RCL #4: Issue Brief

Stress Scheduling: The Problem with Scheduling College Courses

Introduction

There is no worse feeling than having a weight on your shoulders that you cannot lift. Many college students across the country speak on scheduling college courses, and why it can be a burden and stressor to many. Penn State, being a large institution, has scheduling policies in place that do not accommodate for the number of people trying to take the classes required for their major. Kids are unable to schedule the classes they want or need due to the overwhelming amount of students compared to the limited spots. Many factors go into choosing classes, and some of them have to be eliminated from a student’s decision as the classes fill up. Stress builds up as the day gets closer and freshmen have it the worst. Almost no classes are available and it is a race to see who can get the remaining good ones. Students coming in with AP credits have an advantage and scheduling a late NSO date leaves students with selective options. This is impacting Penn State students and the process can be adjusted to make it a better event for everyone. The Office of the University Registrar could make scheduling changes to limit stress and aid in availability to accommodate the amount of students.The counterplan being suggested involves students only being able to rearrange their schedule after everyone has completed the task. Doing this would help kids to know the chances of getting into a class and not be so frantic with rearranging their potential schedule right before.

Problem

Scheduling classes can be one of the most stressful events in college for students attending. The lead up is overwhelming and kids are unsure if they will be able to schedule the classes needed for their major. Why is this an issue when every kid must fulfill certain requirements? Even College seniors sometimes cannot get the classes they need in order to graduate because of the scheduling problem. Scheduling is done in waves based on the amount of credits one has. Therefore, the seniors with the most credits go first and it files down until the freshman with the least credits. This filing system is effective as the website does not crash and the kids who have less classes left to take pick first and it goes from there. The problem is that scheduling ultimately comes down to luck in many cases, and this is unfair and stress causing. Oftentimes many people are required to take the same classes and when everyone’s trying to get in, there are not enough spots and it is upsetting to have to redo a whole schedule on the spot while others are taking all of the places. Students do not know if they are going to be taking the classes they desire even though they are paying for them. Many factors go into the decision as seen below, and students can’t fulfill what the need from them when classes are so limited at times.

Plan

There is currently a system in place for student scheduling that is supposed to make the process easier on everyone. The classes available for the semester are put out by the Office of the registrar based on room space and what is popular. Public Safety decides how many students can be in one room at a time, so the school must follow those guidelines and that cannot be changed. In regards to the students’ end, they are given a date at which they can begin their scheduling and have freedom to change things until a few weeks into the semester. As previously mentioned, the date given corresponds to the number of credits one has, so the most credits go first and then on. Students can schedule as many classes as they like once the date hits. There are often preset plans for each major that a student can follow as they are required to fulfill certain requirements to graduate.

Counter Plan

The policy changes being mentioned are to help the greater good of the college community. The major change that would take place would be a schedule lock. This policy would cause schedules to be locked in place once they are in until all students have completed their scheduling. It can be very difficult for students on the later dates to make their schedule when so many classes have only a few seats and they can be filled all the way up until their exact time scheduling opens. It seems unfair that some students have free rain of scheduling while others are still waiting for weeks for their turn. This would allow all schedules to be locked in place with the amount of classes that person needs, and then they can change things as needed once everyone has a schedule for themself. Another change would be students being required to list a general idea of the classes they will be taking the next semester so the school can better accommodate for the number of kids wanting to take a single class. It is hard to navigate the process when students are constantly dropping and adding classes, sometimes 30,000 students before you have the chance to begin. These changes would eliminate the stress a student goes through and give more guidance. Some other recommendations include needs forms and scheduling advisors who specialize. Students could have forms to fill out which allow them to enroll in a class early that they know they absolutely need and could fill up fast. There also could be advisors who specialize in only scheduling for kids who get overwhelmed and make sure they are on the right track along with their traditional advisor.

Conclusion

Overall, scheduling can put a toll on students’ mental health because of the race to get classes and the unknown variables. Kids are unable to schedule with confidence because so many others are scheduling on the same date or already took up the classes they need or want to take. People are unable to personalize their schedule how they want because not enough spots are available and with such a big school, you never know when more will fill up or open. The policy solution being suggested calls for change in a few areas. The main difference would be students making their schedule and not being able to change it until all other students have gone. Other minor things include forms of probable classes and forms for needed classes. Lastly, more specialized counselors would be available for those that get too overwhelmed with the process and need aid when deciding on classes when little is still available. If all help with this issue, the policy could be enacted and all students could have a little less stress than they already do. Almost everyone has gone through the struggle together and are fighting for the last spots, when people could work together. If awareness is raised about making scheduling changes, it could impact seniors   graduating classes and freshmen who got a late NSO date, bringing the whole community together to fix a common problem.