Enticed by the potential of a 
six-figure salary out of college 
in 
a 
booming 
job 
market, 
more 
students 
nationally 
are 
interested 
in 
studying 
computer science, including the 
University. In under a decade, 
the number of students who 
have declared a CSE major has 
more than quadrupled, from 
317 students in fall 2010 to 1,320 
students in fall 2019. In that 
same time-frame, enrollment 
in the LSA computer science 
major has increased more than 
16 times, from 43 students in fall 
2010 to 719 students in fall 2019.
The increase of students in 
the major has translated to an 
increase of students enrolled 
in various computer science 
courses. For instance, EECS 
281, a prerequisite course to 
most upper-level EECS classes, 
has seen substantial growth. 
According to data shared with 
The Daily by Steven Crang, CSE 
Manager for Communications 
and Marketing, 386 students 
took the class in the 2010-
2011 school-year, while 1,409 
students were enrolled in the 
class in the 2018-2019 school-
year.
This 
data 
reflects 
an 
occupational 
landscape 
in 
which 
a 
computer 
science 
degree is more in demand than 
ever. Despite the fact that the 
number of U.S. undergraduates 
majoring in computer science 
has more than doubled from 
2013 to 2017, research suggests 
the number of computer science-
related jobs still “far outpaces” 
the number of students with 
bachelor degrees in the subject. 
According to the U.S. Bureau of 
Labor 
Statistics, 
employment 
for computer and information 
research scientists is projected 
to grow 16 percent from 2018 to 
2028, which is “much faster than 
the average for all occupations.”
In trying to keep up with 
increasing demand for computer 
science 
education, 
the 
CSE 
department at the University has 

ramped up hiring new faculty as 
well. In fact, Crang’s data shows 
the CSE department has grown 
by almost 40 percent in the last 
five 
years. 
The 
department, 
which had 50 tenure track 
professors and eight lecturers 
in fall 2013, has expanded to 
60 tenure track faculty and 20 
lecturers in fall 2019. 
Peter Chen, the CSE Chief 
Program Advisor and a professor 
in the EECS department, said 
the 
department 
has 
worked 
hard to hire more faculty. Chen 
explained 
the 
department 
has also hired more adjunct 
instructors, 
sometimes 
graduate students, who are not 
permanent 
faculty 
members. 
However, he said it is difficult, 
if not impossible, to hire more 
instructors at the rate of growth 
in student enrollment, especially 
as other universities and high-
paying jobs in the private sector 
compete for many of the same 
qualified candidates.
Chen 
explained 
the 
department’s main initiative 
has been to increase class 
sizes 
dramatically. 
While 
upper-level classes used to 
have about 20 to 50 students 
to 
one 
instructor, 
classes 
have now ballooned to 150 to 
200 students to increase the 
availability of these classes.
However, Chen, who also 
teaches 
upper-level 
EECS 
classes, noted there comes a 
tradeoff with increasing the 
student-to-teacher ratio.
“That’s probably not great for 
students or teachers, because 
it’s really hard at that scale to 
give adequate attention to each 
student, which you’d like to as 
a teacher, and I think students 
would like as well,” Chen said.
To increase class availability, 
Chen explained certain classes 
have 
begun 
experimenting 
with online-only sections in 
which students watch lecture 
recordings instead of attending 
lectures 
in 
a 
designated 
classroom. 
Yet, 
with 
this 
solution, the department should 
remember that the University is 
not an online-only college, Chen 
said. 

At 
the 
same 
time, 
Chen 
explained 
the 
department 
has tried to limit demand for 
computer 
science 
classes. 
Recently, the department limited 
students to only registering for 
two upper-level EECS classes 
at a time, which Chen said has 
extended opportunity for those 
who register later in the process. 
In addition, enrollment in these 
classes are prioritized for majors 
and minors of computer science 
who need them to graduate.
Despite 
these 
reforms, 
students who recently registered 
for their next semester classes 
have still experienced waitlists 
that have hundreds of people. As 
one post in a University student 
Facebook group noted, waitlists 
are sometimes a similar size to 
that of the class itself. 
According 
to 
Rackham 
student Sharang Karve, a first-
year student in the College of 
Engineering, the problem is 
further exacerbated as students 
feel compelled to register for 
more classes than they intend on 
taking.
“If you don’t get into a 
certain class, you waitlist for 
two others,” Karve said. “Now, 
when you waitlist for two others, 
that’s blocking another person 
to register for that class… It’s a 
snowball effect. They don’t really 
know which ones they’re going 
to get into, so the blanket answer 
is to waitlist for everything and 
just hope you get into one.”
The 
University 
course 
registration 
system 
assigns 
students a time to register 
based on the number of credits 
they have, so students with 
the most credits register first. 
However, a recent op-ed in The 
Daily has argued this system 
favors students from better-
resourced high schools, where 
students have more access and 
support in taking Advanced 
Placement and International 
Baccalaureate classes, and thus 
arrive at the University with 
more college credit.

