In hopes of providing a solution to class availability, maintaining maximum classroom occupancy during semesters, and to combat the student registration tactic known as “Class Shopping,” Bakersfield College Biology Professor Joe Saldivar has proposed that a 14-unit limit be stipulated during early-registration.
According to Saldivar’s written proposal, there are 18,209 students enrolled for the current semester.
The proposal noted that, “6,509 students on a waitlist (unduplicated) and 2,170 of these students are not even enrolled in any other course. Having a seat in any course is extremely coveted.”
Having gone to the BC Institutional Research and Planning office, Saldivar said, “I asked them if this proposal would have been implemented, this particular semester, how many seats would have been available and they crunched the numbers and said generously there would have been about 900 seats available.”
If instituted, Saldivar’s proposal will allow students to register to up to 14 units during the fall and spring semesters, while the priority window is open, and five units for the summer. Certain students, who have achieved academic goals, would be unaffected by the proposal if enforced.
In outlining the proposal, Saldivar said, “lets assume April 15 is earlier registration. So students who are able to register early, they can register for up to 14 units. Take whatever you can up to 14 units.”
Once registration opens for non-priority students, they will be given a 48-hour window to register for classes that will be closed to priority students.
“Now let’s assume that March 1 is then open registration. That allows those students who are not eligible for priority registration – now they can take whatever classes they want.
Once that window is closed, registration opens to all students, and according to Saldivar, “Now on March 3 would be true open registration – it’s a free-for-all.”
Stemming from an experience at the end of the fall 2010 season, Saldivar said, “It really hit me last semester, earlier part of December, during finals week.
“At this time registration was going on, and I was bombarded with e-mails and phone calls from students saying that not only could they not get into classes, they couldn’t even get on the wait list.
“So then I’m taking a look at this dichotomy of empty seats and people trying to get into classes, and I already understood that this is going to happen next semester.”
In talking with students, Saldivar became aware of the shopping technique and how students would register for classes beyond their intended completion amount.
“These students are then dropping these classes maybe two to three weeks into the semester and what that does, is now there are empty seats, in which just a couple of weeks earlier, there where students clamoring to try to get into these courses,” according to Saldivar.
BC counselor Kathleen Rosellini said, “We see a lot of this happening, where students are just signing up for all these units and then you can see, they drop them.”
“Talking with students they’ll say, ‘Yeah, I took on too much’ or ‘Yeah, I shouldn’t of signed up for all those units,’ and what influences them, I think it varies,” said Rosellini. “The other students that take more than 14 units are those students that Dr. Saldivar is talking about … they’re just shopping.”
Cornelio Rodriguez, BC Academic Senate president said in regards to students dropping courses during the semester, “We want to respect the fact that we know life happens and we know that some students don’t do it on purpose. We know that financial impacts, work schedules, other demands that are put upon the students, force them to drop a class. They don’t do it just because.
“We can say that we want students to be successful and we make the college accessible, so we bring them in, and now there is a statewide move to do more in terms of helping students finish. Not just get them in, but finish,” said Rodriguez.
“The proposal that Dr. Saldivar presented is really an effort to help our students succeed and to help our students focus,” said Rodriguez.
According to Rosellini, “The ones that take a lot of units and do well aren’t going to be impacted. President scholars are not going to be impacted.”
Having been approved by the BC Academic Senate, the proposal will now be presented to the Kern Community College District Chancellor’s Cabinet.
Having talked with the Admissions and Records Department, Saldivar said, “We’re going to push to hopefully have this ready for December and Fall registration.”