Once again, we face a (minor) crisis in enrollments! That’s on top of a crisis in staffing. Here’s the scoop.
Without further ado, here are the numbers:
| Number | Title | Enrolled | under Math | Women:Men | Waitlist |
| CS 167-A, B | Intro. Computational Problem Solving | 42/40 | 3:5 | 2 | |
| CS/Math 215 | Introduction to Data Science | 26/25 | 8 | 1:3 | 1 |
| CS/Math 220 | Discrete Math & Functional Programming | 28/24 | 0 | 2:9 | 1 |
| CS 270 | Data Structures | 28/24 | 1:1 | 5 | |
| CS 310 | Computer Systems Programming | 25/20 | 1:4 | ||
| CS 317 | Software Performance Optimization | 11/16 | 1:10 | ||
| CS/Math 320 | Theory of Computation | 20/20 | 1 | 1:3 | |
| CS 360 | Interactive Computer Graphics | 22/24 | 2:9 | ||
| CS 495 | Capstone Project I | 14/16 | 1:6 | ||
| CS 496 | Capstone Project II | 3/3 | 2:1 |
Commentary
- CS 167 enrollments are spot on. With Whitman’s smaller than usual incoming class, we should have no problem accommodating first year students.
- CS/Math 215 has been moved from the upstairs Math computer lab to the downstairs CS computer lab to accommodate the slight over0-enrollment. We are tentatively planning to offer another section of Data Science taught by our new hire Jordan Wirfs-Brock in spring 2023.
- CS/Math 220 is somewhat overenrolled, but tolerably so.
- CS 270 is where we start running into trouble. The class is overenrolled at 28, and the lab capacity of 30 students is a firm limit. Normally we would reserve at least four seats for first-year students who place out of CS 167, and our experience in recent years suggests we may actually need 8-10 seats for first-year students eager to continue their CS studies at Whitman. To accommodate first-year students and the waitlist – which has continued to grow – we are looking at adding a second section of CS 270 in the same time slot as the first section, but in our smaller lab classroom upstairs.
- CS 310 is a core course in which students have struggled over the last two years, and we have several seniors who need to retake it. By contrast, enrollments in CS 320 are exactly as expected.
- Enrollments are robust in our two elective offerings, CS 317 and 360. We decided to schedule these regularly offered electives in the fall to give us flexibility with special topics courses in the spring.
- Enrollments are as expected for CS 495 and 496, our senior capstone project. We expect to continue to graduate 15-20 CS majors per year.
The staffing crisis? Currently I am responsible for five course sections in the fall (CS 167-A and -B, CS/Math 220, CS 310, and CS/Math 320). Teaching all five sections is not humanly possible, and my colleagues John Stratton and William Bares are fully committed. Moreover, we hope to add a second section of CS 270.
So, we need to hire a visiting assistant professor to cover three courses in the fall (and two in the spring). I hope to have more news on this soon.