in the Olin Center.
An unexpectedly high enrollment in Asian Languages forced the department to compete with Romance Languages for classrooms. "Arabic, Chinese, and, to a certain extent, Japanese first-year enrollments exceeded our expectations," said Hirata.
The worst overcrowding occurs between 10:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., according to Romance Languages Senior Lecturer Emese Soos.
Soos said that although classes are capped at 16 students, they often reach 18 students during F, G, and H blocks.
"The situation this fall has been particularly acute because the new music building and associated renovations in Aidekman and Jackson Gym have removed a huge number of classrooms from use this semester," she said.
According to Soos, professors request class space through the R25 room reservation system, which requires a three-day waiting period to find out if that class is available. "That really slows down the process," Soos said.
Soos said that finding classrooms for new sections of French 21 and 22 after unexpectedly high enrollment was difficult. "The only way I could staff the new section was to schedule it in the E block, but the Registrar's office told us there were no available classrooms on campus for that time," she said.
Although the department will open a new section once 10 students need to be accommodated, Spanish Language Coordinator Marta Rosso-O'Laughlin stressed the difficultly of finding an available classroom anywhere on campus during the most popular blocks.
"For several years now our plan has been to schedule classes in the less popular blocks A, B, J, I, and N and late in the afternoon or evening, as well as combining blocks such as K and L to give us a three days a week meeting time," Rosso-O'Laughlin said.
Some students are aware of the problem. "My Japanese 121 class has 11 kids, but I heard there's not enough room in Chinese," senior Rachel Olanoff said. "I also took a semester of French and hated it. Larger classes don't offer enough personal attention."
Other students did not notice overcrowding in language classes. "I don't think my Chinese 21 class is overcrowded at all," sophomore Pauline Andriejanssen said.
For freshman coming from large classes in high school, the comparatively smaller classes at Tufts can be a welcome change. "My Italian classes in high school would have 20, even 30 students," freshman Constance Mourning said. "I only have eight in my Italian 4 class now; it's a much better environment than what I was used to."
"There are 11 students in my Spanish 3 class now, and last semester there were 16, and I thought that was way too much [because] there wasn't enough personal interaction with the teacher," sophomore Zachary Friedman said. "Twelve students or less is much better, and four would be ideal, but obviously that's unrealistic."
Hirata remains concerned that while adding new sections this fall immediately eased the overcrowding, there will still be a problem with overall lack of classroom space. "If the demand for language courses continues to increase, [the language departments] won't be able to find any more classrooms in Olin," he said.
Hirata said that as a rule the Department of German, Russian and Asian Languages never rejects students. "I truly admire Tufts students who are so eager to take on the challenge of learning a new foreign language. Keep them coming," he said.
According to Soos, the completed construction and generally smaller enrollment in language courses during the spring should help resolve the problem for next semester.
