Number of graduate students is too high

Kiran Barthapudi
From a Distance

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering [ECE] has a serious problem - preposterous graduate enrollment.

I had an opportunity to have a rendezvous with several ECE graduate students, and there is an overwhelming consensus among them that ECE is overcrowded at the graduate level, but the department doesn't think so. According to the ECE and graduate school records, there are more than 260 graduate students in the department, an unprecedented number that would not be challenged by most other departments across campus.

Furthermore, there are 38 Ph.D and 223 M.S. students, and nearly 80 percent of the 206 international graduate students are from India. I am from India, and more than 54 percent of the SIUC students that come from India are in ECE. I have been encircled by dozens of graduate students from the Department of ECE during the past two years, and they have bombarded me with a plethora of opinions toward the department during our interactions.

Many students have predominantly and repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction against the department like enormous numbers have repercussions <breve>major ones being an inadequacy of resources, reduced emphasis on research at the master!=s level and a diminishing probability of assistantships for students.

Some graduate students claim the biggest problem is the lack of work and lab space, while those who have workspace complain it is hard to get work done when their desks is inside a room full of other graduate students. The Sun Lab is by far the most crowded, especially during the final weeks. The Sun lab has 25 computers. One graduate student describes the crowded conditions in the Sun Lab "as if we are in line to buy a ticket for a popular movie."

Though students consistently raise the issue of inadequate resources, the department said it is difficult to imagine that there are not enough resources. They also said some of the professors have too many student researchers under them and fail to give the needed attention to each research student, especially those at the masters' level.

Moreover, 70 percent of the students in the department opt for a non-thesis option, and in some way, it is not uncommon for a field like ECE. However, there are other reasons for such a high percentage of non-thesis students. Most of the "popular" professors are already busy with students, and they do not hire or adopt any more students.

So, some of the students are compelled to opt for a non-thesis option, since the desired professor cannot accommodate them to work on a thesis project. Further, more than 90 percent of the masters!= students do not have assistantships, and not all student researchers working under professors are being funded. There have been instances in the past where even some doctoral students do not have assistantships.

As the department rightly suggests, all the students are required to produce documentation for financial capability to pursue a graduate degree prior to admission. So, the department is no way obligated to arrange funding for all the graduate students. However, a reduced number of students would increase the probability for students to obtain assistantships.

Also, there are instances where some graduate classes were engulfed with more than 60 students. The department claims that popular classes taught by popular professors have more number of students, while there are other classes which have merely five or six students, and that is the reason for uneven dispersion. Whatever the reasons, 60 students in a graduate class is just not acceptable.

Also, for most of the international students coming from countries such as India, the department!=s website is a primary interface to get information about the department. According to the website, the department has "a current enrollment of approximately 100 graduate students." Inaccurate information may mislead prospective students. I hope this is only a negligent error that will be corrected as soon as possible and not a deliberate misrepresentation.

Though there are apparent problems due to inflated graduate enrollment, it would be naïve to ignore the merits of the department. Some students have applauded the course structure for being polished and "mainstream."

Also, many students acknowledge the fact that the department is loaded with some highly competent professors like Dr. Dhali and Dr. Viswanathan. For instance, a former graduate student from ECE, in an email, commended one ECE professor "for being a great teacher and a mentor."

However, issues of quality are overwhelmingly undermined due to imminent issues of quantity. The numbers of admissions per semester are normally far more than the number of graduations, resulting in continuous increase in the number of graduate enrollments. Though the department argues that their graduate enrollment is not bloated and it is common among most universities across United States to have a higher number of graduate students in a department like ECE, initiatives should be taken to reduce the enrollment and expand the resources. It is not a cattle ranch, for crying out loud.

From a Distance appears every other Friday. Kiran is a doctoral student in the college of Mass Communications and Media Arts. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Egyptian.

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