Editor's note: This article was originally published online, on March 23.
Remember being a pre-freshman sitting down at Colonial Inauguration for hours trying to select classes you knew little or nothing about?
Those days are over. This year, the University has made changes to the way the students in the class of 2010 will register for their first semester of classes.
The new system, named GW First Class, will replace the previous method of having incoming freshmen meet with CI staffers to develop a schedule and then register on computers for classes on the third day of CI. The new program is run through Blackboard, the University's online academic portal, and will provide students an opportunity to register online from their homes before coming to CI, with the help of e-mail assistance from GW advisers.
The change is a result of student dissatisfaction with the current advising system, said Renee Clement, Student Activities Center assistant director for Colonial Inauguration.
"One of the biggest 'complaints' we get about CI is that it gives students an inaccurate perception of life as a student at GW - specifically, that we will 'handhold' them through these processes, when actually students have to pursue them with much more autonomy and independence," Clement said in an e-mail this week.
Administrators worked with deans and assistant deans from across the University to develop the new system, which Fred Siegel, associate vice president and dean of freshmen, said will be an improvement.
"During my first CI (in 2003), I watched that third morning of CI and what it was like - I thought it was very stressful," Siegel said. " Kids are registering on four hours of sleep, their parents are hovering around, asking if they got their classes."
"I could see it was a system that needed improvement," Siegel added.
The new system will allow incoming freshmen to spend less time registering during CI and more time socializing, Siegel said.
Remember being a pre-freshman sitting down at Colonial Inauguration for hours trying to select classes you knew little or nothing about?
Those days are over. This year, the University has made changes to the way the students in the class of 2010 will register for their first semester of classes.
The new system, named GW First Class, will replace the previous method of having incoming freshmen meet with CI staffers to develop a schedule and then register on computers for classes on the third day of CI. The new program is run through Blackboard, the University's online academic portal, and will provide students an opportunity to register online from their homes before coming to CI, with the help of e-mail assistance from GW advisers.
The change is a result of student dissatisfaction with the current advising system, said Renee Clement, Student Activities Center assistant director for Colonial Inauguration.
"One of the biggest 'complaints' we get about CI is that it gives students an inaccurate perception of life as a student at GW - specifically, that we will 'handhold' them through these processes, when actually students have to pursue them with much more autonomy and independence," Clement said in an e-mail this week.
Administrators worked with deans and assistant deans from across the University to develop the new system, which Fred Siegel, associate vice president and dean of freshmen, said will be an improvement.
"During my first CI (in 2003), I watched that third morning of CI and what it was like - I thought it was very stressful," Siegel said. " Kids are registering on four hours of sleep, their parents are hovering around, asking if they got their classes."
"I could see it was a system that needed improvement," Siegel added.
The new system will allow incoming freshmen to spend less time registering during CI and more time socializing, Siegel said.
