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First week of term, which is usually marked by a haze of running from class to class trying to figure out what to take, and subsequently searching for professors to sign add/drop cards, may feel a little calmer next year.
“Attention students! Important changes to waitlists and the add/ drop period are coming soon,” said Roger Lasley of the registrar’s office in an email to students.
The end of this school year also marks the end of the old drop/add and waitlist policy. As of now, students will be able to drop or add open 10-week courses online via the Hub during the first week of next term without a yellow add/drop card or signatures from instructors or advisors.
“The reason we’re making this particular switch is to better serve students. Right now, the students have to run around and get signatures on drop/add cards, and sometimes, it’s hard to locate their advisor or the instructor,” said Lasley. “We just watch the activity from the office and see the tears that some students have because they cannot find their advisor.”
If the course is open without a waitlist, a student can add the course without an advisor’s approval. Students can also drop courses online regardless of its opening. It is important to highlight that the drop/add deadline period has been shortened to one week, which will end September 20, the first Sunday of next term.
“The biggest change to getting this online was to get the faculty to approve it,” said George Shuffelton, associate dean of the college. This new system requires faculty to either notify the registrar’s office to allow students off of
the waitlist and to waive a prerequisite for a student.
After the registration period for fall ends next week, instructors can contact the Registrar’s Office of any students who can register for waitlisted courses. The Registrar’s Office will then send emails to waitlisted students who have the permission to register for a particular course. Students will have one day after the Registrar’s email is sent to register for the course on the Hub. After this one day period, the registration will extend to another student.
This system will alleviate the mad scramble and confusion for waitlisted classes that typically happens during the first week of the new term, according to Lasley.
“I’d like to see a system where 98 percent of the time, students know what their class schedule is on the first day of classes,” he said. “They know what classes they’re taking when the term starts.”
“I want students to be aware and paying attention to their email after registration is over, so that if they get in off a waitlist, they’re aware of it. And I want students to be aware in next fall that in that first week is the time to be adding and dropping and that the deadline has changed.
“As long as people are paying attention, I think this will run smoothly.”