Course registration is in full swing at the University of Mississippi, but prior to logging on to MyOleMiss, some upperclassmen students expressed concern about being able to book the courses they need to graduate.
Samantha Liles is a senior legal studies and history double major whose registration window was Wednesday, Oct. 30. Prior to registering, Liles said she was anxious about being able to book her required courses.
“It’s really sad,” Liles said. “I’ve been here for four years. … I need three classes to graduate. I’m not worried that I’m not going to get them.”
The Daily Mississippian has reached out to confirm whether or not Liles has booked her courses.
Cooper Carrico, a senior international studies and Arabic double major, expressed concerns about his peers who are in more common majors.
“It doesn’t cause much worry, but this is the first year I haven’t been on the first day. … (I have) pretty niche classes,” Carrico, whose registration window was Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 8:30 a.m., said. “My friends have had some complaints in bigger classes, such as the accounting school or business school.”
Jacob Batte, director of news and media relations at UM, said the university had a specific process for prioritizing students while balancing scheduling needs with ensuring academic progress.
“This (prioritization) includes students with disabilities, student-athletes, veterans and Honors College students, among others. From there, students are prioritized by classification,” Batte said.
Each year, the university works to make the process easier for students.
“Each registration cycle, the university analyzes the data to identify emerging opportunities to make the process easier,” Batte said. The Office of the Registrar is currently exploring new technologies that will improve course availability for all students.”
Andrew Gosz, an Honors College freshman international studies major, had his registration window on Oct. 28 at 2 p.m.
“I got all the classes I planned on taking, which was good,” Gosz said. “I definitely think that (the) early registration is a perk of being in the Honors College. In regards to seniors, most seniors should be taking upper-division classes, while freshmen like me are in a lot of lower-division, graduate requirement classes. I don’t think it’s too big of an issue in that regard.”
Gosz understands the frustrations that some seniors may have with late registration windows.
“If I was a senior, I’d definitely be upset if I had a later registration window and my class was filled up by freshmen.”
Ethan Williams, an Honors College freshman and public policy leadership and writing, rhetoric and speech communication major, had his registration window on October 28 at 3 p.m.
“I already planned out my schedule before, so when registration came around, all I had to do was click my favorites, and that was it. I was pretty happy about (my early registration time),” Williams said. “Some people are worried about whether they’ll even get the classes they want, but for me, being able to get it done early definitely helped with that.”
Williams echoed Gosz’s sentiments, adding that the current system seems unfair for seniors
“I think it’s a little bit unfair (having a time before seniors),” Williams said. “I’m not going to say I didn’t like it, but I think it’s a little unfair to some people.”
Students are also facing struggles outside of the registration order when it comes to signing up for classes.
“I think it’s more complex than it needs to be,” Win D’Antonio, a junior accounting major, said. “You have to switch between the favorites tabs instead of just searching for classes and adding to your schedule.”
For Vince Fichtel, a junior mechanical engineering major, the registration process is a learned skill.
“If one is an incoming freshman, chances are the course registration process is going to be very difficult,” Vince Fichtel, a junior mechanical engineering major, said. “I feel like there’s a big learning curve that has to happen.”
Academic advising for spring course registration opened on Oct. 14 and will continue until Nov. 4. Priority and phase 1 registration both opened on Oct. 28. Students can access their time slot in the MyOleMiss portal. Priority registration will run until Nov. 11, while phase 1 registration will run until Nov. 30.
