By Chelsea Hackney, Student Reporter
Registration has arrived. Those who barely have recovered from the last registration can find help in the Registrar’s office or on its Web site.
Graduate students and students in the Honors Program or Study Abroad can begin signing up for classes Wednesday. Registration opens March 30 for seniors, those with 90 or more completed hours; April 1 for juniors, those with 60 to 89 completed hours; April 6 for sophomores, those with 30 to 59 completed hours; and April 8 for freshmen, those with up to 29 completed hours.
Students will not be allowed to register at these times if a hold is on their account. Holds must be resolved with the department that placed it. Any hold can be found in each student’s Banner account under “Student Records.”
Once clear of holds, students can register by going to myACU and clicking on the Banner tab. Then they choose “Student & Financial Aid” and click “Registration.” After selecting the term Fall 2009, students can look up, add or drop selected courses. Before registering, students must have an advising release code they have been given by each academic adviser.
Students can register for summer and Maymester classes in the same way, except they need to use the advising code they used for fall registration.
Each registration period begins at 3 p.m. Students should be warned that these will be times of high traffic. Tips for a smooth registration can be found on the Registrar’s Web site, but the best way to avoid problems is to be prepared, said Melanie Wheeler, sophomore political science and history major from Abilene.
“Just do it on time and have a plan that reflects your four-year plan,” she said.
Forgetting about registration is a problem plaguing the student body, Wheeler said.
“Few people say, ‘Oh, I have registration in four days. I need to go sit with my counselor,'” said Ryan Mitchell, junior political science major from Abilene. “Usually they do that after registration.”
Registration is one time when students may consider applying to the Honors Program or leaving the country just so they can choose their classes first.
“Because I’m part of the Honors Program, I get first pick of classes, which means I can graduate on time,” said Jason Sanchez, junior political science major from Hollis, Okla.
Also, registering first can mean the difference between 8 a.m. classes versus sleeping in every day of the week.
The Registrar’s office prepares for an increased number of calls on registration days, said Bart Herridge, registrar and director of academic records.
“Each of those offices does a fantastic job of supporting our students in the registration process,” Herridge said. “Our goal is to have as smooth of a process as possible for our students.”
