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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, SEPT. 10, 2015 | VOLUME 130 ISSUE 6
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BANNED BOOKS WEEK A focus on Judy Blume, whose books were frequently banned. Blume is known for themes of sexuality and puberty. Arts & Culture >> 5A
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Budig 120, the University's largest lecture hall holds a maximum of 990 students, according to KU data
University sees uptick in smaller classes
PAIGE STINGLEY
@paigestingley
A decline in enrollment and the hiring of additional faculty has lead to a decrease in class sizes, but the University still offers several large classes.
Since the 2003-04 school year, the University has started offering an extra 200 classes. The number of classes offered hit a peak during the 2006-07 school year with 2,812 classes. The University is offering more classes with fewer than 20 students. The number of classes with fewer than 20 students has increased to 1,311 in the 2014-15 school year, from 881 in 2003-04.
Large lecture halls have decreased in recent years after their popularity increased between 2004 and 2010. The University has seen larger declines in the number of classes with 20 to 49 students.
These additional classes allow the University to keep some class sizes smaller, particularly higher level classes, which some professors think is more beneficial for students.
The University has hired additional professors and faculty members, which has made it easier to create and maintain smaller class sizes. Between the 2008-09 school year and 2009-10, the University hired 384 faculty members. The
student-to-faculty ratio has dropped to 16.6 to 1 in 2015, from 19.8 to 1 in 2005.
Genelle Belmas, a professor in the School of Journalism, said she fears that big class sizes don't allow students to connect with their professors or teaching assistants and doesn't allow for in-depth discussion inside the lecture.
Underclassmen "have the ability to disappear into big classes," Belmas said. "Ideally, every class should be little. That can't always be the case though because it's not cost effective. If I had to choose, I would put 20 students in every classroom."
KU Faculty By the Numbers
But the large, introductory classes are part of the reason programs can afford to have smaller upper level classes.
"We have to hire additional faculty to maintain even class sizes," Beedles said. "We invest a lot of that money into making sure we're hiring teaching assistants that are going to be beneficial to our students"
Faculty includes all full- and part-time instructors and excludes graduate teaching assistants, pre-clinical and clinical medicine, librarians and administrators. Source 'Office of Institutional Research and Planning' Hallie Wilson/KANSAN
"The University can have smaller classes because we have bigger classes to support them," Belmas said. "Course fees for big classes bring in enough money to have teachers for smaller classes."
Bill Beedles, director of undergraduate programs in the School of Business, said course fees for taking business school classes go toward hiring enough teaching assistants each year to keep discussion classes small.
"The big lecture classes have been big lecture classes for 40 years," Beedles said. "But we've always had success with this model. This system works."
While some teachers worry students can get lost in big lecture halls, others feel that the system works.
Beedles said the new business school building would include a dedicated space for teaching assistants to meet with and work with students who come in.
"The way the system works is that students meet twice a week in the big lectures where they are given the information." Beedles said. "Then they have a discussion class period where the class meets in smaller groups with their TAs to process the information from lecture. The students build relationships with their TAs, which improves their learning experiences."
Some departments, including the English department, choose to keep classes smaller. Anna Neill, an English department chair, said most
classes in the department are capped at a low number. Many of the 100- and 200-level classes have a maximum of 30 to 35 students. The upper level classes are capped at 25 students per section.
Rick Ginsberg, dean of the School of Education, said many professional schools including the School of Education cap their class sizes at 25 students to guarantee that each student is getting the most out of their education.
— Edited by Emma LeGault
Professor explores inequality in 'Chiraq'
RYAN WRIGHT
@ryanwaynewright
Growing up in Junction City, filmmaker Kevin Willmott rarely saw black people in film. He didn't know of any film schools in Kansas or any classes he could take.
To satisfy his interest in film, he and his family went to the movies every weekend. Although the majority of the movie casts were white, he remembers one casting that would change his life.
Willmott wrote the original "Chiraq" script 13 years ago, but the initial idea for the film came about when Willmott was in a production of the ancient Greek comedy "Lysistrata" in college during the 1970s. The women in "Lysistrata" withhold sex to stop the Peloponnesian War; likewise, "Chiraq" is a satirical, modern retelling where women use
["The theater] showed Gordon Parks making 'The Learning Tree,' and he was shooting it in Fort Scott, Kansas. When I saw this black man in this cowboy hat from Kansas, making a movie in Kansas about black people in Kansas, it was like
Film director Spike Lee reviews footage with film professor Kevin Willmott on the set of "Chiraq."
'Oh, my God.' Willmott said. "That's when it's like you could see yourself being a filmmaker. It was a reality."
Today, Willmott, a professor in the department of film and media studies, works with one of the most recognizable black filmmakers in Hollywood Spike Lee. Their newest film, "Chiraq," premieres in December.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
"When [Lee] called me he said, 'Let's set it in Chicago and call it Chiraq,' Willmott said. "We both rewrote it and it was a real give and take, back and forth. I'd write things, he'd write things. It's really both of our scripts."
While making the film, Willmott worked directly with former gang members to gain insight on the problem of black-on-black violence.
Lee, a fan of Willmott's prior work, asked Willmott if he had more scripts shortly after the release of "C.S.A.: Confederate States of America" in 2004. Willmott gave him "Chiraq," but their original attempt to create the film failed. Over a decade later the two reconnected to try again.
this same tactic to stop black-on-black violence in Chicago's inner city.
"Black-on-black violence is something that comes out of the fact that most of these neighborhoods [in Chicago] are devastated." Willmott said. "You go to these neighborhoods and there's no businesses, no stores — it's like it's Ger-
"The play with its antiwar, antiviolence themes could be adapted into something that could be adopted today," Willmott said. "Gang violence was a problem when I wrote ["Chiraq"] 13 years ago and now it's even a bigger problem."
SEE WILLMOTT PAGE 8A
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