Ott is a sophomore writing and history double major and can be reached at [email protected]
The first time you register, it’s pretty easy. You have your orientation leaders to help you pick the balance of courses for your major and Areas of Inquiry that you need for your first semester. The second time you register, you notice that the more hours you have, the sooner you can register, which means things should get easier and easier and easier. Except they don’t.
You wake up at what feels like the crack of dawn, boot up your computer, hope the Internet is working, enter the course numbers and find out that you can’t get into half of your dream schedule because it’s filled or it’s temporarily closed to you due to your major.
That is why for many students, registration is one of, if not the most, frustrating thing to do in blueView. There are multiple improvements that I think can be made to make things easier on students.
Number one: On the Registration or “Add/Drop Classes” page, display the times of the classes they’ve signed up/have been waitlisted for. If students have easy access to the time of the courses they’re already in, it’ll be easier for them to figure out what times work best as far as squeezing in other classes is concerned.
Number two: Pay attention to supply and demand. There are multiple factors that go into deciding how many sections of a course are open. However, if one course fills up early, Drake University should really consider opening another section, especially since a lot of these classes are AOI or honors courses that students need to graduate. This gets especially problematic with the Artistic Experience AOI, where the majority of classes are art, music and theater classes that are initially closed, and may fill up before the majority of students have a chance.
Number three: Advertise the classes that aren’t full a bit more. I got an email about a course on Sustainable Development, I hadn’t considered it when I looked at the possible courses I can take for my Engaged Citizen AOI. But looking at in the email made it seem fun.
