Large freshman class overwhelms
By Molly Leaverton
The class of 2009 is the largest and possibly most qualified incoming freshman class in Santa Clara history. But some worry that its size could prove to have a negative effect on school services.
The 1,286 new students have begun to strain numerous services on campus -- including Market Square, Cowell Health Center, counseling servicesÃ--as well as producing larger class sizes.
"One of the significant implications on our services is the amount of hours in the day to see students for individualized, personal attention. Whether that is in the Career Center or the Counseling Center or the health center or a faculty office during office hours," said Vice Provost for Student Life Jeanne Rosenberger in a meeting called to discuss the demographics of the class of 2009.
Cowell Health Center reported having over 8,600 appointments made by students last year, the most made during any year in Cowell's history. On-campus counseling and tutoring services have experienced a similar trend with an increased number of appointments made.
Not only is the freshman class larger than in past years, but they also "have very high expectations; students are not the least bit reticent to approach the university for services," said Rosenberger.
"The most noticeable result of the larger class size has been the lines at food services across campus," said sophomore Nicole Gambino.
According to General Manager of Bon Appetit Lori Flashner, since last year the customer count at food services on campus has increased by about 3,000 to 3,500 customers per week, forcing students to wait longer for a meal and making the staff of Bon Appetit think of new ways to provide faster service to the larger student body.
"The chef and I, and the rest of the management team and the staff have all been really trying to look at ways that we can help decrease the line or offset the line so we are trying to make sure that we are providing as many grab-and-go options as possible," said Flashner.
"The lines are really long, especially when one class is being let out and then the other is starting," said junior Sara Youngs.
Flashner also said that Bon Appetit would increase its staff size in order to address space and sanitary concerns, particularly in Market Square.
Also, with the number of clubs on campus doubling in the past three years, some are worried that the university is simply running out of space to accommodate meetings and other activities.
"At some point, there is no more room," Rosenberger said.
According to Sandra Hayes, dean of undergraduate admissions, future class sizes will not be this big. "We want our acceptance rate to continue to go down," she said.
This class has one of the highest grade point averages from high school, at about 3.58.
Contact Molly Leaverton at (408) 554-4546 or mleaverton@scu.edu.