A growing problem I have seen take shape over the past few quarters as a junior organizational communication student at Ohio University is the difficulty I and many of my peers have enrolling in the courses we need to graduate on time. The problem: Scripps College of Communication does not offer enough courses and/or spots in courses offered (COMS 110, 205, 206, 215 and 235) that are required by the university for each communication major to graduate.
This problem, when I asked officials, is caused by the lack of staffing Scripps College of Communication has. Though it may be caused by this setback, it very well could also be caused by a combination of that and the over-admittance of students into Ohio University and Scripps College of Communication. Thus, these courses that all communication students are required to take cannot be offered in the volume that is needed for each student to graduate on time by taking the average 16 credit hours.
The problem typically does not affect communication students once they are an upperclassmen, but many times these upperclassmen must double up and take extra courses each quarter (20 credit hours instead of 16) in order to graduate on time. This can put a dent in students' GPAs because they have the extra course each quarter, which adds to the amount of work and stress they must cope with in order to succeed here at OU.
There are easy solutions to this problem. First, the university and Scripps College of Communication may consider admitting fewer students in the future, but this is not very practical. Second and more practical, Scripps could offer more of each course by hiring more professors and/or accepting more graduate students to teach the classes. Or third and most realistic, Scripps could redefine its requirements for graduation and let students choose between a majority of the courses that they are required to take in order to graduate.
Offering an insufficient number of required courses than students need in order to graduate is a growing problem the university needs to recognize sooner than later. If they wait too long to fix the problem then they could face even harsher issues of enraged students and their parents, who pay many Ohio University students' bills. This could result in a decline in enrollment at Ohio University and Scripps College of Communication in the near future.
Adam Hartman is a junior organizational communication major.
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Letter to the Editor
