More lab space, fewer professors

More students are taking biology courses, but the department doesn’t have adequate support to handle the demand.

Biology department Chair Richard Cripps said the department has increased offered credit hours by 376 since last year. He said it’s hard to cope with the increase because of limited instructors, lab space, materials and administration.

“We have seen the number of biology majors increase by 500 students in five years,” he said. “The numbers have really gone through the roof.”

According to the UNM Fact Book, the percentage increase since fall 2006 of both credit hours offered and enrollment in the biology department both fall around 17 percent. However, enrollment has increased 17.45 percent and credit hours have increased 17.2 percent. A quarter of a percent amounts to about 122 students.

Associate Chair William Pockman said the department increased lab and lecture sections, but it cannot keep up with enrollment. He said the lack of space is alleviated by the new Science and Mathematics Learning Center, but budget cuts could eliminate more teaching assistant positions.

“The new center should help in theory,” he said. “Suddenly, we have new lab space that is dedicated to those courses, but at the moment we don’t have enough money to pay the person who would have to run it.”

Biology Adviser Avelina Martinez said the introductory courses are the most difficult to coordinate for students because prerequisites overlap across University-wide programs.

“In one day, I saw over 15 students trying to get into the anatomy and physiology course,” she said. “We had our students e-mail professors and chairs. Because so many students e-mailed and let them know there were so many students, they added a whole other section to the class.”

Student Eric Olivas said he had issues getting into the anatomy and physiology course because of lack of teaching assistants.
“It seems like really poor planning and budgeting to consider cutting from a program that is so fundamental in getting people started in a health sciences career in any way,” Olivas said.
Student Rachel Mnuk said coordinating the lab component of her schedule was difficult.

“The labs are sometimes an issue, because unless you get the priority registration, it can be really hard to get it to fit into your schedule, especially when you get to the point where they are three hours,” she said. “If you bug them enough, you can figure it out.”

Pockman said the money available in the biology department will determine if it can hire more TAs.

At the moment, Cripps said, the department’s lack of resources is discouraging.

“We are at a time where resources are limited, money is limited,” he said. “It has been difficult for us to maintain the level of instruction as we want to do.”