This past week was class registration for the Spring 2018 semester. Every semester brings with it the issue of certain classes garnering a disproportionate amount of interest, resulting in more students seeking to take the class than there are available spots. This bars some students from enrolling in those classes. The second semester carries with it a unique burden for the majority of graduating seniors. Many still have requirements to complete, such as creative arts, science or even major requirements, and seniors need to get into classes that fulfill these University and major requirements in order to graduate in May. For these students, not getting into one class can be the difference between graduating on time and being forced to take a summer class — or even an additional semester — and this board urges the University to explore ways to avoid this.

Many classes are at risk for this issue. For example, there are not many courses that fulfill the University science requirement that do not require pre-requisites. A senior that has not been able to fit such a course into their schedule in previous semesters needs to be assured a spot in such a class during their last semester. This board recommends that seniors be given priority in class registration for their last semester. While there are certain coveted classes — such as biology lab — that have already sent notes to the demand list saying that seniors will be given priority, many courses have no such stated policy. A system that operates on a department-by-department basis is not an effective one. There should be an overarching University policy that allows seniors priority and ensures that they will be able to graduate on time. This board believes that seniors should have the earliest enrollment times on the first day of registration, ensuring that seniors lacking a vital graduation requirement are  able to take the one course they need in order to graduate on time. Even if you only need to fulfill one more requirement to graduate, having a late enrollment time can cause you to be held out of that class  and unable to graduate.

As the price of tuition has consistently increased year by year, this problem has only been exacerbated. Having to stay in college for additional time to fulfill the University requirements will be nearly impossible for some students due to the added financial burden. No student should need to pay for additional semesters because they were locked out of a course in their last semester.