A Local University Is Considering Changes to Its Class Structure

question 119

Essay

A local university is considering changes to its class structure in an effort to increase professor productivity. The old schedule had each professor teaching 5 classes per week, with each class meeting an hour per day on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Each class contained 20 students. The new schedule has each professor teaching only 3 classes, but each class meets daily for an hour. New classes contain 50 students.
a. Calculate the labor productivity for the initial situation (students/hour).
b. Calculate the labor productivity for the schedule change (students/hour).
c. Are there any ethical considerations that should be accounted for?
d. Suppose that each teacher also is required to have 2 hours of Office Hours each day he/she taught class. Is the schedule change a productivity increase?

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Definitions:

Unregulated Monopoly

A market structure where a single supplier dominates without any government intervention or regulatory constraints.

Output

The quantity of products or services produced and provided by an entity, reflecting its productivity levels.

Competitive Market

A market structure marked by a high level of competition among businesses, where no single entity has the power to influence market prices significantly.

Government-operated Firms

Businesses owned and managed by a government in order to provide goods or services to the public.