Students frustrated with wait for dropping, adding classes

The flow of human traffic came to a near standstill Wednesday in the registrar's office for students wishing for a second chance at succeeding academically during the fall semester. \nFor one reason or another, hundreds of students stood in lines that snaked through the lobby of Franklin Hall to drop or add classes during the campus community's transition into the second eight weeks of the scheduled 16-week academic term. \nWednesday marked the University registration deadline for dropping a 16-week class with an automatic "W;" throughout the rest of the semester, professors have the responsibility of granting students permission to withdraw from the 16-week semester with either a grade of "W" or "F."\nAlthough the exact number of registration changes entered into computers couldn't be tallied at press time, IU Registrar employee Roland Cote said the students lined through the door for the last three days seemed motivated by three primary reasons: drop a 16-week class and pick-up or drop an eight-week class.\n"I cannot break down the numbers," Cote said. "The amount of signatures needed by students depends on the activity going on here. In order to frame this with a clear and logical focus, you must understand student registration is performed between the faculty, (University) departments and the particular (University) school." \nBesides the troublesome nature of navigating bureaucratic hierarchies, some students seemed especially bothered by the problematic policies required of every student working to reform their semester schedule. Throughout the registration process, most students traveled across the campus community to acquire the necessary signatures, in pen form or rubber stamp, from one to five official persons assigned to this job. \nIn some cases, many of the required signatures could be forged by approved faculty members to help burden student time responsibilities, obligations and commitments within the framework of the drop and add processes. Junior Geoff Hufford, a first year transfer from IU Purdue University-Indianapolis, said the student processes involved in registration changes is dramatically different at the Bloomington campus. He said his registration ordeal lasted about an hour and a half. \n"We did (registration) a little bit different up there," Hufford said, while hustling out of Franklin Hall. "At IUPUI, we had to pick up a form from the commons area, have the instructor sign it and turn it in. The whole deal takes about 10 minutes. Today, I had to get at least three signatures from three different places." Once on the scene in Franklin Hall, registrar personnel corralled students into one of two routes for resolving their registration needs. The first line, which coiled like an amusement park path to a roller coaster, directed the flow of student feet to the left, into the auxiliary registration space. The second line, which resembled raw meat cranking through a meat grinder, led students along a straight path of brown carpet into the green paint and yellow light of the registrar's office. \nSophomore Charlotte White, who orchestrated student traffic as a traffic cop for the line moving left, said students had been lining the room for hours.\n"I have no idea how long this has been going on," White said Wednesday afternoon, while waving her arms at the next student in line. "Next, please. Go right there."\nIn between occasional screams of "keep the line moving," registrar employees conducted several screenings while students waited in line to determine if all their paperwork was completed and in proper order. Beneath the sound of student grunts, moans, howls and breathless pants, the noise of rubber shoe soles dragging two steps at a time contributed to an environment undertone of borderline pandemonium exemplified in beads of sweat dripping down exhausted student faces. \nCote said the hassle felt by students during the registration process is recognized and appreciated by the registrar's office staff.\n"After the first week of classes, all enrollment control -- the registration system -- is transferred to the course departments," Cote said. "Since classes have already begun, the specific department needs to determine: one, the space in the class; two, if the instructor's opinion corresponds in that decision. The departments control how many students get into a class; the department chair stabilizes enrollment for the instructor. Even though registration is about communication between instructor and professor, the departments usually prefer students do not go the instructor if the class is full."\nLooking ahead to next semester, students and registrar faculty recognize the benefits of modifying schedules as early as possible to avoid long waits. Cote said students should use the knowledge and resources an academic advisor possesses.\n"The advisor is in the position to determine what classes fit for a student," Cote said. "Part of the difficulty is timing all this. This is not an unusually high level of this kind of activity -- students come in late to complete the registration process. I'm surprised we are able to get through them so quickly; the staff has been trained to deal with the systems in place." \nNot necessarily comforted by the artwork lining the walls of the registrar's office after his wait in line, Hufford said he learned his lesson today, after about two hours of panicked and bothered instruction.\n"Don't wait until the last day to drop or add a class," Hufford said. "I've known for a month, I was going to drop a class. I waited two hours before the deadline to start; that's definitely not the best way to go."\n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.