Aaron Berkowitz – General Assignment Reporter
What is more annoying than having to wake up at 5:45 a.m. to register for your classes next semester? How about receiving news that one of the classes you were lucky enough to get a spot in and you’re taking to fulfill a requirement in your major has been cancelled for the semester?
As a junior at SCSU, I would have to say that this is one of the most stressful things that could happen early on in the semester, especially once you get past your sophomore year in school. Just think, you’ve already gotten used to the idea of organizing your daily schedule around the classes you are registered to take and then abruptly it is changed with no apparent consideration of how it affects you.
In an attempt to prevent ever ending up in this situation, students should try to create multiple schedules when in the process of picking their classes for the upcoming semester. It may sound tedious to some, but in the case of a class cancellation having a back up class or two for every one you plan to register for can really be the difference in an easy fix and a reason to panic.
Class cancellations occur when not enough students enroll in a course. As much of an inconvenience that the cancellations can be, SCSU offers assistance not only from your academic advisors but also your designated dean. In a scenario where a student can’t find a class to replace the course that was dropped, they should approach the dean that corresponds with their major. The dean will then decide between a few options to help the student adjust his/her schedule accordingly. The dean could ultimately decide between rotating courses within their degree program in order to accommodate for their graduation time or ruling in favor of running sections of the course with enrollments less than stated.
I think that the school does a nice job dealing with a crappy situation. It wouldn’t make sense for a professor to have to teach a class with only three students when they could be teaching another class with more students enrolled. The deans are aware and understanding of students’ needs so they will try to work out a solution depending on the course dropped.
I was thinking about what a student should do if they had one of their classes cancelled and all of their backup choices are filled too because it can happen; which means students should be prepared for it. In this worst-case scenario, I think the dean should overall the maximum number of students allowed in one of the student’s back up classes and let them choose. This seems logical considering the constant increase in tuition that students pay every year. If we pay to be here, we should be able to get the classes that we choose.
I believe as long as the main priority of the dean is to make sure the class that is being cancelled doesn’t affect anyone’s graduation, then they are doing their job. The best advice available for students is to just prepare for the worst possible outcome. I think if the student needs the class to graduate then they should be guaranteed a spot in the class the next time it is available as well. As long as the faculty is willing to work with students to help smooth out things like this I don’t think SCSU students should be affected by it too much.
