For one week every semester, students across the Keene State College campus take part in registering for their classes for the upcoming semester. Students said they feel an immense amount of stress during this week as they try to enroll in the classes they need in order to graduate. Registration for fall 2014 began Monday, March 31, and continued through Tuesday, April 8. Now that registration is over, KSC students are dealing with the aftermath of picking classes.
Baylee Boulem, KSC junior, was strained as she took part in the fall 2014 registration.
“When I went to register this year for my senior year, I was picking on one of the last days. I don’t think that’s fair. It was so frustrating because I had already selected my classes beforehand, and watching the seats fill up was so scary because I didn’t know if I would get my seat for a class,” Boulem said.
Some students said they have felt this stress from registration throughout their years at KSC, not just one. Similar to Boulem, junior Vicky Richards said she gets stressed out by registration every semester. She said she feels the registration system was skewed for her class.
Betsy Thompson / Equinox Staff
“The class of 2015 has consistently had bad experiences with registration since we’ve been here. The registrar has changed their policies regarding class registration so many times that, at this point, it’s just frustrating to everyone,” Richards said.
Richards continued, “I’ve managed to get into the classes I’ve needed, but it’s always by the skin of my teeth. It’s been stressful every year. It takes up a large amount of time, pressure, tears, frustration — you name it. This is not how I should feel when I’m doing a simple task like picking classes to take.”
Though Richards has been able to get into the classes that she’s needed every year while still dealing with the large amount of tension on her shoulders, some students have not been able to get into the classes they need at all.
Junior Jared Paul explained he has been forced to stay at KSC an extra semester just because he could not get into a class that he needed.
“I’ve been screwed over by registration every year. I’m always one of the last people to pick a class,” Paul said, “It really only started to become a problem when I got into my sophomore and junior years. Junior year, I got such a low time that my entire schedule was messed up. One class that I needed to take got filled up before I had time to get in. I tried to email the professors and tried to join it, but I couldn’t get in it. I now have to stay at school for another semester because of that one class.”
Paul also said he must now spend the money to enroll in an extra semester at KSC to take one class that he could’ve taken if he had just made it in when he needed to.
Richards said she considered taking an extra semester to finish all of her required classes as well. “I was having trouble getting into the classes I needed so I considered another semester so I could just finish stress-free and with all the credits I need,” Richards said.
She continued, “My parents would never allow that though. They’re not going to spend that money and they shouldn’t have to spend that money just because I couldn’t get into a class or two.”
Athletes expressed how registration affects them as well. Sports games are typically held in the afternoons, so student athletes are asked to schedule their classes in the mornings so they won’t miss the games, according to players like Tyler Estevez.
Esteves, a KSC junior and member of the baseball team, said he feels the current registration system does not help any athletes. “I just think that when athletes are in season — so spring semester for baseball players — we should be able to have a better registration time so that we can sign up for classes that don’t interfere with our games that are scheduled in the afternoon.”
Estevez continued, “That shouldn’t happen. You shouldn’t have to miss a game because you couldn’t find a better class time in registration.”
Students also indicated that they have a hard time figuring out what could actually be done with registration to make it an easier process on students. They say that they understand that it is a difficult system to regulate but there should be changes.
“I know that it’s hard to make it easier on everyone,” Richards said, “but I think sophomores and juniors should be allowed priority choice. It just makes sense. Those are the years that you’re figuring out your core classes. You’ve decided your major at that point, then you just need to get into the classes you need to make it work out in the end.”
However, Tom Richard, head of the KSC registrar’s office, said he feels the problem is not in the registration system, but in the choices that students make. “We’re trying to have students take level appropriate courses at the time they should so that as they move through, they are not competing,” Richard said, “This means that if you choose to put off certain lower level courses until you are a senior, that is your fault. You should’ve taken them at the point in time that you were given the opportunity.”
Richard continued, “Of course, when we first made the change it was the most difficult. However, each semester we go forward in time, it should all fall into place and we’ve seen it starting to. We’re always monitoring it.”
Richard said he feels the current registration system is only going to help students. He also said he feels it is important that students take the initiative when it comes to registering.
“It’s a constant struggle between trying to match the demand with the supply,” Richard said, “We try to do the best we can with the resources we have available, looking at the number of students we have as majors. We have hundreds of students on campus who have not declared their major, so how will we know how to prepare for the student’s needs? It’s a shared responsibility. Declare your major, register for classes and we will do the best we can to provide resources for you to meet your goals.”
Richard stated, “Our priority is always to get students out of college in four years — always. But that is something that students must work with me to get done.”
Stephanie McCann can be contacted at smccann@keene-equinox.com
