The shorter drop/add period for undergraduate courses is over, leaving students with mixed reactions.

The split drop/add schedule, which, allows a four-day period for 1000-5999 level classes and six days for 6000-9999 graduate level courses, is part of a proposal passed by the University Council in April 2004.

Before this split, all students’ course schedules could be altered through noon of the sixth semester day.

Student Government Association president Will Childs plans to fight the change this coming term as he did when the proposal was passed.

“We do want to raise the issue again,” Childs said. “It seems like the pendulum swung too far in the other direction to fix the problem.”

SGA wants to see an additional day added for undergraduates to allow students with classes offered once a week, such as labs, which the current 4-daydeadline does not accommodate.

“There should be an extension granted to students that fall under that category,” said Bryan Kay, a junior from Coumbus, Ohio.

However, Kay said he could see how a shorter drop/add period was beneficial to teachers.

“I hear all the time ‘oh, I didn’t even go to my first week of class,’ and that should be discouraged.” he said.

Some University students agree with this assessment.

“It’s not only for teacher shopping,” said Rebecca Teich-McGoldrick, a sophomore from Brunswick. “If they don’t want (undergraduates) not to teacher-shop, they should take down the Key too. Isn’t that what the Key is for?”

Graduate Student Association President Daniel Byrd also saw the split as problematic.

“It only makes sense that drop/add would include all five school days,” Byrd said.

Other students don’t see the new split as much of an issue.

“When I sign up for classes, I’m pretty anal,” said Noelle Albano, a junior from Roswell. “When it comes to drop/add, I try to do the work ahead of time.”

Registrar Rebecca Macon stressed that students should understand the change considers course level only, not class standing.

The Educational Affairs Committee decided to cut the deadline for undergraduate course drop/add to a four-day period because of an agreement among undergraduate-level professors that class attendance was low.

Class space and teacher shopping are also issues, said Educational Affairs Committee chairman James L. Anderson.

“They test-drive the courses, and then drop the ones they find least attractive or most problematic,” Anderson said. “This would be fine, except that there are often long waiting lists of students waiting to get into these courses.”

Anderson said that the drop/add timetable has been of major concern for faculty teaching large, high-demand courses, and that valid arguments could be made for both longer and shorter drop/add periods.

Macon encourages students who disapprove of the current policy to take the issue up with the SGA.