Fall term is coming to a close which means that registration is just around the corner to schedule for winter term classes. Of course, it is known that seniors are first priority, following juniors, and so on and so forth. Most students have already received their registration date and time which are done at random.
The system is a mixture of priority and random processing that results in a lot of mixed personal feedback. Some students are either satisfied with their registration time since they’ll have more options in comparison to other students that have later times.
Students that have the later pool of registration find difficulty in finding classes since a lot of them are already filled up by the time they register. This is problematic since some students need to take a certain class because its part of a sequence or a prerequisite. Sometimes professors are lenient and add you onto the roster, but others don’t.
So, what exactly is the problem here?
The system of registration is not a bad one. Since it does not follow certain guidelines as to who gets early registration time then it makes it fair. It’s fair in the sense that not many can actually complain to a system that picks you at random.
If it were to be in terms of birthdays, GPA, or extracurricular activities as filters then more students would be bothered by it and find it unfair as these factors differ from student to student.
Student athletes, active student leaders, student workers, and many more have to find the perfect schedule that does not overlap or interfere with their other commitments. We are all here for academics, but college is much more than learning inside the classroom.
Most students would agree that it is challenging to put academics first when you have to build a pleasing resume in the same breath.
Augustana is a small school and classes will never reach the amount that bigger schools have. This is something on most small school brochures that set them apart from bigger state schools. The advantage that is often reiterated is that small classes have more opportunity for professors to build relationships with their students. This distinguishable relationship with your professor and classmates creates a great learning environment.
I don’t think adding a couple more students to a class they need to take will actually be equal to a lecture hall atmosphere. If classroom size and seats is a factor that sets this limitation then there needs to be accommodations made for majors at Augustana that have a large number of students within them. Seats should also be reserved for students that are taking a specific class for their major and or minor.
This would allow students to fulfill credits for their major or minor with coming across less conflicts. There are a lot of great programs at Augustana. With being notable comes the responsibility of placing a large number of participants in their designated area of study.