University College students expecting to move on to the Manship School of Mass Communication next semester received notice from the Registrar’s Office that it might not be as easy as they hoped.
Last year, the Registrar’s Office began moving students automatically from the University College to their senior colleges of choice when they had reached that college’s minimum admission requirements, said Robert Doolos, University registrar.
The Manship School’s minimum admission requirements include 30 hours completed with a 3.0 grade point average and successful completion of MC 2010 with at least a B.
However, the school still wanted students to go through a formal application process as well before admittance.
As a result, more than 100 students received letters from the Registrar’s Office telling them they could not complete the spring 2003 registration process until the circumstance was resolved.
“It’s not a good situation for those students,” Doolos said.
To resolve the problem, the University moved those students to the University College’s Center for Academic Counseling, Doolos said.
This way they could complete the registration process. However, they still have to apply to the School of Mass Communication to be admitted.
Dereck Kibodeaux, a University College sophomore, received one of the letters, but someone in the University College told him the letter was a mistake because of a glitch in the system.
Paul Ivey, University College associate dean, said the University tried to reprogram the automated system before this happened but was unsuccessful. He said his office can help students who may be confused about what to do next.
“We can do that for them; they just need to contact us,” he said.
Helen Taylor, a mass communication counselor, also e-mailed students affected by the change to tell them what steps they need to take to make sure they complete registration and do not lose their classes.
However, Taylor said the number of students admitted depends in part on the number of students graduating.
The School of Mass Communication is reducing its enrollment; therefore, the number admitted will be less than the number of students graduating in mass communication, Taylor said.
Ivey said the automated system should be resolved by the next registration period.