Who's to Blame?

Most departments that have ranked poorly over the years attribute the problems to having a poor student-to-faculty ratio. They claim that with so many undergraduates it is impossible for the Faculty to get to know them at all.

"We have graduate students rather than professors signing study cards," Foote says. "It makes it harder for students to establish relationships with professors."

Katherine E. Boutry, a lecturer in English and American literature and language who is the concentration's assistant director of undergraduate studies, points to size as the reason that English still ranks below concentrations like literature or history and literature.

Louise M. Richardson, an associate professor of government and the department's head tutor, says she also blames the student-to-faculty ratio.

"I believe that what is being measured here is student satisfaction with the opportunities for developing close intellectual relationships with Faculty," Richardson wrote in an e-mail message. "In a large concentration, especially one with a low Faculty-student ratio, the opportunities for developing these relationships will necessarily be more constrained."

Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles says that Faculty size is certainly a problem for some departments. In his annual letter to the full Faculty, he placed the hiring of new junior Faculty members as one of his top priorities.

"There is no doubt that our Faculty are busier and have less time for everything they do than elsewhere," Knowles wrote in an e-mail message. "So I expect that more Faculty would mean better advising if only because professors would have more time."