On Nov. 7, the Spring 2020 semester course registration reopened and will remain open through Jan. 27. Registration opened over a month earlier than it had in previous years and also opened earlier than it was initially planned for this year.

This board commends the University for making these changes that help make it easier for students to plan out their future semester schedules.This change not only gives students more time to adjust their schedules accordingly, but also greatly simplifies the demand list process. Students will no longer be removed from demand lists between registration periods, so they no longer need to put themselves back on the demand list when regular registration starts. Additionally, students do not need to contact the Office of the Registrar in order to get off demand lists. Each department will also have a better idea of class enrollment and will be able to inform professors and graduate teaching assistants if any scheduling changes needed to be made earlier. 

 At the same time, this board encourages the administration to further improve upon the schedule of classes and registration system to reduce the confusion and inconvenience. Starting this fall semester, a series of six-week Physical Education courses were rolled out, replacing the previous system of semester-long PE courses. However, many of these courses happen during times that conflict with popular academic class blocks, making it difficult for students to sign up for any of them if they are not available for those periods. The current class search systems can also cause inconvenience for the students. 

Classes from certain overlapping programs, such as the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department and the Hebrew department, sometimes show up separately on the websites. Clarifying the labels of the courses can greatly help students, especially ones who are not yet familiar with the system, to find classes that are similar but may be categorized separately and to plan out their academic schedule effectively. 

Each course registration can be very stressful for students because it directly affects one eighth of their college experience. The University is commendable for making the registration process more transparent and efficient for both the students and departments. At the same time, this board hopes to see more efforts in  improving the schedule of classes and registration system.