Today: Mar 28, 2024

Registration waitlist considered

Tamonda GriffithsNews Writer

Following the rollout of the viewable, yearlong schedules, Registrar Alicia Carroll said the next project her office is working on is a registration waitlist.

In a student registration survey distributed to the campus last fall, 88% of undergraduate students said “yes” to a waitlist feature for classes that reach maximum capacity.

Because of the overwhelming response that it had from students, Carroll said creating a waitlist “took priority,” immediately following the year-long schedules.

“After I meet with Student Government [Association] and Faculty Senate, get any feedback, we have to do testing,” said Carroll.

She will be asking the Faculty Senate to endorse the drafted policy to be university-wide not just exclusive to specific departments’ guidelines; it will be “generic” across the university, she said.

“Departments will have the opportunity to opt in, they don’t have to have a waitlist,” said Carroll, “but if they do, we would all have to come to an agreement on how it would be administered.”

Carroll said some departments may not have the “capacity of faculty” to support a waitlist.

According to the policy’s draft, a registration waitlist would allow students to sign up and be alerted when a seat for the course has opened up. They have a 24-hour window to respond.

Testing of the system, Carroll said, would occur over the summer break. A 20-page procedure manual has also already been written, she said.

“It’s involved,” said Carroll. “Automated communications to students; I think the most important thing we have to drive home with students is that when it’s 24-hours and it’s going to your Southern email, there’s no way around that. There’s no exception, because if you don’t respond, the system will automatically offer the seat to the next student.”

Students, Carroll said, would have to monitor their emails. They can sign up to get back on the waitlist, but they would be start at the bottom.

“Once we test, I would like to roll it out for spring registration,” said Carroll. “It’s in November. It’s a little bit lighter of a registration cycle.”

Traditionally, Carroll said student enrollment is higher in the fall, with incoming new students.

She said seeing as this would be the first time the university is implementing a registration waitlist, fall would be the best and soonest time the Registrar’s Office could make it available to students.

The waitlist system the university plans to use, Carroll said, is the same system utilized at Central Connecticut State University. “[CCSU] worked out all the kinks and were very transparent about what some of the options were in the system and why they did or did not go with those,” said Carroll, “so we are implementing what they’re using today.”

Whitney Breland, sophomore elementary education and special education double-major, said waitlisting would help “a little bit”.

“I get anxious I’m not in a class right then and there,” said Breland, “so then I would have to like make a whole new plan, which sometimes doesn’t work out with the classes I already have, so it gets frustrating.”

However, Breland said, waitlisting would help her know if she had a chance of getting a seat in class based on her standing on the waitlist.

Senior and interdisciplinary studies major Sean Gamble said if waitlisting were available as an option it would be easier to switch sections for classes.

“Classes closing in- at least in my departments aren’t really that big a deal, because I’m in chemistry and exercise science,” said Gamble, “so I can always find like another alternative class to go to.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Latest from Blog

Don't Miss

Football secures first conference win against St. Anselm

Jaylen Carr – Editor-in-Chief The Owls snap their four-game losing streak with

School of Business opens new building

Jaylen Carr – Editor-in-Chief From two-time Grammy winner Jeff Baxter to Gov.