The Previous Course Registration System That Needed Changes
In recent years, there were many claims that the previous course registration system had some problems that had to be revised. First, the biggest problem with the system was the black market of lectures. Many popular lectures were bought and sold during the course registration period. In addition to popular lectures, required courses also frequently traded. For example, most spots for Writing and Communication courses were allocated to freshman, so students in other grades found it hard to enroll. During the course registration period, many postings on the online school community said that they would buy or sell lectures, and some courses were actually traded at high prices. Second, there were complaints regarding the course re-taking system. In the past, it was only possible to re-take the course within four semesters. In order to maintain a studious atmosphere in classes, the administration banned students from taking the same course more than three times. The other complaint is about the different course registration schedules between the Humanities and Social Sciences Campus and the Natural Sciences Campus. Accordingly, the course add & drop period was also different, which often confused the students. Therefore, leading up to the new semester of 2019, several changes have been made to reflect those student’s opinions on the existing course registration system.
Changes in the Course Registration System
① Measures to Prevent the Black Market of Lectures
The black market of lectures could be prevented if the number of remaining places for classes appeared at random times. In the previous system, the remaining spots of lectures were immediately updated right after someone dropped a class during the course registration period. Therefore, the course trading occurred in this manner: right after the seller canceled a lecture at the appointed time, the remaining spot appeared. Then the buyer, waiting for the cancelation, registered for the remaining spot immediately after. With the new system, since students can not know when the remaining spots are updated, the black market of lectures could be prevented.
② Abolition of the Restriction on the Course Re-take System
Previously, there were limits on the periods for retaking courses. Now, however, Kingos can re-take lectures whenever they want without limitations. Even senior Kingos can re-take the courses that they took when they were freshmen. Besides this, Kingos can take the same course more than three times. All these changes are also applicable to the courses that Kingos took before 2019.
③ Two Campuses, Same Schedule
From 2019, both the Humanities and Social Science Campus and the Natural Sciences Campus will start to follow the same schedule. All the Kingos can register for courses on the same day, regardless of their campus. In contrast, the course add & drop period is still different. Besides those three big changes, there are many other changes that reflect Kingo’s opinions. First, the course add & drop period has been extended. The class change period has been extended to seven days and the confirmation period to eight days. This is the result of Kingos’ complaints about the short time-frame of the confirmation period. In the previous system, the confirmation period lasted for only five days after the start of the semester, and there were opinions that the period was too short to carefully take account of the courses. Secondly, from the second registration period, Kingos can check the actual competitive rate of the lectures. Previously, the number of students who successfully registered during the first registration period was counted in the number of students who added to the course bag, which could result in a miscalculated competition rate. Now the students who have successfully registered for the courses are not counted in the number of the students put in the course bag. With this change, Kingos can check how many students have actually added a particular lecture into their course bag and calculate an accurate competitive rate. Third of all, there are slight changes in the quota of each grade of some courses. For example, the Core Equilibrium Liberal Arts course quota for freshman increased from 0% to 5%. Since Core Equilibrium Liberal Arts courses are required courses for graduation, now freshman can take those courses in advance. Starting with the new semester 2019, SKKU has made big changes in the course registration system. Most Kingos are generally satisfied with the changes of the course registration system, which many students have continuously complained about.