Last month Whitman students completed pre-registration for the spring semester. Pre-registration occurs twice a year, in November for the spring semester and in April for the fall semester, and precedes the actual registration that occurs at the beginning of each semester.

Its purpose is to give faculty an idea of the demand for their classes. Often, if there is a great interest in a certain class, more sections will be created.

Whitman College Registrar Ron Urban frequents campus computer labs during registration to see how things are going. “I’ve seen problems that have opened my eyes,” he said. He also welcomes student feedback and invites students to visit him in his office to share their comments and complaints. “We’re completely open to suggestions,” he said.

“We want to make [registration] as convenient, painless, hassle-free and quick for students and faculty as possible,” said Urban.

“I think we’ve improved a lot,” he said of the current registration system, “but I think we’ve got a long way to go before we finally get to the state where we’re really happy with the way things are operating.”

For many students, especially underclassmen, registration is a stressful process. A common complaint among students is that they are unable to get into the classes that they wanted. Although it can be difficult for underclassmen, especially first-years, to get into all of the classes that they want, this problem eventually becomes nonexistent when students gain upperclassmen standing.

“Whitman prides itself on the fact that no one has ever been held up because they couldn’t get a class to graduate,” said Urban.

First-year Brian Wakefield’s only complaint about his registration time was that it conflicted with Salman Rushdie’s talk. “I was afraid that if I left my registration until after the talk I would lose a spot in a class that I really needed to get into,” said Wakefield.

“The whole issue of registration conflicting with events is an impossible one to solve,” said Urban. Although the campus events calendar is consulted when scheduling registration, they cannot foresee events that are not on the calendar.

Urban gives three pieces of advice to students regarding registration. First, students should have three or four alternate schedules that are approved by their advisor. Second, he recommends talking to a professor in advance about possibly getting on a waitlist for a very popular class. He also advises students to talk to professors when a class closes about possibly getting in. Third, he recommends that students work more closely with their advisor. “Your advisor is supposed to help you with your schedule, and they serve as someone who can often intervene between you and the other faculty members,” Urban said.