"We encourage students to cast their nets broadly" in finding an adviser, Harriman says.
Claustrophobia
Although a senior faculty member has joined the department, and two senior and one junior member will come on board next year, the size of the faculty is not likely to change for a while.
"These appointments have replaced our departing faculty, so they have not increased our overall staffing numbers," Schacter writes. "The faculty are very much concerned with being stretched too thin [and are] eager for us to proceed with appointments in the near future."
Professor Stephen M. Kosslyn notes that each member of the faculty bears increased responsibility, and that sabbaticals and other leaves of absence affect all faculty members in a new way.
"The rest of us now really feel it when a colleague is gone, since it places more responsibilities on our shoulders," he writes in an e-mail message.
Most faculty members agree that the basic problem is lack of space, which precludes the department from making too many new faculty appointments.
"There is pressure for more courses, and we are eager to offer them, but we need additional faculty to do so. And to add new faculty, we need additional space," Schacter writes.
But there is only so much the administration can do with existing resources, Kosslyn notes.
"Although the University has been very generous in giving our most recently appointed faculty space outside of William James Hall, this obviously isn't ideal--and it appears that even this strategy may have reached the end of the line, [since} there isn't much free space on campus," he writes.
While space remains so closely connected with faculty appointments--and while the concentration continues to grow--pressure isn't likely to diminish until a new solution can be reached with the University.
"There will always be departments that are facing a surprisingly large number of new concentrators, and (to provide the best experience for those students), we must be responsive," writes Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles in an e-mail message. "But there are always some matters, (e.g. space) that can't be changed rapidly."
For the psychology department, waiting for creation of new space will mean waiting to expand the faculty.
"Right now, lack of space is clearly a deterrent to hiring new faculty," Schacter writes. "The University administration is in the early stages of a long-term space planning process. We are involved in ongoing discussions, and are hopeful that relief will come sooner than later."