Leslie Doolittle, Assistant Dean and Director of Academic Support Services and Henrietta Genfi, Assistant Director and Academic Adviser

Olivia and I sat down with Leslie Doolittle and Henrietta Genfi from the Office of Academic Services. With registration coming up quickly, (begins November 7th!) we were able to gain some great insight on how to utilize the office, advisors, and how to correctly pick classes for the upcoming Spring semester.
 
HerCampus Bentley: Do you have any advice for the upcoming registration period? Any advice, especially for freshmen?
 
Leslie Doolittle:For first year students, this registration is going to be their first time registering and  may be memorable in a more intentional way. It is different than orientation, in that, they will have time to be strategic and deliberate in making their schedules and registering for classes.
 
Henrietta Genfi:  I’ll tell you the pitfalls I see. Students rely on their friends, who can be helpful, but only to a point. Friends don’t know when policies change. This office is the first place to know when information changes. We know that students are busy and that making half hour appointments is sometimes difficult to work into your schedules, but it is more than worth the effort. When you leave the office you feel better. By taking that half hour to plan, you will have the security that you are getting the correct information, which will give you piece of mind in your decisions.
 
LD:  We know students get inundated with emails, but try to sift through what is important and meaningful. Please note: ANY and EVERY email coming from the Registrar’s Office is important. Look for important information from the office in these emails because being well informed will help with registration anxiety. And make appointments to talk with an advisor in OAS. Students who take the time to make appointments leave the office, as Henrietta said, feeling much better than they did when they came in.
 
HG:  We have walk in hours available Monday-Thursday from 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m , for students to access quick answers to registration and schedule questions.
 
LD:You can also make appointments with most advisors through BentleyLink, although some do need to be made by calling the office directly.
 
HC:Any helpful tips for students as they head into registration?
 
HG:Students should remember to breathe and be flexible. Picking one specific course will only lead to issues. Instead of being so specific, choose one general area, like IDCC. When registering, look for open IDCC courses and choose one that looks appealing to you. Having just a general course idea will make registration much easier.
 
LD:Exactly. Getting away from the specificity makes registration so much easier. Look at the overall objectives, not necessarilyto specific courses. Look to the bigger picture: What do I need to take? What do I want to take? Why do I want to take this course? What do I hope to gain from this course?  Also, plan alternative course options. If you get closed out of a class, don’t panic, but either look to other alternatives that will help meet your objectives or look to future semesters to take the course. Most often, chances come around later.
 
Another tip: Work counterculture. This is a great time management tip, and not just for registration. Going against the norm has its benefits. I almost always have 9:30 appointments open and there are huge benefits to coming into the office early. Not only are those appointments in less demand, but I am less rushed because I don’t have another student waiting in the wings to meet with me.
 
HC:What are the best ways for students gather information about specific classes?
 
HG:  Do your research and do it well. Rate My Professors and your friends don’t always have the best answers. They will provide you with the highs and lows, both the extremes, but nothing in between. Also, students seem to not ask the right questions. “Is the professor hard?” is going to have varied answers depending on who you ask. Questions like: “Are classes lecture and PowerPoint based or interactive?” or “Are there more papers or more essays?” are more helpful when deciding on a professor. Ask questions about your own personal learning style. If you think you may be interested in a class, email the professor and ask for the syllabus.  Professors love this and they usually find students who take the initiative before registration do better in the course.
 
LD: Get your information in multiple ways. Your friend’s insight is not the end-all-be-all but neither is any one source. Students are motivated by different things and everyone has different skill sets. I actually like Rate My Professors, but probably not for the same reasons that ours students do. There can be helpful information about the types of tests professors administer, methods of evaluation used, and character traits. Emailing faculty is also an option. Look for their responsiveness. Their communication over email will most likely resemble their communication style in class. Look for tone, similarities and differences between you and the teaching/communication style of the professor. If you connect with the professor as a person, you are more likely to attend class and do well. The SETs are also a great place to look. They compare students’ responses section-to-section and semester-to-semester. If you come at the information in several different ways, you are likely to be able to make the most informed decision. Once in the course, professors expect you to be well-researched in the course material, so why not be well researched on the class structure and the instructor, as well? Bottom line is that just boiling selection down to likes vs. dislikes on RMP is far too simplistic and very often is not representative of how you would experience a course. Some of my favorite faculty in school had some of the most mixed reputations among students.
 
HG:One of my professors once said: “I think you are majoring in my classes” because I must have taken at least 6 that she taught.  We had respect for one another, and that connection drove me to do well.
 
HCB:What happens if students get closed out of classes they need to take that specific semester?
 
LD:The registrar has created “problem days” for students that have issues that are truly a need. If a student is closed out of a required course in that semester, say GB212 second semester freshman year, then the  registrar has the ability to find that student a spot in a 212 class. “Problem days” do not work for students seeking specific timing for classes; only students with specific needs (rather than wants) for being in a class will be accommodated. Bottom line: You need a full load of courses that help you meet degree requirements. If you are struggling with what and how to do that, please come see us.