OUR VIEW: Registrar’s Office a necessary evil

At the beginning and end of every semester a long, inching line zig zags its way out of the Registrar’s Office, down the hall and out towards the Sunburst Lounge. Any student who wants to add or drop a class, pay a fee, order a transcript, file a leave of absence, or graduate on time has felt the dread of filing like a herd of cattle along that daunting line only to reach the front and be told he or she is in the wrong office or could do whatever was needed online. It’s a favorite gripe of students.

Well, get over it.

Students all across the country have the same issues. And what’s more, though some of what needs to be done at the Registrar’s office is time-sensitive, and creates congestion at certain times of the year, most of the time there are only two or three people waiting to be helped. By not waiting until the last minute a lot of time can be saved.

Surely the Registrar’s Office is doing its best. In fact, read the front page of today’s paper to find out what changes the new Registrar is making to chop line lengths. Some students speak about the Registrar’s Office as though everyone there only wants to make things difficult and see how slowly they can make the lines move as an office competition. They must actually be as pleased to see the crowds of students as the students are to be in the crowds.

The Registrar’s office is a necessary evil to college life. It’s actually a convenience to have one office that serves so many functions. Instead of scampering around to the class scheduling office, the fee payment office, the transcript office, the leave of absence office, and the graduate-on-time office, we can head over to the handy-dandy Registrar’s Office and get it all done there. A bit of confusion may ensue, because there’s also the Financial Aid and Admissions Offices, among others, and lines can be a pain, but we’re certainly relieved it is the way it is.