It?s a new school year, but last year?s problems haven?t shown any signs of leaving.
The lines at the advising offices are impossible - forget about it if you?re in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences - and half of us can?t get into classes we need because people obnoxiously schedule more classes than they?ll actually take and then drop them at the last minute. To top it all off, it seems like campus is ten times more crowded than last year.
This summer I attended one of the luncheons the UF Board of Trustees holds with a small group of students every few months. It?s a way for the trustees to feel like they actually listen to students? concerns rather than a chance to think of solutions for any of them. I?m sure the trustees actually do care about us, but I can imagine it?s difficult for Al Warrington to care about what goes on in CLAS.
According to one of my history professors, UF has the highest student-faculty ratio of any university in the country. As UF gets more and more famous for its sports teams, the administration seems to care less and less about departments that can?t support themselves through research funding.
UF cannot expect to remain a top institution with an abysmal student-faculty ratio. The solution most people offer is to increase faculty. While this is supposed to be the purpose of the Tuition Differential Program, something tells me it won?t trickle down to departments such as history. Call me cynical, but even after the program starts taking effect, those moneymaking departments such as psychology and biology will be best off.
Perhaps a better solution might be to - gasp - admit fewer students. But when it comes to education, quality should be valued over quantity. It feels like many people in my classes don?t realize the value of their education anyway. Admitting fewer students might even solve the Bright Futures crisis. But I don?t expect UF President Bernie Machen to understand the concept that we can?t have our cake and eat it too. His track record says it all.
Anuradha Pandey is a junior majoring in history and religion.
