Today: Mar 28, 2024

Mixed experiences with registration

J’Mari HughesReporter

Every spring, students register for classes for the following fall semester. They prepare by seeing advisers to obtain a PIN number which allows them to register. They then craft the ideal schedule, and wake up early to ensure they can get the classes they want.

It is almost a race to register for classes, as some do not have enough spots for the many students trying to take it.

Alizabeth Sullivan, a junior who double majors in elementary and special education, said she, like others, check Banner Web, where students register,
repeatedly to see if another student has dropped the course she wants.

“Every day I’ll look at the remaining spots like I will be one of them,” she said. “I always make backup schedules, so I’ve always made the one where you’re like, ‘Yes, life will be perfect,’ but I never get the perfect schedule.”

Depending on their year, some students have an easy time registering for classes, such as Jonathon Gonzalez, a senior and journalism major, who said he feels like a pro at registering now.

“I got up bright and early in order to do it so I was one of the first people to register,” he said, “and it was for my last semester too, so I already had all my classes picked out and the CRNs, the everything.”

However, other students, like Alyssa Donovan, a senior and early childhood education major, struggled to get onto Banner Web and into their necessary courses.

“First of all, the site crashed- nothing new then it let me in, but it said all of my CRNs were wrong when they weren’t and then it kicked me out and said my PIN was wrong,  which it wasn’t because it let me in the first time.”

Donovan, said she needed three courses to graduate, one being an English class that she said only had one section, offering it to 25 students.

She said everyone who is an education minor or major has to take this course.

Associate Registrar Monica Raffone said with a lot of students trying to log onto Banner Web at once, the Registrar’s Office and the IT Department has done work to try and prevent the website from crashing.

When it crashes, she said, it crashes for everybody, not certain students and therefore does not impact who gets what classes first.

“Most classes have multiple sections, so you may not get that exact class you want, but there’s always another section of that class,” Raffone said. “Usually when you get to be a senior and you’re taking major classes and there’s only one section, the department plans how many students need that course in that section at that time.”

Donovan said she thinks students who need courses for their major should have first pick, and that people should not take the spots of classes they do not need, as it can keep those like her from graduating on time.

Registration begins at 6:01 a.m., a time where no classes are in session to make certain everyone has a chance to enroll.

According to Raffone, it is also useful being early because faculty and staff are not logging into their Southern accounts, allowing less website traffic to ensue.

“Check your registration status,” said Raffone, “and your holds early on so you’re prepared at 6 a.m.”

Photo Credit: J’Mari Hughes

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