Honors students need early registration
Class constraints affect more than just athletes
COMMENTARY
Jarod Daily

It’s that time of the semester again. Students are getting advised and anxiously await their registration time, hoping and praying that their class choices don’t fill up before they get the chance to enroll for next semester.

Not all students have these problems, however. Athletes are given the opportunity to enroll before other students. Is it not enough that the university pays their tuition, room, board and other fees? Must athletes also be given preference over all other students when registering, as well?

The rationale for giving athletes preferred registration is the fact that they have to work their schedules around extensive practices and if the classes that don’t conflict fill up, they can’t take what they want.

But what about honors students?

Honors students are sometimes more involved on campus than the average student.

They, like so many athletes, have to schedule their classes around their other obligations, such as SGA meetings or band or choir rehearsals. Why should athletes get to take care of their conflicts while honors students have to simply live with theirs?

Honors Program students are often the beneficiaries of academic scholarships which, unlike athletic scholarships, are usually limited to eight academic terms. Many students attending TCU on an academic scholarship, like me, find themselves pressed to graduate on time, which can be difficult for certain degree plans requiring classes to be taken in sequence. If the first class in a sequence fills up, students are sometimes unable to progress any further in their major until the next semester, delaying their degree plans.

These academic complications are just as restricting as athletic complications. Why then are students enrolled in the Honors Program not allowed to participate in early registration as well?

I met with Honors Program Director Kathryne McDorman about this, and she said when she tried to establish preferred registration for honors students eight ears ago, the university’s computer database could not reliably distinguish honors students from regular students. McDorman also said the Honors cabinet brought the matter up recently, and Chancellor Michael Ferrari was in favor of it, but the deans of the various schools wanted to postpone making a decision on the matter until a new director is appointed (McDorman is stepping down at the end of the semester).

Some would ask why honors students should get this preference over other students.

Although I am enrolled in the Honors Program, I have many friends who aren’t, and I know that if I were to get the opportunity to enroll before them, they would be at least a little curious and perhaps a little jealous. I don’t presume to say honors students are better than regular students. Rather, honors classes tend to have more rigorous curriculums than their regular equivalents, and typically involve more time and dedication to academics.

McDorman also said getting preferred registration for Honors Program students is about “rewarding students for going beyond the regular undergraduate requirements,” just like the university already does for athletes. Honors students are our varsity academic students, and should be treated as such, she said.

The fact of the matter is, giving honors students advance registration would not cost the university; honors students have been clamoring for it for a long time now, and many of our peer institutions already have it. Baylor University, Abilene Christian University, Texas Tech University and many others give preferred registration to their honors students. Therefore, we’re a bit behind.

Oh, and by the way: Illinois State University has preferred registration for honors students. Perhaps Chancellor-elect Victor Boschini could bring this system here.

Jarod Daily is a freshman news-editorial journalism major from Keller. He can be reached at (j.a.daily@tcu.edu).