Why is it so hard to take the classes we need?

Photo courtesy of Photo Editor Faith Zatlukal

As the semester comes to a close, students are starting to worry about registration and graduation as some classes are unavailable to students who need it the most.

With registration season passing us by, many students across the campus have been stressed about getting into the courses they need to graduate. Some students even balance the requirements of multiple majors and/or minors on top of general education requirements. This especially becomes stressful for seniors seeking to graduate in May, who are trying to avoid having to take intersession or summer courses —or even worse— stay an extra semester to finish their needed courses. As a student body, it is pertinent that we have the classes we need across all disciplines and levels to guarantee that students are able to keep their education on track. 

To put it frankly, students have been struggling to get into the classes they need— particularly at the higher levels. Students having to complete capstone or research-intensive courses for their major find it harder to access 400-level courses, as they are not being run or conflict with other required courses for their program. While it makes sense that many upper-level courses only run one session of the class, there should be a variety of upper-level courses to take in order to account for schedule time conflicts or seats filling up in vital classes. 

Degrees that require you to take multiple 300-level electives should be able to provide more than just two or three choices for the students. Well, yes, there is often a lower need for these courses. Students needing more options due to time conflicts in their schedule can incredibly harm their ability to continue with their program. Some students may even end up dropping a second major or a minor that they already worked so hard for to advance because continuing it would then halt their graduation date. 

We all know that college is expensive all across the nation, so many students do not really have the financial option to extend their undergraduate education another semester or two, as they and/or their families cannot afford to do so. This leaves seniors, who are already starting to have to face the transition from college life into the workforce, in an even more stressful quandary that they do not need. 

Even lower-level courses for certain majors can be hard to enter for those who pick up a later major or minor in that discipline. The introductory courses for many programs seen as easy-As get restricted to only people in the major and/or freshman. While it is good to try and save seats for those just coming into college, who have the latest registration dates, it also can really hurt upperclassmen who declared a minor later in their college career and now cannot register or painlessly register for the courses they need for the minor requirements.

Now, this does not mean that professors at the college need to be spread thinner. They do so much on campus, not only limited to teaching courses. They hold office hours, serve as club advisors, are department chairs, and do much more, depending on their involvement level. 

Rather, I think the student body wishes that there were simply more professors to help make up for the need in the upper-level discipline curriculums. It is us —students— who pay our tuition to the college semester after semester, and I think it is then fair enough for us to request how those funds are used. Supplying the student body with the classes they need and the proper amount of professor staffing for departments is vital for ensuring that the college's students and its faculty have what they need to succeed.