Due to the new fee payment procedure that took affect this Spring semester, students arrived to class not ready to learn but with hopes they could re-enroll into their lost classes instead.

Students who registered for classes from December 12, 2009 – February 8, 2010, had to pay for all classes they were enrolled in as well as any classes that they had been added into from a waitlist before the semester began or they would be dropped from all of their classes.

“Registration was horrible! I registered on my registration date yet some of the classes I wanted were already full,” Amanda Rogell, 29, nursing student, said.
Rogell was waitlisted for two of her classes and had to check MyECC daily to see if she was added to those classes, so she could pay her tuition before the deadline.

Some students who did add their classes early on still had problems.

“I think it is incredibly difficult (to pay for classes) for students who struggle financially, especially because the dead line was extremely early on,” Antje Jahnke, 26, Psychology major said.

Career Counselor, Dr. Lisa Raufman said that although classes filled up quickly, many students were able to add easily on February 8, as those students who hadn’t paid their fees had been dropped. She advised that students register on their register date to get the best chance of getting the classes they need. She also suggested that students should have a major and a minor to expand the possible classes available and to make themselves “employable.”

Raufman recalled a story of a nursing student who wasn’t able to add a specific nursing course, and decided to take Air Conditioning classes. The student became employed and made money in the air conditioning field the next semester while finishing up his nursing classes.

“Don’t procrastinate and always have a backup plan,” Ruafman said.