New Focus clusters offered in the spring semester this year have struggled to attract as many applicants as those in previous years, a number of Focus program administrators confirmed this week.
Of the two clusters that were slated to be offered this spring, only the "Muslim Cultures" program received the requisite 20 applicants to proceed. "The Art of the Book" was canceled as a result of lack of interest, even after the application deadline was extended from Oct. 6 to Oct. 13.
Spring Focus clusters, offered to both freshmen and sophomores, are an extension of the original Focus program, which was initially open only to freshmen.
"We were interested in opening up the program to students who may have missed out on applying in the fall or as freshmen," said Focus Program Faculty Director Angela O'Rand, a professor of sociology.
Previous spring Focus clusters did not suffer from the same lack of interest as this year's programs. "Exploring the Mind 2," offered in 2005, received more than 45 applications for 30 slots.
"Global Health," which was offered in Spring 2006, received 66 applications for 32 slots. Enrollment and the applicant pool was divided perfectly half and half between sophomores and freshmen.
Amy Feistel, senior program coordinator of Focus, attributed the low level of interest this year to a combination of factors, including the novelty of the clusters, which have never been offered before.
"We always find that our newer clusters have fewer enrollment numbers than our more tenured clusters," she said. "[Enrollment] generally improves over time as they build more reputation with the student body and as more information becomes available."
Setting the initial deadline for applications before Fall Break and the narrower scope of the topics offered may also have contributed to the low numbers, Feistel said.
"Generally, there is a greater student interest in clusters oriented toward sciences and toward health," O'Rand said.
To remedy the situation and garner more applicants for the "Muslim Cultures" cluster, director Bruce Lawrence gave a public lecture Oct. 12 entitled "Tracking Terror: Oh where oh where is Osama Bin Laden?" As of Friday night, the cluster had received 24 applications, enough to give it the green light to proceed in the spring semester. The application for "Muslim Cultures" will remain open until midnight Oct. 18.
Some students said they feel the Focus program is better geared toward freshmen in their first semester.
"One of the things that I like about Focus is that it's a good leeway into college-a good transition from high school where I'm used to having more one-on-one attention instead of going into it being in 500 people lectures," said freshman Muping Gan, who is in the "Forging Social Ideals" Focus program.
Others, however, said they believe it is still a beneficial experience for upperclassmen.
"I think sophomores are still at the stage when they're not as focused on fulfilling graduation requirements," said sophomore Adam Weiss.
"It's a good opportunity to take interdisciplinary courses in something that might not be your major," he added.
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