Baruch owes its students a smoother enrollment process
Kamilla Sharipova | The Ticker
October 22, 2021
Baruch College needs to do a better job of informing students of their enrollment dates.
Freshman and transfer students are susceptible to missing their enrollment dates through no fault of their own. To find out when a student can start enrolling in classes for the next semester, students have to check their specific CUNYFirst account.
This may sound like a minor issue, but it can have a negative impact on Baruch students.
If a student misses their enrollment date, it may have major ramifications for their upcoming semester. Furthermore, failure to get into the classes needed to graduate could delay the student’s graduation by a semester and cost them more money.
While it is true that it is up to the student to gather and process information, when it comes to enrollment Baruch needs to do a better job notifying students of when enrollment week is.
Some solutions for Baruch could be sending weekly email reminders to students that include when enrollment week is taking place. Posters around campus displaying valuable information about enrollment would be beneficial not just for freshman and first-year transfer students, but for all students.
A week or two before enrollment begins, professors could spend a few minutes before, after or during class letting their students know to check their CUNYFirst accounts to see when they can begin enrolling in classes.
Another thing Baruch could do is change enrollment to a less stressful time for students.
For this semester, enrollment is taking place during the first week of November, the main time for midterms. Baruch could move enrollment up or back a couple of weeks so that it occurs when students aren’t stressed with midterms.
Baruch’s administration must immediately consider these suggestions and brainstorm additional solutions to the issue of registration.
