Candidly Catherine | Think registration week at St. Joe's sucks? You're not alone

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

Christmas? No, of course not. I am talking about registration time. It's the time when students of all years freak out over what courses they can get into, and try their best to fill in the ambiguous requirements of the GER. Everyone talks about what time they get to register, and tries desperately to organize last-minute meetings with advisers.

Acronyms like "PIN" and "CRN" are dropped into regular conversation and the most common question asked is, "What classes are you taking next semester?" A dark cloud looms over St. Joe's during this time of the year. Stress levels are high, and the likelihood that underclassmen will sell their souls to upperclassmen and honors students to reserve classes for them jumps by at least 300 percent.

I am not trying to sound dramatic here. I am pretty sure everyone on campus would agree with me when I say that registration at St. Joe's is a miserable time. It is a good thing MySJU has been working to make the process easier. Oh, wait.

Let's face it, though, technical difficulties are the least of St. Joe's students' worries when it comes to registering for classes. The fact of the matter is that the issues facing registration generally revolve around classes being offered, and being able to fulfill necessary requirements for a liberal arts education.

Every undergraduate student has to take General Education Requirements (GER) classes along with the required classes for their respective majors and/or minors. While thousands of alumni have succeeded in registration, and there are several ways to "double-up" on major and GER requirements, there is still a great deal of pressure surrounding the process.

It's understandable that some students feel that they cannot complete their requirements. Each major has specific needs and particular classes that students are supposed to fulfill them. Fortunately for some, it is easier to organize their schedule and fit GER classes in with their major than other students in different majors.

For example, those in the Haub School of Business have a harder time being able to schedule the GER classes like theology and philosophy than those in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). This is due to the fact that the business school has a more restrictive required course load than a lot of the majors in the CAS. This gives CAS students more space in their schedules to either double up between a major required course and a GER course or to use some of their "elective" classes to fit in GER courses.

The GERs are based on the idea that a liberal arts education requires that every student has a general background in a variety of subjects, such as history, theology, philosophy, math and science.

At St. Joe's, for instance, each student is required to take two Western Civilization classes, two math classes, two natural sciences, two or more classes in a language, three philosophies and theologies, one art or literature class, and one social science class. When looking at these requirements at face value, it seems like a ridiculous amount of courses. When you consider that this is not even factoring in the courses that are required for the specific schools and the courses for one's major, those requirements appear even more insurmountable.

There's been a lot of controversy surrounding the GER courses in recent years. Many students and professors struggle to see the necessity of GER courses, arguing that they do not have anything to do with their respective majors' fields of expertise. The point of attending a liberal arts university, however, is to receive a liberal arts education grounded in a basic understanding in the standard subjects. This liberal arts education provides students with a general knowledge that can be applied to everyday life and even in their respective majors.

Both the criticisms and the benefits of a rigorous GER program have been taken into consideration and, after much evaluation, the requirements are changing. The new suggested curriculum-General Education Program (GEP)-that will be installed within the next academic year will maintain the basics of a liberal arts education. Fortunately, though, the requirements will be lessened in order to leave more focus for required departmental courses.

Granted, despite the fact that fitting certain GER classes into my schedule has been a pain at times, I have never once taken a GER class that I've found unnecessary. To be honest, I have always benefited from those classes and have been able to apply them to daily life and my other coursework.

The GER classes, especially the philosophies and theologies, have broadened my perspective and have made me realize the work that other students have to go through for their major. I can't help but wonder how much of that liberal arts education future St. Joe's students will lose with the new curriculum.

I fully appreciate everything about the liberal arts education that St. Joe's has to offer. But I do find it ridiculous that some of the GERs are nearly impossible to get into unless you are a senior. It makes trying to get some of the requirements out of the way to focus on important departmental requirements a little difficult. Obviously seniors deserve the perks of an early registration time. It's unfair, though, that they have classes that other students need to take before their senior year due to scheduling conflicts.

Perhaps with the new GEP things will be easier during future registration times. Meanwhile, the rest of us are left pleading with students who have been graced with early registration times, and groveling to professors and department chairs to be let into classes.

But let's not forget the blessings: at least we haven't had to deal with technical difficulties to an already stressful time of the year.