Spanish lang. classes hit by overcrowding

The loss of several profs has created problems for students in the division. The Spanish division of the Romance Languages Department -- which enrolls about 1,000 undergraduates -- is suffering from a staff shortage that has caused overenrollment in some advanced-level classes and crowding in many elementary and intermediate-level courses. Spanish Language Coordinator Toni Esposito said yesterday that the Spanish division lost four professors -- three to retirement and one who resigned -- over the summer, creating a "tough year" for staffing. Before classes started, the division canceled two elementary-level Spanish 121 sections and recently added two intermediate-level 140 sections, with the late August hirings of three part-time lecturers. According to Esposito, the move was made to make sure upperclassmen can complete their foreign language requirement. It affected about 11 elementary-level students, most of whom have been placed in other sections. But despite the lack of instructors, Esposito said the department will not overenroll the beginning- and intermediate-level classes. "[We] will not put more than 20 students in 110- to 140-level classes," Esposito stressed, adding that difficulties arise in finding Spanish elementary level instructors, and in persuading students to take the 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. sections. Currently, the Spanish division -- with upwards of 80 majors -- lays claim to five standing faculty, two visiting assistant professors and four part-time lecturers. "A year ago we had 10 standing faculty," said Esposito, who is also a Spanish professor. "This year there are five." The dwindling staff affects post-proficiency students, too. "There is also a crisis in upper-level classes," noted Esposito, citing some "extremely over-enrolled" classes of about 35 students above level 200. With authorization from School of Arts and Sciences administrators over the summer, the Spanish division will now submit advertisements to the Modern Language Association of America job listings for two full-time Latin American Literature faculty members -- one senior professor and one junior professor -- to teach major and advanced-level courses next year. Esposito said the department also needs multi-year, full-time contracts. SAS has not permitted these hirings yet. SAS Associate Dean for Arts and Letters Rebecca Bushnell, an English professor, said yesterday that the two authorizations are a "clear signal" of the school's dedication to the Spanish program. "With regard to the future, we are looking forward to hearing the advice of an external review committee, which will come this fall to review the entire department of Romance Languages," Bushnell said. "We will then consider any future authorizations for hiring next summer." The Spanish program does not lock out declared majors from advanced Spanish courses, regardless of whether they pre-registered. However, non-majors who did not pre-register for higher-level courses had trouble enrolling. College junior Kimberly Ling, a Spanish minor who was turned away by a Spanish 300-level professor after not pre-registering, said the department did not clarify minor course-selection. "For people who are not enrolled, the basic hierarchy is that majors, who need advanced-level courses as a requirement, get in," Ling said yesterday, noting that non-major and minor specifications are "fuzzy" when a class becomes full. Not all upper-level Spanish students had problems enrolling. College sophomore Craig Platt, a non-major, switched his pre-registered noon Spanish 223 selection to an 11 a.m. section. "It doesn't seem to be [overcrowded]," Platt said yesterday.