Student leaders catered to undergraduate student concerns over the lack of courses in their newly released tuition increase proposal, but some students and administrators question whether the problem exists.
The Arizona Board of Regents will decide March 10 and 11 to either pass President Peter Likins' proposal or the Associated Students of the University of Arizona's proposal.
ASUA's plan would increase resident undergraduate tuition by 8 percent, or $320. Non-resident undergraduates would see an increase of $405 per year, or 10.12 percent.
Likins' $464 increase for resident tuition includes $60 set aside for information technology, which does not specify if tuition revenue will go to course availability problems.
ASUA leaders released their proposal Monday and said it would use $30 from each student's tuition to go toward hiring more instructors and teaching assistants.
After aid is taken out, administration would have about $512,000 to go toward conquering student worries about classes each year, said Student Body President Alistair Chapman.
"That money can go a long way," he said.
Bryce Widelitz, a pre-business freshman, said he would support an increase if funds would reduce large class sizes and offer more course options.
Widelitz said he lucked out when an instructor admitted him to an INDV class he wanted to take, but found the class environment was not what he expected.
"There's 600 (people) in my INDV class and it's really hot and uncomfortable," he said. "It's not a good atmosphere for learning."
Rick Kroc, assistant vice president for enrollment research and operations, said problems with classes are happening among upper-division courses because of high freshman enrollment a few years ago.
"There is no evidence of a problem for freshmen and sophomores but it is a little bit of a problem for juniors and seniors," Kroc said.
Luke Hass, a physics and philosophy sophomore, said he registers early because he is an honor student.
Hass said while some freshmen complain about not getting the classes they need, he has never experienced problems.
"Anyone could have the opportunity to register early," he said. "The people who procrastinate are the ones complaining."
Kroc said class availability is not as rough as some students might think, but it is important to prevent it from becoming a major problem. Students should get the classes they need to graduate and depriving them of that opportunity is "not acceptable," Kroc said.
"It's more of a preventative measure rather than a correction," he said.
Kroc said in the 1980s, the UA suffered from not being able to provide enough classes after a large enrollment boom. Since then, Kroc said there is a perception that students could not be fully accommodated when trying to fulfill graduation requirements.
"It can affect student perceptions and keep some students from applying," he said.
ASUA's tuition proposal called for $30 per student to hire more instructors and create more classes, but Kroc said meeting every student's needs is impossible.
"Even if classes are available, they're not always available at the time you need," he said. "For us to meet every need would be expensive and difficult."
Chapman said the $30 would help to hire more teaching assistants to break up large lecture classes. Teaching assistants are paid $4,000 per semester, Chapman said.
Jared Jackson, a computer-engineering senior, said enrolling in courses has never been a problem, but more teaching assistants would help students receive more one-on-one instruction.
Jackson said when talking to instructors, they often mention a lack of teaching assistants.
"I write it in the evaluations," he said.
About five years ago, students expressed problems of academic advising to student leaders, citing difficulty in scheduling appointments and receiving advice about requirements.
Chapman said during a tuition hike in 2001, $1.9 million was specifically allotted to hiring more advisers and said ASUA's effort in targeting the lack of courses is a similar endeavor.
Funds generated from student leaders' proposed tuition increase could open upper-division courses to non-majors, re-implement closed minors and take the financial "strain" off some colleges, Chapman said.
Jerry Hogle, vice provost for instruction, said the College of Social and Behavior Sciences is currently in the highest need for additional funds.
SBS accounts for the most majors on campus and provides 51 percent of Tier One courses, Hogle said.
"They take on a large demand," he said.
William Dixon, head of the political science department, said he would support ASUA's tuition proposal over Likins' proposal because it directly allocates funds to course availability issues.
- Natasha Bhuyan contributed to this report.