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With over 32000 students, according to the VCU Center for Institutional Effectiveness web page, there are many individuals who could have a problem with scheduling during late registration week. ...
The reduction of elective classes and budget cuts of 2010 for Virginia Commonwealth University has contributed to why some students could not get into all the classes they needed for the spring of 2011 semester.
Within six hours of add, drop week, I got 99 e-mails from students who had scheduling issues said, Natasha Long, the coordinator of advising in the school of Mass Communications. She added that her craziest day of advising was when she had 20 students come to get advised.
The hectic late registration week of January 18 through the 24 could also be seen in the Student Service Center, as a long line of students waited to get their overrides approved. With over 32,000 students, according to the VCU Center for Institutional Effectiveness web page, there are many individuals who could have a problem with scheduling during late registration week.
William ?Tres? Morley, the supervisor of the Student Service Center, said that there are a number of reasons for the registration difficulties. Class size, major and minor restrictions, and the time a student can register for classes all contribute to why some students do not get into all their classes, he added. Getting an override into a class that is closed is usually not an easy task either. ?Override policies vary from department,? said Morley. He added with some departments, ?you go to the professor, with others you have to go to the department.? Course availability is usually based on ?supply and demand,? said Morley.
For students like sophomore, Jasmine Howard, the number of classes available for the spring semester was not enough. Howard was trying to get into a required medical and biology lab class during late registration but said, ?By the time I could register the class was full.? She added, ?I couldn?t get a override because it was a lab class.? Because lab classes are usually in smaller classrooms it is harder to get an override in them added Howard. She believed that if she could have registered earlier she would have been able to get into her required course.
Sometimes the problem with registering is not the time a student can register but that the class had a restriction on it that the student was unaware of. Will Hunter, a graduate student, recalled in an e-mail interview, that he needed certain prerequisite classes a few semesters ago but was told that it would be fine if he took the class anyway. A few days before his classes started he was dropped from the course without being notified. Hunter added in the e-mail, that he was lucky to get an override into the course later on.
Even though many students have to deal with last minute registration not all have issues getting overrides. Sophomore Chelsea Harman, a film major got an override for an intermediate paint class easily. ?I just e-mailed the professor and got in,? said Harman.
In 2010, VCU made some of its classrooms larger, got rid of course sections and cutback on some elective courses, according to VCU-MCValumni.org. The reason why most psychology classes fill up so quickly is because of the reduction of elective courses, said Jody Davis, an assistant professor of psychology. She added that she got around 25 e-mails during the add, drop week from students asking if they could get into one of her classes.
Here are some tips to avoid the last minute stress of registering from William ?Tres? Morley, the supervisor of the Student Service Center. Morley advises students to check that there are no holds on their accounts, to register as soon as possible and to meet with an adviser for guidance when picking alternative classes.