Registration needs a facelift

With spring registration fast approaching, another wave of headaches is about to begin. Forget about those mysterious bursar holds or advisors that forget to approve their students. Between next week and the start of next semester, most of the school will realize that they need to tweak their schedules in some way.

While Tufts' move to online registration eliminated the aggravation of having to wait in a line outside Eaton, the University's handling of add/drops remains archaic. Simply switching out of one class and into another requires three signatures from three different people, not to mention a trip to Dowling Hall.

The Ex College system just makes things worse. Though the program's dynamic course selection requires registering at the beginning of the semester, the delay causes more headaches with add/drops _ not to mention that the Ex College hasn't followed the rest of the University in implementing online registration.

Tufts should begin reworking the add/drop process so that signatures and form submission can be accomplished electronically, much as an advisor's approval is posted online. Although seeking out a professor may still be necessary, in cases like when a student cannot meet class prerequisites but still wants to enroll, the change would cover most situations and eliminate the usual rushing around during the first week of school.

An excuse that Tufts gives for hesitating to put add/drop online is that professors should know who is dropping out of their class so they know the space is open. But certainly it would be simple to devise a computer program that e-mails professors when a student drops the class. This would eliminate much uncertainty during the first week of classes about which students are enrolled and how many spaces are open.

The University should also look into extending the period of time available for changes to classes selected in online registration. The current system only allows such adjustments to be made within 16 business hours of a student's initial registration time. However, there appears to be no compelling reason for the limit, and many area schools allow schedule changes far into semester breaks.

The process of class registration has undoubtedly improved since the online system was implemented. But more work is still needed to effectively ease the registration strain.