Improving the Odds in the Registration Lottery

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Improving the Odds in the Registration Lottery
Renee E. Babcock Alice Andrews Program
Coordinator Academic Advisor Dept. of
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
of Psychology University of Texas at
Austin University of Texas at
Austin r.babcock_at_mail.utexas.edu andrews_at_psy.ute
xas.edu
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Outline

• Background
• Registration Issues
• Ethical considerations
• Solutions
• Conclusions

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• Were Texas
• But you dont have to be to have the same
  problems
• Advising ? Registration
• Technology

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Registration Issues House rules

• Catalog
• Courses needed for degree
• Course prerequisites
• Schedule of courses
• Titles, times, and sizes
• Changes
• Registration
• Access
• Waivers

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Registration Issues The Players

• 3 constituents - students, instructors,
  institution
• Their goals may not be mutually compatible
• Need to create systems that address these
  divergent needs

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Institutional goals

• Higher 4 year graduation rates
• Lower student to teacher ratios
• Happy students happy alumni

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Meeting the needs of the faculty

• Want the flexibility to add select students into
  their classes
• Want to offer courses within their research area
• Want to limit class sizes
• Question who teaches service or required intro
  courses?
• How can we address these needs while being fair
  to students?
• Electronic wait lists
• Prerequisite checking system

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If they would just use their powers for good

• Students will find ways around the system
• Use of class-grabbing software
• Rewarding bad behavior
• Tools to avoid these problems
• Ability to establish priorities for classes
• Ability to view log of student registration
  activity

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Top 10 list of things students say to get us to
add them to closed classes

• 10. I went to class and there were still lots of
  empty seats
• 9. My friend is dropping so I can have his seat
• 8. I pay your salary so you should do what I want
• 7. I wont graduate on time if I dont take this
  course
• 6. I dont want the open section, I want this
  section. This professor gives the best grades.
• 5. I understand you cant let me in, but Id like
  you to let me in.
• 4. Will you let me in if I bring you a case of
  Diet Pepsi?
• 3. What do you mean I dont have the
  prerequisite? Im taking it right now!
• 2. I cant take the 8am class, because I wont
  get up in time for it.
• 1. I would have added it, but I was in line for
  Texas/OU tickets.

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Our goals as advisors

• Issues of fairness
• Students lacking prerequisites
• Balancing enrollments across multiple sections
• Resource management
• Filling seats in less popular sections
• Not enough seats to meet demand
• How to quantify demand?
• Sisyphian task

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How does all this make us feel?
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NACADA Core Values

• Advisors are responsible
• to those we advise
• to our institution
• to our educational community
• in involving others
• http//www.nacada.ksu.edu/Clearinghouse/AdvisingI
  ssues/Core-Values.htm

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CAS Standard

• Administrators should
• exercise authority over resources for which they
  are responsible to achieve their respective
  missions
• identify and find means to address individual,
  organizational or environmental conditions that
  inhibit goal achievement
• improve programs and services in response to
  changing needs of studentsand changing
  institutional priorities

• http//www.nacada.ksu.edu/Clearinghouse/Research_R
  elated/CAS.htm

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Academic ethics

• Be familiar with your institutions statements on
  academic/teaching ethics
• Printed rules
• Unfair advantage

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The hand youre dealt

• Advantages Disadvantages
• Paper Can verify needed for degree luck
  rather than priority
• Can verify prerequisites met delayed response
  registered?
• Can verify instructor permission
• Phone/web Sequenced access (class
  standing) Cannot verify needed for degree
• Immediate response Cannot verify prerequisites
  met
• Can limit to those with permissions System load
  limits may affect luck

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Electronic wait lists

• Can decide which classes to turn on or off
• Can decide size of wait list
• Can remove student(s) from wait list
• When seats added in class, takes next eligible
  student off wait list
• Student notifications
• Student may add with swap course

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Why we like to save the trees

• Time and date stamped
• Swaps
• Students control their own destiny

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The lie detector

• How to deal with less-than-truthful students?
• View student registration log

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I know what you did during registration
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Class grabber
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Prerequisite checking

• Enforcer v. Informer
• Enforcer prevents add if student doesnt have
  prereq
• May waive prerequisites for a student
• Check batch prerequisites against a class roster
  or for an entire department

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Prerequisite check menu
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Conclusions

• Priorities and goals change
• Must adapt to changes in technology
• Advisors interface between students, faculty,
  institution
• By working together, we can hit the registration
  jackpot