“won’t you celebrate with 
me
what i have shaped into
a kind of life?” - Lucille 
Clifton
When I joined Michigan 
in Color in 2018, my goal 
was to find the language 
to describe my identity 
as 
a 
Black 
woman 
for 
myself. I wanted to be 
liberated from internalized 
misconceptions 
and 
controlling images that had 
left my self-determination 
stifled and misaligned. It 
is through Michigan in 
Color that I discovered the 
inherent beauty, joy and 
brilliancy in my Blackness. 
Thus, it has been one of 
my 
greatest 
honors 
to 
have been able to serve as 
Co-Managing 
Editor 
for 
Michigan in Color. As MiC 
has helped me cultivate my 
narrative, voice, purpose 
and self-love, I am thankful 
to have been a part of a 
platform that has helped 
others shape theirs. 
To my Podcast, Blog, and 
Creative Content Editors: I 
am in awe of what you have 
been able to accomplish. 
From the creation of the 
Creative 
column, 
our 
podcast and the expansion 
of 
the 
blog, 
I 
am 
so 
incredibly proud of your 
vision and direction. You 
have been instrumental in 

expanding 
Michigan 
in 
Color beyond the written 
page 
and 
increasing 
methods of self-expression. 
I hope that you all continue 
to foster your imagination 
and creativity and that you 
never stop pushing your 
ideas into reality. 
To the editors of the 
column: You have all been 
such a delight, and your 
hard work has not gone 
unnoticed. You all have 
been so amazing in helping 
us to continue the mission 
of our section. Each and 
every single one of you has 
expanded the capacity of 
Michigan in Color to serve 
students of color, and I will 
be forever thankful for your 
flexibility, dedication, and 
commitment.
To 
my 
wonderful, 
intelligent, 
beautiful 
Co-Managing Editor Carly: 
Thank you for everything. 
More than I can express, 
you are what has kept 
me solid throughout this 
journey. 
Your 
kindness, 
direction, 
and 
diligence 
is 
admirable, 
and 
the 
section is so lucky to have 
flourished 
under 
your 
leadership. In addition to 
being the best co-Managing 
Editor that I could have 
ever asked for, you have 
become such a dear friend 
to me, and I genuinely will 
miss the sliver of peace that 
you brought for me every 
Sunday. 

Lastly, 
to 
the 
new 
Managing 
Editors 
of 
Michigan in Color Maya 
and Ana: I am so incredibly 
excited 
about 
your 
leadership and visions for 
the section. You two were 
meant for this position, and 
I am confident that MiC is 
in powerful, capable hands. 
Know that my faith in you 
will never falter and that I 
will be supporting you for 
days and days to come. 
The Daily has become 
a second home, and I will 
remember it fondly for all 
of the laughs, challenges, 
and innovation that has 
come from its walls. It is 
such an honor to have been 
able to contribute to the 
legacy of the Daily and its 
commitment to journalistic 
freedom. The students here 
have all inspired me so 
much, and it is through the 
leadership and fellowship 
that I’ve witnessed from 
others that I have begun to 
believe in myself. 
Michigan in Color, you 
have been both the ends and 
the beginnings of my weeks 
for the longest that I can 
remember. You have been 
both the solace after a busy 
week and a burst of energy 
for 
the 
coming 
weeks’ 
trials. As MiC strives to 
amplify the voices of people 
of color, I look forward to 
carrying this commitment 
with me for decades to 
come.

There’s 
a 
unique 
vulnerability in attaching 
your name to words, having 
them printed 7,500 times 
and distributed to every 
building on campus. Even 
though I’ve done this nearly 
100 times in my four years 
here, as I sit writing for the 
Daily one last time, I can tell 
you it never gets easier.
But I sure have grown up 
since Emma Kinery assigned 
me my first story and set 
my world in motion. I’ve 
come a long way since being 
that shamelessly try-hard 
freshman: running down to 
the South Quad lobby to pick 
up a paper each morning, 
taking three shaky breaths 
before 
calling 
a 
source, 
wanting so badly to do right 
by the stories I had been 
awarded the privilege to tell. 
In time, I became one of 
the editors who basically 
lived in this building, who 
finally found out what the 
heck MDesk is, who was 
pulled into the time warp 
that is making a newspaper, 
emerging at 12 a.m. with the 
distinctly shrill headache 
that can only be produced by 
the sports section’s playlist, 
and who complained about 
my job, but only because that 
was easier than explaining 
how I could possibly enjoy 
spending 20+ hours in the 
newsroom every week. 
But it hasn’t been without 
sacrifice. 
By 
pouring 
myself into 420 Maynard, 
I 
neglected 
friendships, 
requested (and was denied) 
countless essay extensions, 
strained relationships and 
ceded many good night’s 
sleeps. I’ve stuttered through 

