Jerry Foreman teaches his PHO 181 Communication Photography class on Dec. 1. Enough students signed up for next semester’s class to open another section. Bryan Kinkade / The Lumberjack

With the end of the fall semester quickly approaching, many students have started expressing concerns about the registration for spring classes, a process many would describe as frustrating.

Evan Hill, a freshman criminology and criminal justice major, described his experience with spring enrollment as confusing.

“I was actually able to enroll the day that most freshmen were able to enroll,” Hill said. “However, I didn’t know that I needed to do an early enrollment [appointment]. So, by the time I realized I had to [see an academic advisor], the latest time I could [make an appointment] was on the following Monday.”

Cassidy Elliott, a freshman athletic training major, said she also had a very difficult time enrolling.

“By the time my enrollment date came, most of the classes I wanted were full,” Elliott said. “I started building my schedule about a month before I could enroll. In the days leading up to signing up, all I could do was sit and watch my classes go from ‘open’ to ‘closed.’”

Elliott said while she understands that certain classes will fill up, there are so many students enrolling at one time that it makes getting what you need an unnecessary challenge.

“When it came time to enroll, I had to reorganize three of my five courses,” Elliott said. “I couldn’t take one of them at all.”

Laura Houdek, a senior biology and pre-med major, said her enrollment went rather smoothly.

“I was able to enroll on [Nov. 3], and this was around the same time as my friends,” Houdek said.

Houdek said she did hear complaints from a few of her peers about the challenge of building a schedule with the current process.

“It was difficult to get into some classes, especially online classes,” Houdek said.

According to Houdek, students with later registration dates would have trouble getting into classes they needed on campus.

“There are only a finite amount of reserved seats for campus students — for 60 seats open, 50 are reserved for non-Flagstaff residents — and if one had a late registration date, there’s no way they’d be able to claim one of the final 10 open seats, as they would already have been filled,” Houdek said.

Karen Pugliesi, the vice provost for Academic Affairs, said the current enrollment process allows those with the greatest needs, such as students looking to graduate, to receive the first choices of classes.
Most of the time, Pugliesi said, the students with the least room to maneuver in their schedules are those on the verge of graduating.

“Those are seniors, who are at the end of their last two terms and [need to get] required courses so they can finish their degrees,” Pugliesi said. “And it descends down the level of class standings.”

Pugliesi said she sympathizes with some of the frustrations students have with registration.

“I hope [students] understand that we certainly are aware that this has the potential to disadvantage students who also have requirements to fulfill,” Pugliesi said. “But keep in mind that, generally speaking, first-year students are going after different courses than what seniors and juniors are going after.”

Elliott said her desired classes were not those that most upperclassmen are competing for.

“I was enrolling in 100 and 200-level classes, and I couldn’t get into most of them,” Elliott said. “These aren’t the classes the seniors and juniors are after, and I need them to get into my program.”

Hill said his experience with enrollment as a freshman did not turn out as bad as he had expected, given he was late with his registration.

“For the most part, I was happy with my selection,” Hill said. “I got, for the most part, all the classes I wanted, but not necessarily at the times I wanted.”