Enrollment changes for seniors

Correction: The original version of this article contained an error. Jason Youdeem is an ASK Peer Counselor.

Starting winter quarter, graduating seniors will have earlier enrollment appointments than students with senior standing who are not graduating.

Under the new system, announced on Oct. 25, students who have submitted their expected term of graduation and who have completed 160 units will be considered graduating seniors if their term of graduation is within the next two quarters, according to the UCLA Registrar’s Office. These students will be able to enroll before seniors without candidacy declaration or those with fewer than 160 units.

Enrollment times for winter quarter will be released Wednesday.

There is no effect on seniors who have not declared already this quarter, said Anita Cotter, university registrar of the University Registrar’s Office.

“Seniors who are graduating obviously have a need to get out right away,” said Corey Hollis, director of college academic counseling. “On the other hand, there are many students with Advanced Placement and community college credit who have more than 160 units but are not close to graduating.”

Because enrollment times are randomly assigned within each category, graduating seniors are sometimes given worse times than underclassmen who have attained senior standing through just their unit count, Hollis said.

“We never want to keep people in (UCLA) just because they can’t get their classes,” she added.

For winter quarter last year, 1,704 students who were not planning on graduating were assigned enrollment appointment times within the bracket of graduating senior, and the number grew to 2,973 in the spring, Cotter said.

The idea to prioritize graduating seniors came from Jason Youdeem, a fourth-year global studies student and graduating senior, who said he recognized problems with enrollment from his previous experiences as an orientation and ASK Peer Counselor. Youdeem ran for Academic Affairs commissioner last year, and enrollment revamp was part of his platform.

“Previously, students were classified as a graduating senior if they completed more than 160 units,” Youdeem said. “In order to graduate, you need a minimum of 180 units and a maximum of 216.

There’s a huge unit gap between that 160 and when you actually graduate.”

Those students who want to be eligible for the first level of enrollment need to declare their candidacy by the time the enrollment appointments come around, said Cathy Lindstrom, associate registrar of the University Registrar’s Office.

Students can declare their candidacy as early as freshman year, Youdeem said. But if students wait to declare the same quarter they are graduating, they must declare by the end of Week 2.

Students are charged a fine for every time they change their declaration after they reach the 160-unit mark.

Students should declare as soon as they know when they want to graduate, Hollis said. The degree expected term form can be accessed through URSA.

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