innumerable 
interviews, 
laid awake thinking about 
typos, cried in every room in 
this building, and somehow 
attracted the attention of 
Steve from Utah, who for a 
time left angry comments on 
each one of my articles.
But here, I found purpose 
and community. The work 
I’ve done at the Daily has 
felt more meaningful and 
productive than any other 
assignment I can think of. 
This place really is a means 
to make great change. If you 
have a story to tell, the Daily 
will listen. 
I have no idea what a 
college 
experience 
looks 
like without this place, but 
I take comfort in knowing 
the 
Daily 
is 
evergreen. 
More women of color will 
take up space above the 
fold. More articles will hold 
the powerful accountable 
and give a platform to the 
overlooked. More freshmen 
will trudge up the steps of 
the newsroom bewildered, 
ambitious, 
and 
unaware 
they’re about to take on the 
most rewarding experience 
of their lives. I can’t wait to 
read what they have to say. 
To those that made this 
place a home, Boo Boo, 
Kaela, Sophie, Matt, Maya 
and Riyah, you guys are 
some of the most formative 
friends I’ve ever had. I still 
can’t believe we did that. It 
was so crazy and so special. 
We made a really good team. 
To 
my 
dumplings, 
you’re truly the cool older 
girlfriends I always wanted 
to make in college. I don’t 
know who I would be if 
you hadn’t taken me under 
your fashionable, graceful, 
uncommonly literate wings, 
and I don’t ever want to find 

out. 
To 
Na’kia, 
you’re 
something so special and 
everyone who meets you can 
feel it. I really can’t imagine 
a better leader or a more 
loyal friend. It’s me and you 
forever.
To the MiC staff, the work 
you did this year mattered. I 
can’t thank you enough for 
your diligence, your words 
and your hugs. 
To 
all 
of 
this 
year’s 
managing editors, I’m not 
sure in what other context a 
ragtag bunch of individuals 
like us would be found in the 
same room, but somehow, it 
really worked. Thank you for 
being so fearless and fun in 
taking on what was probably 
the craziest learning curve 
we’ve ever encountered. The 
result was extraordinary.
To Finny and Maxy, as 
our very own Joel once said, 
“The Michigan Daily really 
has some of the best white 
men out there.” You guys are 
the best of the best. To Joel, 
there’s no one I’d rather be 
canceled with. Thank you 
for always knowing just how 
to make me laugh. Tuesday 
nights were always the best 
part of my week. To Maggie, 
for always being 100 percent 
true to yourself –– no matter 
how uncomfortable it made 
people. You light up every 
room you walk into. Just 
don’t go wearing too many 
skirts, especially in front 
of 
[redacted]. 
To 
Maya, 
everytime I think about 
our friendship for too long 
I cry, so I’ll just say thank 
you for growing up with me. 
I’ll be here from 5th Bush to 
beyond.
420 
Maynard, 
there’s 
nothing like you. Thank you, 
again and again.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, December 11, 2019 — 3A

WAITLIST
From Page 1A

With love, Carly

Forever and always,
Na’kia

CARLY RYAN
Managing MiC Editor

NA’KIA CHANNEY
Managing MiC Editor

Senior
Goodbyes

Michigan in Color

“Denver Public Schools, as a 
district, said they didn’t believe 
in retention, so they actually 
had a letter that we could share 
with families and say, it is the 
guidance of the district that 
retention is not the best option 
to help support your child in 
reading,” 
DellaVecchia 
said. 
“In my three years of teaching 
in Colorado, not a single family 
in my classroom, and as far as 
I know, not a single family and 
my school, selected retention for 
their child.”
The law has drawn controversy 
since it was passed by former Gov. 
Rick Snyder and a Republican-
controlled state legislature in 
2016. 
While 
proponents 
say 
it sets a standard to ensure 
students do not fall behind and 
receive the support they need, 
critics note research indicating 
negative psychological and social 
impacts of retention on children, 
in addition to the added costs to 
the government. 
Among 
the 
Michigan 
law’s critics are current Gov. 
Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat 
who has advocated repealing 
it, 
and 
Detroit 
Community 
School District Superintendent 
Nicholai Vitti, as well as State 
Superintendent Michael Rice, 
who has called it a “bad law.”
Though only 5 percent of 
third graders are expected to be 
retained under the policy, there 
have been concerns from Vitti 
and members of the Don’t Leave 
Us Behind campaign regarding 
the varying performance levels 
across school districts. DCSD, 
for example, would have had 20 
percent of its third graders held 
back — approximately four times 
the state average. DellaVecchia 
said beyond the impacts on 
students, the law could require 
schools to make staffing changes 
based on the number of students 
being retained.
LSA senior Ariella Meltzer 
said she originally found the 
campaign through the Roosevelt 
Institute and was particularly 
struck by how clearly the data 
showed the policy impacting low-
income and minority populations 
in the state.
“What’s 
really 
harmful 
about the law is that it hugely 

