Another CHEM 0330: "Equilibrium, Rate, and Structure" lab section has been added after students had difficulty fitting labs into their schedules.
Scheduling labs is a problem every year because the class is large, said Associate Professor of Chemistry Christoph Rose-Petruck, who teaches the course. Currently, over 400 students are registered for the course on Banner.
A few weeks into the semester, an additional Thursday lab section was opened, in addition to the ten labs that were already being offered each week.
As of Sept. 21, three students still had difficulty scheduling a lab section, said Matthew Zimmt, professor of chemistry and the department's chair. By Sept. 24, "all students that decided to take Chem330 and lab this semester (had) been enrolled in a lab section," Zimmt wrote in an e-mail.
The department opened the new section to see whether there were students who could not register for the existing time slots because of conflicts with other classes. Twelve students signed up for the 16 available spots in the new section, Zimmt said.
"If this section had filled, the department could have opened one more section," he said.
A discussion board was created on MyCourses for students seeking to switch lab sections with other students.
"Scheduling a lab wasn't a problem for me, but I know it was for some people in the course," said Michael Lorinsky '14.
There are "two different things — the absence of lab availability versus students not being able to fit the available labs into their particular schedules," Zimmt said.
The department "can't determine ahead of time when students will want to take lab," he added. "We do our best to adjust."
Rose-Petruck said that there is "possibly even less enrollment" in the course than previous years due to the new mandatory placement exam that placed many students in CHEM 0100: "Introductory Chemistry," which does not require a lab.
