At the start of every academic semester, there is that brief period of time where students are allowed to switch classes and professors at the click of a mouse, touch of an iPhone or with the help of one’s overbearing mother. Similar to the description of the college experience as a period of exploration and experimentation, add/drop permits students to attempt to discover the best combination of classes for the semester.
For those who have no notion of what classes to take and enjoy shopping around for classes, add/drop is a blissfully short time full of a ridiculous number of choices. And for those so confident in a selection of classes earlier in the previous semester, add/drop becomes an opportunity to convince a few buddies to stay in the class or to student-watch all the new entries into the class.
The professors, on the other hand, keep teaching and attempt to work with the new entries or early departures; that must be annoying and frustrating.
Yet what happens every year is that more than a few students are trapped by the add/dropsystem and are unable to properly select classes that will suit them best. This can be for various reasons, but the three main reasons I see the most are: The desired class is full, and no students drop out; the desired class doesn’t have enough students and is unable to meet; or, unfortunately, the professor traps students by modifying his or her teaching style to make the class harder. (This does occur, and it can utterly derail a student’s semester rather quickly.)
Two of those three reasons can be mitigated by extending the length of add/drop and permitting students to interact more with their professors to better understand what is expected in the class. The other reason can’t be mitigated, since the classes that do not have a minimum number of students are always cut before the start of the academic semester.
In addition, extending add/drop allows students to positively select into classes that will most benefit them. Students who are in the classes that benefit them the most are probably going to study more seriously, enjoy the class more and are more likely to receive a higher grade.
The professor will benefit from more interested students through better student evaluations, which are heavily factored into tenure promotion and salary increases. The combination of a more interested student body and a professor teaching actually interested students in his or her class is a recipe for a greater class experience and better education.
While I am not suggesting add/drop be extended a significant amount to allow maximum student selection, I am suggesting that the University at least review the length of add/drop in favor of a longer period. It would be quite rare to find a student who would not agree with an extended period of class selection.
Likewise, I cannot fathom a professor who wants more than a fair number of disinterested students in his or her class. Of course, this is not a panacea to the problems associated with class selection, but I would prefer to see the University be proactive and self-aware of flaws that greatly affect students.
Patrick Crowley is a junior majoring in mathematics, finance and economics. His column runs weekly on Mondays.
