Hey there, St. Lawrence. It is that season. No (well, technically yes), not the holiday season. I am talking about everyone’s favorite season, class registration.
‘Tis the season for you to wake up at the break of dawn, eyes crusted shut, barely able to form a complete sentence, to attempt to, if you’re lucky, register for the classes you’ve bedazzled your schedule with. I know I’m not alone in saying that I wasn’t lucky enough to get the entirety of my pre-planned courses. I also guarantee that I was luckier than some other students who may have had to completely rearrange their schedules. Obviously, this doesn’t seem right, does it?
If a student is paying tuition to receive an education then, at least in theory, they should be able to receive the education they want.
First Year Programs are the first offender. I think that FYPs are wonderful – they offer excellent diversity in their classes while granting students an intro into university writing. With this being said, students should have some sort of safety to give them a program they actually enjoy. Yes, we are a liberal arts school, but an entire year worth of class which puts you to sleep is not a productive way to spend over four hours a week.
When setting up your first semester at SLU, you have the ability to select from up to six FYPs, which is excellent. This gives an ability to make it fair for students, and also to potentially receive a class they will enjoy. The education is in the hands of the student. However, when the rest of course registration comes along, the students often lose control of their education for that semester.
I only find such a problem with FYS classes because you have no option to take those classes at a later date. Some FYS classes have comparable courses a student can take, these are not the issue.
A student should not be locked into an FYS which may make them shiver with disgust because their computer isn’t quite as fast as another’s. Having to delay your schedule and potentially take filler classes because you unfortunately didn’t click refresh fast enough is something which most students dread.
I think the fix to this issue is difficult. Perhaps just identify which classes are the most popular and raise the seat number so a higher amount of students can take these classes, or possibly change the system to be more similar to the housing system. Install some sort of lottery. Change the luck of the system to make it more fair to all students. If my computer isn’t as fast as my friend’s computer, then that is a barrier which I have little control over; but if a lottery is in place, then all students have an equal chance.
I know the solution isn’t easy, and certain compromises will have to be made in certain places, the system could likely be altered so not as many students feel screwed out of classes they really want to take. But what do I know? I’m just a first-year.