Class downsizing has been an increasing problem at Stanford for a number of years, with more and more students finding themselves removed from classes due to over-enrollment. According to Lori Cottle, Student Services Officer for Management Science and Engineering, numerous students faced this problem in her department after at least six MS&E classes were forced to limit enrollment this year.

MS&E professor Pamela Hinds first began teaching “MS&E 180: Organizations: Theory and Management” 11 years ago. At that time, she was able to accept all interested students into her class, “even a couple of freshmen.”

This quarter, however, she had 105 students enroll for 65 available spots. In her small seminar “MS&E 185: Global Work,” she had 75 students bid for 20 places. In choosing applicants, priority went to MS&E majors, juniors and seniors. No freshmen were allowed and only a “handful” of sophomores were admitted.

“It’s hard not to accept those students who really want to be in the class and who have compelling reasons for not being able to take the class again,” Hinds said.

MS&E 180 is now taught both autumn and spring quarters, and the department is exploring the possibility of offering the class in winter quarter as well.

According to Cottle, however, offering MS&E 180 year-round translates into one fewer class taught in another division of the department. For example, MS&E professor Kathleen Eisenhardt now teaches MS&E 180 in fall quarter instead of teaching an upper-division course in her area of specialization, strategy and organization.

In high-demand courses like MS&E 180, professors usually allow all interested students to enroll on Axess, but then cull the herd by having an in-class application on the first day of the course.

Cottle said she has not heard official complaints from students about this system. However, students like Paul Princen ’13 and Nicolas Hernandez ’13, who themselves underwent the process in MS&E 180, vociferously express their frustration with the system.

“My experiences with the classes in which applications are passed out on the first of class is that they generally result in mass confusion, with enrollment decisions made arbitrarily,” Princen said. “A lot of unsatisfied students feel like they’ve wasted their time attending a class that they had no chance of getting into in the first place.”

“I also think that the system as it is doesn’t have enough checks on abuse,” Hernandez added. “For example, someone could easily put their major as whatever they want, and this would prevent people who really are majoring in the subject from taking [the class].”

Faculty members echo student concerns. According to Hinds, since all interested students are able to enroll on Axess, they get their hopes up; they all assume that they will be admitted into the class when, oftentimes, more than half of the students will not.

From a faculty perspective, it is also difficult to gauge the extent to which students are actually serious about the class.

“I’ve had students say that they really need to take my class, but then drop it a few days later,” Hinds said.

As a result, she has “become a little less sympathetic” about the enrollment process.

Princen and Hernandez offer a tentative solution. They would far prefer an application process like the one currently in place for introductory seminars, where students fill out an online application several weeks before the first day of the quarter.

“I think it’s the responsibility of the professor to take account for over-enrolled classes by conducting applications prior to the first day of the quarter,” Princen said. “These applications force students to reflect on the reasons why they want to take the class and take control over their own education, rather than just going through the motions as a factory-model student.”

While Hinds concurs that an online application introsem-style would be ideal, it might not be entirely practical in the Stanford environment. Some students do not enroll on Axess prior to the start of the quarter. Other students may enroll on Axess but do not show up on the first day of class. The question then becomes: to whom should professors send the online application?

While it remains unclear how the application process can be changed to make it more amenable to faculty and students alike, there is one thing that is an easy fix. A few classes, such as MS&E 175 and 178, do not even warn students in their course descriptions that enrollment is capped. As Cottle points out, this type of concern could be resolved through a bit of clarification on the University’s part.

“We could probably make it more clear on Axess that enrollment is limited in certain classes,” Cottle said.

University registrar Thomas Black did not respond to a request for comment.