LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Published Monday, March 01, 2004
Administration Could Improve Registration

To the editor:

Thank you for Becky Branting's article on this semester's surprisingly harrowing registration process ("Students See Stars," 2/23/04). There are several irritating factors, however, that Ms. Branting overlooked. All of them are within the control of the HGSE faculty and administration.

1. Class size. This is briefly mentioned and is implied to be an accident of unusually high yield. At least in the Higher Education Program, the faculty and administration deliberately increased enrollment by as much as 65% since 2002-3. This means more students vying for limited-enrollment spots, and bloated classroom in the remaining courses.

2. Study cards due the day after class shopping. With shopping days not scheduled until February 4-5, HGSE left its students waiting for the results of limited-enrollment lotteries and waiting lists late into the day study cards were due. These forms then required the imprimatur of both the limited-enrollment class instructors (an archaic redundancy) and the students' advisors (good luck finding one on a Friday afternoon). To its credit, the administration responded by waiving the $10 add/drop fee for an extra week, but students were nevertheless engaged in an unseemly jockeying for limited enrollment slots and gnashing of teeth well into Friday night.

3. HGSE's late schedule. Among the faculties at Harvard University, HGSE's has elected to start its 2004 Spring semester dead last at February 9. It is no wonder that students are "desperately trying to find a fourth class" when, by February 6 (the drawing of many HGSE
lotteries), classes have already begun across the university. Although late cross-registration is technically possible, students at this stage have no realistic chance of finding a small (limited-enrollment) class elsewhere.

A confluence of unfortunate planning decisions by HGSE faculty and administration created a week fraught with frustration and disappointment. When students have but nine months here, such mistakes leave a disproportionate taint on students' academic experience. Our faculty and administration have the power to make registration, instead, a period of exploration and expectation.

Kiernan Mathews is an Ed.M. candidate in the Higher Education Program.