Last semester, the date for adding and dropping classes at the University of Idaho was bumped back from three weeks to one week after the start of classes.
Heather Chermak, associate registrar, said the overall registration deadline remains two weeks after classes begin, Jan. 23. The new deadline, Jan. 16, requires instructor permission to add a new class. Chermak said the adjustment was to create fewer deadlines for students to remember.
“We wanted to align those deadlines so students could solidify their class schedules,” Chermak said.
Chermak said a big change that has received good feedback is the fact that now students can perform all the add/drop procedures on VandalWeb instead of having to use paper forms, although this is only until the first Jan. 16 deadline. After then, changes have to be submitted manually. She said this especially benefits students who take classes through UI, but are not actually in Moscow.
“Paper forms aren’t very user friendly for distant students,” Chermak said.
Josh Amundsen is a UI senior education major who said the shorter deadline seems to make things harder. He said the biggest thing for him is money, specifically with classes that have extra fees.
“One example is art,” Amundsen said. “There are extra fees for taking that class, and if you drop past the date, you won’t get that extra fee back.”
Amundsen said he understands how this encourages students to stick with the classes they have originally chosen, but thinks it is too soon.
“When you have a drop date that soon, it’s harder for students to assess the courses,” Amundsen said.
Amundsen said it is hindering in cases where a student is not sure if a class will fit into their schedule until after the first week of school because of the fee and instructor permission requirement’s.
Anton Shapovalov, a graduate student pursuing a master’s in chemistry, said he doesn’t think the change is in the student’s best interest. He said he only sees it as a chance for the university to get more money out of students.
“(To withdraw or add a class after the Jan. 23 deadline,) first you have to pay a $10 fee, and then you have to write a petition explaining why you want to change classes,” Shapovalov said. “I had to go through this process myself.”
Shapovalov said this just keeps people in classes even if they do not want to be there.
Erik Fink can be reached at [email protected]