WE HAVE all been there. You have your schedule for next semester perfectly planned out, and you are really excited about taking that extremely interesting class with that brilliant professor, but your course enrollment time is so late that all the spots are filled up by the time you log in to SIS. In the blink of an eye, your plan for the perfect schedule is shattered.
Perhaps not, though. Maybe you are not familiar with that situation if you are an Echols Scholar, since members of that group get to select courses before others in their class. Or maybe you are just one of those consistently lucky people who always happens to get an early enrollment time.
The current enrollment order runs sequentially beginning with fourth years. Within each class, Echols and Rodman Scholars select first, with the only exception being first-year Echols and Rodman Scholars, who select even before the regular second-year students. Within each of those groups, appointment times are assigned randomly.
It was not always this way, however. Enrollment times used to be assigned based on how many credits students had. With this system, fourth years would end up selecting first anyway, followed by the other classes. At least with this system, though, students had some degree of control with respect to what their appointment time would be, rather than having to trust in chance.
Some may think the random assignments are fair because everyone has an equal chance of being first or last or in the middle. Assigning appointment times based on students' credit hours is more reasonable, however, because each and every student has the opportunity to work toward completing more credits and, in doing so, earning the chance to get a better enrollment time. There would still be some degree of randomness because many students would have the same amount of credits, but at least they would exercise some influence upon the process of determining course sign-up times.
It may be argued that if times were assigned based on credits, then students who attended high schools with Advanced Placement or dual enrollment programs would be at an advantage. This problem could easily be corrected, though, if AP and dual enrollment credits were not included in the number that counts toward determining a student's enrollment time. If this seems like a counterintuitive punishment directed toward students who have earned credit through their work in high school, it should not be forgotten that those credits still perform the valuable functions of fulfilling area requirements and putting students in a position to possibly graduate early, thereby saving money. These advantages ultimately are more significant than getting an early enrollment time, so starting everyone off with the same potential to earn that time should be viewed as an effort to level the playing field, not to punish anyone.
The University already determines some appointment times based on merit. According to Milton Adams, the University's vice provost for academic programs, "Echols and Rodman Scholars have earlier access in recognition of their selection as Scholars for their academic achievement." If these distinguished scholars get to choose classes sooner because of merit, then it also makes sense to reward students who have worked extremely hard to earn a greater amount of credits.
Returning to a system that schedules enrollment times based on the number of credits earned could serve as a motivation for students to challenge themselves. With a random system, students do not have anything to lose by taking fewer credits in a semester, except that they might have to take a course during the summer or January Term to complete all the requirements needed to graduate. Having a better chance at getting into a very desirable class would be a huge motivation for students to take on the challenge of a fuller schedule.
Of course, the number of credits that a student takes is ultimately a matter of personal choice. But if a student feels confident that he can handle more credits while maintaining good grades, then the possibility of an earlier appointment time could be the extra boost that encourages him to strive for greater achievement.
Ultimately, a credit-based enrollment order will highlight hard work and ambition as key principles of academia at the University, as they should be. Until a credit-based system is installed, however, I sincerely wish good luck to all of you who are now working on your course selections.
Katherine Ripley's column normally appears Mondays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at k.ripley@cavalierdaily.com.
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