As a prof, I'm terrified of the exploding enrollment in CS. My 2021 enrollment for a juniors/seniors course is up 70% from recent years and still growing.
Can't imagine what it'll look like in two or three years.
I’m not sure what the leadership of your department and university want your enrollment to be, but a very tough (reasonable, but tough) required weeder class early in the CS sequence will clean out the people who like the idea of being a CS major/grad more than the actual reality of being a CS major.
This will allow the faculty to teach the upper class courses at an appropriate level in terms of difficulty and level of engagement with students (versus classroom management and handling weak students).
This will allow the faculty to teach the upper class courses at an appropriate level in terms of difficulty and level of engagement with students (versus classroom management and handling weak students).