Film major Adrienne Mills is looking forward to getting a start in production – even though she has had to schedule the introductory class for her penultimate semester at Boston University.
A College of Communication junior who is now studying in London, Mills said she took the suggested COM coursework through her freshman and sophomore years, loading up on general education classes and introductory COM courses. Betting that she would be able to secure a spot in Film Production I last fall, Mills planned for a spring semester abroad.
With a bad registration number, however, she was unable to get into the class, a prerequisite for other film electives.
“I checked for days after registration to see if anyone dropped the class, but no one did.” Mills said in an email. “On the first day of class, I sat-in . . . but there was only a certain amount of equipment, and they are under strict orders to have a cutoff number of students.”
Mills said she will be taking Film I in next fall, but is frustrated with the options that will be left to her for sequential classes.
COM students and professors alike say a flawed registration system and too few class sections make it impossible for some students to take introductory classes in their concentration before junior or senior year, while some underclassmen fill up upper level courses.
When students register for classes they do not intend to enroll in and hold seats for their friends, they abuse the registration process, said the film and television department chairman Charles Merzbacher. Abusing the registration process, not a shortage of class sections, is the real problem, he said.
“Usually, there is more to the story when I hear about a student who could not get into a Film I class.” Merzbacher said.
Merzbacher said although it can be hard to get into Film I or other introductory classes, it is always possible.
“When students don’t get into Film I during their regular registration time, I tell them to keep trying.” he said. “Don’t give up . . . come to the first class.”
Merzbacher said enough people drop classes, so those who are determined can eventually secure a spot.
COM sophomore Andrea Rosas, a film production major, is in Film I this semester and said because of a shortage in spots she could not get her first choice professor, but was ultimately able to register for the class on time.
“I looked as soon as I could for registering and there was one spot left.” Rosas said. “I didn’t really have a choice in who my professor was, but because that was the only spot left I [obviously] registered.”
However, Introduction to Communication Writing professor Gary Duehr said spots in the gateway course he teaches are often scarce and he opened a third section of his class due to increased demand.
“I have no idea why they don’t open more sections,” Duehr said. “As long as I have been teaching — the past five years — there has always been a shortage.”
