Back in the day, Ashland University did scheduling a bit differently. Professors would set up tables the day of scheduling across Founder’s Lawn. Students would line up like sprinters, awaiting the start of a high-stakes race across campus. A gun would be fired and the race to register would begin.

The tables and race are gone, and now it is a frantic click at 10 p.m. that decides AU student’s class schedules for the upcoming semester. There are some changes to the registration process this year, including early scheduling for athletes and a reduced number of class sections offered.

Students searching for courses may also notice a reduction in sections offered. William Vaughan, AU’s Core Director, said approximately 20 core sections were cut, as well as about 20 College of Arts and Sciences major courses. Class caps also rose modestly, with most classes still being capped at a maximum of 20 or 22 students. Some sections were also consolidated, with certain classes going from having three sections capped at 16 to having two sections capped at 24. 

Vaughan has sought to maintain the fill rate of the core curriculum, which is currently at 86 percent. The fill rate is a measure of the percentage of filled seats compared to offered seats. By accurately measuring demand, Vaughan is able to ensure there are enough seats to balance the economic concerns as well as maintain the integrity of the core.

Athletes will be joining members of AU’s Honors Program, scheduling at noon on the day their class registers, or the day before, in the case of freshmen. The general freshman class registration will take place on Thursday, November 13^th at 7:30 a.m., a change from the usual 10 p.m. scheduling time. 

Allowing athletes to schedule early was a decision made at the Executive Cabinet level, according to Heidi Jones, the director of academic advising for the College of Arts and Sciences. 

“That is not something the Center for Academic Support had any doing in or influence in. We simply were informed a couple of weeks ago that athletes would be scheduling at noon,” she said. “We were not at the table to be part of that conversation. I certainly see pros and cons.”

Attempts were made to meet with Doug Fiore, AU’s interim provost, but he was ultimately unable to comment due to illness.

This is the second year all freshman were assigned a professional advisor for their first semester on campus before transitioning to a faculty advisor in the spring. Jones credits this change to an increase in the persistence rate as well as the retention rate. 

Persistence, which measures the fall cohort from fall to spring semester, was at 89 percent, the highest since 2006. Retention, measuring fall to fall, was at 76.8 percent, the highest rate in over a dozen years. 

With registration dates already starting, Jones wants to ensure students are prepared to submit their schedules on WebAdvisor. 

“You want to make sure the courses are appropriate and they fit in and are in sequence and all of that, but some of the things that will block a student are not being green lighted and owing an excess of $1,000,” she said.