Diamond Jenkins
Blue & White Flash / Managing Editor
Am I the only student that gets sent in circles when it comes to registering for classes? I have been sent from the financial aid building, to financial services and then to the Administration Tower. I have lived in the long lines, for days at a time, trying to continue my education at JSU.
Throughout these experiences, there is one thing I have noticed, I am one of many having troubles with this new registration process. Whether it is completing documents, showing tax returns, not being eligible for Pell Grants or simply not knowing if you have completed registration, there are a lot of confused students.
Supposedly, the registration process has changed for the better but just how different is it? We were told that we do have options, but they do not seem to be flexible options. Students having to pay tuition in full or at least a $1,000 down payment is just one of the problems students are faced with.
Financial services new slogan should be “Pay to Stay” because that’s the only way you will be able to complete your registration before your classes are automatically dropped. Does this sound like an effective plan to you? Maybe JSU should have posted on their home page that students should be prepared to pay $1,000 for tuition because this year, financial services “ain’t” having it
Every year, many students at JSU complain about getting the run around by some staff members of the Financial Aid and Financial Services Departments. For an example, speaking personally with a counselor seems to take an act of congress. This is a big issue because they rotate financial aid counselors every few hours and you are getting told several different things by each one of them. After you do what they tell you to do, you then find out that you still need to do something else. It is an exhausting, frustrating and confusing experience.
According to this “new” registration process, after course selections, the process for students to finish the registration process has changed for the better.
Students will no longer need to click a button to complete the registration process. The university began accepting student charges, which ultimately completes your registration. The problem is many students do not know this and prefer the screen that said, “Registration is complete!”
In the new process, students also no longer have to go to JSUPaws accounts to verify their addresses and contact information.
An Associated Press-Viacom poll finds: (1) most college students cite money problems, not bad grades, as the reason most college students have considered dropping out. (2) Almost 6 in 10 students rely on loans to help with college costs, and nearly half who do say they’re uncomfortable with the debt. (3) A majority of students at four-year colleges say they routinely feel at least a little worried about having enough money to make it through the week.
Besides my personal experience, I am familiar with other students that have had a hard time completing registration.
Jarred Johnson’s experience sums up the frustration of many JSU students.
The junior mass communications major from Vicksburg, Miss. said, “I take only 18 hours, which makes my schedule busy, already. This new registration process just made it more difficult for me to register and I had never gone through this before.”
He added: “Once I was given my financial aid award, I was told that I had to wait a certain amount of time in order to see the money added to my student account. I would call the financial aid office to check on my account. After a while, school started and I still was not registered. Now that classes have been started for about a month, late fees were added to my account and my classes were purged, because my financial aid was not processed as I thought.”
I was told by a financial aid advisor that once your classes are purged, whether it was a mistake or not, whether your award money processed or not, you would have to go through four separate departments in order to regain your schedule. These included the chair of your major’s department. And, I started to think, when did we ever have to do this? You should not have to break an arm and a leg to stay in school.”
The views expressed in the commentary are those of the writer(s) and in no way represent the views of The Blue & White Flash.
I went to JSU in the late 90s….
At that time, it could take you a week or so to get a “registration complete form”….This form was like the papers illegal immigrates have to walk around with….it was used to prove to your professor you are really supposed to be there….
Sad part is the exact same run-a-round happen then….Financial Aid and Financial Services and back…plus they were not in the same building……now the people giving you the run around got the run-a-round when they where at JSU…..
At least the computer system are a little better now….we had to schedule classes using a computerized dail tone phone system…like the one companies used before the internet grew up…PRESS 1 TO SCEHDULE A CLASSS…..get this….one a limited number of students could use the system at the same time….say 20….
At the time they didn’t use SCT Banner…they used SCT Plus….this system was a green screen computer system that crashed and stayed down hours on end…..if the system was down you either waited or get out of line and try your luck another time…..