For the first time since 2002, the University's Registrar office has strictly enforced the rule that rising juniors need to declare a primary major and major advisor in order to register for the following fall semester.
Some sophomores were initially prevented from registering because of this, but the Registrar re-opened registration for another three weeks.
"It has always been University policy that sophomores can't register without first declaring a major - this was just the first time we enforced the policy," Student Services Representative Barbara Clark
To implement the policy, sophomores who had not yet declared were not authorized to access the Student Information System (SIS) online.
This was not the first time this policy was imposed on the students. According to acting Registrar JoAnn Smith, the previous two years have been the only times the policy was not enforced.
"[In the last two years,] we have told students they had to do it prior [to registering,] and tried to enforce it, but didn't prevent them from actually registering," Smith said. "[The decision to enforce the policy] was made to benefit the students."
Smith said that she was concerned that if students failed to declare a major, they would not receive the best advising possible on how to fulfill the necessary requirements. She said that there was the concern that these students could potentially be left behind.
It is important for students to declare a major on time, according to Chris Nwabeke, sophomore class dean and dean of advising.
"We didn't want to allow slack and let students go all the way through to their junior year without having chosen a major and a primary major advisor," he said.
In the past few semesters, registration has been re-opened after the initial scheduled times are completed. This year the second registration period will last three weeks.
The purpose of having post-registration periods is to help students make adjustments.
"[The subsequent registration periods are,] if for whatever reason, students missed their time or suddenly decide, to make last-minute changes, " Smith said.
"We're hoping to put an add/drop form online in the future," Smith said. This process may, however, take several years to complete.
Certain departments, especially those with upper-level courses in high demand, experienced problems in which many classes were closed out before students could enroll.
The political science department was one department affected by this issue. By the first evening of registration, April 6, 21 percent of the classes were closed, according to a survey done by the political science department.
The only students who had registered by that point were some of the rising seniors, students abroad, and students in five-year programs such as the Museum School and New England Conservatory (NEC).
By the evening of April 12, more than 23 courses offered in the Political Science Department were closed - more than 50 percent of all classes in the department, total.
"[Political Science] enrollments have been increasing every year; it's quite a phenomenon," political science chair Vickie Sullivan said.
