To put it simply, I have a problem with class registration. As you all know, registration for fall 2010 classes is currently upon us, and although the convenient system of having a shopping cart is in place, there are still problems which are embedded in the registration process.
The registration day for classes is always frustrating. Registrations at 8 a.m. leave students no time to nestle and snuggle in their beds, causing them to worry about not getting into the classes they had hand chosen with care the night before. They rush to their computers, still in a daze, hoping that all their sections would be there. The suspense of what will be available kills as they scramble onto SPIRE, only to find that half of their requirements sitting in their shopping carts, waiting to be checked out, are filled.
For the available classes they have chosen, they can only hope that all the prerequisites have been completed. Enrolled in half the classes they want to take, they must look for classes that may not meet any requirements or are not as appealing.
Having written, haphazardly, the class numbers on napkins left near their computer, students enroll in classes that RateMyProfessor.com simply states: “Completely ridiculous, really painful. Basically: DO NOT TAKE!”
Frustrated to the point of no return they give up after accepting that the only section of their last major requirement is at 8 a.m. on Monday and Wednesday with a three hour lab on Tuesday nights. And there is nothing they can do to change it.
Registration leaves many students in a unique predicament, especially when classes are offered early in the morning or in the same time slot.
Having to wake up for an 8 a.m. when the rest of your classes are after 1 p.m. is not favorable, and I’m not even talking about general education requirements. Mandatory upper-level courses are being offered at this outrageous time in the morning. Whose idea was that?
They force us to wake up ridiculously early, resulting in us falling asleep in class and stumbling back home to fall asleep – learning nothing. Then, of course, you always encounter the problem when all the classes that are supposed to be for your first semester sophomore year or last semester senior year are offered at the same time as all the other classes you need to be in. I cannot physically be at the 11:15 meeting of Journalism 300, Journalism 360 and Psychology 305. Three requirements at one time leads to another dilemma, but there are bigger problems out there.
The schedules we so carefully select never work out, and it is not the fault of SPIRE for the first time in history. This time, it falls in the hands of the administration. The University of Massachusetts budget, currently in a shaky place, leaves us all unable to get into the classes that we need to graduate because there are fewer sections being offered to the same amount, if not more students.
I understand that only a limited amount of sections can be offered, but if there is more demand for the class, the class enrollment size needs to be increased. The registration process needs altering as it leaves everything to chance, making students beg and plead to professors to get into their class during the first week of every semester.
Some students don’t even have the option of begging a teacher admission to a class. – as a required class isn’t offered that semester. For example, there are two parts to some classes, an introductory class and an advanced class. Most introductory classes are offered all year long, but usually the advanced courses are only offered in the spring. What happens to the students that took the introductory class in the spring semester and now cannot take the advanced course until the following spring?
Undoubtedly, they will forget a lot of the information, but it also puts a major hindrance on the ability to graduate and plan your classes in a normal fashion. The ridiculous system the University has in choosing what classes will be offered prevents many students from taking the classes they truly want to learn from. There’s a big problem that we can only hope will be solved after meeting with our advisors.
As for now, slip back into bed, for it is only 8:35 a.m. and class doesn’t start until 10:10 a.m. Registration will always make us berserk, but all we can do is dream that UMass will implement something that works to a broader range of students, offering more seats and more courses every semester.
Amanda Joinson is a Collegian columnist. She can be reached at [email protected].
Satisfied Student • Apr 6, 2010 at 12:53 pm
While I understand your frustration, I believe all of the issues you address in your column can be solved easily with one word: planning. If you do not have a list of back up courses you want to take then I believe that is your fault–personally, I start thinking about my schedule as soon as course listings are published, so I know what I can take if something fills up. Also, you should be planning your major ahead of time so that you know when your requirements need to be met. It is very easy to graduate from here in four years if you are smart about your schedule. And remember, we go to school in a consortium, so if the class you need to take is full, you can cross register at another college.
Additionally, while an 8am registration time forces you to get up early it gives you first dibs on the classes you’ve chosen, so there should be a good chance that your classes are still open (the logistically speaking, over 20,000 students go here and I am sure it is much easier on the administration and professors to have the enrollment times that we do, and there is also simply not enough hours in the day to get rid of 8am classes). The administration does not taylor schedules to individual students, but to the student body as a whole. I take an early morning class every semester because it forces me to get up and make the most of the day. 1pm first classes of the day are a luxury, not a right, and when we enter the workforce we’ll have to deal with even earlier mornings. That being said, we do need more resources, but we can thank Romney for increasing the student population here while cutting the budget.
Ed • Apr 6, 2010 at 12:02 am
There are two very serious subtitles to this.
First, UMass is less of a bargain when you realize that you have to be here 5 years as an undergrad, even longer as a graduate student. It is cheaper to pay more for fewer years.
And second, as they increase the number of students without increasing the resources to support the larger student body, it is the students who suffer.
I know so many undergrads who have transferred out of UMass and are doing so much better (and are so much happier). I could have transferred somewhere else and didn’t because it would have required me to reform my committee and I would have lost 2-3 years in doing that — that was in 1998…
I increasingly believe that if you are serious about your education and want more than just the receipt, UMass is not the place for thee…