Improved registration

Deadlines need to be extended

The semester has just begun and for many students there is still time to relax during the day and take advantage of the weekends guilt-free. While most seminars and discussions sections that meet only once a week have barely met three times, the deadline to add or drop a class or to switch a class to pass/fail is today, far too early for students to have gauged whether it is in their best interest to elect a certain class or decide how it is to be graded.

The pass/fail option not only gives students more flexibility in their workload, but also offers them a chance to take the risk of electing courses outside of their concentration without worrying about negative effects on their grade point average. Electing a course on a pass or fail basis, while reducing a focus on grades and emphasizing a learning focus, allows students the opportunity to pursue a more diverse course load. It also allows students to enroll in classes that, while unrelated to a their concentration, still explore a subject in a depth not afforded by introductory classes that they might have elected to fulfill distribution requirements.

The advantages to the pass/fail option are numerous and can be expanded with an extension of the deadline. While choosing to a take a class on a pass/fail basis does not reduce the exposure to the knowledge and information that an instructor and other students have to offer, it does reduce the amount of stress that inherently accompanies any class at the University.

Students who have slightly less to worry about academically have more time to invest in worthwhile extracurricular activities - activities that not only contribute to the development of a well-rounded individual but also are looked favorably upon by potential employers and graduate school admissions officers. The arts, student government, the Greek system and other organizations often have as much to offer in the way of education as the typical three-credit elective and added time for a part time job can help to relieve part of the burden of tuition and living expenses.

Another problem inherent in too early a date for finalizing schedules is that oftentimes professors will not assign major assignments until later in the term. It is often these larger assignments that define a student's grade and it is impossible to gauge an instructor's grading standards and style before such an assignment has been handed in an returned. And if larger projects and tests have occurred by the deadline, it is unlikely that they will have been graded, returned and discussed.

The option of dropping a class later in the semester due to unforeseen circumstances can greatly reduce course related anxiety. While it may be difficult to add a class later in the semester, a risk which students should be wary of, the flexibility afforded by a later deadline can only increase the possibility for a student's happiness with their schedule.

The deadline for deciding to elect classes on a pass/fail basis or to add or drop classes should be extended. As customers, students should demand as much flexibility as possible concerning their schedules and academic life at the University including having more time to modify the classes that we are paying thousands of dollars a semester to take.