Registration seems to always creep up. One minute it is Christmas break, the next it is time to register for classes for the next fall. Students rush to meet with advisers, find what classes fit into their schedules and either celebrate or mourn a lottery number. In the end, few students find the perfect schedule.
But a stressful time has become a little more easier, at least that is what the registration committee hopes. Chaired by Associate Academic Vice President Mary Frances Malone, the committee has made a variety of changes to the registration process which will come into effect this year.
Gone are lottery numbers, replaced by an alphabetical system. Instead of registering for major and minor courses on a different day than core and electives, all registration will occur on the same day, by class. Not only will it occur on the same day, but it will all happen online; no longer will there be long lines in the Registrar’s office, waiting to get courses put into a computer.
The most important change is that students will be able to register for all their classes all on the same day. While the change clearly makes sense and will make the experience easier for students, there will be an adjustment period – some students will miss the many announcements the University plans to send out and will show up at the Registrar’s office looking to register for classes or wondering what their lottery number is.
While it is clearly a step in the right direction, some will still say that the process is unfair. If a name happens to fall into a grouping that goes later in the day, it will be easy to miss out on classes that seem to be necessary. But according to Glenn Sauer, the chair of the biology department who served on the committee, the department heads will all strive to make sure that every student gets the courses necessary to graduate and on top of that gets all the courses they wish to have, at least by their senior year.
The success of the committee is one that can be directed to FUSA. FUSA President Jeff Seiser and the Senate made advising and registration a goal of this year and ensured that two students were on the committee.
More is to come from the committee, including a move to put course descriptions in a location that is easier to find on the Fairfield Web site, the reduction of the amount of course booklets that are printed each year and online lists of courses that are going to be offered in coming semesters, so that students can plan for the future early.
Wait listing made its debut two semesters ago and returns, after serving about 2,000 of 5,000 students who joined wait lists last semester. The wait list program seems to be a success and the registration committee is hoping that it’s new programs will work out just as well.
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