Amy Lawler Holloway, Central Georgia Technical College
Higher education researchers and practitioners have long recognized the importance of effective advising in improving retention and graduation rates. Crocket (1978, as cited in Cueso, n.d.) identifies academic advising as “the cornerstone of student retention,” while Cueso (n.d.) writes that advising and retention “fit together like hand and glove.” In any given survey of effective student success strategies, advising and related academic support appear near the top of the list (e.g., Center for Community College Student Engagement, 2018; Ruffalo Noel Levitz, 2023). If early interaction with an academic advisor has recognized value, why would students be allowed to register without its benefit? To what extent do such glitches in institutional processes impact first-year attrition rates? My experience as a retired chief academic officer registering for an undergraduate summer course may provide some insight.
What follows is a narrative of my experience from application and acceptance to registration, at which point, I was waitlisted and then purged from the course. I have intentionally omitted any identifying reference to the university, as I believe this experience could apply to nearly any higher education institution. I felt compelled to share this story as I am uniquely positioned to write from a student perspective with the specialized knowledge and vocabulary of a higher education professional with over 30 years of experience. Seeing both sides may reveal how admitted students can become lost in the registration pipeline.
Admissions: The Paper Chase
Upon turning 62, I seized the opportunity to enroll in a summer course under the public university system’s tuition waiver program. The program allows seniors (aged 62 and above) tuition-free access to undergraduate coursework on a space-available basis. Since my birthday was perfectly timed with the start of summer semester, it seemed fated I would enroll.
I set my sights on a specific online course and began a system-wide search for a home institution. After browsing the summer schedules of all 26 institutions, I located only one offering the course. I had taken a few post-baccalaureate courses at this university over 30 years ago and was hopeful my prior attendance might expedite the admissions process. No such luck: I still had to provide my undergraduate transcript, residency documentation, and immunization records. (Does vaccination status really matter in an online class?) The additional paperwork did little to dampen my enthusiasm, however. I had found my course and was about to embark on another lifelong learning adventure!
The online admission process was relatively easy. Unlike most students, I did not have to grapple with FASFA or any other financial aid processing, aside from a tuition waiver form to verify my senior citizen eligibility. Soon, I was good to go with a congratulatory e-mail from the home institution, along with an issued student ID and a “NetID,” which I deduced was a username for student platform login. I noticed that my maiden name was serving as my NetID. But no matter: I could update my personal information at the appropriate time. Little did I realize that this request would require me to dig up my 1992 marriage license. (A state-issued driver’s license is not sufficient proof of my legal name?) The admissions e-mail also included several hyperlinks to the university’s website for next steps.
Advisement: No Holds Barred
During my career, I advised students as a faculty member and was tasked with troubleshooting advisement and registration issues as an administrator. I am also well versed in BannerWeb, DegreeWorks, and whatever other student platform I might encounter. Armed with this experience and knowledge, I felt confident that I could successfully navigate the registration process with little assistance. However, I wanted contact information for an academic advisor just in case I encountered any unexpected holds.
My first real roadblock was in locating my advisor.
Amid the flow of email traffic from the home institution, none provided contact information for an assigned advisor. Instead, the email messages included a hyperlink to the university’s advisement website with instructions to make an appointment. The advisement webpage was targeted to on-campus, traditional students in a declared major. It took some deep drilling to locate anything related to virtual advising for a non-degree student.
Curious if I could bypass advisement altogether, I decided to forge ahead on my own. I entered into the registration portal, surprised to find a clear path forward with no advisement holds. My curiosity was satiated, but I could not help recalling the convincing body of research supporting mandatory and even “intrusive” advisement, now often called proactive advising (e.g., Center for Community College Student Engagement, 2018; Cueso, n.d.; Ruffalo Noel Levitz, 2023). Undaunted, I selected summer term, plugged in the course CRN, clicked the “submit” button, and waited for the telltale “registered” status to signal my success. Imagine my dismay when an error message appeared instead pronouncing the class was closed! I stared at the monitor in disbelief for a suspended moment before selecting the “waitlist” option from the course drop-down menu.
And just like that, I entered into the registration black hole, my second significant roadblock.
