Opinion > November 8, 2007

Registration woes hinder educational experience

Registration is an imperfect art form. Rarely is it executed with complete success and efficiency. As a junior, I was finally optimistic about the registration process. I got to register early for my major courses, leaving me the ability to secure some divisionals, minor courses and electives before everyone else took the best times.

Now, I am a philosophy major, I have no plans on going to business school, ever. Nevertheless, I wanted to take accounting. My father and sister are accountants and my father made it a stipulation that in order for me to graduate from Wake, I had to take this class.

Coincidentally, I am also a journalism minor (news editor of the Old Gold & Black, go figure). One of the classes available as an elective for the minor is accounting. With this knowledge I went to WIN to put myself into accounting. I found the section that would work with my schedule and hit “Register. The next thing that happened is what has prompted me to write this piece. When I hit “Register” it told me that there was a class restriction. It turns out that every single seat in every section of accounting is reserved for sophomores. I have a problem with this.

One, why is it only available to sophomores? Furthermore, why is this not advertised in a more prominent position beside the course book? I think that this should be mentioned by all student advisers.

My biggest problem is that Accounting 111 is the only accounting course available to non-business majors. I understand that as a prerequisite to Calloway, sophomores need to take accounting in order to be able to apply; I have no issue with this.

What I would appreciate is the reservation of about 10 seats for non-business majors.

I am seriously confused as to how I cannot register for a class that is offered as a part of my minor, while the best Calloway can offer me is a wait list position that I can’t even get on until after the last round of registration for all grades. Let me put it this way: there are three sections offered this semester and already one is closed. Now, not taking accounting will not lead me to academic suicide. I just feel that Calloway segregates itself already and this problem does not occur with the other prerequisites for Calloway like economics and Business 100.

Hopefully, my thoughts will be considered in the future as the university is currently taking student feedback on the registration process.

- Lizzie Rosen, Junior