Jason Jones
Staff Writer
Dealing with schedule conflicts is an annual back-to-school hassle that is known to create chaos at Mira Costa. Although these problems are impossible to avoid, they are not impossible to reduce. With the addition of online scheduling, most of this hassle would be eliminated.
Mistakes in schedules cause an unnecessary distraction for students trying to adjust back into school and feel comfortable in all of their classes.
The first days of class are crucial for students. Amongst other things, they meet their new teachers, get to know their classmates, and receive their course expectations. It is difficult to switch into a class after these important first days.
At the same time, it is hard for teachers to constantly get new students and lose others when they need to start teaching and get into the routine of their curriculum.
When students are accidentally put into the incorrect class, they are forced to miss this time to adjust. Instead of getting to know their class, they have to worry about fixing their schedule in order to take the courses that they had originally signed up for.
To put one’s schedule back in place, the student must wait in line at the office, often before or after school, until they can meet with an educational advisor (EA).
Sometimes the EA’s postpone your visit until the following day because they have to do other work or go home themselves.
This also means that the students miss another day to adjust into the classes they intend to take. They might be missing the first homework assignments, which would force the student to play catch-up as soon as their schedule was corrected.
The students and educational advisors could be relieved of this extra responsibility with a new scheduling system that would allow students to find out their schedules weeks before school begins.
Online scheduling would allow students to sign up for their classes by themselves with two months to spare before the first day of school comes around.
With this new procedure, students would be responsible for the classes that they choose because they would be the ones signing up for the specific courses. This way, the school won’t be blamed when students complain about being placed in the incorrect classes.
Students would also know their schedules going into the first day of school, giving them a more relaxed attitude as they adjust back into the educational environment.
Online scheduling would also better enforce the “first come, first serve” policy for the courses that fill up quickly. In other words, the faster a student schedules online, the more likely that he or she will get their preferred courses before they are full.
Conflicts in scheduling would still arise due to the fact that several classes are only offered once a day. If a student signs up for two separate classes that are offered only during a single period, then the student would have to decide between the two, a decision that could take time.
Scheduling online well before school starts would give these students a fair warning about the issue. They would have weeks to discuss the problem and choose the correct class to take out of the two, which is often an important decision.
With the addition of a system of online scheduling, students could avoid or at least be given fair notice of any schedule conflicts well before school begins. The students of Mira Costa would have a large weight off their backs as they ease back into school in September.
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