It was just that time of the year again when hundreds of returning students flocked to their academic advisors for guidance on picking courses in the coming semesters. However, some may not know the ins and outs of the process that determines their academic futures.
This year, under the leadership of Keene State’s new Registrar Laura Provost, the office offered extended hours during the week of April 8, registration week for a majority of students.
Student Information Systems Specialist Jennifer Zoll said in the past the office ran hours from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., but this year offered hours from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the week.
“We were done with registration priorities by Wednesday morning which meant everyone got to register sooner and we stretched out the amount of students that can register at a time so everyone could sooner have a better picture of what classes were full and where they needed schedule adjustment forms,” Zoll said.
While most students had registration opened up to them in the past week, some students got priority registration.
Students registered with the Office of Disability Services receive the first priority, while those enrolled in the Morris-August Honors Program get second priority and student-athletes get third priority.
In terms of overall class priorities, current first-year students, followed by seniors, then juniors and then sophomores receive registration times in that order.
Zoll said the Keene State Senate sets the priority standards the office follows.
The leading question from students during the week was if they could change their time.
“The answer is no,” Provost said. “A lot of that comes from the fact they think that, okay if your time is 9:05 [a.m.] that you have to do it then, that just means the time that they’re prioritized is the time it opens up so they can register any time after that,” she explained.
With the advent of online self-service, Zoll said there are a few reasons why students would not be able to register quickly.
In order to best support students and release information practically, the Registrar’s Office partners with other offices to ensure efficiency.
“We’ve collaborated with [Student Academic Support Services] and with the director of enrollment [to] organize the messaging … we’re also talking about summer registration … it’s been a collaboration but it seems to have worked well,” Provost said.
James Beeby, provost and vice president of academic affairs, said there are many factors when it comes to deciding what courses to run, or not run each semester.
Beeby explained the number of students in a particular major, the overall number of students on campus, what has been run historically and the fill rate of courses determines the judgments.
“The first thing that we think about really is what do the students need in order to progress through their degrees and get the classes that they need for their majors or for their ISP program requirements,” Beeby said.
Additionally, Beeby said students who run into difficulty staying on track for their degree should reach out to their academic advisor, SASS or the professor teaching the course they need.
“We’ve had some challenges … in the past, we’re having a lot fewer challenges than we’ve had in the past which is a good sign and we’re always looking to see how we can make it better for students,” Beeby said.
One of the challenges academic affairs still faces when looking at ensuring students get the courses they need is underutilized time blocks.
“For example, the eight o’clock time slot is not as popular for some students, and it would be nice if we could have more students taking those classes, that would help us,” Beeby said.
Another option to maintain or accelerate a student’s degree completion is summer courses, Beeby noted.
“We know they’re high quality, all those classes help with progression through degree or ISP [Integrative Studies Program] requirements, and I think students should think about ‘Maybe I’ll take one, two, or maybe three summer courses,’ and that will help them stay on track and make sure they can graduate on time,” he said.
Nathan Hope can be contacted at
nhope@kscequinox.com
