Course registration for the 2022 fall semester at Keene State College occurred on April 4-7. Along with this, comes stress for students trying to plan ahead to stay on course to graduate in four years or less.
The current registration process is based on credits in order of lowest to highest. A lot of the upperclassmen are assigned to the later days, when they are often the ones that need to get into specific courses in order to graduate. Students who change majors or declare late often get the short end of the stick when trying to make up time to graduate in four years.
The Equinox finds the registration system backwards and in need of reevaluation.
Some students plan their courses going ahead multiple semesters, especially students who double major, switch majors or declare later in their college careers. There is a high probability that college students change their major and if they do late in the game, they might have a hard time getting the credits they need to graduate on time.
This was only worsened by the pandemic. Limited room capacities restricted professors from allowing an overflow of students into their class. Meaning, a class with 20 seats, for example, was restricted to that capacity, with no possibility of letting extra students in. This only made the course registration problems worse, as it took away some freedom for professors to be flexible in their seat capacity.
Upper level courses, generally, have a small number of seats available and specific semesters they run. There are some courses that only run on odd or even years and others that are fall or spring only.
The juniors and seniors that take those courses often have to fight for their spot just to keep their graduation goals on track. Students that are trying to graduate in four years have to stay multiple semesters ahead, constantly monitoring when or if their required courses are running in order to maintain their progress. It’s difficult to maintain a graduation plan when a course only runs in the spring semesters with 20 available seats. It’s even more difficult when seniors are the last people to register for courses at KSC.
This should be reversed. Upperclassmen, who have less opportunities to find courses that fill requirements, should get priority registration times. First-year students and sophomores have the breathing room in their planning to afford not getting into a class or two.
Athletes at Keene State College, regardless of credits or class standing, are scheduled to register their courses the very first day allowed. The Equinox understands athletes have a very jam-packed schedule when in season, along with off season workouts and practices, play a major role in how they schedule their courses. Their practices and games are scheduled far in advance and student athletes need to arrange their schedules accordingly. We recognize the hard work of the athletes, but this same privilege should be granted to upperclassmen.
The Equinox recognizes that not getting the courses you want is a part of college, but the amount of people we have heard don’t get their major requirement credits is disheartening and frustrating. Upperclassmen shouldn’t have their plans derailed because they couldn’t get one course registered.
