For both underclassmen packed in a lecture hall and upperclassmen who couldn’t even get their feet in the door, students probably felt the effects of budget cuts during class registration.
For senior economics majors, some upper-level courses needed for graduation closed before the end of the first day of registration.
Patrick Conway, chairman of the department, said restrictions on faculty hiring resulting from recent budget cuts caused a shortage of course seats in his department.
This year, UNC-CH took a 5.5-percent cut of $28 million in state funding.
Economics administrators asked affected students to complete a form stating which course they needed and assured students they would do what they could to place them in required classes — but reminded them that funding for course offerings is out of their control. As of Monday, 33 forms had been filed.
Conway said the department has maintained the same number of course offerings as in past years but that the number of economics majors has increased to more than 1,000 students, causing congestion in registering for upper-level courses.
Junior Dave Gallagher said he experienced similar congestion last spring.
“I only got one and got wait-listed on like four or five,” he said. “I basically had to rework my entire schedule around the three (economics) classes I got into.”
He said he knew of students taking more than four economics courses as seniors because they weren’t able to enroll previously.