As the new semester starts, many Ewha students are expressing discontent about the shortage of major courses offered by their departments. This problem has been repeatedly cited for over many semesters but has once again seen no improvement with the start of the fall semester. The current number of major courses and the limited number of seats available in each class are insufficient for students to meet their major credits requirements for graduation.
Due to widespread problems of this sort, some classes are showing a much higher competition rate than usual during the first-come, first-servedcourse registration process at Ewha. An anonymous student shared that she had to give up taking a compulsory liberal arts subject this semester in order to apply for a major course that was highly competitive.
The Department of Academic Affairs stated there is no problem with the current arrangement. It explained that the Office of Faculty & Academic Affairs opens an appropriate number of courses in each department every semester and encourages departments to reflect student demand by conducting surveys to prevent overabundance or cancellation of certain subjects.
In response to the ongoing issue, Ewha Voice surveyed 60 students from Aug. 26 to Sept. 4 to look into students’ opinions about the insufficient availability of major courses. According to the survey, 94 percent of students thought there were not enough major classes currently open in their departments. The same number of respondents also shared their dissatisfaction and discomfort over the insufficient number of major classes offered. Over half admitted thatthey had to either request professors to increase the class capacity or take summer or winter semesters. Of those, some even had to defer their graduation semester because they could not fulfill major requirements.
One student from the Department of Architectural and Urban Systems Engineering who wished to remain anonymous shared that she was forced to take one semester off in her senior year since there were no classes open in the urban field, which is one of the most important components of the department. She went on to explain that her fellow classmates also suffered from the same problem.
Another anonymous student from the Department of Economics revealed chronic problems arise because of insufficient major classes almost everysemester. While quite a number of professors have retired this semester, not as many new professors have been hired to replace them, which has made it harder for the classes to be held.
Currently, Ewha inspects and modifies its curriculum every four years. Each semester, courses are offered based on a system in which professors select classes that exist within the curriculum and set the number of students in accordance with the course and assigned lecture rooms.
Professor Hoshin Song from the Department of Economics pointed out that the upper limit of subjects restricts the diversity of major courses that can be open each semester. According to Song, the Office of Faculty & Academic Affairs sets a maximum of 14 subjects through consultation with each department, which has the potential to limit the diversity of major classes, but no discussion has yet taken place.
Song has heard from many students that they are discontent with the few major classes available. He then emphasized the most urgent task is to recruit more professors.
“If you look at schools that are similar in size or situation to our school, the number of professors is much larger,” Song stated. “The natural recruitment of professors is not being carried out well, and the lack of professors seems to be the most fundamental and major cause of the current problem. Still, the school and each department are trying in many ways to make things better.”
Professor Jeiwon Cho, department chair of the Division of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, also cites the shortage of professors as the main cause of the problem. He insisted that there should be more full-time professors as a fundamental solution. According to Cho, there were only three professors in his department when he first came to Ewha three yearsago. As a consequence, some subjects were never offered at the time. Even now, it is left to visiting professors to sometimes run such classes, the situation remaining unstable.
Cho reports that students in the department are often displeased with the dearth of major classes. Yet, he explained that the lack of communication among students, departments, professors, and the school seems to have put limitations in pushing for specific solutions.
Meanwhile, Professor Cho also hoped there would be more lab spaces for the laboratory courses in the school. He stressed that there is a current shortage of laboratory courses in the Division of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, since laboratory spaces are insufficient and in need of upgrades.
Cho thinks that it is not a problem that can be solved simply by increasing the number of professors or opening a few more courses immediately. Instead, he believes that continuous and fundamental efforts seem to be needed.
“The lack of major classes is a long- term issue that has been constantly discussed, but more classes are being offered through various efforts than inthe past,” Cho said. “Additionally, it seems that the school, professors and students should communicate more to solve the problem together.”