Hanyangian.com No.8 <Acropolis>

   After a peaceful summer break, Hanyangians had to register for their courses during the second to last week of August. To majority of university students, getting into the classes of their needs is a key factor to a successful semester. Students organize their ideal timetables sometimes weeks before class registration to ensure an acceptable outcome. However, class registration is also known as Dooms Day among university students.

  Kim Seung-eun, a Freshman in the Division of Advertising and Public Relations adequately described the chaos by saying,

   "Getting the classes I want can be harder than getting tickets to concerts of famous singers." How bad can class registration be to deserve the Dooms Day title?

 

The Reality of Registering for Classes

   Kim Kyung-min, a Junior in the Department of Chinese Language & Literature, failed to register some classes related to the Department of Business Administration in spite of it being her minor. Accordingly, she has to inconveniently try registering to some classes that she failed once or more during the correction period. As companies prefer business or economics related majors, lots of students choose these departments as double majors, multiple majors, and minors. Students have difficulty registering for these courses, since there just are not enough classes to accommodate everyone.

   Students also have complaints about the syllabus. Syllabus plays a key role for students to decide which classes to sign up for the next semester. They provide information like the contents of the class, class modes, and passing standards. Kim Min-jung, a sophomore majoring in architecture said, "It was frustrating because some classes had no syllabus. Some does not get posted early enough, and some does not even get posted at all. I had no choice but to call the department to ask about the class."

   Another problem is that the majority of the subjects are scheduled between on Monday to Thursday. Statistics show that liberal arts classes take up only 15 percents of all classes on Friday on both Seoul and ERICA campuses. Moon Ji-won, a sophomore majoring in public relations said, “After being discharged from the army and taking a year off school, I often experienced overlap of some classes between Monday and Thursday. This was not the case in the past. Therefore, I could not take some of the courses I wanted.” Korea has been following a five-day workweek since 2007. Due to this policy, many people want to enjoy their leisure time on the weekends. Unfortunately, this happens to professors of HYU. Friday is the least preferred day the professors want to lecture.

 

HYU’s Attitude

   The Department of Academic Affairs at HYU said, “Responsibility for not updating a syllabus on time is solely on each professor. The school always encourages all of the professors to update a syllabus a week before students register for courses by sending text messages and e-mail.” It is important for professors to update their syllabus on time on their own. However HYU will have to establish a strict regulation about this sooner or later.

   Years before, it was popular for students to buy and sell popular classes from each other. The school took it seriously and they have been taking an action to punish people related to these kinds of actions. In addition, to prevent it they have limited students to choose only one course in an On-line and Pass or Fail style.

 

Turning Eyes Sideways

   In spite of the above policies, there are still remaining acts of buying and selling popular classes. “I felt bothered by some inconvenience which I have to sit in front of a computer to obtain my favorite subjects” said Choi So-li. She is majoring in Public Relations as a junior and was an exchange student at University of Texas in Austin for one year.

   In case of American schools, they have a system which is so called a waiting list. This is designed for students to register courses which had already been full. If any vacancies come up, students are able to get the class they registered for in the order of application. “Waiting list is a good system to prevent dealing in signing up for classes among students. Because of this system, it prevents trading of popular subjects among students” added Choi.

   Seoul National University carries out demand surveys prior to registration. According to the results, they not only increase the capacity of popular classes but also shift big classes to the Assembly Hall. HYU should also make a survey to investigate the exact figure, considering the number of persons who are in double majors, minors, or neeed to retake a course, so that Hanyangians are able to take their favorite subjects.

   Dongguk University has been using uDRIMS program, an independent software for Dongguk University to register for classes, while other schools register through the Internet. Ko Gun, a senior in the Department of Korean Education at Dongguk University, said “uDRIMS, Dongguk’s enrollment program, provides students with helpful information containing evaluation score of the classes. This enables students to decide carefully which classes to take.”

 

HYU Communication

   HYU has continued to raise tuition fees over the years, even though the ratings to reflect students’ demands are still low. This is why there is lack of understanding between the school and students. HYU always has to pay attention to the demands of the students and make a tremendous effort to provide students with better condition not only in academics but also in registering for classes.

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