How SNHU Approaches Course Registration

How SNHU Approaches Course Registration

Taylor Posik Staff Writer

Students registered for their 2021 spring semester classes during the week of November 16 at their assigned Eastern Standard Time (EST). As soon as the clock strikes their given time, a large number of students click the submit button and wait for results. Amid the stress of getting the classes they need, students may not realize what goes into the registration process.

Before selecting courses, students are required to schedule a meeting with their academic advisor to discuss course registration plans. In order to graduate, students must obtain at least 120 credits or more, depending on their program evaluation. Most students will register for a minimum of 12 credits per semester. When scheduling sign up times for students, one of the aspects that is taken into account is the number of credits each individual possesses. Typically, those with the least amount of credits left - seniors and juniors - will be scheduled in the beginning of the week to register for classes. As the week progresses those with more credits left, which commonly consist of sophomores and freshmen, will follow in the course selection process.

“Class level...is determined by [the] number of credits and not the number of years at SNHU,” says Kristen Harding, Associate Registrar of Records and Registration. “Early registration allows predetermined groups the ability to register the day before their assigned time.”

One group that fits the needs for early registration are those participating in athletics. This allows for “coordinating 30-plus student athletes’ schedules for practice or game travel,” says Thomas Wilkins, Director of Athleticsand Recreation. Allowing athletes to register early will help to “avoid common practice time windows or days of away travel.”

Freshmen go through a different process during their first semester. They are originally enrolled in classes based on their major, placement in mathematics and English, and their interests. In their second semester, they will have the chance to build their own schedule. All students will then have the chance to adjust their schedules until the end of the first week of the new semester. When enrolling in classes, students need to be aware of prerequisites, which are classes they need to take beforehand.

Degree-in-three students also have to go through the trial of course selection, where they must sign up for at least 20 credits per semester in order to graduate in a timely manner.

“As a degree-in-three student, course registration can be very difficult. We often get placed at odd times with a lot of misinformation on what classes we need to take and the ability to register for them due to delayed registration times,” says Katie Roy, Inter-Greek Council President. “This semester, I was placed on Monday morning at 7:30 am. When I had spoken to someone from Academic Operations, I was informed that I was lucky as a second-semester senior that is a degree-in-three student to get a Monday time slot. After speaking with several of my peers that I know are degree-in-three students, they all had Tuesday timeslots. This was very interesting to me as these students were also second-semester seniors. It often appears that SNHU has a lot of inconsistencies when it comes to the degree-in-three students, specifically in course registration.”

The scheduling for course registration week has been marginally affected by remote learning. As classes are now identified as synchronous or asynchronous, students have the chance to choose whichever form works best for them. Course registration week was also pushed back by a week to give students more time to choose which courses to take in the spring.

“It’s really all hands on deck. There’s a bunch of us: success coaches, advisors, me and a few others on a chat thread. As soon as a student calls, somebody’s messaging and we’re picking up the call,” says Leah Richards, Assistant Dean of Student Successes.