With ETSU’s enrollment increasing more than ever, some students are feeling growing pains from the expansion. Many classes, especially general education courses, are filled to capacity.
Bert Bach, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, said there is no problem with overcrowding classes at ETSU. “We know that some classes are larger than others,” he said. “But the best class size is subjective.”
Bach said the university has made a major commitment to address the size of classes.
“As the result of an increase in revenue from student fees, we’ve been able to add additional faculty to head additional classes,” he said. “We’ve done some significant renovations on classrooms to support the size.”
He also pointed out that one of the university’s main goals is to give students the best learning experience possible. This year alone, ETSU President Paul Stanton allocated $600,000 to academic units.
Rebecca Pyles, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said that although classes are filled to capacity, she wouldn’t consider them overcrowded.
“We added a lot of sections this year,” Pyles said. “But we’re not overcrowded that I know of.”
Dr. Carroll Hyder, associate dean of the College of Business and Technology, said the issue was not overcrowding but a lack of available classrooms and scheduling between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., when almost every classroom on campus is in use.
“Right now, I don’t think there is so much a problem with overcrowding in classrooms, but a lack of classrooms available at certain times,” Hyder said.
In order to correct this situation, Hyder said the university might have to offer more evening classes-a solution that is less than desirable for many students.
Hyder also said that if there were an increase in enrollment, ETSU would have to work more with the schedule, but that current students’ needs have been satisfied.
Pyles said ETSU spends a lot of time during the summer paying attention to class sizes and enrollment. Each college meets a week before every freshman orientation to determine how many seats will be needed in each classroom. At this point during the summer, current students have already registered for classes.
Classroom capacity varies by sections. Oral or writing intensive courses, for example, are considerably smaller than lecture-based classes. The type of class is considered when a course is set up, and the capacity is then decided.
“We don’t overdo these classes,” Pyles said. “We create new sections.”
In Arts and Sciences, as many as 15 or 16 sections are sometimes offered to accommodate students.

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