NYU Shanghai’s curriculum has been a main complaint around campus, ranging from GPS to FOS, but that is not where the roller coaster stops. The Economics major is not exempt from the blunders that are arising in our newborn university. Only a year old, some mistakes are to be expected, we realize that. However, the class of 2017 (and now class of 2018) were expecting an administration that would learn from those snafus quickly and not make the same mistakes again and again. As of now, not much has improved when it comes to the NYU Shanghai Economics program. To begin with, let’s talk about Networks and Dynamics, NYU Shanghai’s biggest academic misstep. Last semester, a large portion of the class of 2017 enrolled in this course, making for a bizarre mixture of Foundations of Science, Mathematics, and Economics students. Within the first two weeks, the class size decreased significantly due to the complexity of the course. Student Hannah Lyon says “Networks and Dynamics had nothing to do with Economics” and Networks and Dynamics is offered in other universities as a graduate or senior year course, although NYU Shanghai students were required to take it as freshmen. A few weeks before the final exam and due to the large amount of complaints from students, Academic Affairs determined the class to be unnecessary to the Economics track. From this conclusion, two options were announced to students. One was withdrawal. Dropping the class that late in the semester without being able to swap in another class meant losing four credits, and having to take an extra class at some point. No one offered those Economics students who chose to withdraw from the class a free extra course to replace Networks and Dynamics, a class they were academically obligated to take at first. This implies that unless those students who dropped out can plan out how to fit in another class around other requirements, they will have to apply for a credit overload at some point in their college career. This request is not guaranteed to be accepted and involves paying a fee. Despite this ‘economic’ burden, many Economics students decided to drop out. A few, however, chose the second option and stayed, knowing that Networks and Dynamics was no longer a major requirement. Economics students of 2017 entered this class to fulfill an awful major requirement, and those who did not drop out, left with a mediocre grade or a heavy weight on their shoulders. On a related note, students have also complained that NYU Shanghai is not providing them with enough Economics electives classes. They need five to graduate, and NYU Shanghai only offers them one. “I...asked my advisor if there would be any more Economics electives offered during our senior year and she said she couldn't guarantee...so based on that, we would have to fulfill a majority of the requirement abroad”, Lyon says. However, there are GPA requirements to study abroad, which could be tough to meet with withdrawals or mediocre grades on a transcript. After that miserable semester, students hoped that NYU Shanghai, or the Dean of Arts and Sciences would have realized what a huge mistake they had made. But it seems like this is not the case. This semester, the academic plan suggested Economics students enroll in Advanced Math for Economics, an advanced mathematics class focusing on multivariable calculus and differential equations. Faced with yet another grueling math class, some students requested to drop this class as a requirement, after all of the unnecessary discomfort and anxiety that they had suffered the previous year. Lyon says “I think we definitely have too much irrelevant math. If we had a course specifically on math for economic modelling it would be okay.” The answer was no, but some students decided to continue with this class, even though they feared that it would be another academic catastrophe, as was Networks and Dynamics. The midterm for Advanced Mathematics for Economics was another terrible disaster. Most of the students in the class did poorly. Are they supposed to be satisfied with their score? No. Yet, the solution that they have been offered is to drop this midterm grade and substitute it with their final exam score. Students don’t need an easy way out though; what they need is for this university to provide them with the same amount of help and support any other student from any other major receives, especially since Economics majors pay the same fees as everyone else (and perhaps more due to the possible overload). A large portion of the Economics students feel insecure of their academic plan, as evidence has proved to them anything could change last minute, and no extra help is going to be offered to them. There is neither a Teaching Assistant (TA) nor a Global Academic Fellow (GAF) assigned for the class. Although this class is difficult for many students, as college classes tend to be, their only resource is to ask fellow classmates for help, because the university has left them on their own. Yes, the option of attending office hours is still open for all students, and some students have attended. However, it’s clear that more help is necessary from the midterm fiasco. “It also doesn't help that the school has only hired mathematics professors that come from pure math/physics backgrounds with zero or close to zero prior exposure to economics”, Sophomore Alex Opanasets claims. Some students have already decided to drop out of this course. But some others do not want to feel like they have to quit because they are not smart enough. Some students want to prove to themselves that they are able to do this, but they need support from our university. Perhaps Advanced Math for Economics does not need to be part of the Economics major either. This is going to become a major requirement for Mathematics majors next year, according to the most recent news from Academic Affairs, so perhaps it should remain a mathematics course. Curiously, the NYU Abu Dhabi Economics program does not require this class. Why doesn’t the Global Network University get it together and offer a standard plan? After all, we are all NYU students. But even outside of the GNU, other universities do not require any Math courses above calculus for Economics majors. At NYU Shanghai, Economics students have already taken two Math courses above the calculus level. As Opanasets say, “we should be able to understand the basics, but those we learned in first-semester Calculus, not on the mathematics we're learning in our major credit courses.” An Economics curriculum should be an Economics curriculum, not a hidden intensive Mathematics program. For example, Student Steve Ye believes that, if anything, “there should be a course that teaches us the relationship between Math and Econ”. The Economics major has come to light, since last year’s epic Networks and Dynamics failure, as one of the most disorganized academic plans in our school. After all of this, it is understandable that the economics students do not feel comfortable, do not feel secure and do not feel fully supported by our university. Perhaps these missteps are because there is no designated Dean of Economics, and no one who has this major’s curriculum (which is in desperate need of repairing) at the forefront of their minds. It may be due to the lack of GAFs or TAs. It could be that our administration could examine other programs that worked in the past and taken a few cues from them. It could be that there are other factors at play here that are not readily visible. Whatever the case may be, it needs to be fixed and quickly. The Economics majors cannot suffer through another failure of a semester. This article was written by Editorial Staff. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Tirza Alberta