USU students register early
Select students attending Utah State University have been given priority registration.
Priority students can register before anyone else, so they are better able to get into the classes they need. Registrar Glen Davis said priority registration is practiced at colleges and universities throughout Utah.
Cindy Moulton, assistant registrar over registration, said Honors students, disabled students and athletes get priority registration.
Students who are part of the Disability Resource Center have to register for classes that suit their needs, she said.
“They need to be able to get into classes that are handicap accessible,” Moulton said.
Honor students meet certain regulations to qualify for priority registration. They are required to keep a 3.5 grade point average or above and take an Honors class every semester.
Some students may wonder why athletes are given priority registration, since many of them have been given money to come to USU.
“They need their classes in the morning to work with practices and games,” Moulton said.
Davis said priority registration offers an incentive for athletes to attend the university.
Leslie Barnes, Athletics academic coordinator, said university athletes, with or without a scholarship, get priority registration, because they need to have their classes done by 1:20 p.m. for their practices.
“They get prior registration all year round, because they practice year-round,” she said.
Barnes agreed it can be an incentive, because not all institutions offer it.
Heidi Beck, associate registrar, said there is a certain process groups go through to get priority registration.
“A department will make a request and is required to present it. Then as a group, the registrar, associate registrar [and others] will discuss whether or not the group should be awarded prior registration.”
But it isn’t easy.
For example, Davis said it may be difficult for people who work on campus and want priority registration to make their case.
“It would seem difficult for a group to present a reason why they should be awarded prior registration, because it is the obligation of the employer to work with and around their academic schedule,” he said. “The honor students are the most recent addition to the students awarded with prior registration and that isn’t very recent.”
Beck said, “It’s pretty standard unless there is an approaching group.”
Priority registration helps benefit students who need it most. Groups looking to obtain priority registration must have a good cause and lobby for it.
-emilywalker@cc.usu.edu