By Sarah Masker
Elm Staff Writer
Washington College has begun to emulate the practice of larger universities with the use of online course registration. Rather than begrudge this less personal process, students have, for the most part, been responding positively ever since word first came out about the modification.
“My first thought was, ‘Finally, WC is joining the 21st century,’” said senior Zechariah Rogers, a transfer student from the University of Delaware. “At UD I always registered for classes online. This system is much better than the old one.”
Rogers did harbor one complaint. “The search system to find your courses could be improved so that you don’t have to enter the exact class name and course number to locate it, but other than that the system was simple and efficient, as it should be.”
One of the many praises sung by students is the system’s smoothness and efficiency. “I’m happy about the switch,” said sophomore Matt Streeter. “This system gives much more time to talk to the advisors about options for not just this semester, but the future as well, and it also allows you to add and drop classes throughout the break if you come across problems. I didn’t have any problems. It’s pretty basic.”
Senior Krystin Jansen agrees. “I would consider this system much better than the old registration process, which took a great deal longer to complete. This system allows you to have more of an open, in-depth conversation with your advisor during your advising meeting, rather than only focusing on class times and scheduling. It also makes the student more responsible for his/her own educational plan, rather than overly-relying on their advisor.”
“I can see some trouble popping up with students who are irresponsible and don’t remember to do their registration, or who don’t pay enough attention to do it properly,” said sophomore Jillian Obermeier. “I didn’t have any trouble registering, and as an RA we attended training about the registration system so we can help our residents if they encounter problems. It’s all very straightforward and the registrar is still there if you have any trouble.” While sophomores, juniors, and seniors seem to be pleased with the transition to online registra- tion, the freshmen are feeling a little apprehensive. Although students have been warned not to skip classes during their assigned registration times, “I know some people are going to skip, and I feel like I’m being penalized for being responsible and going to class,” said Rachel Puglia. “I really hope I’m able to get all of my classes.” Freshman Caitlin Steele is concerned about the process as well. “It seems like there could be tech- nical difficulties, and it might turn out to be a big mess.” However, if registration goes as smoothly as
it has for the upperclassmen, the freshmen should have nothing to worry about. With the exception of a few sug- gestions for slight change, students seem to be having positive experi- ences with the electronic registration process. As Obermeier said, “We’re a pretty generation-savvy generation.”