American Sign Language 101 continues to grow in popularity, but classroom size remains stagnant.

The ASL 101 waitlist reached more than 200 students this quarter. Despite the class’s ever-increasing popularity, there are only two class offerings seating 24 students each.

“The ASL coordinators are well aware of the waitlist problem,” said Robert Fox, professor and coordinator. “More sections of ASL 101 were opened this year than at any time last year. It is a problem that will be worked out over time.”

The limited times available for the classes, one morning and one evening, have left some students frustrated.

“It’s uncalled for a class to have that many people on the waitlist,” said Mike Gorman, a junior in atmospheric sciences. “There are a lot of people that can teach sign language. The university just doesn’t have the patience to go out and find teachers.”

Bobbi Bedinghaus, assistant ASL coordinator, disagrees.

“The OSU ASL program is in its infancy,” she said. “There is a shortage of teachers nationally. That is partly because colleges and universities have not established teacher-training programs similar to the ones that currently exist for other languages such as Spanish, French, etc.”

Sinclair Community College, located in Dayton, offers four-to-five sign language classes compared to Ohio State’s two, Gorman said.

“It’s just frustrating,” Gorman said.

The ASL staff is calling for patience.

“Remember that this is only the second year of the ASL program,” Fox said.

Despite the waitlist, the university is lucky to have an ASL program of any kind, to have landed some of the top instructors in the state, Bedinghaus said. Our search continues for qualified instructors.

She also praised Brenda Brueggemann, ASL associate professor and founder of the ASL program at OSU, for her hard work. Brueggemann was unavailable for comment.

“Be patient and try to sign up for the ASL class as soon as the opportunity arises,” Fox said.

If students want to learn about sign language without meeting the university’s general education curriculum language requirement, Fox recommends signing up for the speech and hearing 700-level courses.

“These courses are usually open,” Fox said.