A hidden drama takes place every semester in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology: getting all 3,000 students enrolled in chemistry courses each semester into a lab section that fits their schedule when typically, 400 to 500 are initially wait-listed for a section.

"Students from nearly every college at Cornell take chemistry," explains department chair Barbara Baird, the Horace White Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. "The challenge is that we have to keep lab sections to a maximum of 22 for safety. Because chemistry is a gateway course for pre-med, nutrition, environmental sciences and diverse other fields, it's important not to shut anyone out."

Assigning lab sections for such large courses as General Chemistry (Chemistry 2070) with typically 400 students per lecture section is a labor-intensive challenge, says Pat Hine, graduate and undergraduate administrator. Students register online, but if their preferred lab sections are full, they choose three lab sections that fit into their schedule and are put on waiting lists for those sections. "The concept of waiting lists scares some students who are concerned about getting in, but this is simply the best mechanism for fitting many students into available lab sections," says Hine.

Hine and her assistant, Christine Ward, go through the waiting lists, student by student, assigning each to a lab section. If no sections that fit into the student's schedule are available, they work with the student to figure out how to shift their schedule around. "We've never turned away a student who works with us unless the course is being taught again next semester," says senior lecturer John Terry.

At the beginning of the fall registration period, Hine and Ward focus their time on processing the students on the waiting list -- and as swiftly as possible to reduce student stress.

This semester has been the smoothest ever, says Hine, thanks to a new chemistry online waiting system developed in 2009 by College of Arts and Sciences' IT specialist Tu Tran. Previously, students had to come to the chemistry department office and wait until staff were able to process their schedule in person. They often had to return day after day to get their schedule worked out.

In order to ensure that there are enough graduate student teaching assistants to cover all the lab sections, and that they are well prepared to lead laboratory experiments and discussion sessions, the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology has offered a rigorous, three-week Teaching Assistant Training Program (TATP) each summer for 33 years, covering everything from safety and experimental procedures to teaching excellence and dealing with students in distress.

Linda B. Glaser is a staff writer for the College of Arts and Sciences.