Enrollment system needs change

It’s that time of year again.

Halloween stuff is cluttering Big Lots on massive markdowns, the
air is colder and the Christmas jingles are playing in department
stores. Though I wish this only meant that winter break is fast
approaching, it also signals the move toward winter quarter
classes. The first pass for course registrations is already just
around the corner.

Even while we are caught up in midterms, we have to think about
a set of yet more classes. It can be the perfect escape into an
untainted quarter, and I love the quarter system for that.

What I do not love, however, is actually registering for
classes. As a self-proclaimed double major (I have yet to apply for
my second major. ) I am on a tight schedule for the next two years.
And now I have to deal with the number of offered classes becoming
scarce.

I worry about graduating. I know the university experience is
broader than just academics, but really, graduating is still
slightly important.

For the university system to push us through in four years by
imposing everything from expected cumulative progress requirements
and a frustrating unit cap to possible extra fees for staying
longer, it’s surprising that there aren’t even enough
classes offered for comfort.

I’ve heard many theories from friends as to why UCLA would
do this. Some blame the economy, some say the administration
doesn’t care, others say professors don’t teach enough
classes. To be fair, I took into consideration that these friends
might be suffering from stress-related paranoia, but rumors still
fill the lack of an official explanation.

So I went to Murphy in search of that explanation.

“I don’t know that there are any (statistics on
class offerings),” said Anita Cotter, the associate
university registrar. She pointed out that it is difficult to even
contemplate ““ there are so many factors to consider, between
the sizes of discussion sections, course sizes, lower-division
versus upper-division classes and the renumbering of classes whose
definitions change.

Maybe, then, the solution is not in offering more classes, but
in a more effective registration system.

Harvard and Yale, for example, have a tradition where they
“shop” for classes at the beginning of the semester.
Instead of “pre-registering” for the next quarter
halfway into the first, they sit in on as many classes as they want
in the first couple of weeks.

In the ideal situation, the students have already researched the
class syllabus and professor ““ the shopping period is more
about experiencing the professors’ style and reconciling what
they expect of the subject compared to what it actually entails. It
also gives students a chance to experiment with classes. And
isn’t that what college is all about?

Of course, professors and the administration often find fault
with this system. According to the Yale Herald and the Daily
Princetonian, many faculty members at Harvard and Yale found the
system chaotic and annoyingly disruptive. Harvard actually tried to
abolish the system last year, but 1,250 students signed a petition
requesting the system stay in place because of its benefit to their
education.

It’s tempting to believe our quarter system is too short
to include a shopping period. But honestly, we already use the
system in a similar manner. Most students I speak with admit they
sign up for as many classes as they can, then drop the ones they
don’t like. The problem with this is that those classes fill
up too fast, causing a backlog in the system. Then other students
don’t get the classes they need and instead sign up for
fillers in fear of dropping below minimum progress
requirements.

Zero Week is already chaotic for this reason, and a shopping
period would save us a lot of sign-up headaches. As for being on
the quick quarter system, we’re used to condensing a lot into
a small amount of time, and this would certainly be no
exception.

Besides, even if it’s a logistical nightmare, perhaps we
could find a middle ground. Perhaps pre-registration could be more
flexible, allowing us to tentatively register for up to six
classes. Maybe we could rank which classes are those that
we’re most likely to keep.

The ASK Peer Counselor I talked to, though, was not convinced of
the effectiveness of the idea. Trang Tran felt that, while
it’s a good idea, it would just be superfluous. She said
people drop classes because they slack off or have bad midterm
scores, rather than because of course content.

Maybe she’s right to a certain extent, but at least the
number of students dropping a class as a way to shop would, well,
drop.

Students deserve a richer selection of classes, and offering a
shopping period would alleviate the stress of signing up for
classes. I’m not asking for a revolution. I just want a
better registration experience.

Already mapped out your registration strategy and looking
for something else to procrastinate with? E-mail Hashem at
nhashem@media.ucla.edu.

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