The Francis Marion University Student Scheduling System

988 Words2 Pages

A large part college students dread is the class registration system. Scheduling at FMU (Francis Marion University) specifically is unpleasant. The scheduling systems at universities are the cornerstone of academic classes. Some colleges have lousy scheduling systems some have superb scheduling systems. Some have an online system or an in-person scheduling system. Overall though, most scheduling systems are horrible. Although students in college have the freedom to pick and choose what classes they want and when they want them, the scheduling system is unfair. The scheduling system currently at FMU is unbearable. The idea is excellent, but the execution is not. You have to log on in the morning, and the bandwidth fills with hundreds of students …show more content…

Freshman have to go to CASA (Center for Academic Success and Advisement) to meet with their advisor and make a mock schedule. Then they go and make their final schedule. This is a total waste of time I know upperclassman meet with an advisor and do it right there, but this extra step is pointless. I had an issue with this because when I filled my mock schedule, it was two weeks before registration day. By then seniors, juniors, and sophomores were already registered and had taken my desired classes I had to re-due my schedule. As Lauren explains in her article “We’ve All Been There: Class Registration” saying, “Your registration appointment isn’t for another three days, but after hours poring over the course catalog, you’ve finally created the perfect schedule for next semester. It took a lot of finagling, shuffling and about 27 pieces of paper, but you’ve done it.” Also, Lauren states “Over the next three days, you obsessively log in to check the course guide, praying your classes are still open and re-working your now not-so-perfect schedule as they fill up. This is another reason the mock schedule is ridiculous.” Thus, when class fills up, you have to waste your time and go to the department chair and ask for an …show more content…

The system is so bad that next year the university will adopt a new system. If the university still allows upperclassman to take freshman-level classes, they should add more courses in the system. Upperclassman should finish certain general education classes before being able to take other courses. Other colleges, for example, Ohio State University they have a better system as stated “For some students who are graduating in four to five years, there may have been schedules available that would have enabled them to graduate in four. The problem is, they just can’t find them. They cannot see everything that you are offering because of the typical manual trial-and-error process that they have to use. Our software looks through every possible combination of classes and has up-to-the-minute seat information. It examines all classes and how they go together to provide open, conflict-free schedules for

More about The Francis Marion University Student Scheduling System

Open Document