Raising Course Caps... And Concerns

By Alexander Freund, UWFA Grievance Officer

“So much for our reputation for a high level of teaching.”

“Good bye quality education at U of W, hello factory: churn students out, the more, the more money.”

“This is no longer the small, student-friendly university it once was.”

Such is a sample of responses when, on 5 October 2009, the UWFA polled members about raised course caps and the increased minimum number of students in courses. Fifteen members replied, some reporting increased caps as high as 100%. Further informal conversations with members revealed that caps have been raised across several departments. While members were generally informed about changes by their department chairs, they were unsure who exactly had made the decision to raise caps in the first place. Reactions to the move were mostly negative, especially since some members were told of the increased caps just before (and even after!) the beginning of fall term.

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