Professor Apostolos Athanassakis says this is “the most desperate” winter term he’s seen in 41 years at UC Santa Barbara. His Greek mythology class is crammed with 500 students, and more than 300 others tried to get in. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Many students are trying to “crash” Professor Athanassakis’ Greek mythology class, showing up unregistered in hopes of snagging a seat. UC Santa Barbara is offering 160 fewer undergraduate courses this winter -- an 8% drop from the same quarter last year. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
“The students don’t know what to do,” said Professor Apostolos Athanassakis, whose classics course includes readings on battles, schemes and romances from Homer and Hesiod. “They’re afraid they may not be able to graduate.” (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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UC officials say that although students may not get their top picks, there should be enough courses to go around. UC Director of Student Policy Nina Robinson advised students to look beyond their usual areas of interest and “If you see a class section that’s open at 8 o’clock in the morning, grab it.” (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
The situation varies among the nine UC schools because of each campus’ spending choices, enrollment and number of nontenured lecturers, whose classes are first to be cut. UC Santa Barbara is among the hardest-hit because course reductions were exacerbated by an unexpected boost in enrollment. UC Santa Cruz reduced course offerings 11%, while UC Davis reported no major reductions. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
