To start off the spring semester, the University adopted a new electronic drop/add system. Rather than using the old paper format, students now log into their e-portfolio, where they can add enrollment requests and write notes to professors of their classes of interest.
“The new drop/add system allows students to view the lists of classes with seats available and up-to-date enrollment numbers. Usually the case was that students would wait until the last day of drop/add to take or not take a class, taking away the spot that another student might want,” said Registrar Anna van der Berg. “For this new system to work, students have to give up the seats they don’t want, giving another student a chance, hopefully this can go on, like a domino effect.”
The new electronic drop/add system more or less replicates the old paper system, with sped up timing and up-to-date information, but students have mixed responses.
“The first time I got the letter from the Registrar, I was confused,” said Yogi Koasanto ’04. “[I thought,] we’re too old for this. It’s my last semester here and the old system’s working well. But it’s cool now, because I like the fact that we can just add and drop our classes anytime. And no more of those long lines in the Registrar’s office at the end of the drop/add period.”
Carly Neidorf ’05 agreed. “It works out nicely. It’s convenient to not run around trying to get signatures,” she said. “I liked the fact that the old system seemed to be more of our responsibility though, to have an actual piece of paper, as opposed to waiting for something to pop out of the computer; it creates nervousness.”
“It’s nice because we can do everything from our rooms,” said Flavia de Souza ’05. “I prefer this system. It’s just more on my part to understand and get used to it. The negative thing is that we have to wait for the professor to add us.”
Many students were frustrated by the element of waiting.
“The new system is the worst thing ever,” said Axzyr de Loen ’07. “Usually we would know off-hand if we got into a class or not. Now we can’t tell quickly whether or not we get the class, and we end up having to run around finding that one last class.”
“You’re not notified right away if a professor doesn’t add you to a class,” said Ashraf Rijal ’07. “In one sense, the new system is easier; it’s a fair and easy way of doing things.”
The new drop/add system drew more attention than usual to Wesleyan’s registration system overall.
“I had twelve bookmarked classes during registration; I got none. Only during advisor authorization did I get one class that I was really interested in,” said Brittany Speisman ’07, who had eight enrollment requests in her e-portfolio. “In the future, it might be better; but for now, the new drop/add system caused more anxiety for me. Before this we would know right away whether we’re in or not.”
Despite mixed responses from students, van der Berg said that the feedback from the faculty regarding the new system has been very positive.
“They found the new system to be very easy once they understood,” said van der Berg.
“I think it’s a good system. I liked, for example, being able to admit students to my seminar when I realized I had room for them: this meant that I didn’t have to wonder whether they could get in or not, and they could make better informed decisions about their schedules,” said American Studies Professor Claire B. Potter. “It does occur to me, however, that Wesleyan might want to discuss an actual shopping period like many universities have. It does little good to know where there are open seats during drop/add if students can’t actually sit in them.”
Potter sees the new system as a potential gateway for discussion about other registration issues.
“The other thing that has struck me is our legendary course access problem: students persistently trying to get into classes that are already full, rather than looking for classes they have not yet considered that have seats,” she said. “Now that evidence is available, it seems to me we can have a discussion about class access that focuses on the content of our curriculum and/or a university ethic that promotes more flexible intellectual interest on the part of the students.”
According to van der Berg, drop/add will end on Feb. 4th at 9 a.m. By that time, students will receive an e-mail confirming their schedules.
Until that day comes, many will remain concerned about their classes.
“The new system is anxiety producing, because it seems like nobody really knows what’s going on, although the information of classes with seats available was very helpful,” said Sam Kaplan ’07. “It worked out well for the most part though, because I got all my classes.”
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