Summary of the Report of the Arts and Science Classroom Committee

Charge to the Committee

Following on from the work of the Krauss Morningside Classroom Committee of just over a decade ago, the committee will evaluate the current adequacy of classroom spaces to meet Arts and Sciences instructional needs. It will make recommendations for the improvement of these spaces as well as of the scheduling process through which they are allocated.

The work of the committee will include an assessment of the physical condition of the classrooms, their ability to support technological (and other instructional) needs, and the match between demand for classrooms of particular sizes (including classrooms holding more than one hundred students) and availability. In addition, the committee will examine scheduling issues surrounding Arts and Science classrooms, including ways to alleviate the scarcity of classrooms (or particular kinds of classrooms) at times of heavy use. This will include attention to present policy governing encumbered classrooms, as well as possible changes in the days and times classes are scheduled or in the way in which scheduling is done by the registrar and by departments.

Summary

After reviewing the 1998 Krauss Morningside Classroom Committee Report and undertaking extensive new data collection, the current Classroom Committee identified an array of problems involving the electronic capabilities, the number, and the scheduling and assignment of Arts and Sciences classrooms under the Registrar’s control. Principal among these problems are: (1) too few electronic classrooms; (2) demand for classrooms outpacing supply, especially at peak hours from 10 to 4 Monday to Thursday; (3) departments’ continuing failure to schedule classes across the full range of possible days and times, including minimal use of Fridays for classroom instruction; (4) challenges posed by the large number of encumbered classrooms (those in the Registrar’s stock but in which departments schedule their own classes before releasing unused times to the Registrar) to the Registrar’s efficient assignment of rooms, especially in regard to the eleven rooms in the current Registrar’s stock with a seating capacity in excess of one hundred students; (5) the poor condition of a few classrooms, most notably Havemeyer 309, and the poor condition and small number of Arts and Science teaching laboratory spaces; (6) failure to monitor the implementation and assess the effectiveness of past recommendations governing classroom use and to coordinate the work of the various entities, from CUIT to the Office of Academic Planning to the Office of the Deputy Vice President for Strategic Planning, that have a role in how classrooms are maintained, outfitted, scheduled, and assigned so that efficiencies can be achieved, classroom needs built into future budgets, and emerging problems managed as they appear. For an instructive chart showing the increased pressure on our classrooms since the 1998 Krauss Report, see Appendix 3, attached to this summary.

The Committee made a number of recommendations to address these problems, and they are detailed in the full report, along with the supporting data that underpins our recommendations. For a list of the data collected, see Appendix 1. Four recommendations stand out as particularly important. (1) By summer of 1212 all Registrar classrooms should be outfitted with appropriate electronic equipment. This will both enhance the pedagogical usefulness of our classroom stock and also make scheduling easier since there will no longer be the present fierce competition for a limited number of electronic classrooms. For a chart showing the number and percentage of electronic classrooms in the Registrar’s stock, see Appendix 2. (2) Change the schedule of classes to include two new lecture periods on Mondays to Thursdays, thereby increasing the number of classes that can be scheduled in existing classrooms. This will mean that some lecture classes will begin at 8:40 A.M. For the old and the new schedule of classes, see Appendix 4 and Appendix 5. (3) Help departments schedule classes across the full range of available time slots, including increasing the number of seminars taught on Fridays, by requiring departments to follow new Guidelines for Class Scheduling and monitoring compliance and by making improvements in the Curricular Planning Statement (CPS). For a copy of the guidelines, see Appendix 6. (6) Work closely with departments with encumbered classrooms that hold more than 100 students to insure that those rooms are appropriately utilized for large classes and, when unused for this purpose by the controlling department, are released in a timely fashion for the Registrar to assign to meet needs in other departments.

Members of the Committee

Jean Howard, Chair, English; Kay Achar, Political Science; Arnold Aronson, School of the Arts; John Carter, Registrar; Patricia Culligan, Engineering; Bill Dellinger, German; George Deodatis, Engineering; Dave Dewhurst, Facilities; David Etherton, CUIT; Robert Furno, Registrar’s Office; Angela Haddad, Barnard College; Richard Korb, German; Karen Krahulik, SIPA; Mildred Kramer-Garcia, Astronomy; Rob Lieberman, SIPA; Bentley Macleod, Economics; Ann McDermott, Chemistry; David Madigan, Statistics; Susan Mescher, Deputy Vice President for Strategic Planning, Arts and Sciences; Steven Mintz, Director, GSAS Teaching Center; Wayne Proudfoot, Religion; Laurie Schaffler, Registration and Financial Services; Brady Sloan, Registrar’s Office; Pamela Smith, History; Jack Snyder, Political Science; Kathryn Yatrakis, Senior Associate Vice President for Arts and Sciences

Committee Staff

Lucy Drotning, Associate Provost and Director of Institutional Research; Mia Mendicino, Columbia College Research; Rose Razaghian, Arts and Sciences and Columbia College Research; Tom McNamee, Associate Director of Academic Affairs, Arts and Sciences