In the early hours of registration day, hundreds of University of New Hampshire (UNH) students hunch over their laptops, refreshing browsers, dealing with glitches and blacked-out screens, juggling backup plans—for a single click on a mousepad to determine whether they stay on track to graduate.
Early time slots are some students' only hope during registration. Less fortunate students, flustered and stressed from finals, are forced to email professors requesting to “squeeze” into their capped class, or ultimately wait until the summer to attempt to register for a class, in hopes that already registered students may have dropped it.
Students who want to retake a class for a better grade are often rejected during their time slot. “I can’t register it in the system because it’s not allowing me to take it more than once,” stated a freshman communication major attempting to fulfill one of the three required communication courses. Students often face unnecessary stress, along with overburdened advisers, when they discover during registration that a class cannot be retaken. The widespread confusion and frustration may stem from the disorganization of UNH’s registrar as well as the course portal.
Webcat, UNH’s primary student financial and academic portal, is essentially failing some of their students. The system struggles with identifying students’ class history. In addition, the website unfortunately cannot recognize students’ declared majors. As a result, some nursing students are being denied registration for required clinicals after their accounts are mistakenly flagged as non-nursing majors.
Many students attend UNH with the goal of earning a bachelor's degree, hoping to attend courses that align with their academic growth and abilities. “It’s just frustrating because now I have to take these classes out of order and deviate from the standard class path for the major because I got stuck with a bad registration time,” said another communication student.
With the inability to select classes due to late time slots, some students face a screen flashing that their desired course is “full.” Distraught, students rush to their advisers for help. Sometimes, the only solution for them is to choose an upper-level course they feel unprepared to take.
The University of New Hampshire has always, and will surely continue to accept transfer students. But is there a point at which their priorities begin to shift away from the needs of currently enrolled students? Students were denied access to required classes due to reserved seating for transfer students. “I can’t take one communication class because it’s full and they are saving spots for transfer kids,” said a first-year student.
The limited availability of courses is becoming a major concern for the university and its students. Fewer courses are being offered, or even cut entirely from the academy. Students contemplate whether UNH’s budget cut contributes to faculty understaffing.
When students’ required major courses are capped, they are left to fill their schedule with electives. Essentially, students waste time and money on classes that do not fulfill credits towards their chosen major, sometimes forcing them to graduate late.
“I was there the second the clock turned!” said one cybersecurity student. Infuriated, some sophomores are spending a year on non-related major courses. Required courses that must be taken in the same semester are frequently overbooked. Overlapping class schedules prevent students from enrolling in enough credits to stay on track. “I’m really dissatisfied with the way that course selection works here at UNH,” said a freshman as he slapped his palm on his face.
Ultimately, students at UNH express strong concerns about the challenges of class registration. With fewer professors available to offer a broader range of courses, the university may need to adopt a new approach to course selection. If not addressed, UNH may face consequences, like a decline in incoming freshman enrollment.
