During the first two days of classes, thousands of students have picked up drop/add forms in an effort to change their course schedules.
This troublesome and hectic time has caused frustrations for both students and university officials, as students struggle to get classes they need.
"Drop/add is the big ticket this week," said Celeste Pardee, a curriculum associate in the Registrar's Office. "So far, it has been a constant flow of traffic."
By 11 a.m. on the first day of class, more than 1,700 students visited the help desk outside of the Administration building. On the second day of classes, 2,900 students sought help by 3 p.m.
Different methods of registration have caused mixed feelings among students because of priority registration schedules, department scheduling and lack of seats for certain classes.
"The Web registration system with the restricted hours of operation and scheduling windows really isn't that good," said Sarah Low, a music freshman. "The online system really needs to be more organized."
Brittany Donovan, a pre-nursing sophomore, said the registration process and the lack of class availability frustrates her.
"Courses are really tough to get into if you don't register early," Donovan said. "You have some students that can't get into any of the classes that they need."
Administrators say they have been working to correct the issue of getting students the classes they need.
New freshman enrollment is up by 314 students over last year when original projections anticipated 100, which attributes to limited class availability, according to information obtained from Rick Kroc, the assistant vice president for enrollment management.
Also affecting class availability is the total university enrollment.
Students are admitted until the last orientation session before the start of the fall semester, which has produced the highest head count in history, totaling more than 36,000 students on the main campus according to Jerrold Hogle, vice provost for instruction.
The increase in new students thus created a need for additional classes, available seats in classes and thus more funding, Hogle said.
"President Likins authorized an additional $85,000 for classes, and I, in turn, sent that money to the colleges," Hogle said. "The president has also asked that additional tuition funds received go towards meeting class needs first."
The waiting list process is another complication, which at this time has no formal process dictated by the university.
Plans currently exist to implement a formal, more precise computerized waiting list through the registration system instead of the course-by-course method currently used by some instructors, Hogle said.
"We are doing our best to track high-demand classes in order to have the ability to provide more seats in these courses," Hogle said.