Registrar: No perfect time for registration

The Oct. 26 opening of registration for spring semester classes is still fresh on the minds of most GCSU students, as is the dreaded early-morning wake-up that came with it.

While the 5 a.m. opening of registration may not be the most popular time, according to school registrar A. Kay Anderson it is the most effective way for GCSU students to have an equal chance at registering for their desired classes.

“(Registration) should be a process to be very fair to all students,” Anderson said.

A task force was implemented earlier this semester to look at registration and although there was discussion of changing the opening of registration time, nothing came out of that talk. The times under consideration were 6 a.m. or 7 a.m. However, concerns from education and nursing students about not being able to participate in registration during those hours caused the time to remain at 5 a.m.

Anderson believes registration should be open when classes are not in session.

“It’s not fair for students to miss class to register,” Anderson said.

The presence of technical support is another important factor. Technical support is at work early in the morning and is on standby when registration commences.

Anderson worries what ramifications could occur if registration were to take place when technical support wasn’t on duty.

“I don’t even know the confusion that would cause,” Anderson said.

Georgia’s largest university has a much different registration schedule. The University of Georgia in Athens has approximately 10,000 course offerings and gives each class weeks before opening registration to the next classes. As a result, students at UGA don’t need to set their alarms before sunrise.

Being a bigger school, UGA can perform its registration process, however class sizes can be much larger.

“In perspective of space, UGA can offer much larger classes,” said Rodney Parks UGA associate registrar. “It has its advantages and disadvantages.”

However, GCSU isn’t alone with its stressful early morning registration process. Georgia Southern University also has an early registration time. Students there have to wake up even earlier – at 3 a.m. – for the opening of registration.

One Georgia Southern student reflected on many of the issues found at GCSU on registration morning.

“(Registration) is very unpopular with the students,” said Lauren Ingley, a former Georgia State University student. “One crazy, early in the morning minute is crucial to a good, organized semester.”

Students at Georgia State University get the opportunity to sleep in on registration day. Georgia State has a registration time of 9 a.m.

Trying to schedule an entire university to do one activity where there are few time conflicts can be quite a chore.

“There is no perfect time to start registration,” Anderson said. “No one will be 100 percent satisfied.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Nov 13 2009. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry