It’s the first day of classes. You’ve had two classes so far and feel pretty good about what you will need to do during the semester and your ability to learn from the instructors involved. You go to your third class of the day hoping for more of the same. But as that first class meeting goes on, you are a bit uneasy. Maybe it’s something about the instructor’s teaching style. Maybe it’s all those out of class group assignments that won’t fit well with your busy work schedule. Regardless of what particular aspect of this class makes you unsure that you should continue with it, it is important to think carefully about whether you should stay (keep the class) or whether you should go (drop the class). Here are some steps to take in making that decision.
Look at the syllabi for all of your classes and assess what your academic workload will be for the semester and also consider your non-academic obligations (family, work, faith activities, etc.). Be realistic about the time it will take you to study and complete assignments. If your schedule seems to be mind-blowingly full, you may want to consider dropping a class.
If you cannot drop a class without compromising your financial aid award, be prepared to immediately add another class to replace the units of the one you will be dropping. That means having an add code/permission to register in hand and ready to go. If you are doing the drop and add on paper, submit them simultaneously to registration personnel. Even if you can do the drop and add over the computer, I would still recommend going in person in case there is something that needs an override by registration personnel.
If you decide to drop the class, do it the right way and do it promptly. You enrolled yourself for the class, so it’s your responsibility to unenroll yourself. While some instructors will drop students if they stop showing up for class, they are not obligated to do so. You could wind up with a nasty F slamming your GPA down at the end of the semester just because you didn’t bother to formally drop a class. Going through the proper procedure to drop a class may also free up a space for another student who really needs it. Be mindful of drop and add deadlines and how they might affect how much of your money will be refunded. If you’ve held off on your decision to drop a class until you won’t be getting any of your money back, you might want to reconsider.
There also can be some compelling reasons to keep a class even if you’re feeling uncomfortable about it. Here are a few:
Are you close to transferring or graduating? If this is a class you need to accomplish either of those, you might be better off hanging in there so you can finish up on time.
Is the class not offered every semester? This is quite common, especially at the university upper-division level. It can be a nightmare for seniors to get into these classes, so dropping a capstone class can set you back significantly.
Is it a class that serves as a prerequisite to other classes? Dropping a prerequisite class will limit your ability to enroll in some other classes in the future, including required classes in your major.
Is the class only taught by one instructor? If you are uneasy about the instructor’s teaching style and he/she is the only faculty member who teaches that class, you might as well keep the class and find ways to get through it.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The Parking Maze
Parking lots at colleges and universities are some of the craziest places on earth. You have an extremely large number of people traveling in and out of campus at set times all vying for what seems to be very few decent parking spaces. As an undergraduate at Western Michigan University, I remember driving around at 3:30 pm with my lowly W sticker (commuter student permit) looking for a halfway reasonable parking spot near Sangren Hall. I would barely make it to my 4:15 pm class on time. (If any Broncos past or present are reading this, you know exactly what I mean.) I even left work extra early on class days to allow for hunting down a parking space so I could try to make it to class on time. Ah, memories.
Nothing can completely eliminate the pain of parking on campus, but here are some tips to make it a little easier.
Include time to look for a parking space in your travel time to campus. Some days you will hit it lucky and find a perfect space right away; other days will not go so well. If you plan ahead, you are saving yourself from the frustration of running late to class, which can be particularly stressful on exam days or if you have an instructor who is strict about late arrivals.
Do not park in restricted spaces. You will get busted. Maybe not the first time, maybe not the tenth time, but believe me, your luck will run out and you will have a hefty parking fine on your hands. It is true that faculty and staff parking spaces are often more convenient to campus buildings than student spaces, but there are good reasons for that. Their time deadlines to be someplace on campus are much more stringent than students' time deadlines. If you've ever complained because an instructor was late to class, consider that a possible reason was a student was unfairly taking a faculty parking space.
Many campuses give a one week grace period after the start of classes for parking permits. It's a good idea to get your parking permit as soon as possible. It is all too easy to let the grace period slide by and then get the unpleasant surprise of a ticket on your window. I am in the habit of obtaining my campus parking permits on the first or second day of class. Contrary to what many students believe, faculty and staff generally have to pay for parking permits too.
If possible, try to carpool or use public transportation to get to campus. This is not a good solution for everyone, but in some cases, it works great. Most of the campuses I have worked at have nice incentive programs to encourage people who carpool or use public transportation. Even if you do it part of the time, it helps lessen the parking crunch.
If money is a concern, do a little math to see whether you truly need to buy a full semester parking pass. For instance, if your campus daily permit rate is $1.50, you are only on a campus two days per week, and the full semester parking permit is $60.00, you will save $12.00 in a 16 week semester by using daily permit. Buying daily permits will also save you money if you are carpooling or using public transportation part of the time.
Nothing can completely eliminate the pain of parking on campus, but here are some tips to make it a little easier.
Include time to look for a parking space in your travel time to campus. Some days you will hit it lucky and find a perfect space right away; other days will not go so well. If you plan ahead, you are saving yourself from the frustration of running late to class, which can be particularly stressful on exam days or if you have an instructor who is strict about late arrivals.
Do not park in restricted spaces. You will get busted. Maybe not the first time, maybe not the tenth time, but believe me, your luck will run out and you will have a hefty parking fine on your hands. It is true that faculty and staff parking spaces are often more convenient to campus buildings than student spaces, but there are good reasons for that. Their time deadlines to be someplace on campus are much more stringent than students' time deadlines. If you've ever complained because an instructor was late to class, consider that a possible reason was a student was unfairly taking a faculty parking space.
Many campuses give a one week grace period after the start of classes for parking permits. It's a good idea to get your parking permit as soon as possible. It is all too easy to let the grace period slide by and then get the unpleasant surprise of a ticket on your window. I am in the habit of obtaining my campus parking permits on the first or second day of class. Contrary to what many students believe, faculty and staff generally have to pay for parking permits too.
If possible, try to carpool or use public transportation to get to campus. This is not a good solution for everyone, but in some cases, it works great. Most of the campuses I have worked at have nice incentive programs to encourage people who carpool or use public transportation. Even if you do it part of the time, it helps lessen the parking crunch.
If money is a concern, do a little math to see whether you truly need to buy a full semester parking pass. For instance, if your campus daily permit rate is $1.50, you are only on a campus two days per week, and the full semester parking permit is $60.00, you will save $12.00 in a 16 week semester by using daily permit. Buying daily permits will also save you money if you are carpooling or using public transportation part of the time.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
The First Day of Class - Don't Miss It
Has another college student ever told you something like this?
I never bother going to the first day of classes. Nothing happens. The instructor hands out the syllabus and then lets us leave, or drones on and on about the syllabus and other unimportant things. No real material gets covered at all. No, I never bother going to the first day of a class. It's a waste of my time.
Wrong, wrong, so wrong. The first day of a class is essential in numerous ways. Here are a few major ones.
The syllabus sets forth the expectations you need to meet in order to do well in a class, and a review of the syllabus clarifies any questions you may have about those expectations. It gives you an overall feel for how much and what type of work you will need to do during the semester. This can be very important to maintaining your grades at a level you desire. For instance, if you will be balancing a hectic work schedule with your classes, you might find that a class that requires a lot of group work scheduled outside of class hours is not the best idea.
A syllabus, along with the instructor's overview of it, can also give you other valuable information in deciding whether this is a class you want to keep in your schedule. Not only will you get an idea of what the work for this class will be like, you also get a taste of the individual instructor's style and approach to teaching and learning. Sometimes, for a variety of reasons, the way a specific instructor teaches and the way a specific student learns is not a good match. It is better to find this out right away while there is a possibility of successfully adding another class to replace the one you feel won't work for you. There is no one perfect way to teach material, nor is there one perfect way to learn material.
Much important information that is not on the syllabus is often provided the first day of class. For example, I routinely demonstrate how to log into the course management system and access the student areas of my website during the first session. I will often have a college procedures question and answer session. I often talk about specific features of the textbook and give suggestions on how to best use it to maximize success. When time allows, I show the students how to search for and obtain a scholarly journal article online. So much of what happens in class, not just on the first day but during any class session, consists of non-repeatable events.
While some instructors may simply hand out syllabi and dismiss class on the first day, many of us are going to dig right into introductory material that lays the foundation for the rest of the semester. Time in the classroom is precious, and I for one firmly believe in getting the learning underway as soon as possible.
I saved the most compelling reason to attend the first day of class for last. Quite a few instructors will immediately drop students who do not show up on the first day and immediately take adds to fill in their places. In today's climate of an increased number of students trying to register for a smaller number of classes, keeping a seat in a class is becoming more competitive. It has become routine for full classes to also have a waitlist of 20, 30, or more students. While it's nearly impossible to get everyone on the waitlist into an already full section, many instructors will try to reasonably accommodate at least some of them. Therefore, if you choose not to go to the first day of a class, don't be too surprised if someone else has taken your place when you finally show up.
I never bother going to the first day of classes. Nothing happens. The instructor hands out the syllabus and then lets us leave, or drones on and on about the syllabus and other unimportant things. No real material gets covered at all. No, I never bother going to the first day of a class. It's a waste of my time.
Wrong, wrong, so wrong. The first day of a class is essential in numerous ways. Here are a few major ones.
The syllabus sets forth the expectations you need to meet in order to do well in a class, and a review of the syllabus clarifies any questions you may have about those expectations. It gives you an overall feel for how much and what type of work you will need to do during the semester. This can be very important to maintaining your grades at a level you desire. For instance, if you will be balancing a hectic work schedule with your classes, you might find that a class that requires a lot of group work scheduled outside of class hours is not the best idea.
A syllabus, along with the instructor's overview of it, can also give you other valuable information in deciding whether this is a class you want to keep in your schedule. Not only will you get an idea of what the work for this class will be like, you also get a taste of the individual instructor's style and approach to teaching and learning. Sometimes, for a variety of reasons, the way a specific instructor teaches and the way a specific student learns is not a good match. It is better to find this out right away while there is a possibility of successfully adding another class to replace the one you feel won't work for you. There is no one perfect way to teach material, nor is there one perfect way to learn material.
Much important information that is not on the syllabus is often provided the first day of class. For example, I routinely demonstrate how to log into the course management system and access the student areas of my website during the first session. I will often have a college procedures question and answer session. I often talk about specific features of the textbook and give suggestions on how to best use it to maximize success. When time allows, I show the students how to search for and obtain a scholarly journal article online. So much of what happens in class, not just on the first day but during any class session, consists of non-repeatable events.
While some instructors may simply hand out syllabi and dismiss class on the first day, many of us are going to dig right into introductory material that lays the foundation for the rest of the semester. Time in the classroom is precious, and I for one firmly believe in getting the learning underway as soon as possible.
I saved the most compelling reason to attend the first day of class for last. Quite a few instructors will immediately drop students who do not show up on the first day and immediately take adds to fill in their places. In today's climate of an increased number of students trying to register for a smaller number of classes, keeping a seat in a class is becoming more competitive. It has become routine for full classes to also have a waitlist of 20, 30, or more students. While it's nearly impossible to get everyone on the waitlist into an already full section, many instructors will try to reasonably accommodate at least some of them. Therefore, if you choose not to go to the first day of a class, don't be too surprised if someone else has taken your place when you finally show up.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
So You're On A Waitlist
Signing up for the classes you need can be a confusing and frustrating process. Even if you registered for classes on the very first day you were eligible to do so, you may find that some (hopefully not all) of the classes you want are already full. Most colleges and universities use a waitlist as a backup system for students who also want the class. Although you should check with your specific school as to how your waitlist works, here are some basic facts about how waitlists work.
When you try to register online or by phone for a class that is already full, you will be given the option to be put on the waitlist. It's a good idea to do so, even if you are told you are some dismal place way down on the list. Students frequently change their schedules before classes start, and when an already enrolled student drops from a full class, the student who is next in line on the waitlist automatically takes his or her place on the roster. Therefore, a student who is placed moderately far down the waitlist may find himself or herself surprised to be enrolled on the first day of class. Save yourself from that kind of surprise, however, by logging into your college’s registration system and monitoring your waitlist position every day. You may move rapidly up some waitlists and have an excellent chance of making it into the class; other waitlists, however, may not change much at all. As the first day of class gets closer, you may have to make a decision whether to stay on a waitlist or try to get into other classes.
If you’re unsure whether to give up your place on a waitlist, you may want to find out whether your instructor will be accepting additional students over the official class limit. You can do this by asking other students who’ve taken classes with that instructor, asking an academic advisor, or, the best choice of all, contacting the instructor and asking him or her directly. There will be a wide variety of responses to this question and you need to respect the answer you receive. Some instructors never take extra students. They stick with the roster of enrolled students from the first day of class and that is that. Other instructors may take extra students in anticipation that a percentage of enrolled students will either drop the class or not show up at all. Another group of instructors do not mind having a few students over the limit in their classes and will automatically provide add codes to a certain number of students that were on the waitlist the day before classes started. Keep in mind that instructors are not obligated to take any extra students at all. Begging, pleading, getting sarcastic, or otherwise putting pressure on an instructor to add you when he or she has already said no will rarely have good results and may wind up with you making a negative impression on someone who you will have to deal with later in your college career.
Waitlists no longer automatically roll students into the regular roster after the first day of class, and the waitlist will even disappear from some schools’ registration systems. If you are fairly high on the waitlist (my suggestion would be no lower than 15th), show up on the first day of class with an add card in hand if your campus requires one. Even though individual instructors’ policies vary, many of them will immediately drop students who do not show up for the first day of class and that may make room for you. This is especially true in today’s higher education climate where budget constraints have limited colleges from being able to offer as many classes to accommodate the number of students who want to take them.
Make sure that you pay your registration and tuition fees on time to keep your class schedule, including your place on any waitlists. If your schedule is cancelled for non-payment of fees, you lose both your place in classes you successfully enrolled in and your place on any waitlists for classes. If you re-register for a full class after you’ve already been dropped from the waitlist, you will be placed at the bottom of the list. Even worse, if you were already enrolled in a class then dropped, you may find yourself at the bottom of a waitlist when you re-register.
Three of the four classes I am scheduled to begin teaching in 3½ weeks already have waitlists. Right now they are short, and those students stand an excellent chance of getting into my classes because they registered in a timely manner and are choosing to exercise a little patience. Waitlists are a great thing, but always have a backup plan for other classes you can take. This may mean monitoring your college’s registration system quite closely as the first day of classes approaches, but if your diligence results in you getting a good class schedule, it is all worth it.
When you try to register online or by phone for a class that is already full, you will be given the option to be put on the waitlist. It's a good idea to do so, even if you are told you are some dismal place way down on the list. Students frequently change their schedules before classes start, and when an already enrolled student drops from a full class, the student who is next in line on the waitlist automatically takes his or her place on the roster. Therefore, a student who is placed moderately far down the waitlist may find himself or herself surprised to be enrolled on the first day of class. Save yourself from that kind of surprise, however, by logging into your college’s registration system and monitoring your waitlist position every day. You may move rapidly up some waitlists and have an excellent chance of making it into the class; other waitlists, however, may not change much at all. As the first day of class gets closer, you may have to make a decision whether to stay on a waitlist or try to get into other classes.
If you’re unsure whether to give up your place on a waitlist, you may want to find out whether your instructor will be accepting additional students over the official class limit. You can do this by asking other students who’ve taken classes with that instructor, asking an academic advisor, or, the best choice of all, contacting the instructor and asking him or her directly. There will be a wide variety of responses to this question and you need to respect the answer you receive. Some instructors never take extra students. They stick with the roster of enrolled students from the first day of class and that is that. Other instructors may take extra students in anticipation that a percentage of enrolled students will either drop the class or not show up at all. Another group of instructors do not mind having a few students over the limit in their classes and will automatically provide add codes to a certain number of students that were on the waitlist the day before classes started. Keep in mind that instructors are not obligated to take any extra students at all. Begging, pleading, getting sarcastic, or otherwise putting pressure on an instructor to add you when he or she has already said no will rarely have good results and may wind up with you making a negative impression on someone who you will have to deal with later in your college career.
Waitlists no longer automatically roll students into the regular roster after the first day of class, and the waitlist will even disappear from some schools’ registration systems. If you are fairly high on the waitlist (my suggestion would be no lower than 15th), show up on the first day of class with an add card in hand if your campus requires one. Even though individual instructors’ policies vary, many of them will immediately drop students who do not show up for the first day of class and that may make room for you. This is especially true in today’s higher education climate where budget constraints have limited colleges from being able to offer as many classes to accommodate the number of students who want to take them.
Make sure that you pay your registration and tuition fees on time to keep your class schedule, including your place on any waitlists. If your schedule is cancelled for non-payment of fees, you lose both your place in classes you successfully enrolled in and your place on any waitlists for classes. If you re-register for a full class after you’ve already been dropped from the waitlist, you will be placed at the bottom of the list. Even worse, if you were already enrolled in a class then dropped, you may find yourself at the bottom of a waitlist when you re-register.
Three of the four classes I am scheduled to begin teaching in 3½ weeks already have waitlists. Right now they are short, and those students stand an excellent chance of getting into my classes because they registered in a timely manner and are choosing to exercise a little patience. Waitlists are a great thing, but always have a backup plan for other classes you can take. This may mean monitoring your college’s registration system quite closely as the first day of classes approaches, but if your diligence results in you getting a good class schedule, it is all worth it.
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