Boston University Student Government heard a presentation from BU staff about the updated class registration system, discussed the BU “Vote!” Initiative and endorsed a resolution proposed by the BU Graduate Worker Union, also known as BUGWU, on Monday.
Alexandra Bellerose, director of communication to enrolled students at BU, presented the new fall 2024 class registration system, which will take place in the MyBU Student Portal. This is the first time in 30 years the system has been changed.
Registration for fall 2024 classes will begin in April with the new system, and pre-planning tools will be available on Wednesday, March 6. The new planning tools will include a class search, schedule builder and shopping cart.
“The shopping cart is a way for you to place preferred classes in that holding period … so that it makes it easier on registration day,” Bellerose said.
The updated system will include features to “validate” and “check” that a user is able to register for their selected classes.
“It will take a look to make sure that you are compliant with university policies,” Bellerose said.
An awareness campaign will be launching this week, with posters and advertisements set to be displayed around campus.
The updated system will also be accompanied by training videos, infographics, step-by-step instructions, screenshots and guides to help new users adjust to the new system.
“We are working with the central offices [and] your advisors,” Bellerose said. “They are aware of items changing, so they are also helping to promote this information so students are aware.”
BU faculty and staff members are aware of these changes, and that there have already been several webinars and training sessions that advisors and instructors have attended, Bellerose said.
“I think one thing to just keep in mind is to be patient,” Bellerose said. “This is new for staff, faculty, advisors [and] for you as students … so we know that this will be a process that might take a little patience.”
Later this spring, financial aid, degree advice and student accounting services will be released in late spring. Student employment opportunities will be added in the summer. As the system is being established, Bellerose said this is not the final version of the registration system.
These changes come after BU announced they were replacing StudentLink with MyBU in November 2022.
Additionally, BU’s City Affairs Department discussed a one-day long event in which all of BU’s intercollege student governments will participate in a friendly voter registration competition to determine which college can register the largest proportion of students.
“The idea is to foster competition with spirit while encouraging students to participate in democracy, especially in this year when November elections are coming up soon,” said Tony Wu, a civic engagement officer and sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences.
During this “Vote!” day, each college will have table stations set up in their buildings to check the voter registration status of students. BU City Affairs will be measuring the proportion of students registered to the total size of each respective college.
“The purpose of this is to promote the importance of civic engagement within the U.S. community, as well as to get students more involved in the 2024 elections,” Wu said.
BU City Affairs will advertise this initiative with flyers, a newsletter and social media posts.
Lastly, StuGov passed Senate Resolution 20 on Monday. The resolution states that it “endorses the bargaining platform of the BU Graduate Workers Union (BUGWU) and outlines steps to support current attempts in negotiating with university administration.”
Submitted by Alexander Brumfield, director of the Social Advocacy Department and a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, the resolution was in response to a presentation given by the BUGWU to the StuGov on Jan. 29.
According to the resolution, since the beginning of fall 2022, BUGWU partnered with SEIU Local 509 to collectively bargain for a living wage, healthcare coverage, international student rights, workload protections and housing justice for 3,000 graduate workers at BU.
Brumfield explained that the union will hold a strike as “the very last line of defense” if the university does not engage in debate and negotiations.
As a former part time graduate student during the years of 1991-1995, currently an alumni, we had been wondering about the pension benefits at that time. I was hired as the graduate research, and it was a part of the Work Study Program, I believe — a good question! Perhaps that is something that you could revisit this topic on the Mann Act of 1910; updated as of 2009. Did I have the negotiations at that time? I was also the vice president of the Massachusetts State Association of the Deaf, overseeing the Family Literacy Project with a committee; also functioned as the pageant director of Miss Deaf Massachusetts with a different committee, and working with the DEAF INC in Brookline, MA. Additionally, I was asked to serve as one of three judges for the Miss Massachusetts, at a different level — more specifically Worchester, MA area. Also, I helped establishing the NADC chapter, working with the NAAAP-Boston chapter. I also worked full time at the Learning Center for The Deaf in Framingham MA for 4 years, off and on when needed during 2014-2015 which I was carried over to the Kids Are People School in downtown Boston, MA area. Please refer to the Massachusetts Commission – Deaf and Hard of Hearing ( at that time, it was Yvonne Dunkle, Barbara Jean Woods, Steven Florio (he passed away in 2022: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/steven-florio-obituary?id=38065070.). Hope that helps! 😀