Students Dissatisfied With Course Offerings
The registration period for spring 2023 has prompted students to share their disappointment with the amount of classes available at Fordham Lincoln Center
December 8, 2022
Following the registration period for the spring 2023 semester, which began on Oct. 31 and continued through Nov. 18, many students began to express disappointment and frustration with the course offerings at Fordham Lincoln Center (FLC).
Priority registration for undergraduate students is afforded to BFA students at the beginning of the registration period on Oct. 31 and starting Nov. 7, students who have 83 credits are allowed to register first and the credit requirement to register decreases in increments through Nov. 18.
Undergraduate Fordham students have access to the list of classes offered through DegreeWorks and Banner and can see the specific sections offered prior to the commencement of the registration period. For recent registration periods, including this one, students reported feeling as though they did not have a wide variety of course options when creating their schedules.
“I’m very dissatisfied with the amount of courses offered as of right now” Rynola Fraser, FCLC ’26
Rynola Fraser, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’26, said that there were particular courses she was interested in when browsing the course catalog, but they were only offered at the Rose Hill campus. She noted that the lack of available courses was “very upsetting” and that she had difficulty securing the classes that she wanted because they were not available at FLC.
“I’m very dissatisfied with the amount of courses offered as of right now,” she said.
Fraser added that as a commuter student, traveling to Fordham Rose Hill (FRH) for class would cause her to sacrifice time. She explained that commuting is something she would be willing to consider but is unsure as to whether or not it would be worthwhile.
“In general, I just don’t think I can manage that,” she said. “I would try to make that sacrifice for a class I’m interested in. However, it would be a very big sacrifice which I’m not sure I can handle.”
If a class fills up, students who register for it are put on a waitlist, which remains open until close to the beginning of the semester. For some, being waitlisted in multiple classes was indicative of the limited availability of courses.
Claire Hong, FCLC ’25, noted that of the six classes for which she registered, she was enrolled in four and waitlisted for two. She expressed being discouraged by having to join the waitlist for the two classes to which she was most looking forward for the spring semester.
“If I chose to attend Lincoln Center, I feel like I should be able to take classes at Lincoln Center,” she said.
In addition to offering more courses, some students also believe it would be helpful to have more offered sections for courses. Kayla Joyner, FCLC ’23, said that she felt as though more sections per class were offered at FRH than at FLC. She noted that, in comparison to core requirement classes, there was a small pool of options for classes that contribute to the completion of major requirements.
Joyner added that the limited number of course sections available also makes completing her required courses more difficult since she is a senior.
“I was shocked when I was planning my spring semester only to find that there were about a range of seven to nine courses offered at Lincoln Center for political science electives,” she said.
According to DegreeWorks, only 10 political science electives will be offered at Lincoln Center compared to the 25 that will be offered at Rose Hill, which can be attributed to the larger undergraduate population at Rose Hill in comparison to Lincoln Center.
According to DegreeWorks, only 10 political science electives will be offered at Lincoln Center compared to the 25 that will be offered at Rose Hill, which can be attributed to the larger undergraduate population at Rose Hill in comparison to Lincoln Center.
The university’s academic advising system requires students to contact their advisors prior to their registration period so that their advising hold on their account is lifted. Undergraduate students are encouraged to communicate with their advisor on their planned course schedule for the following semester and ensure that they are able to attain the necessary courses required to satisfy the requirement for graduation.
Maura Mast, dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill, explained the process of helping students navigate any difficulties they face with course offerings. She noted that her office reviews course enrollments after the registration period closes to determine how to proceed with the demand, or lack thereof, for certain classes.
“If we see long waiting lists or high demand for certain courses, we may ask the department to open another section,” she said. “On the other hand, if we see under enrolled courses, we may ask the department to cancel that section.”
According to Mast, these actions are undertaken to ensure class availability for all students. She added that her office would communicate with the dean’s office at FCLC to guide students on the process of taking classes at the other campus “in some cases.”
The process for finalizing the courses that will be offered for the upcoming spring 2023 semester is still ongoing. For future semesters, students hope that the quantity of course offerings at FLC will increase.
Robert Moniot, associate dean of FCLC, echoed Mast’s explanation regarding how the number of courses is determined.
“After registration occurs, if we find that some core or major classes are entirely filled (meaning our projections underestimated demand), we may add one or more sections,” he said. “We also may cancel low-enrolled sections of core or major classes.”
Monoit, who oversees the offering of core courses for undergraduate students at FLC, clarified the process that is implemented to determine what courses will be available each semester.
According to Moniot, statistics via a report from DegreeWorks are used to determine which courses students will need, and in communication with different academic departments, those courses will then be requested for the upcoming semester. He added that although he oversees the process, individual academic departments ultimately determine which classes will be available to students.
Moniot noted that each department considers what their students need and offers “suitable courses for them to progress toward completion of their majors.” He specified that the process for determining the availability of language core classes is handled differently since incoming first-year students take a survey which determines their placement as well as the amount of sections needed to satisfy the number of registered students.
The process for finalizing the courses that will be offered for the upcoming spring 2023 semester is still ongoing. For future semesters, students hope that the quantity of course offerings at FLC will increase.
“There are so many good classes, and it’s such a pain seeing ‘RH’ beside them when I really wanted to take them,” Fraser said.
