‘Last minute’ will be much earlier

College enacts deadlines and limits for Winter 2010 to check hectic first weeks

Addie Shrodes

Editor

ashrodes@wccnet.edu The first weeks of this semester at Washtenaw Community College were exceedingly hectic. Hundreds of students who weren’t enrolled in courses — some not yet accepted to WCC — clamored to get into college, into classes and into parking lots. That won’t happen next semester if WCC has anything to say about it. “The first two weeks of this semester ­— it’s nuts,” said Linda Blakey, associate vice president of Student Services. Blakey saw hundreds of students fill out college and financial aid applications, and heard from many instructors who felt “in a bind” because an inordinate number of un-registered students wanted instructor permission to get into classes. Kristin Chatas, chair of the Mathematics department, said instructors saw a huge increase in students clamoring to get into classes there’s no way they could get into. “That’s not a good learning environment,” Blakey said. As a result, the college will initiate multiple changes and deadlines for Winter 2010 to control that “late activity.” Registration deadline remains the same — Thursday, Jan. 7 at 6 p.m. — but other deadlines, especially those for new students, will move up or exist for the first time.

Application deadline initiated

The college has only had a recommended application deadline, and many applicants start the process the first week of classes. But in Winter 2010, there will be an exact application deadline: Jan. 4 at 6 p.m., a week before classes start on Jan. 11. The college will enforce the deadline by taking the Web application down until Jan. 19. Applicants must also complete orientation and assessment before they can register for classes, so those deadlines are moved up. The deadline for orientation moved from Jan. 7 to Jan. 6, and the COMPASS test start deadline moved up a few hours from 4 p.m. to 12 p.m. on Jan. 7 — to ensure students don’t rush through the test to register for classes by the 6 p.m. deadline.

Financial aid deadline to ensure funding

WCC will also implement a Dec. 11 deadline by which it needs to receive federally processed FAFSA applications for students to receive aid by the Winter payment deadline. It previously had no deadline. That doesn’t mean students can submit a FAFSA on Dec. 11, because the government first processes the application before sending it to WCC. However, eligible students can receive Pell Grant money for Winter 2010 through June 30 of next year. But if the application isn’t received by Dec. 11, the money won’t be there for the payment deadline, so students will need to make other payment arrangements, Blakey said.

Waitlist shortened from 99 to five

WCC will essentially max out the course schedule from the start in Winter, so in most time slots, the college couldn’t add more sections, which they have done if a waitlist goes to 15 or 20. However, the college may still add sections at less-crowded times if there is visible demand, said Roger Palay, vice president of Instruction. But since most time slots will be maxed out, it doesn’t make sense for courses to have waitlists beyond five. “Student’s might feel like they’re going to get in because they’re on the waitlist, but that’s giving them a false sense because the faculty can’t take that many people,” Blakey said. After the first payment deadline Dec. 10, the waitlist will shorten to three. The college hopes the shorter waitlists will reduce the number of students pressuring faculty to let them in a course. It will be easier for students to determine which classes have available seats or spots on the waitlist, however. This semester, online course catalog viewers had to click the “status” button to see how many seats and waitlist spots were left, and after the registration deadline, the waitlist went to zero because the lists were archived. In Winter, the waitlist numbers will show past the registration deadline, and the catalog will be color-coded so students get an idea of how many seats are left at a glance.

Looking ahead

The December break makes it difficult to move deadlines back further, so “this is still kind of crunched,” Blakey said. Deadlines might be even earlier for the Spring/Summer 2010 or Fall 2010 Semesters.