“Positive changes” have been made to advisement and enrollment times according to Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Amy Miller.
Beginning this spring, advisement and registration will occur at the same time. Open enrollment will start on March 5.
In past semesters, advisement and registration has been separate. Most students would be advised and then wait for weeks for their registration window to open.
“Students get busy with classwork, jobs, organizations, and so on, so sometimes people would delay signing up for classes,” Miller said. “Other students might try to sign up when their window opened only to discover that the classes they selected with an advisor had filled up. What we are doing this semester is giving students a longer window to get advised and registered at the same time. So a student should be able to leave advisement registered for their summer and fall classes.”
Because she can now register for her classes during her appointment with her adviser, Emilee Hoang, freshman graphic design major, said she is most excited about not having to worry about signing up for classes the day they open.
Before students make their appointment, Miller suggests that students pre-schedule their desired classes and put them in their shopping carts on SOAR and prepare questions for their adviser.
“I know that some students might not know the best way to pick their classes, and we have lots of resources to help,” Miller said. “I suggest that students start with their Degree Progress Report (or their semester-by-semester guide) and make a list of classes they have not yet taken and need to.”
Another change to the advisement and registration process is the class schedule. The semester will be two weeks shorter with classes starting on Aug. 29 and ending Dec. 3-6.
“Because the semester is shorter, and the break is longer, class periods had to be lengthened to ensure that we had all required class contact minutes,” Miller said. “So students need to be aware that the meeting times for classes is very different next year – classes will be a bit longer, and breaks between periods are longer as well- great for moving across campus between classes or grabbing a snack.”
Friday classes will also no longer be readily available. Junior biological science major Holland Murphree said, “I think it’s good to get [my classes] done in advance, but I don’t like the no Friday classes. I think it promotes laziness. I know I have problems with time management, and that will make it more difficult to me.”
Summer and fall classes will be available on SOAR on Feb. 27. Open enrollment will begin on March 5.
