Our Voice

        Another school year, a new freshman class, and new faces. Lots of new faces. Approximately 1,200 of them. Plenty of positive aspects result from this. For example, Fridays on campus are not as dead as usual. The incoming class has really set new record highs for GPA and SAT scores.    The downside?
    Well, Dr. Dorothy Leland, said that we will continue to be the Georgia’s premier public liberal arts university when she became the school’s president. The school has exceeded those expectations earning various prestigious recognitions in such publications like Newsweek Best Colleges Report and the Princeton Review.
    GCSU states in its website that “students are endowed with both information and values through small classes, interdisciplinary studies, close association with the faculty and staff in and beyond the classroom.” Yet GCSU seems to have forgotten or at least set in the back burners is the increasing size of the campus population.
    The numbers speak for itself. In 2005, the freshman class was at 1,035. In 2006, the numbers increased slightly to 1,065. This year’s entering freshmen is 1,120. These numbers do not include transfer students, and the high retention rate the university has enjoyed in recent years.
    No numbers are necessary to prove that there is a significant increase in the freshmen class size this year. One can tell this by the crowds that now ride the shuttles. Not so long ago, the shuttles would tackle their busiest loads in the morning. Now, the shuttles are busy during school hours. The school has also moved some Freshmen to The Village at West Campus, and Sororities turned down many hopefuls during Rush Week this year.
    Maybe, some of the upperclassmen would be less apprehensive if the increasing size came with a football team to cheer. Unfortunately, the promise of higher standards and small community feel is lost in translation after students experience faculty shortages in some departments, fuller lecture classes, crowded shuttles, diminishing living space.
    Shouldn’t the freshman class size be somewhat constant and not increasing to balance the scenery out?
    The problem is that it is nearly impossible for GCSU to expand any further in the Milledgeville area.  Already there is a new building in Macon for expansion, and perhaps more support will be needed there in the future.  From what we’ve heard, parking is no picknick there either.
    Due to being located in a historic district, GCSU can’t build parking garages, have no further room to expand, and can’t renovate certain buildings to accommodate the larger crowds.  And if the recent trends are continued, we’re going to keep growing.
    Is the school on it’s way to becoming the next UGA? We hope not.
    If it is, at least give us the necessary faculty resources.  And a football team.

Send responses to
colonnadeletters@gcsu.edu

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Aug 31 2007. Filed under Opinion, Our Voice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry