Following a room assignment error, the Registrar's Office shifted the giant Economics 5: Principles of Economics (EC 5) introductory class from the D+ block to the F+ block, causing confusion and forcing students to readjust their schedules. The mix−up was one of several registration errors that occurred this semester across the Schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering.
The Registrar's Office scheduled both EC 5 and Biology 13: Cells and Organisms (Bio 13) for the D+ block, from 10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Both classes have a maximum enrollment of over 400 students; the only classroom on campus able to accommodate classes of this size, however, is Cohen Auditorium, according to Registrar for Arts, Sciences and Engineering Jo Ann Jack.
Because Bio 13 was already assigned to Cohen Auditorium during that block, EC 5 was mistakenly reassigned to Barnum 008, the next largest room available during that time.
Barnum 008's seating capacity is only 200, according to Jack. As a result, more people than could fit into Barnum showed up for the first class.
Professor of Economics George Norman, who teaches Economics 5, did not discover the error until the first class on Tuesday, Sept. 7. Despite the fact that the official listing said the class was to be held in Barnum, Norman thought "that must be a mistake," he said. He cancelled the first class so that the situation could be resolved.
Many EC 5 students went to Cohen on that day anyway. Thinking the class was to be held there, Norman had sent an e−mail to students informing them to go Cohen for class.
Sophomore Grant Zyskowski saw Norman's e−mail only an hour before the class's start time.
"I went to Cohen the first day of class and I found the auditorium filled with students taking bio," Zyskowski said. "I didn't think that was right, so I went to Barnum and found out that class was cancelled."
"I thought that the [classroom] on the departmental listing was wrong," Norman said. "It was only when I checked on [Student Information System (SIS)] that I realized that the class had been scheduled for Barnum. At that point, I contacted the Registrar's Office and said, ‘This can't be right; this has to be changed.' They then reacted immediately … The Registrar's Office reacted incredibly quickly so that we were actually fine by Thursday."
Jack e−mailed students on Sept. 7 informing them that the course had been moved to the later F+ block, from noon to 1:15 p.m. on the same days.
Over 85 percent of students in Ec 5 were able to take the course at its new time, according to Jack. Some students who stayed in the class, however, were forced to rearrange their schedules to do so, which included dropping their conflicting classes in order to stay in EC 5.
"I found out that they were moving it to the time of my favorite Spanish class, and basically I had to take econ during that block and take another Spanish class, and it was really terrible," sophomore Sarah Blinka said.
Blinka criticized the scheduling error, saying that the mix−up was preventable.
"I feel like having a 300−person class with no room was just a really bad oversight on their part and they should have caught that sooner," Blinka said. "I think they messed up a lot of peoples' schedules, and even if they had caught that before the freshmen had registered, they might have been able to find an available room."
The date of the final exam for EC 5 was also moved to correspond to the finals slot allotted for F+ block classes. Norman said he plans to accommodate students' prior travel plans.
"What I've already told the class is that anyone who has made travel arrangements based on the previous dates of the examination can take the exam on what would have been the date otherwise, had this change not taken place," Norman said.
Determining class times and locations is a joint effort by both the Registrar's Office and individual academic departments. Each department submits its information to the Registrar's Office, which then uploads the information onto SIS, according to Jack.
The mix−up between EC 5 and Bio 13 is one of several errors that occurred on SIS this semester.
SIS incorrectly filled two sections of the seminar After Violence: Truth, Justice and Social Repair, which had been cross−listed as Anthropology 185 and Peace and Justice Studies 150, although only one section of the class was available. As a result, twice the maximum number of students showed up to the first class, taught by Associate Professor of Anthropology Rosalind Shaw, according to senior Rachel Finn, who is taking the course.
"[The professor] was put in the awkward position of having to decide who in the class was going to take it," Finn said.
Shaw chose which students would remain in the class based on prerequisites, past experience and major requirements, according to Finn.
"I don't blame anyone in particular," Finn said. "I just hope in the future it will be able to be regulated [in a way] that ensures that such a mix−up doesn't happen again. It was very disappointing and frustrating for all parties involved."
In another instance, a recitation section of Physics 1: Introduction to Physics I was scheduled for the same time and room as History 55: Europe in the Early Middle Ages. Students in the physics recitation were forced to move to a smaller classroom, according to junior Evin Koleini.
"I really didn't mind. We just got a room and got through the class," Koleini said. "It's just a recitation." Nina Ford contributed reporting to this article.
