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St. Cloud State University
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Double holds limit seats
By Johanna Folland
Published:
Monday, April 19, 2004
Media Credit: Ashley Preste
Registration doesn´t always go as some people plan. It can be a grueling and frustrating process. Here, SCSU student Corey Eckhoff shows his frustration with the registration process.
Fourth-year honor student, Vicki (not her real name), has priority registration. Like others last week, she sat down in the library to register. However, she wasn't just registering for herself. Unbeknownst to anyone but a few peers, she held classes for others to register later.
"I have held classes for students almost every semester since I have had priority registration, which started my second year at SCSU," Vicki said. "The main reason why I have done this for students is because he or she wants a specific professor instead of some of the other choices. I have held classes for up to two weeks before."
According to the fall registration booklet, students who register for a class or multiple sections of a class with the intent to save a seat for another student will be subject to reduced registration privileges. Also, multiple registrations will be deleted and the student may be subject to possible disciplinary action from SCSU. The student who adds a saved class will be subject to the actions listed above too.
Even though it is a reality that some students hold classes for each other, it is extremely difficult to detect these individuals, Director of Registration Debbie Tamte-Horan said.
"The only way we know for sure if a student is holding classes is if they come and tell us," Tamte-Horan said. "We don't know for sure if a student is holding a class for another student if they registered for two sections of a class. The student might be taking advantage of figuring out the best time schedule for the following semester."
Simply put, even if Tamte-Horan knows a student double registers, she can't accuse them of holding classes.
"I don't know how pervasive of a problem this is," she said. "But it is an issue."
Fourth-year student Lindsay Robertson has had difficulties trying to get into desired classes. Double registering adds to the some of her frustrations.
"It is a problem," Robertson said. "But getting into classes is a problem too."
There wouldn't be any issues with registration if there were enough seats and enough classes for everyone to get into, Robertson said. Yet, she said she realizes because of budget cuts and professor limitations that a perfect situation is unattainable.
Tamte-Horan has been working with the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) in an attempt to strengthen penalties against students who hold classes.
The MnSCU system has already created a new edit that will not allow students to register for two of the same courses. If a student needs to register for two of the same courses, they will need permission to do so.
"There is more that MnSCU can do," Tamte-Horan said. "But that would require rewriting the system and this most likely wouldn't be put into effect until a couple years from now."
According to Tamte-Horan, the new system will have strict guidelines. If there is any question as to why a student is taking a class over, or trying to register for the same class twice, the student will have to get permission from an adviser. This new system would keep track of all grades the student has received. If a student were to take a class over that they received a C in, they will also need permission because it is not necessary to take that class over. This new system will also keep track of how many times a student has added or dropped the same class.
"People have to find loopholes to get into the classes they need," second-year student Josh Knodle said. "It's almost impossible to graduate in four years now and we can't afford to stay here much longer."
Knodle said that if a student has to wait two weeks to register, class availability is inevitably lower.
"This issue goes both ways, I can see both sides of the story," fourth-year student Angie Jarolimek said. "It's not fair to save a seat for a friend, but it's also not fair to pay for school and not get into the class you want."
This issue or problem is still being addressed. Tamte-Horan is dealing with MnSCU on a regular basis. She predicts that double registration may become obsolete within the next few years. But, until then, students probably can and will register for others.
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