The majority of students have experienced the dreaded email stating that a class they signed up for has been canceled.
Those students are then burdened with the task of having to find a seat in another class. If they are lucky, they’ll find one that meets their requirements. If they are unlucky, they’ll either have to waitlist or wait another semester to take the class.
The classes that would be canceled should at least be given the benefit of the doubt before it’s completely removed. Canceling a week or two after the semester starts may be the better option.
Waiting to cancel would benefit students who enroll in college last minute. By the time they’re ready to start adding courses, classes are either waitlisted or closed. This limits their options to almost nothing.
Keeping the classes open would motivate them to enroll, which in turn would fill more seats.
Part of the reason these classes have low enrollment can be because they are being canceled. Canceling the classes results in them being forgotten. The students won’t know about it, and that will lead to it having low enrollment.
Also, if the students recognize that the class has the potential of being taken away, then they will be discouraged to enroll in it. Distrust towards the class schedule may ensue.
Students could find that the class schedule isn’t as reliable since the classes that are offered sometimes don’t take place.
What should also be considered are the last minute changes a student may make in regards to their academic plan. They may realize that the class that got canceled was one of the classes they needed to take. It’s possible that the other options they have are full or simply didn’t interest them.
Depending on the college, 10 to 15 is the number of seats that a class has to have filled for it to stay open. The problem is that the students are seen as seats rather than students.
A class that isn’t filled to the brim doesn’t mean it isn’t valuable. The small number of students willing to take the class are equally as important as a full class of students.
The class exists for a reason. If a student is genuinely interested in a certain class they should be able to take it.
According to responses on a forum on The Chronicle of Higher Education, some colleges allow students to take the class regardless of the number of students that enrolled. They either treat the class like normal or teach it through independent study.
It gives classes a level of importance and value that may not otherwise be there if they are canceled.
Some might say that if the class is that important to the student, then they can most likely find it elsewhere. Yet, some students are limited on how far they can go to school.
Some students don’t have the ability to go to another college for the class that got canceled. Taking them online isn’t an option that is available for every class, so that is another risk that they face.
The stress of a new semester is enough for a student to deal with. Canceling a class and having to make them find another is something they shouldn’t have to worry about. Classes should be given the chance to fill up before it’s completely removed.
