Sophomore graphics and chemistry major Ashley Blincoe is the envy of all her friends this week.

Most students at this time of year find themselves continuously visiting MySlice, Syracuse University’s registration system, sweating about whether they’ll get that final spot in a course for their major, or trying to scrap together any course they can to have a normal course load.

But even though she is a first-year student, Blincoe didn’t have to worry about that.

As one of 900 students in the honors program, Blincoe is grouped into the registrar’s special registration classification. Members of the special registration, like in-season athletes, students with disabilities and residence assistants, register for classes before everyone on campus except seniors and graduate students. Many times this causes problems for students later in the registration process.

‘Most of my friends register this week,’ Blincoe said. ‘They’re mad. They think it’s unfair and they’re worried that they’re not going to get into classes.’

All of the students whose groups register early must be deemed worthy of special consideration by the Academic Coordination Committee. The ACC looks at the particular group’s schedule to see if it has a need that makes registering for classes difficult.

Since honors students need to enroll in certain sections of courses, they must plan their schedules around those sections, said Maureen Breed, the Syracuse University registrar.

‘They have strict scheduling needs that make scheduling difficult for them in the first place,’ Breed said. ‘It’s not the honors sections that are hard to get. It’s scheduling around honors courses that’s the problem.’

Students studying abroad can register for classes at SU even earlier than students in the special registration block. Due to potential the logistical problems of looking for courses while studying in another country, students abroad register a week before anyone on the SU campus. If they need permission to take a course, those students have plenty of time to straighten things out before other SU students register.

When David Watson, a junior acting major, studied in London last fall, he had the opportunity to arrange his schedule for this semester to his liking. Even though there was a mix-up with a voice class he needed to take for his major and needed to fax a permission form to Syracuse to enroll in another class, Watson experienced no other problems while abroad.

‘It was great,’ Watson said. ‘We got first choice. I registered about a week before my peers. This is the first semester where I had an ideal schedule. I needed that extra time to help get things straightened out.’

Students not in the special registration block often look upon it with disdain. While their classmates register up to a week in advance, underclassmen can only pick up the leftovers.

While Sara Carmichael, a freshman broadcast journalism major, didn’t have to worry about that when registering for this semester, she’s become familiar with the feeling this time around.

Carmichael’s entire schedule depends upon whether spots are left in two radio and television news courses. While she anticipated the possibility of being closed out of the courses, her alternative schedule is less than ideal.

Her substitute courses would force Carmichael to go to class almost all day on Tuesdays and Thursdays, something she wanted to avoid when she looked at the course offerings for the fall semester.

‘This semester my date is later,’ Carmichael said. ‘Last semester, I had a really good day. I even registered before some upperclassmen. My worry is getting shut out of the Newhouse classes. My schedule is really gonna suck if I get shut out.’

The registrar’s office expects frustration from students and even put a program in place to alleviate some of the annoyance. Students whose registration date is in the last one-third of the last day are guaranteed not to be in that block again the next semester.

Computers randomly generate all of the registration numbers, and the staff at the registrar’s office checks to ensure that students don’t wind up in the last block two times in a row.

Even if students aren’t in the last block, they often still face complications. But Breed believes most of that stress can be avoided by planning ahead. Almost every student will have to make adjustments, and problems will be easier to handle the more students prepare for it.

‘Most of the frustration is at the end of the process,’ Breed said. ‘It’s students who didn’t think about it in advance. We really encourage students to think about it ahead of time. There’s a sense that you can take anything you want, but that’s not the

Published on April 17, 2005 at 12:00 pm