In the wake of the new semester, Ewha modified the course registration system for the College of Business Administration. Until last semester, Ewha had given the priority to register courses to students majoring or double-majoring in popular departments.
This was due to the ongoing problem that students majoring in popular studies faced. The difficulty of course registration was mainly because of the rapid increase in demand of major courses which involves the College of Business Administration along with the departments of computer science and engineering, statistics, communication & media, economics, psychology, and political science and diplomacy.
Students who have been experiencing such hardship made a proposition at Ask for EWHA, which is a website for students to make suggestions for university development. Two proposals were made: giving priority only for students who are majoring in popular departments mentioned above and modifying double-major qualification conditions.
A student double-majoring in business who wished to remain anonymous shared her experience.
She stated that the school is mainly responsible for the hardships that business majors have endured during course registration. It was her opinion that the additional three-credit system that the school introduced resulted in the explosive demand for classes. Additionally, she emphasized that the lack of full-time professors led to the shortage of class distribution.
“We are students who have officially been approved by the school as ‘double- majoring students’, which means that we have the right to take classes that we want,” she said. “Even though it is an undeniable fact that the school is having trouble with providing enough classes for students, it is unfair for the students double-majoring in business to suffer from the sudden modification of the course registration system. It is my wish that the school comes up with a solution that can accommodate all students.”
When asked about the difficulties she went through during the course registration, she mentioned the inability to use the wish list thirty minutes before registration.
The student further added that students were confused by the sudden change of the system since it was a well- known fact that students were given thirty minutes to fill their wish list before the registration. Furthermore, she emphasized that if it were not for the “Task Force Team on Coping with Violation of Double Major Students’ Rights” asking the school to contact students individually about the modification, there would have been more students who altogether failed to register for business courses.
Due to these problems, the school announced that there will be a separate time provided for the students double- majoring in business on March 2 of the registration correction period. Additionally, the school presented a list of courses that will increase space for students who wished to register but failed to do so.
“According to the “Task Force Team on Coping with Violation of Double Major Students’ Rights,” 77.2 percent of students multi-majoring in business have had the experience of starting registration with an average of zero spaces left for courses they wished to take,” the student pointed out. “Thus, it is my belief that the list of additional courses that are to be set up disclosed by the school are not enough to accommodate all students without setbacks.”
Lee Joo-ah, a senior student double- majoring in Business Administration who is currently leaving her last semester before graduation, shared her dissatisfaction.
“I am currently on an internship, which makes it difficult to spare time for course registration,” Lee said. “The school’s notice clearly said that they had run a demand-supply simulation, and I actually believed it. However, even though I had asked my superior to be excused to complete the registration, it was no use at all because there were zero vacancies left for me to enroll. I am still unsure whether I will be able to spare some time on March 2.”
Lee expressed her worries about her graduation being postponed by pointing out that she only has one course registered in her timetable.
“The school should open enough classes for all the students. Additionally, if priority registration is only for the business administration students, there absolutely needs to be some adjustment on the ratio and the enrollment number for the students’ right to learn,” Lee emphasized.