Cal Poly students struggled to find the necessary available units through the registration process for winter quarter.
Budget cuts have forced more competition among students because fewer sections are available. Some students are forced to crash classes and endure long wait lists without any guarantee of obtaining their necessary courses. Furloughs have made crashing classes more difficult as well, as fewer students are deciding to drop out of classes since they might not find others to replace them.
Kate Stewart, a business freshman, worried about finding enough classes for winter quarter. She registered on December 3, the last day before open enrollment and got four units. Stewart was forced to crash classes during the first week. She could not get any on the first two days, but finally obtained the classes that she wanted on the third day of the quarter.
“It was stressful having to worry about finding classes especially since it was a new experience for me,” she said. “I didn’t know what to expect or what I was doing when trying to crash classes.”
Stewart was able to obtain 16 units for the quarter by continually crashing classes and constantly e-mailing professors, but some students are not as lucky.
With classes in shorter supply and higher demand for those classes, departments are trying to find ways to help their students during registration.
The architecture department created a new policy that allows certain studios to last for two quarters instead of one. Studios are the workshops for architecture students where they work on designing their models and other assignments throughout the year. These studios are essential to architecture students, because without a studio, the student is set back a whole year instead of just one quarter. The department also removed the ability for students to use their priority choice for their studio.
Alex Vincent, a junior architecture student said that he is frustrated by the registration system for architecture students since they can only register for 16 units on PASS. Architecture studios are five-unit courses, which makes it difficult for students to register for other classes they need, since their need would come to more than 16 units.
“It’s frustrating because I have to spend two summers here in order to graduate on time,” Vincent said.
Cal Poly’s administration continues to search for ways to get students their necessary classes so they can graduate from the university in a timely manner.
Cal Poly Provost Richard Koob said at an ASI Board of Directors workshop, that block scheduling will continue next year for freshmen. Freshmen liked the idea of having a set schedule coming into Cal Poly instead of having to search through classes during registration, Koob added.
He also said that fall registration will take place in May again for continuing students. Despite fewer available courses offered in the fall, the average student courseload went up by 2 percent.
In the future, Koob said that priority registration might be cut since he considers it a “Band-Aid,” and students should be able to stay on track to graduate through normal registration. He said that students should take at least 12 units, and the administration encourages students to take 15 or 16 units in order to graduate on time.
Associated Students Inc. has been working on the issues of class availability and timely graduation since the beginning of the year.
Kelsey Rice, an agricultural business senior who serves on the ASI Board of Directors, said that the transition to block scheduling for freshmen students should help to decongest the classes in high demand. Also, she said that starting students out on the right path is beneficial so they do not encounter difficulties in registration later on, and fall behind their expected graduation time.
Rice said that she has not had any trouble registering for classes and feels fortunate that her major allows her some flexibility in her flow chart, unlike other majors.
“I guess I’m one of the lucky ones,” she said.
Cal Poly students struggled to find the necessary available units through the registration process for winter quarter.
Budget cuts have forced more competition among students because fewer sections are available. Some students are forced to crash classes and endure long wait lists without any guarantee of obtaining their necessary courses. Furloughs have made crashing classes more difficult as well, as fewer students are deciding to drop out of classes since they might not find others to replace them.
Kate Stewart, a business freshman, worried about finding enough classes for winter quarter. She registered on December 3, the last day before open enrollment and got four units. Stewart was forced to crash classes during the first week. She could not get any on the first two days, but finally obtained the classes that she wanted on the third day of the quarter.
“It was stressful having to worry about finding classes especially since it was a new experience for me,” she said. “I didn’t know what to expect or what I was doing when trying to crash classes.”
Stewart was able to obtain 16 units for the quarter by continually crashing classes and constantly e-mailing professors, but some students are not as lucky.
With classes in shorter supply and higher demand for those classes, departments are trying to find ways to help their students during registration.
The architecture department created a new policy that allows certain studios to last for two quarters instead of one. Studios are the workshops for architecture students where they work on designing their models and other assignments throughout the year. These studios are essential to architecture students, because without a studio, the student is set back a whole year instead of just one quarter. The department also removed the ability for students to use their priority choice for their studio.
Alex Vincent, a junior architecture student said that he is frustrated by the registration system for architecture students since they can only register for 16 units on PASS. Architecture studios are five-unit courses, which makes it difficult for students to register for other classes they need, since their need would come to more than 16 units.
“It’s frustrating because I have to spend two summers here in order to graduate on time,” Vincent said.
Cal Poly’s administration continues to search for ways to get students their necessary classes so they can graduate from the university in a timely manner.
Cal Poly Provost Richard Koob said at an ASI Board of Directors workshop, that block scheduling will continue next year for freshmen. Freshmen liked the idea of having a set schedule coming into Cal Poly instead of having to search through classes during registration, Koob added.
He also said that fall registration will take place in May again for continuing students. Despite fewer available courses offered in the fall, the average student courseload went up by 2 percent.
In the future, Koob said that priority registration might be cut since he considers it a “Band-Aid,” and students should be able to stay on track to graduate through normal registration. He said that students should take at least 12 units, and the administration encourages students to take 15 or 16 units in order to graduate on time.
Associated Students Inc. has been working on the issues of class availability and timely graduation since the beginning of the year.
Kelsey Rice, an agricultural business senior who serves on the ASI Board of Directors, said that the transition to block scheduling for freshmen students should help to decongest the classes in high demand. Also, she said that starting students out on the right path is beneficial so they do not encounter difficulties in registration later on, and fall behind their expected graduation time.
Rice said that she has not had any trouble registering for classes and feels fortunate that her major allows her some flexibility in her flow chart, unlike other majors.
“I guess I’m one of the lucky ones,” she said.