Spring registration is success for Registrar

By Andrew Ta     11/15/12 6:00pm

By Monday night, the statuses of frustrated Rice students who had just received their course registration results after the first full run of a new registration system filled Facebook.

According to Registrar David Tenney (Sid '87), however, 75 percent of first-choice selections were fulfilled, and of the rejected 25 percent, more than half were due to reasons unrelated to the new system, such as time conflicts with other classes or unmet prerequisites. 

Tenney said that prior to the add/drop period, seniors had gotten into 82 percent of their first selections; juniors, 75; sophomores, 72; and freshmen, 63.

---

---

Tenney said he believes the new system, which prioritizes students solely by matriculation year, except in the case of transfer students, achieved its goal of reducing stress and increasing equity in the course registration process.

"Previously, on the Sunday night of registration week, students would be split into over 20 groups based on hours in order to normalize system load - only 300 students at a time," Tenney said. "From 5 p.m. to around 10 p.m., in increments of 15 minutes, each group would get to register. Seniors with many hours got [their] first choices for everything, whereas freshmen with no credit, nothing."

According to Tenney, this is the first time statistics have been possible because previously, as soon as a course was full, it was locked, and no one could indicate demand.

"In the past, we didn't have this data to measure demand," Tenney said. "Everything was anecdotal. Now we know, for example, that MUSI 117, which only has two sections of 19 seats each, had a demand of 82 and 71, respectively. Economics, psychology and sociology are seeing a lot of demand."

Tenney said departments are being approached about responding to the demand for more seats or more sections of classes.

"Will departments add more sections? That's their call," Tenney said. "Some are responding, though. Last semester, the [Department of Sociology] added another section of SOCI 101 after seeing the length of the waitlist, and based on the numbers this semester, they're thinking of doing it again."

Tenney said input from students helped identify flaws in the system.

"Priority within each group is technically difficult," Tenney said. "We would essentially be back to too many groups. We want to keep it simple, by year of study. Keep in mind that it's randomized for every course number, so unlike the old system, no one student is going to get everything unless they're lucky."

One flaw involving corequisite courses was dealt with by the Office of the Registrar on an individual basis, Tenney said.

"The system specifically allowed students to get a lab without a class or vice versa," Tenney said. "This was to allow for maximum flexibility. After results came out, I personally sent emails to students with only one or the other, 108 in total, and asked them to sign up for the corequisite course as soon as add/drop began. They'll be able to get their necessary courses. Currently, there's no way to have corequisites joined together."

According to Tenney, student emails specifically alerted him to a potential future enhancement to the system regarding cross-listed courses, which currently give undue priority to those who [register] for one of the cross-listed courses over the equivalent course under a different course number.

"I received some messages about cross-listed courses, like ANTH 200 and LING 200, which are essentially the same course [but have different course numbers]," Tenney said. "They should be viewed as one course so that those who registered for one have an equal chance of getting it as those who register for the other. I've already made a request to Bob Truscott, the system developer."

Tenney said Rice students studying abroad in the fall who planned to come back next semester particularly enjoyed the new system.

"Previously, they would have to log in at 5:00 p.m. our time, which might be the early morning for them," Tenney said. "Many had intermittent Internet service. With the new system, they had 11 days to comfortably arrange their shopping cart then let the system do its work."

Tenney said those who were unsatisfied with the results should not panic, but instead ensure they put themselves on waitlists during the add/drop period.

"Let the process work," Tenney said. "History has shown that there's a tremendous amount of add/drop activity between registration and the end of the first week of classes. Rice students like to shop."

Tenney said those worried about major or graduation requirements should talk to the instructor for the course.

"Many reserve the right to add who they want," Tenney said. "In my time at Rice, I've never seen anyone not graduate because they couldn't get into a course they needed."

In the short term, some courses will increase their caps, Tenney said.

Jones College sophomore Abigail Wright said that although she was wary of the system, she enjoyed its features.

"I got all but one of my classes for next semester, but I know [others] who weren't so lucky," Wright said. "It was really cool [though] to be able to watch the classes fill up and the breakdown of the registration sections. It was great how you could just plug in a second choice without having to frantically find another CRN."

Martel College junior Miri Shidate said she felt the new system was unfair.

"Most Rice kids do come from good districts with schools that offered lots of [Advanced Placement courses], and if they're hardworking and challenged themselves, [they should be rewarded]," Shidate said. "The ones who didn't have credit will be taking many introductory classes during freshman and sophomore years anyway, and those aren't competitive to get in. They aren't really losing anything. The new system punishes those who take more hours every semester because they have a busy major or are getting multiple majors."

Wiess College Senator Kristina Vu said the Student Association did not have much choice regarding the system.

"The SA didn't have any choice in whether or not the new system would be implemented," Vu, a sophomore, said. "The faculty made that pretty clear to us. However, they offered to listen to our feedback on certain details, such as how long the waiting period should be before add/drops were allowed."

Baker College junior Matt Kindy said the main problem was class availability.

"There just aren't enough professors, classes [or] sections," Kindy said. "Regardless, the way to fix it is to increase classes or increase class size, and we know [the administration] won't do the latter."

Martel College sophomore John Tighe said he did not get any of the courses he signed up for.

Tighe said he had signed up for several economics classes, SPAN 301 and two business classes, but only got into a lottery for Business Communications.

"I'm pretty shocked at the state of the available [economics] courses," Tighe said. "There's exactly one 400-level [economics] course I can reasonably take this semester."

---