Registration Black Holes
Once my course waitlist status appeared on screen, I patiently awaited a confirmation email detailing next steps. Seeing none, I returned to the advisement website, where I stumbled upon a contact for override requests. I followed the instructions to email my request, explaining my status as a non-degree, auditing student. I received a prompt, polite reply that the course was full and could not be overridden. The email provided a hyperlink to more online information on waitlisting. So onward I scrolled, searching for further instructions.
The waitlist website provided more questions than answers. There were step-by-step instructions on how to select the waitlist option for a closed class, but little else, aside from stating that students would be emailed if a slot became available. Although I dutifully checked my student email daily, there was no word for more than a week. I finally received a message from the registrar’s office announcing that all waitlisted classes would be automatically dropped, but that I had a brief drop-add window during which I could either select another course (not really an option) or reregister if a vacant seat suddenly appeared. That possibility seemed slim, even if I were able to maintain round-the-clock vigilance of the student registration portal. Days passed with no change to my registration status.
On the day of the announced purge, I emailed the instructor directly to request adding two more seats. I shared my sincere interest in the course and revealed my status as a non-degree, auditing student. Surely, the professor would cooperate and welcome me into her class! Instead, I received another auto-generated message from the registrar that the waitlist period had ended and my course had been dropped. Disheartened, I shut down the computer and sought some cathartic housecleaning.
The purge was my third (and what seemed, final) roadblock to registration.
After days of waiting in drop/add limbo, I received a warmly worded response from the instructor that she was unable to override registration to admit students into a closed class. While a faculty member may not have direct access to the registration database, it was common practice during my tenure as an administrator to facilitate such requests for student overrides. Rather than calling the instructor out on a technicality, I politely thanked her and returned to my therapeutic cleaning.
On the last day of drop-add, persistence and karma prevailed: I nabbed an empty seat! At this writing, I am enrolled in the course and enjoying my return to student status.
Lessons Learned
Although I successfully registered for the course, I wonder how other entering students navigate such institutional barriers, particularly without the benefit of advising. If someone with a doctorate and decades of experience in higher education struggles to register for one summer course, how disorienting and frustrating these processes must be for first-time students with more limited understanding of operational functions!
Simply stated, institutional practices should reflect institutional values. The importance of advising as an effective student success, retention, and completion strategy is widely recognized in research literature (e.g., Center for Community College Student Engagement, 2018; Cueso, n.d.; O’Banion, 2012; Ruffalo Noel Levitz, 2023). Yet, this critical academic support interaction was optional in my case. Data from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (2018) suggests this experience is not unique, with a reported 22% of entering students not having met with an advisor. The home institution’s technology-enabled rather than human-centered approach further discouraged any meaningful interaction with an advisor. Given the evidence connecting academic advising to student success, why waste this valuable teaching and learning opportunity?
As Cueso (n.d.), Lowestein (2005), O’Banion (2012) and others have noted, these early experiences have a profound impact on a student’s academic career. When an admitted student fails to be advised and registered, that career ends before it even begins. My career and this student experience have taught me there is a better way forward. Higher education practitioners should examine their institutional practices and commit to advisement and registration strategies that are both research-based and student-centered. My summer school story has its happy beginning. Each student deserves no less.
References
Center for Community College Student Engagement. (2018, Spring). Show me the way: The power of advising in community colleges. The University of Texas at Austin. https://cccse.org/publications-resources/reports
Cuseo, J. (n.d.). Academic advisement and student retention: Empirical connections & systemic interventions. https://www.shawnee.edu/sites/default/files/2019-01/Academic-advisementv-and-student-retention.pdf
O’Banion, T. (2012). Updating the traditional academic advising model for the 21st century. Community College Journal, October/November, 42–47. https://www.3cmediasolutions.org/sites/default/files/UpdatingTheTraditionalAcademicAdvisingModelForThe21stCentury.pdf (Original work published 1972).
Ruffalo Noel Levitz. (2023). 2023 effective practices for student success, retention, and completion report. RuffaloNL.com/RetentionPractices
Smith, B., & Cunningham, L. (Eds.). (2022). NACADA academic advising core competencies guide. NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising.
