Collegiate Times

Even with Thanksgiving break still two weeks away, it?s already time to begin preparing for next semester. Course request has finished, and before long, students will frantically be attached to the drop/add page on the Virginia Tech website attempting to rearrange their classes to fit their schedules.

Although many have frustrations regarding the course request process, administration and professors cite the necessary process of the system.

Priority over requesting classes is broken down by major, then by student status. If the course is restricted to majors, then first and second majors get priority. If the course is not restricted, it is offered first to special needs students, honors students, seniors, juniors, sophomores and then freshmen, said Janet Francis, undergraduate and graduate adviser for the history department.

Course request is not only hard on students but on faculty and advisers as well, since they need to help the demands of so many of their students. Students should be aware of exactly what classes they need to prepare for the oncoming semester, Francis said.

She said students should request courses that do not conflict time-wise, make sure that the courses are not restricted to major, level or a certain college, and make sure they are not requesting more than 19 hours.

Mary Jane Smith, office services specialist at the university registrar?s office, helps departments deal with course scheduling and time conflicts.

?The best classrooms are available at 8 a.m., but since the demand of later class times is popular among students, most courses are generally jammed into the middle of the day,? Smith said.

Students have mixed feelings about course request and the level of difficulty they experience attaining some of their needed classes.

?I?ve never really had trouble with course request,? said Katherine Tarr, sophomore biology major. ?Getting into the electives I want has probably been the hardest thing but getting into actual major-specific classes has always been fairly easy.?

Kyle Rogers, sophomore university studies major, is trying to focus his classes in business and architecture, but has found some trouble getting the classes he needs since some of the courses have been restricted to the college.
?Getting into certain classes has been especially hard for me because of the restrictions,? he said. ?Being in university studies doesn?t help at all.?

Rogers said that from his personal experience, the business courses have been more difficult to get.

Students can get past major and college restrictions by using drop/add. This system is in real time, and no restrictions are applied to students who want to add a course unless it conflicts with their schedules time-wise, Francis said.

?Those who want to force-add courses should speak to the professors who are teaching them as soon as they can. With their permission, they sign a form and are added to the class via the Banner system,? Francis said.

Francis said if there is enough money and a professor available, departments are able to create new courses where there is high demand. In some cases, certain sections have to be dropped if enrollment does not indicate a need for that course.