Waitlisting: have opinions changed?
As students return for another semester at Utah State University, so does the recently implemented waitlist feature.
Introduced for fall semester 2010, the feature allows students the option of being placed on a waitlist if a class is full. Once on the list, students wait for notification that a spot has opened in the class.
The notification currently comes by e-mail and informs students that they have a 24-hour time frame in which they must register for the open spot before it is offered to the next student on the list.
After previously meeting with groups varying from students, faculty, and advisers, registrar John Mortensen said it was decided this would be a fair way to serve students on a “first come, first serve basis.”
Mortensen said response to the waitlist has been mostly positive. Mortensen said it was considered that rank should overrule students waiting for a class. This would mean a senior trying to register for a full class would override a junior or sophomore and take the open position even if they were located lower on the list.
However, there was a consensus agreeing that priority registration gives higher-ranked students opportunity to be admitted into classes before other students and it would be best to continue on that first come, first served basis.
Even with the positive response, Mortensen said the feature is still “a work in progress” and has been open to suggestions and ideas for how the system could improve.
“I am glad this feature has become a part of registering because it makes the whole process more organized,” said Haley Austin, a junior in interior design.
Austin also said while she feels getting into classes is a bit more difficult, the new process is “definitely more fair.” She said that even with an add/drop slip in your hand on the first day of class, you weren’t ever guaranteed a spot in the class.
Ashley Hillam, junior in art, had an experience supporting Austin’s claim.
“I once went to class the first day, with my add/drop slip. But because so many students came, the professor just denied all of us,” said Hillam. “Usually professors are really good about trying to get you into their class, but you can’t always rely on that.”
The waitlist “is a better system than the add/drop slips. I believe it is a step in the right direction,” Hillam said.
Hillam also said one problem is that not enough sections of a certain class are offered.
Mortensen said waitlisting can help solve that issue. Every week Mortensen compiles a report that includes data on how many individual students are enrolled and waitlisted for a class and the date the class reaches capacity. He then sends it to the department head of each college.
Mortensen said this informs each department of how fast and how in demand some courses are. Mortensen has found that some department heads have been responsive and accommodating.
Katie Parker, junior in exercise science said, “I have found the waitlist system useful and have been able to get in a few of my classes as a result.The only thing I wish was different was a 48-hour time allotment instead of 24.”
Parker said she was once out of town and missed her e-mail notification resulting in losing her opportunity to add a class she wanted to register for.
Addie Lott, an undeclared sophomore, was positive about the waitlist even after missing her chance to add a class.
“It’s a good idea. It gives you a chance to get into your classes by notifying you when there is an opening, but that time frame is too short,” she said.
Mortensen said one of the largest concerns he hears are from those who were late to respond to a notification. He said when he discovered some schools utilize their emergency systems to notify students of a waitlist opening via phone, it was brought up as a suggestion. However, Mortensen said for now, this option is simply being explored.
Lott was able to register for her class by attending the first class and receiving a signature from art professor Craig Law.
In regards to the waitlist feature, Law said, “It seems to work, but a lot of students don’t seem to come the first day. The ones that show up are the ones I pay attention to.”
Law said the old system required his students to see a secretary before he could even sign students into his course. Law said the waitlist gives students more control.
This may be why Law is part of the majority of professors who have not opted out of using the waitlist feature. Mortensen said faculty members who do choose to opt out of the feature, do so because they want to fill any openings by their own system and preference of who they want to accept.
– jessie.a.sweat@aggiemail.usu.edu