Picture of Waitlist Display The Xavierite
Saint Xavier University students are constantly having issues while registering for their courses because of waitlisted classes.
Every semester of my college experience, I have had anxiety days before my registration date. As I log into my planned schedule, I am shocked by all of the courses that are waitlisted.
It doesn’t help that many courses only have one section to choose from.
In this case, I am in the situation of emailing professors months before the class is scheduled to start begging them to find a seat for me. Although, for in-person classes, professors only have enough seats so they’re forced to tell students that there is no room.
General Education (GenEd) classes cause the most stress with students due to higher numbers of students registering for the classes. These courses include Speech Fundamentals and Rhetoric & Writing.
Adjunct professor Allen Babiarz-Lira of the communication department stated, “ Some of the courses that I used to teach fell under the General Education requirements. I would get numerous emails from students asking to be added to the course that was waitlisted. However, I would have to tell them that I could only have a certain number of students in my classes.”
One of the main courses that is known to get waitlisted is BIOL-207: Nutrition. As long as I have been going to school at SXU, there has been an issue with getting into Nutrition. Every semester, I have had to take it off of my schedule due to there being a seventeen to twenty student waitlist before my registration time.
It isn’t just GenEd courses but also required classes for majors. Some of the major classes include Introduction To Sociology, Business Matters, Introduction to African American Studies, Physics for Nonscientists, and more
Mina Maryland, student, stated that, “The waitlisted courses can put a lot of pressure on students and professors, especially when it is essential to their major”.
In order to help the students with stressing over waitlisted courses, there should be more sections offered each semester. Some of the required classes that are waitlisted for the Spring 2025 semester only have one section open. There is an easy solution to the ongoing problem.
Maryland continued by saying, “ Students face the anxiety of not knowing if they’ll be able to complete their requirements on time, while professors have to manage overcrowded classes and additional administrative tasks.
It is absolutely horrible that professors are just trying to do their jobs but are overcome with anxiety due to the classes being waitlisted.
Another aspect is that certain courses are only offered during either the fall or spring semester. An example is that courses for senior seminars are usually only offered during the spring semester. In this case, if the course is waitlisted with only one or two sections, the student would have to try to take it the following semester which could hold them back a year.
This problem will have long-term consequences for SXU because students aren’t getting the classes that they need.
The issue of courses being waitlisted has been going on for semester after semester. SXU student’s fear everytime it is time to register for classes for the next semester. This is due to the ongoing problem of required classes being waitlisted.
There needs to be a change in the waitlists that seems to go through every department at Saint Xavier University. I hope that one day, SXU understands how important it is for students to take the classes that they need on time. If anyone has any questions regarding their schedule please contact Admissions.