15 instructors spread out among 800 students, department denied enrollment cap

ring the past five years, the number of faculty in the UA Communication department has been dwindling, while the number of majors has been increasing - keeping many students from graduating on time.

Currently, there are 15 full-time and adjunct faculty to teach more than 800 undergraduates in the department. In contrast, the atmospheric sciences department has 10 faculty members to teach 56 students.

"It is a huge problem," said Michael Dues, acting communication department head.

A major restructuring of the program three years ago has attracted many students from the crowded University of Arizona Eller College of Business and Public Administration, Dues said. However, during that same time, many faculty members have left for other positions within the university or left for other schools.

In some communication classes with massive waiting lists, prospective students give short speeches as to why they should be in the class, then enrolled students vote some of them in.

"We let people in this school, they pay their tuition and we don't deliver," Dues said. "We owe them the courses they need to graduate in four years."