California Lutheran University's Student Newspaper Since 1961

The Echo

California Lutheran University's Student Newspaper Since 1961

The Echo

California Lutheran University's Student Newspaper Since 1961

The Echo

Priority Registration: a Touchy Subject

Itโ€™s that time of the year again, the time when the students at California Lutheran University will be stressed out and overwhelmed because they most likely didnโ€™t get a good registration time to get their desired classes. With class registration beginning later this month, students across campus are meeting with their advisers to attempt to put together their perfect class schedule. However, most of the time that perfect schedule that you want goes right down the drain.

With such a diverse group of students being athletes, commuters or even exchange students, each Cal Lutheran student each student only has a certain window of time they can take their classes. Athletes for instance have a commitment to their team and this commitment starts at practice.

Junior Tyler Nevins is on the baseball team at Cal Lutheran and said he agrees there needs to be a change in the near future that helps the students with their athletic and academic goals.

โ€œItโ€™s about time this school gets behind their students-athletes and fully supports them in their athletic endeavors while still promoting academic success,โ€ Nevins said. โ€œSo many guys on our team show up to practice late because they couldnโ€™t get the classes they needed in the morning. Itโ€™s hard to have a productive practice when some of the most important players are missing half of the practice.โ€

Commuters at Cal Lutheran also understand the stress created by registration. Often commuters have jobs within Thousand Oaks, or even the Conejo Valley that are affected by class scheduling.

โ€œItโ€™s important to me to have a job during the school year along with being a full-time student, but with morning classes being filled up before I have chance to register leaves me only to take afternoon classes,โ€ sophomore commuter Jordan Pierce said. โ€œI had to quit my job, and now have to rely on my parents to pay majority of my bills which is something that I would rather avoid.โ€

Cal Lutheran needs to do something to make this processย  go more smoothly because right now itโ€™s a complete circus. Making more morning classes available to athletes who have practice after 2:30 p.m. or for commuters who have work in the afternoon could be a simple solution.

โ€œIโ€™m pretty sure most student athletes would much rather take an extra morning class than missing practice for class,โ€ said Coral Hasley, goalie on the Regals soccer team.

She said commuters would rather have morning classes instead of losing hours at work.

Cal Lutheran has priority registration, but instead of giving it to athletes or even commuters with jobs in the afternoon they give it to others. Some of the recipients are justified, such as those with disabilities, but it seems that some take advantage of the disability qualification.

A sophomore at Cal Lutheran, who wished to remain anonymous, explained he has a minor case of attention deficit disorder. He said itโ€™s not enough that he needs to take medicine everyday. However after a talk with his doctor he was able to get a slip to give to the CARR so that he would get priority over everyone else at Cal Lutheran.

โ€œI have friends here and at others schools that do the same thing as me. Iโ€™m sure anyone would do the same to get all the classes they want,โ€ the sophomore said.

This raises the question of how many others are doing the same thing.

Whether or not the school should crack down on these cases or provide priority registration to students that truly deserve it is out of my control. But with all the money students pay to attend Cal Lutheran, there needs to be a better and more efficient way to register for classes. Itโ€™s time the school changes its old system and hops on board with the students that attend their school and pays their bills.

Connor Sipes
Staff Writer
Published March 11, 2015

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