Even with the largest first-year class Miami University has seen since 1974, the upcoming registration process is expected to be less stressful than previous years.
Due to the enrollment bubble created by the Class of 2010, Miami offered more beginner level courses and Miami Plan Foundation classes this past fall and will hopefully continue to do so in following semesters, explained Dave Sauter, university registrar.
"Once we looked at the number going through, we had to offer more additional sections, rather than just adding seats to existing classes," Sauter said.
Some courses like chemistry labs, which have fixed numbers of seats, cannot take on more students, so making more classes was the only logical thing to do, Sauter said.
Although offering more sections of both required and Miami Plan courses is one solution to the ebbing tide of registration, watching what majors the first-years chose is also important.
"If there aren't more sections of the appropriate classes then the university isn't responding to that enrollment bubble," Sauter said. "The university has to respond the best it can for the upper-level classes."
The restriction process, which has frustrated students in the past, will also become more robust in upcoming semesters. One way to assure majors that they will get the classes they need to graduate is by blocking out nonmajors.
"Restriction sounds like a negative word but if you're a journalism major, classes are restricted for just you," Sauter said. "Regardless of what else is going on, you're going to have a greater likelihood of getting those classes needed for your major."
More 8 a.m. and Friday classes are also two additional strategies the university hopes to use in order to alleviate scheduling woes.
Many professors don't like teaching Monday-Wednesday-Friday (MWF) slated classes because of their 50-minute time slots, said Richard Nault, vice president of student affairs. Registration then becomes more difficult because of the large amount of classes offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Flexible scheduling on Fridays might change this problem, making some classes offered solely on Mondays and Wednesdays or solely on Fridays, which would also make these classes longer than just 50 minutes.
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"I think (changing the MWF schedule) would be an advantage; it might make scheduling easier," Nault said. "We're not just focusing on 8 a.m. (classes) ... If you know Friday is going to be a serious day you might do less parting Thursday night."
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