by Bess Given
Daily Lobo
Scheduling classes is not a simple issue.
Mary Bibeau, academic adviser in the Communication & Journalism Department, said it is actually very complex.
"Scheduling has to deal with a variety of issues that are happening around the campus," Bibeau said. "That includes when professors are available, the amount of students registering for each class, the tightness and availability of classrooms around campus that could be used and how many evening and weekend classes that are being attended by students."ˇˇ
For some students, it is the last time they will register for classes, and only one or two are needed to fulfill requirements for their major.
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But fewer sections of higher-level courses means less options for student schedules. With less options and required courses that are often scheduled in the same time slots, some students have to attend UNM for another year.
Carolyn Gutierrez, a scheduling coordinator for the Registrar's Office, said scheduling conflicts vary from department to department.
"It seems as though the scheduling conflicts are not a campuswide problem," Gutierrez said.ˇ "The individual departments are in charge of scheduling their classes and turn them into the Registrar's Office."
Although mostly upperclassmen are affected by department scheduling conflicts, so are underclassmen.
ˇTiffany Romero, a freshman nursing major, said she has run into scheduling conflicts within the C & J Department and the Department of Theater and Dance and the College of Nursing. She said it is inconvenient for students and professors when courses overlap one another.
Romero, when scheduling classes for the fall 2004 semester, said two classes she needs are offered at the same time and on main and north campuses.
"One of the classes is off campus at the nursing campus - that is not exactly convenient if the schedules are the way they are," she said. "I would have to wait until the spring semester to take a class, which would hold me back. I want to take those classes now in order to get ahead."
Some classes required for majors are offered only once per year. Brad Hall, chairman of the C & J Department, said it purposely schedules classes seasonally to avoid overlapping classes in the same semester.
He said there are hundreds of different classes and sections that need to be scheduled each semester. If a professor isn't available to teach a class, it will be skipped for that semester, he said.
"Each semester, the department goes over all of the classes to see which ones to keep at the time they are previously scheduled or if there are classes that need to be changed," Hall said. "Every department tries to take care of scheduling conflicts and wants each of their students to graduate on time."
