Freshman courses fill quickly; registrar says situation normal
Underclassmen frustrated, forced to hold off on Constitution, Political Economy for now
Sarah Leitner
Issue date: 11/19/09 Section: News
Pre-registration woes were heard across campus as freshmen raced to register for the classes they wanted to take next semester.
Freshman Lauren Burt said she and her roommate woke up and the same time to register and both clicked on the submit button on WebAdvisor simultaneously. While her roommate got every class that she wanted, Burt's computer loaded for two and a half hours.
"I was finally told to go to the registrar's office and fill out a card," she said. "But by that time all the classes I wanted were full."
Core courses such as Introduction to Political Economy and U.S. Constitution have also been filling up quickly, not leaving much room for sophomores, let alone freshmen.
Professor of Political Economy Gary Wolfram said there are a lot more upperclassmen enrolled in Introduction to Political Economy than there used to be.
"This semester 20 out of 32 students are upperclassmen," he said. "It was originally designed to be a freshmen and sophomore class, but what happens because the juniors and seniors can enroll before the freshmen and sophomores is it's filling up with juniors and seniors."
Wolfram said he hopes to talk to Registrar Doug McArthur to reserve spots in the class for freshmen and sophomores.
"That was difficult to do before we had online registration, but I suspect we can do that now," he said.
Associate Professor of Political Science Mickey Craig said that they have already limited the number of upperclassmen in the Constitution classes. With one political science professor taking leave and another on sabbatical, the department is offering one fewer Constitution section than normal, and classes are filling up quickly.
"Four juniors and seniors are permitted in the class," Craig said. "We set the limit at 23, but if a professor wants to let it go higher than that then they can. Ideally we would keep it at 18 to 20 students."
Both Craig and Wolfram said that the demand for the core classes is not unusual.
Freshman Lauren Burt said she and her roommate woke up and the same time to register and both clicked on the submit button on WebAdvisor simultaneously. While her roommate got every class that she wanted, Burt's computer loaded for two and a half hours.
"I was finally told to go to the registrar's office and fill out a card," she said. "But by that time all the classes I wanted were full."
Core courses such as Introduction to Political Economy and U.S. Constitution have also been filling up quickly, not leaving much room for sophomores, let alone freshmen.
Professor of Political Economy Gary Wolfram said there are a lot more upperclassmen enrolled in Introduction to Political Economy than there used to be.
"This semester 20 out of 32 students are upperclassmen," he said. "It was originally designed to be a freshmen and sophomore class, but what happens because the juniors and seniors can enroll before the freshmen and sophomores is it's filling up with juniors and seniors."
Wolfram said he hopes to talk to Registrar Doug McArthur to reserve spots in the class for freshmen and sophomores.
"That was difficult to do before we had online registration, but I suspect we can do that now," he said.
Associate Professor of Political Science Mickey Craig said that they have already limited the number of upperclassmen in the Constitution classes. With one political science professor taking leave and another on sabbatical, the department is offering one fewer Constitution section than normal, and classes are filling up quickly.
"Four juniors and seniors are permitted in the class," Craig said. "We set the limit at 23, but if a professor wants to let it go higher than that then they can. Ideally we would keep it at 18 to 20 students."
Both Craig and Wolfram said that the demand for the core classes is not unusual.
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