California Lutheran University implemented a new registration system, allowing students to register for all of their classes at the beginning of the school year, as opposed to before each semester. 

Associate Vice President of Academic Services and Registrar Maria Kohnke talked about the new system.

“It’s all about giving the chance to students to plan ahead,” Kohnke said. 

According to Kohnke, she researched the potential of this new system, modeling it after other institutions who have had positive results with a similar system in place.

“Last year, the number of students who were retained from fall to spring went up 2%,” Kohnke said. Kohnke attributed this increase in student retention to the new system, claiming that “everything” else stayed the same.  

Kohnke said that because the system is still in the early stages of its implementation, it will take a few years to gauge the true impact on a student’s path to graduation. 

Kohnke said that there has not yet been a student survey to gauge an accurate review of the new system. 

“If students really didn’t like it, we would have heard about it,” she said.

She also clarified that the new registration system is not a mandatory requirement for students. If students wish to continue registering for classes by semester, they are able to do so, she said. 

According to Kohnke, roughly 95% of students chose to utilize the new system. As a result, Kohnke said that class availability may diminish, making it a challenge for students to get into the classes they wish to take if they decide to register by semester. 

Professor and Chair of the Communication Department Jean Sandlin attended a meeting with other department chairs where concern was expressed regarding the new full-year registration system. 

“The issues discussed included the stress students feel surrounding registration, and the full-year system seemed to compound that stress for them. We’ve heard from many students, but it’s anecdotal. I don’t think we have sufficient data,” Sandlin said.

John Deisz, Associate Dean for the Natural Science Division, shared his thoughts on the change to the registration process. 

“It is important to assess whether the positive impacts that were expected are being achieved. It is also essential to consider whether these changes have inadvertently affected the academic climate of the university and the overall student experience, for which frequent faculty-student collaboration, both inside and outside of the classroom, is a cornerstone at Cal Lutheran,” Deisz said.

On behalf of other departments as well, Sandlin said that the new system has placed a burden on departments regarding scheduling so far in advance. 

“It requires us to submit our schedules so far in advance, and it’s often hard to get commitments from an adjunct faculty that early. So much may change in their lives over such a long stretch of time that the departments end up having to find other instructors who can teach at that specific set time in the schedule. It can be challenging,” she said.

Kohnke also said that there is additional work required from faculty in order for the new system to work. 

“From an academic standpoint, planning that far in advance is difficult, so that part is hard, and it is somewhat of an extra burden on the departments to do that. In my opinion, it is worth it for the benefit that is given to the students,” she said.

Sandlin said she would like to see the university go back to semester-based registration, but that she would be more open to year-based registration if presented with supporting data that demonstrated it was meeting students’ needs and the university’s retention goals. 

The Echo conducted a poll of students on Instagram to share which registration system they prefer. Of the twenty students who replied, 55% said they prefer full-year registration, whereas 45% prefer semester-based registration.  

There is not much data to be collected at this time due to the newness of the change, but that has yet to prohibit the various juxtaposing sentiments from students and faculty on campus.