Campus News

Do it yourself with online registration

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Bethel College is entertaining the possibility of allowing students to register for classes online instead of requiring that everyone meet with an advisor in order to select classes for the next semester. Before introducing the program to the entire campus, a few departments would experiment with this option. This would allow students in majors within those departments to register for classes. There are mixed feelings about allowing online registration. “I think it’s a good idea for students to sign up for classes themselves, but at the same time I think professors should be available to help if needed,” said Jennifer Ochstein, assistant professor of writing. It has been suggested in faculty meetings that this option would be more effective in some departments than in others. Some courses within the science majors have up to six pre-requisite classes and those pre-requisites are only scheduled one semester, every other year. If the students knew exactly what they needed to take, this type of specific schedule wouldn’t be a problem. Students in other rigorous majors like nursing or American Sign Language (ASL) also have this concern. “The advisors know best because they’ve been doing it longer but it would be nice for the students have a list of requirements to do it themselves. Of course, then we would need a list of requirements to know what courses we need to take and when. There’s pluses and minuses to both sides,” said Sophie Sexton, sophomore ASL major. Ryan Bollier, a senior philosophy major, wasn’t sure if he would use the option if it had been available to him. “I mean, yeah it’s convenient but are students responsible enough to know what to take?” he asked. The departments that will experiment with the option of online registration have not yet been selected. Although it was suggested that students could sign up for their own classes as early as the spring 2015 semester, this plan has not yet been implemented. It is still uncertain as to whether this option will be available by the 2015-2016 school year.
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