As the final date for dropping classes approaches, University College, the academic unit for any student not yet admitted to their senior college, must scramble to serve the high volume of students who want to drop classes before the 4:30 p.m. deadline Friday.
Paul Ivey, executive director of the University College, said the counselors and staff of the college plan to create a kind of triage system to separate students who only want to drop a class from those who seek other advising. This way those who only want to drop out of a class can do so quickly and more efficiently.
Last semester, the college had 523 students walk in on the last drop day, Nov. 11. This was about three times as many walk-in appointments as they had one week prior, said Troy Robertson, assistant director of the college.
The number of walk-ins on the last drop day last semester was equal to about 10 percent of the new freshman in the fall, according to the University Office of Budget and Planning.
Robertson said students hold out on dropping classes because they might be waiting to see the results of recent exams or talking to their parents about the decision.
Robinson said “there is probably no way to cure” the large number of students who wait until the last day to drop.
“The reasons why they wait to are not going away,” she said.
Ivey said this week, the college hasn’t seen as much student traffic as they were expecting, but the college is still preparing for the amount of walk-ins they expect to see on Friday.
The counselors have been given a check-list to run through with each student to expedite the process of dropping classes so more can be processed before the deadline, Ivey said.
The list, Ivey said, includes making the students aware they can make an appointment in the future for advising and scheduling help and checking to make certain the student is both aware of the W system for dropping classes and has not used all of their Ws. Students are allowed to receive three Ws during their first 60 credit hours, three between 60 and 119 hours and one for 120 hours and beyond.
Ivey said the college has been sending emails reminding students of when the last day to drop is and encouraging them to come earlier.
“You dream about helping people because it’s so crazy,” said Robertson, who will be one of the first people class-droppers are sent to on Friday.