Student registration:

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Some of Pacific University’s student athletes and transfer students have reported having difficulty with registeration. They are not able register for the required courses that are necesarry to graduate. “Transfer students have it very hard at [Pacific], in my opinion, because it’s a small private school, and they have made their own requirements, their own core requirements, their own transfer equivalency stuff, and it’s not like a state school system,” transfer student, Keith Wallach said. The credits that transfer students enter into Pacific with often do not carry 
over completely, resulting in them having to take more classes to catch up to their previous school standing. For example, if a student transferred from a state school to Pacific, for example, 
the credits will most likely not transfer directly, since most state schools use a different credit system. “One thing I’d encourage students to do, any student, no matter what category they fall within, if they’re feeling as though they’re having difficulty choosing finding the courses they need to graduate, that they work carefully with their faculty academic advisors and with the Advising Center,” Steve Smith, Associate Dean for Student Academic Affairs in the College of Arts and Sciences, said. 
After finding the courses a student needs to graduate and setting up their plan, the next problem that may occur, most commonly for athletes and transfers, is registering for the classes 
that they need at the times that will fit within their tight schedules. “If you want to graduate on time, focal studies and some of the other core requirements, make it nearly impossible for transfer students to take classes they want to take and want to enjoy,” Wallach said. Transfer students often have to take the classes they can snag first that will fulfil Pacific’s requirements and allow them to graduate on time, rather than taking their time with classes that they would enjoy more.
“Athletes have a very difficult time constraint,” said Wallach, “You’re supposed to be able to take all your classes, have all your meals and also have time for baseball, or soccer, or whatever.” At some other Universities, athletes get priority registration, so they get to register for classes that will better fit around their schedule. It can become difficult for student athletes to register 
for the classes that they need at the times that are most convenient for them.        
“Not to rag on the advising department, because I think they do an amazing job [but] I think that the advising center needs to do a serious overhaul in regard to how students are given their times o f registration,” Wallach said. If transfer students and athletes had priority registration, they could have a better chance of choosing the classes they need at the times they need in order to graduate on time. “I’ve not experienced a case where we’ve seen a student not graduate because the university has made an error and has not made courses readily available when they need to be,” Smith said, who has worked at Pacific for over 15 years. Students who are encountering trouble handling their academic schedules are encouraged to visit the advising center, located at Bates House on College Way.

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