Registration system changed

After years of discussion about the perceived inequity of the registration procedure, administrators have updated the system that determines the order in which students choose their classes.

Registration times for the fall 2003 semester were assigned to students randomly within each class, instead of being based on the number of credits a student has taken.

In the past, registration times were determined through a process which gave students with a larger number of credits the opportunity to register first. Upperclassmen picked first, but within each class, students were placed into subgroups, depending on how many credits they had earned. Registration times for the students in each subgroup were then randomized. Thus, a senior with the most credits would be in the first subgroup to chose, but not necessarily have the best time.

When students begin next week to register for the fall 2004 semester, rising seniors will still pick first. However, the registration times have been randomly assigned throughout each class, and the subgroups have been eliminated.

"[The system] was what it was and we didn't think it was equitable," said Senior Class Dean Jeanne Dillon. "I think it's a worthy experiment. We are giving people an equal shot."

Under the old system, administrators faced concerns from students who could not afford to take classes over the summer, did not have Advanced Placement credits from high school, or who needed to work and were unable to take a large number of classes.

While the new system does even out the playing field, it may do so at the expense of students who have worked hard to take a large number of classes. "I think if you work hard and go the extra mile you should be rewarded," said sophomore Eric Paskowski. "I think there is financial aid for summer programs. There will always be a way to finance education."

Although registration is important, the schedule that students set before classes begin is in no way final. An average of 13,000 schedule changes are made during the first few weeks of class, suggesting that ultimately, an early registration time is not required for a good schedule.

In fact, a number of students do not even bother to register at all, Dillon said. "One of the other things we are trying to get across is that you are supposed to register," she said.

The plan to change the registration system has been in the works for over a decade, according to Dillon. And the desire to do so "was not something that the class deans decided," she said. "Pretty much everybody wanted to."

The move of student services to Dowling Hall was part of the impetus for the change, according to Dillon, because it helped bring together dialogue on student services about different issues. Another contributing factor was the naming of Joanne Smith as the acting registrar last fall. In the past, the registrar existed in name only, and therefore no one person could act as the gatekeeper of student records.

"Now there is someone who can take responsibility for the registration change," Smith said.

During winter break, Smith set up a system to assign registration times with Tufts Computing and Communications Services.

"We heard a lot of students complain about [the old system]," Smith said. "This way, it's just more fair."