The priority registration granted to incoming athletes, Echols, Rodman and Casteen Scholars will change starting with the Class of 2011. Under the new policy, students in these programs will only be able to sign up for courses before members of their respective classes.Previously, students with registration advantages were allowed to register before all others in the undergraduate student body.
These changes will not affect anyone who is currently receiving some kind of priority registration, said J. Milton Adams, vice provost for academic programs, pointing out that "current Echols have been grandfathered in."
Adams said the decision to alter the registration timeline was prompted by the occurrence of "course hoarding," in which students with early registration times were holding spaces in popular classes, only to drop them later in the semester. The change is expected to make course selection "more egalitarian" and create fewer complications in the registration process, Adams said.
"The ultimate goal was to give more people more access to courses they needed and wanted," Adams added.
First-year College student Meredith Morrison said she feels she has been at a disadvantage compared to students granted priority registration. She added that she believes it is unfair for select underclassmen to register for classes before many fourth-years.
While several priority registration students said they did not feel the change will have a large impact, some said there might be a slight negative impact on admission yield.
"I think it will make the pull for Echols a little less strong," said Jen Cano, a second-year College student and Echols scholar. She pointed out that while the University offers incentives outside of priority registration, the change could potentially have a small negative impact on admissions.
"I know that the program is a reason why people choose U.Va.," first-year Echols scholar James Kim said. "That privilege is one of the reasons why I came to here."
First-year Echols scholar Fran Holuba said she believes that while benefits such as priority registration are appealing, they should not be the main reason a student chooses to come to the University.
"I came here because of the atmosphere, not because I could get ahead of my peers," she said.
Echols Dean William Wilson said there will still be an incentive to be in the program because students will continue to receive priority within their respective classes.
Adams said admissions recruitment will be conducted in the same manner as previous years, and added that the University will keep an eye on the institutional admissions data to monitor the effects of the change.
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