Every semester at the departmental level, the associate deans and department chairs figure out how many classes of each course should be offered the following semester.

“It’s a very complicated thing,” registrar Jerret LeMay said. “It is something that we’ve been trying to do a little differently this year.”

The plan for classes is built by administration in its own cycle. The registrar office runs analytics and frequencies twice throughout the cycle. They look at the individual courses and their fill rates during the previous year.

After that, the office identifies if the courses are required courses and if they have been historically over-enrolled or historically under-enrolled. They also look at the count of enrolled students who need to take the course as part of their program.

Multiple human factors go into planning for the number of courses offered. If a professor is on medical leave or sabbatical, the classes they typically teach might not be offered while they are gone. The numbers can also shift as students change their majors, register in advance or pick up a summer/winter course.

The decision making about what gets offered happens on the departmental level because they deal more closely with human factors. The associate deans and department chairs receive the data from the registrar’s office and discuss what classes are needed and put together a schedule for the upcoming semester. The departments throughout Oswego State are encouraged to have a complete schedule three weeks prior to registration.

Each department varies in how they prepare their schedule due to different factors throughout the department including accreditation limits, equipment availability, specialized room availability, human resources and budget dynamics.

Sophomore Sabrina Gonzalez, has had some difficulties when trying to register for classes. Multiple times she goes to register for a class that has ended up being full and has had to take a different class.

“It’s like playing Tetris with your academic life,” Gonzalez said.

Many students, including freshman Jason Hui, are faced with the trouble of not getting their first choice classes and end up spend the semester in a different class.

“I wanted to take Intro to Health and Wellness Promotion this past semester because it is a requirement for my major,” Hui said. “But because I came in with no credits as a freshman, I was one of the last people to choose classes and all of the classes I wanted were full.”

Students are sometimes able to register for a class that is already full by speaking to the instructor. The instructor may allow additional students to register for the closed course, but there is no guarantee that the instructor will allow additional students.

Some of the courses that are held in laboratories or rooms with limited space and seating physically can not accept more students in the course.

If there is enough physical space in the class and the professor decides to allow additional students to register, an add form must be filled out. The forms needs to be signed by the instructor and returned to the registrar’s office in 301 Culkin Hall.

“We’ve been trying to make sure that the decision is reformed by student needs,” LeMay said.