Scheduling classes is one of the most competitive activities on campus, resulting in long lines at the advisers’ offices and waitlisting for popular classes.But the University Registrar’s Office has made improvements just in time for the usually hectic scheduling period.”One of the most helpful things we’ve made is a new application on PAWS,” said Robert Doolos, University Registrar. “Basically, it’s an application that shows you if there are any holds regarding being able to schedule or process a fee bill. It covers almost any kind of hold.”Doolos said this application was requested by the various deans’ offices of the senior colleges within the University.”It’s great to have one place to go and see, when we’re working with a student, if there is anything that’ll stop that student from scheduling,” he said.Doolos said having the knowledge of different holds will help students schedule appointments with advisers or counselors in advance of the scheduling period and decrease the congestion at the counseling offices.Annette Yancy, counselor at the University College Center for Advising and Counseling, said majority of students wait until the last minute to meet with a counselor and remove scheduling holds.”The biggest frustration is for students who have not responded to e-mails we’ve sent them,” Yancy said. “The people who respond first are cleared, but we have a bigger group that never responds to that e-mail.”Yancy said students who avoid e-mails about scheduling holds are the students who wait in line for 20 minutes or more at the UCAC. Yancy said she doesn’t like how students endure this wait because she doesn’t want them to miss class.However, Yancy said the addition of appointments has improved the hectic scheduling period.”They know the appointment is the way to go,” she said. “When [students] have an appointment … we get them in and out on a much more steady basis”In addition to the new application on PAWS, Doolos said new enhancements have been made to the waitlisting process.Doolos said when a student is skipped on a waitlist, for reasons including time conflicts or a hold, they receive an e-mail notifying them of that skip, and effective immediately, the e-mail will now include the reason why a student was skipped. Doolos said this enhancement will help students know what needs to be resolved in order to be scheduled into the waitlisted class.Michael Lebourgeois, mechanical engineering junior, said the first time he signed up for a waitlist class and got the e-mail about being skipped, he couldn’t figure out why.Lebourgeois said knowing the reason for being skipped will make the process less stressful.Scheduling for classes begins Sunday, Oct. 25 at 5 p.m.—-Contact Mary Walker Baus at [email protected]