Starting this registration cycle, California Lutheran University students will have the ability to register for the 2023-2024 school year. This includes fall 2023, spring 2024 and summer 2024. 

“A student can register for a full year, but they will only be billed for fall. They will be billed for the spring semester when they normally are in the spring,” Maria Kohnke, associate vice president of Academic Services and registrar, said.

According to Kohnke, there were concerns about making such a significant change; however, once staff and faculty went through the process, many opinions were changed. 

“The biggest benefit is to students,” Kohnke said. “It is always better to put more control and options into students’ hands. Students can make choices that will help them graduate on the schedule that they want to graduate…There are also benefits to the university in terms of planning and knowing ahead of time what the enrollments are.”

Financial aid and payment options will continue the same. Student Accounts, according to Kohnke, will promote making an annual payment plan. 

“Remember to be flexible and to always reach out for help. Your student success counselor and faculty mentors are there to assist you in case it feels overwhelming,” Kohnke said.

This new process helps to make registration more flexible, and classes can be dropped at any time. Along with that, Cal Lutheran hopes to provide better course options depending on the demand of students, according to Angela Naginey, executive director of Student Success.

“Faculty can better anticipate how many sections should be offered. If many students register for a specific course, we can better plan what students need,” Naginey said.

According to Kohnke, if a class were to be canceled, students would be notified before the start date and will receive the opportunity to speak to a student success counselor to make adjustments. 

“It’s always good for students to have backup classes, anyway. Life and things happen, and sometimes you need to make adjustments. So it’s always a good idea to have alternative classes,” Kohnke said. 

Kohnke said she was inspired by the idea presented during the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers conference, where it was found that other institutions were successfully using this method to register students. According to Kohnke, the full-year schedule is designed to help students graduate on time. 

“We are allowing students to register for an entire year at a time,” Kohnke said. “The actual function of registration works the same in self-service. We are just going to activate the entire year. Students can see fall, spring and summer of next year and register themselves into classes for the whole year.”

Lucas Saucedo, a student success counselor, said that group advising is an option that is going to be explored with this change and drop-in dates will be open for students to drop in and receive the necessary information. 

Saucedo said, “Dates and deadlines are things that counseling teams are working to ensure that the different student population, graduating students for example. Historically, CLU has always tried to make sure that these students have the priority for registration.”