disproportionately 
affects 
minority 
and 
low-income 
students in terms of retention,” 
Meltzer said. “All the research 
shows that it just has really bad 
effects all around. And when you 
combine that with the fact that 
you’re putting this extra burden 
on a school district or students 
that already face an incredible 
amount of hardships, such as 
in Detroit or Flint, I literally 
consider it a racist law. I think 
that the intention — in terms of 
getting students to reach, like, 
proficiency and literacy at an 
earlier age — is important and 
that’s 
something 
we 
should 
be working towards, but the 
execution of the law is really 
lacking.”
At least 25 states have similar 
legislation 
in 
place. 
Under 
Michigan’s version of the law, 
there are exemptions, though 
critics question if these favor 
those with the resources to 
obtain them. These “good faith 
exemptions” include students 
enrolled in special education 
with an individualized education 
plan, limited English with less 
than three years of instruction 
in an English language learner 
program 
and 
having 
been 
enrolled in their current school 
for less than two years with 
evidence they did not have an 
individual reading improvement 
plan. 
State Rep. Pamela Hornberger, 
R-District 32, an advocate of 
the law, did not respond to The 
Daily’s request for comment.
Test scores have shown more 
than half of Michigan third grade 
students test below proficient 
in reading. Those in favor of the 
policy, like former state Rep. 
Amanda Price, who sponsored 
the bill, have said it requires 
schools to focus on ensuring 
students can read.
Members of the Don’t Leave 
Us Behind Campaign point to 
research 
demonstrating 
the 
negative social and psychological 
impacts 
of 
retainment. 
For 
instance, 
students 
who 
are 
retained are more likely to drop 
out.
Though 
the 
campaign 
is 
against the bill in its entirety, 
DellaVecchia said their current 
goal is to get an amendment 
passed changing the retention 
component 
to 
optional. 
DellaVecchia 
said 
they 
are 

pushing for this change to allow 
families and teachers to make 
the decision rather than the 
government.
LSA 
junior 
Jordan 
Tyo 
said the coalition behind the 
campaign has been growing. The 
group has been meeting with 
lawmakers in Lansing, as well as 
trying to connect with parent-
teacher organizations and gain 
wider name recognition among 
parents.
While 
they 
have 
had 
difficulties 
reaching 
out 
to 
parents, the group has found 
success in getting the attention 
of state representatives, who 
largely ignored them when the 
campaign began.
“It’s 
surprising 
how 
ill-
informed parents are, not being 
any fault of their own or the 
school, it’s just that this bill 
kind of slid in there and, all of a 
sudden, it’s going to affect, and 
they still don’t completely know 
about it,” Tyo said. “It’s a little 
tedious trying to get in there 
and trying to expand, but it’s 
also kind of cool seeing just the 
grassroots going from hardly 
getting an answer to meeting 
with these representatives and 
really picking up momentum.”
In addition to lobbying policy 
makers, 
DellaVecchia 
said 
they have been meeting with 
community groups across the 
state to educate people on the 
law.
One roadblock they face is 
getting an amendment on the 
table to be voted on. DellaVecchia 
said the chairs of the House 
Education Reform Committee 
and 
the 
Senate 
Education 
Committees would have to bring 
the amendment to the floor, 
though they are not required to 
do so. DellaVecchia said he would 
not be surprised if they did not 
bring the amendment forward.
If 
they 
cannot 
get 
an 
amendment 
through 
soon, 
Meltzer said families across the 
state will bear the consequences 
as thousands of third graders 
this year are retained. With this 
in mind, she said the campaign is 
in a race against time.
“It is going to be really sad if 
we can’t get something to change 
to see the literal thousands of 
kids that are going to come home 
with this piece of paper that says 
your kid is going to be held back,” 
Meltzer said.

LITERACY
From Page 1A

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

