This past October, during the monthly faculty meeting, professors attested to widespread and chronic burnout and overworking within the college. As later reported in the 2024 COACHE survey; faculty rated the labor balance and productivity of the school drastically lower than peer institutions, as well as their overall satisfaction with the college. One specific issue of overwork the faculty spoke to was the registration process, detailing how it is both unfair to students and professors alike.
Registrar Megan McHenry said that the current system was instituted to avoid the pitfalls that exist in other systems that may allow for bias or inequality: “I think what the system was trying to solve by moving towards optimization, was bias and accessibility, which was viewed at the time as egalitarian”
After the institution of the optimization process, the faculty legislated a petitioning phase for students to give students a voice in the registration process.
McHenry said that while the current system was created to promote equality, it still may privilege certain students over others by means of the petitioning process. “What we are seeing in the petitioning system is that it may rely on student abilities,” McHenry said, “if they went to a high school that really favored writing, or whether they have the right words to connect with that professor.”
Assistant Professor of English, Katie Adkison adds that the labor for professors involved in the registration process is three-fold: first, professors are accountable for managing their own classes during registration, second they may have students who they are advising on classes, and third they have to review student petitions and decide to either accept or reject them.
“I think it all contributes to our burnout in a real way,” Adkison said, “and also contributes to student stress and when our students are stressed, that also adds to faculty emotional labor. I will say, none of us, students or faculty or administrators should be naive in thinking this solves all of our concerns.”
Classical and Medieval Studies Professor Mark Tizzoni seconds Adkison concerns. Tizzoni has been a member of the curriculum review committee for the past two and a half years before stepping down last semester. As a part of the committee and academic advisor to students, Tizzoni argues the stress is felt differently from student to student, depending on year, major and so on.
Professors heard reports from the Curriculum Review Committee (CRC) that over a dozen seniors were missing critical Modes of Inquiry (MOI) requirements to graduate. The CRC reports that the number of seniors that (as of the fall semester of 2024) were ineligible to graduate, has gone down from past years. Members of the faculty legislating body then added that the current system of class optimization has led to many students not meeting these requirements in a timely manner.
Both professors agree that a move away from optimization would decrease stress for both students and faculty during registration season. “I think it would be ideal if it were a system where seniors and juniors can register before sophomores and first years and we have sufficient general education requirements so that students aren’t stressed about achieving them.” Tizzoni said.
McHenry adds that not only is this change possible, but it is one she is ready to implement, however there is a legislative hurdle for any change to be made to the registration process. McHenry details that because there is legislation in place for petitioning, nothing can change about the system until it is repealed and no longer legislated by the faculty. “I am having repeated conversations with the CRC about what that would look like, but it is the foundational thing that needs to happen first.”
What is certain, however, is the motivation from both students and faculty to implement some sort of change, as Prof. Adkison said “Imagine a world in which registration was done after a week, imagine a world in which you knew you were in a class the moment registered for it, or, when confronted with a full class, you could just make an immediate change to a second option, rather than wait a month to know at the end of the day whether you got a seat in those classes. I don’t think there’s a perfect world out there, but I think that’s a better one than we’re currently experiencing.”
