Why did I choose to take a course knowing it could conflict with my work schedule? There are surely other course times being offered that I could have taken, right?
Wrong. Here at Cal Poly Pomona, most departments only offer one course section for a subject that many junior and senior standing students need to take as a requirement to graduate.
Departments with impacted classes could simply offer more options for these courses instead of having their students struggle. However, most students don’t know that those in charge of scheduling and opening courses for a department don’t have an exact number of students that have reached junior or senior standing like everyone believes. A student could be considered junior or senior standing by reaching the required number of units, or the student has to register for the Graduating Writing Test (GWT). The best way to let the school know that you plan on taking a course that fills up fast is by actually using the My Planner website and speak up.
For those who do not know what that is, My Planner is a university website that gives administrative coordinators in charge of courses within a department an idea of how many students are interested in a course and, most importantly, when they plan to take it. This would be beneficial to all students because those stuck in a position like myself, where a class is conflicting with work schedules and heavy traffic hours, will have options to choose from. Rather than stressing over choosing work over school, students should have a schedule that works best with their needs. The department will also be able to see what the most in-demand courses are.
For example, if 50 students need to take COM 4465: Online and Social Media to fulfill the core requirement, but no one used the site, then chances are the department will only open one class and let 25 students in.
This would then leave all others to wait another semester to take the class they need to graduate. Now, if those 50 students were to use the site, then the department would see that the class is in higher demand. With that, the department could open a second section at a different time.
However, I do wish there was a form to let people within the departments know what times work best with students.
Many courses work well for the fact they are morning or night classes, but those in the smack middle of the day tend to be the hardest. Parking is crazy, the freeways are packed and most workplaces are not so lenient on letting employees work around school schedules.
At the end of the day, like many here on campus, I just wish departments offered more than one class for a course that is heavily demanded by junior and senior standing students.
