As the number of students and programs grows at AUA, registration becomes hectic, putting pressure on students and staff to find an effective solution. Many students experience the frustration of having a course they were looking forward to that, unfortunately at some point, gets canceled.
Nane Avedikian, an EC senior, is one of those students who woke up to one such email from the AUA General Education Office during the add-drop period. She emailed them to see if she could get her second preferred class. Another course was offered at the same time as the canceled course, which eventually also got canceled. “I felt kind of sad and a little disappointed because I was very excited and would definitely like to take that class in the future,” says Nane.
Nane shares that more communication on what the class is about, more details and feedback can help to learn about the courses with low enrollment. “Maybe also the university can ask a couple of students who previously took that course to write a short feedback on it so they can share it with other students,” added Nane.
Similarly, Varduhi Yeghikyan, a BAB senior, also had two of her classes canceled. She rearranged her schedule to make other electives fit. She felt disappointed because she was excited to learn about the class’s topics. Varduhi thinks that making surveys on the topic that would interest the students within that class and suggesting the most popular topics in the syllabus can attract more students.
Now, when and why are classes canceled? According to the Registrar’s Office, there are a few criteria for the cancelation policy. But even before that, there is a long process behind the schedule formation.
“We get five entities submitting schedules for their different programs. The first criteria for a course is the course’s effectiveness and the students’ learning. Then comes the need – how many students need the course, how many need the course to graduate and the physical capacity of the course,” says Chaghig Arzrouni-Chahinian, AUA Registrar.
What are the specific requirements of the course? For example, if it’s a GIS course, a computer lab is needed at a specific hour for a specific number of students, which creates limitations based on what and how much the university can offer.
“The first cancellation criteria is low student enrollment, which is very typical because sometimes the program thinks that this course will be popular and it isn’t,” Arzrouni-Chahinian continues.
AUA has set minimum enrollment requirements for courses. This policy is in place to ensure that classes with low enrollment numbers are canceled in a timely manner, giving students sufficient time to select alternative courses to stay on track for graduation. The minimum enrollment requirement for undergraduate courses is typically 12 enrolled students, while graduate courses require a minimum of 8 registered students.
If a course section has a lower enrollment than the minimum requirement, it gets canceled one week before the first day of classes. The Registrar’s Office or the program chair notifies students that their course has been canceled and advises them to meet with their program chair or adviser to discuss alternative courses to fulfill their requirements.
But could we avoid cancellations altogether? The university suggests scheduling multiple sections of the same course concurrently, allowing students to switch between them if necessary. This approach also makes combining sections with low enrollment easier, providing a larger cohort of students who can learn and grow together.
“For the course that has very low enrollment, the program has to justify why this course should be offered,” Arzrouni-Chahinian says. “Let’s say we have X number of students who have declared that they want to pursue a minor in gender and this is their final semester, so they need the course to complete their minor, we promised them, then we cannot cancel the course,” confirms Arzrouni-Chahinian.
She also adds that the system’s limitations might encourage students to “play tricks and circumvent those limitations.” Still, it is much appreciated to use the waitlist fairly, not to overload it and plan more effectively. “The more transparent, straightforward and accurate we all are, the easier these decisions are to make.”
The Registrar encourages students to be proactive and suggest an alternative or ask the program to come up with an alternative. “Look a little and come up with suggestions, and be transparent and accurate with your plans because if the program doesn’t know about your plans, they will make decisions without regarding them.”
The enrollment minimum policy is in place to ensure that courses are available to students and that students can stay on track for graduation. The policy also allows universities to make the best use of their resources and faculty while ensuring that students receive the best possible education. “One thing we can all do is to maybe cooperate better with each other, communicate better. And your suggestions are always welcome,” the Registrar notes.
