Problems with the Current Enrollment Process

Problems with the current enrollment process

        Like any process, even the enrollment process at JWMI has problems. As was stated, currently, most students enroll in their next class based on an e-mail from their advisor to enroll in the next class or two (Table 1). Some have used Blackboard to enroll, however a confirmation e-mail was never received and upon e-mailing their respective advisors were told they never enrolled for the class (Table 1). Using iCampus or calling their advisor are other avenues JWMI students can use to enroll for their next courses. Therefore, the first issue is there are too many different ways to enroll, which often can lead to communication problems and overall confusion for the student.

        Aside from multiple ways to enroll, students are often unsure of the classes they still need to take, which classes would be helpful to take together, the pre-requisites, and which classes would work together with regards to assignment due dates. Based on our survey, most students suggest taking only one class as two classes are often an overload once jobs, family and everyday life are taken into account (Table 1). Two classes should only be taken if one needs to finish quickly for career advancement or if financial aid requires it. For example, Veterans Affairs students are required to take 2 graduate levels courses as of Summer 2014 in order to be considered full time and receive financial aid (Matt’s Letter). Therefore, it would be useful for these students that need to take two classes to know which classes work well together with regards to content, difficulty, and due dates for assignments.

Proposal for enrollment process improvement

        In order to streamline the enrollment process, we suggest having only one place students would use to enroll, which would be Blackboard. About 75% of all colleges and universities in the States utilize Blackboard for their education needs, making it a familiar place for most students (http://www.blackboard.com/about-us/index.aspx). It is on here that we suggest JWMI place useful resources for students to make informed decisions about class enrollment.