Carrel Shortage Plagues Wesleyan Thesis Writers

Almost 70 Wesleyan students working on senior theses this year have not been assigned a research carrel at the University's Olin Library, the campus paper reports.

According to the Wesleyan Argus, 69 students have been placed on the wait list for carrel space this fall, compared to just 35 last year. In a typical year, about 15 waitlisted students are eventually assigned carrel space.

The carrel shortage is being caused by an increase in the number of students seeking carrel space and a temporary decrease in the number of available carrels as a result of building renovations.

Library officials say that it is difficult to expand carrel space because most of Wesleyan's carrels are actually small rooms with doors. 88 of the 108 students who are currently assigned to carrels have use of these 'single' carrels. 6 students are assigned to double carrels and the remaining 8 are assigned to group carrels.

The Olin Library uses lottery system to assign research carrels to students working on theses and senior essays. Each year, about a third of Wesleyan students opt to pursue a senior thesis in the Social Sciences, Sciences, or Arts and Humanities. A list of recent theses is available on Wesleyan's website: http://www.wesleyan.edu/admission/academics/academics-research.html

Source: "Space Case: Thesis Writers Suffering from Carrel Shortage," by Arie Eernisse, the Wesleyan Argus, October 6, 2006