Registration for the summer and fall 2019 began this week, and Lehigh faculty will be assisting students in the process of selecting the next courses in their academic plans.
The Lehigh registration system through Banner is a software product provided to Lehigh by software manufacturer Ellucian and was introduced last year.
Alexis Browne, ’21, College of Business and Economics student, said she finds the registration process stressful.
“Most of the stress comes from not knowing whether you’re going to get all of your classes, but I don’t think that’s something that can be changed,” she said.
The upcoming semester will consist of new scheduling changes, including all classes being held in 75-minute blocks and class hours beginning at 7:55 a.m. and end 9:55 p.m. One of the reasons for this change, according to a previous Brown and White article, is to accommodate the increase in students.
Allen Taylor, director of Technology and Campus Services, said he is open to consulting with students. Taylor said he always invites students to provide any feedback to Registration and Academic Services that specifically pertains to the registration system. He can then forward any useful feedback to the vendor for future improvements and enhancements to the software.
“We did start a new process for the upcoming fall registration period in conjunction with the Provost’s Office where the Provost handed down some new ideas on the way that the schedule should work,” Taylor said. “Those came out of the work of the university calendar committee which is composed of students, faculty and staff to help distribute some of the classes during the academic day in an effort to give students more choices throughout the day of some of the courses they will be taking.”
Browne said she feels optimistic about the new registration process and is hopeful that the system will operate smoothly this year.
She said having an academic plan early will make people successful during registration.
“Overall, as long as you plan ahead of time, you should be fine,” Browne said.
There are some key tools that Lehigh offers in order for students to plan ahead for registration each semester. Among these tools is the degree audit, which allows students to review their progress on meeting academic requirements.
Richard Kish, a professor in the Perella Department of Finance, said he encourages students to utilize the degree
Kish said the benefits of the degree audits allow students to select a different academic program to see how their courses can be used to fulfill a different degree.
“So if a student decided they wanted to major in finance but they are thinking about possibly wanting to major in accounting, they can do a what-if (bachelor’s) in finance and a what-if (bachelor’s) in accounting which will give the student an audit that is specific to their catalog year,” he said.
Taylor said Registration and Academic Services office will continue to work on improving the registration process, and Lehigh will keep offering helpful tools for students to feel well-prepared come registration.
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