A recent email from Stevens announced that for the first time, incoming freshmen will be creating their fall semester schedules. As previously mentioned in the article “Scheduling 101: a guide to course registration,” freshmen were given a pre-made fall semester schedule and would create their own schedule starting in the spring.
To get a better perspective on how this change might affect students, The Stute asked current freshmen what their thoughts on this new policy were, as they were the last class to not create their fall semester schedule. The results were mixed with responses ranging from frustration that this was not done sooner to satisfaction Stevens for finally changing this policy.
A 1/4 Electrical Engineering major noted, “I wish they had done this a year earlier because I got screwed over as a commuter with 8 a.m. classes every day and large gaps between classes. Glad other freshman commuters won’t have to go through what I did though.”
Another student mentioned, “I think that this [is] a good idea since [students] can pick which professors they want [for] some classes. Since I have heard that different professors for some of my fall freshman classes were wildly different to mine.”
Still, there are students who expressed reservations about this new policy. One Quantitative Finance major explained, “I’m worried about how effective [this] will be. Freshman don’t have study plans yet, nor do they know where campus buildings are in relation to each other. Also, in what order will they be able to register for classes? The transition is stressful enough without adding choosing fall classes to it.”
On that note, one responder also remarked, “They should not be allowed to do this as they are not clear in what the process is yet and have not been taught how to do it. They are going to back up the advisors and clog the Workday system.” It is important to recognize that scheduling can be stressful. A lot of components such as understanding the study plan, course offerings, and the campus itself play a role in the process, which can understandably make scheduling a bit stressful.
Computer Engineering student Aidan Sprigle discussed both sides of the topic. Sprigle mentioned, “I think it is unfair that we didn’t get this opportunity sooner, I know a lot of people who would have liked to change their schedule around. On the other hand, I think this is great. Not only do incoming freshmen now have more flexibility in their schedule, but they also get earlier experience into how the schedule making process works.”
This fall, we will all see how this new scheduling process will work and play out. As of right now, student opinions differ on the topic and hopefully over time the scheduling process will become more efficient and a more positive experience for all students.
