by Jonathan Resendez and Gary Collins
With spring classes filling up quickly, students who have not yet registered are encouraged to do so while keeping a close eye on the process to avoid errors.
The total number of registered students increased by more than 1,000 each day during the first week of registration. According to enrollment records, as of Tuesday morning, 20,707 students had already registered districtwide, approximately 16 percent more than had registered at this time last year.
John Spencer, South Campus registrar, said part of the growth in numbers results from students becoming more familiar with the online process.
“ Students have gotten more conversant with the Web tools,” he said. “There is less traffic in our lobby, less issues with WebAdvisor. Traffic is down. Enrollment is up.”
Janay Mitchell, a first-year student who plans to transfer to UTA and major in accounting and finance, said that everything about the process has gone smoothly so far.
Unlike the registrar’s office, the lobby of the South Campus counseling center has not had a drop in traffic. Chelsea Goines joined several students waiting to speak to the next available counselor. She plans to enter the dental assistant program on NE Campus.
“ For the fall semester, I was able to register for all the classes I wanted except one,” she said. “Make sure that you don’t register late and that you’re passing all your classes. I thought it would be easy, but it wasn’t.”
Kiesha Harvey, one of several on-call academic advisors helping on South Campus, said the majority of students who visit counseling are first-year college students. She encouraged students to get a balanced schedule and advised against taking several classes that require heavy reading.
Many students also encounter snags when registering if they are on academic suspension or probation, owe business services various fees or try to register for a class for which they have not met the prerequisites. This is why counselors stress early advisement so much, Harvey said.
An on-call academic advisor for TCC since 2006, Harvey also helps in the SE Campus counseling center, where, she said, traffic this year has been pretty normal. She also said many teachers have brought their entire classes to try to prevent the long lines the South Campus counseling center has experienced.
“ We are strongly pushing for students to take proactive measures such as early advisement and testing,” she said.
Not meeting payment deadline can create problems for students, Spencer said. Students who miss the first payment deadline are automatically dropped from the classes for which they registered.
Spring registration runs through Jan. 20.
Students can set up a payment plan through the FACTS payment system with a $25 fee. To create a payment plan, students need to log in to WebAdvisor and click on the payment options link.
Students can pay tuition online with debit or credit cards or in person at the business services office, which will close Dec. 13-Jan. 4.
Spencer said the best thing for students to do after registering is log out, then log back in and print the schedule and fee statement to verify their selections. He said errors can and will happen.
“ We work with students when mistakes happen,” he said. “If they contact us within a day, we’ll usually work with them.”
Students should check their CampusCruiser e-mail accounts because that’s what TCC personnel use to communicate, Spencer said.
Spencer, who also teaches business and management courses on South Campus, said that the distance learning online classes fill up the quickest. He became a court-appointed mediator by taking online classes while he was in graduate school. He said they offer convenient flexibility, but they require more work, making it easier to fall behind.
Spencer said that he was pleased with enrollment thus far and that South Campus might need to add more classes in the future if it keeps growing. He also said campus personnel need to find ways to make registration better and encourages students to offer their constructive criticism.
Registration Schedule
Registration —————— Payment Due —–Deletion date
Nov. 15 – Dec. 6 ——–Dec. 6———-Dec. 7
Dec. 8 – Dec. 13——- Dec. 1-3——–Dec. 14
Dec. 15 – Jan. 3——–Jan. 3———–Jan. 4
Jan. 5 – Jan. 10——–Jan. 10———-Jan. 11
Jan. 12- Jan. 20——–Jan. 20———-Jan. 21
After Jan. 20 At time of registration*
* Unpaid schedules subject to deletion.
