New registration fee procedures plague Bruins
Dropping of classes, upcoming late fee irritates students
By Vicki Garcia
If you noticed a change in registration procedures this quarter
you are not alone.
Michael Fairchild, a second-year undeclared student, returned
from winter break and called URSA on the first day of classes only
to find out that all his 16 units had been dropped.
An estimated 1,000 other students, just like Fairchild, had
their classes dropped for not paying their registration fees before
first week began on Jan. 5.
Although this quarter’s initial fee payment deadline is no
different than any other, students found that classes were dropped
one week earlier than before. In addition to this change, the
registrars office will begin charging a $50 late fee for payments
received after the March 20 deadline.
"It’s always been that I had until the end of the first week of
classes (to pay fees)," Fairchild said. Prior to his leaving town,
Fairchild received his Student Billing And Receivable (SBAR)
statement informing him that his registration fees would be due in
full , but he never received a statement indicating how much he
really owed after his financial aid was deducted from the
account.
Despite the confusion over his billing statement, Fairchild’s
classes were dropped, and he found himself adjusting to a different
schedule.
Although many students think the dropping of their classes was
inconvenient, officials at the registrar’s office said they did
everything they could in order to inform students of the
changes.
"We’re not trying to confuse people," said Assistant Registrar
Cathy Lindstrom. "Normally we don’t publicize deadlines on URSA but
this time we did and they will be publicized again for spring," she
added.
According to her records, on any given quarter approximately 700
students have their classes dropped for not paying their fees. The
majority of these students, Lindstrom noted, fail to enroll for the
quarter entirely and take a leave of absence.
When enrollment rates were checked on Jan. 5, Lindstrom
estimates that 30,000 students were enrolled, which was above
average compared to past quarters. She further estimated that only
about 1,000 students had their classes dropped, indicating that
drop rates were not much higher than usual.
But the students affected this quarter said their schedules were
set back significantly.
"It sucked and was a pain in the ass," senior sociology student
Edwin Egelsee stated bluntly. Egelsee had five classes dropped due
to a financial aid mix-up.
Egelsee was initially alarmed because two of his classes with
limited enrollment were necessary for graduation this quarter.
After speaking with his professors, Egelsee considered himself
fortunate to be allowed back in.
"It was a very uncomfortable situation," said Egelsee, who said
he had to stand in at least five lines and wait until Wednesday of
the second week of classes in order to re-enroll.
According to Associate Registrar Anita Cotter , who is better
known as the voice of URSA, decisions to suspend the $50 late fee
and extend registration fee deadlines in the past were made because
of the initial heavy volume in processing on the SBAR accounts. Now
that the computerized system is fully implemented and familiar to
students and faculty, administrators decided to revert back to
former procedures and bump the final deadline up a week.
Although some students have pointed to inaccurate fee payment
deadlines in unofficial publications such as the Mortar Board and
UCLA community directory, Cotter said that students "should believe
what the lady on URSA tells them."
Cotter also added that students can browse the official campus
calendar through the university’s World Wide Web site rather than
relying on publications that may be outdated. UCLA’s home page can
be located at http://www.ucla.edu.Comments to
webmaster@db.asucla.ucla.edu