It seems that these ongoing problems have not been yet solved. About 11 classes have already been cancelled in the fall semester of 2008. System Plan and Analysis, a major class in International Office Management is one of them. The class was cancelled because the professor who was going to teach the class was given an official order to serve as the president of The Office of Information and Communications. Lee Mi-so (Library & Information Service, 2) said that there should have been an announcement at least before the lecture was cancelled. 
       

              Before university students start a new semester, they all have to go through one hasslecourse registration. Ewha students are no exception. Rather, Ewha’s course registration difficulties might be somewhat fiercer than those at any other universities. Confusion results not only from sudden course professor changes but also from classes that do not assign specific professors to teach the course before the course registration day. As if that isn’t enough, cancellation of the classes also adds to the inconvenience that students face during course registration period. 

             About 36 classes out of 2075 (1 percent) have not been assigned a professor by August 17, two weeks before classes begin, according to the Ewha Homepage. The college of Education held the highest number of major classes with no professors assignedeight classes.  

The four General Elective classes to which professors were not assigned were as follows: Understanding Korean Modern and Contemporary History, Future Society and Environmental Education, Environment and Humanity, and Elementary Music Theory.  

Even though the number seems very small, many students suffer from those undefined classes. “This time when I looked at the school homepage for course registration, two classes in my major had no professors designated—Criminal Law and Introduction to Administrative Law. I became really concerned because it was right before the day of course registration,” said a law major who wishes to remain anonymous.  

Shin Ga-eun (Public Administration, 2) said that she does not take classes that do not specify which professor will teach the class. “I feel uncomfortable not knowing which professor is going to teach me,” Shin said.  

“When a college lacks professors, it hires part-time instructors. But, since contacting an instructor who suits a specific course is sometimes difficult, professors for some classes are not specified,” said a staff member at the Office of Faculty and Academic Affairs.  

Another case that leaves students into a frenzy is when a professor that was going to teach a certain class is suddenly replaced. Choi So-young (Humanities, 1) said she was confused because the professor of her Korean and Composition class was replaced with another professor.  

Professors of 58 classes out of 2075 (2.8 percent) were replaced with another professor this semester. Again, the College of Education ranked number one as the college with the highest number of classes that replaced its professors. “When professors sometimes transfer to another school all of a sudden, we have no choice but to hire part-time instructors or another professor. Also, when professors are appointed the head of a school office, they sometimes cancel their classes,” said the OFA. The OFA said that the school does not have any specific plans yet to prevent these problems.  

Class cancellation is another inconvenience to students who have already registered the class. Min So-young (Pharmacy, 2) faced a perplexing situation in the fall semester of 2007, when her General Elective class was cancelled just before the semester begun. “I just chose another course that was vacant during the class add/drop period, but I regretted taking it because the professor was not good at lecturing,” said Min.  

It seems that these ongoing problems have not been yet solved. About 11 classes have already been cancelled in the fall semester of 2008. System Plan and Analysis, a major class in International Office Management is one of them. The class was cancelled because the professor who was going to teach the class was given an official order to serve as the president of The Office of Information and Communications. Lee Mi-so (Library & Information Service, 2) said that there should have been an announcement at least before the lecture was cancelled. 

 

 

저작권자 © Ewha Voice 무단전재 및 재배포 금지