Students began to gear up for the Spring 2017 semester this week by researching classes and arranging their schedules. As students pass by the bulletin boards in Wimberly or by the walls of Cowley, they have seen a number of signs for new classes and minors offered.

Starting this past Monday, registration began for students. Students with the most credits had first choices on courses and schedules. Students will meet with their advisors, choose classes for next semester based on their major, minor, or general education requirements, open their WINGS accounts, check for course availability, and wait for their registration period. All students have different experiences with the registration process.

UW-L Senior, Bri Hinnenkamp, commented on her past registration experiences by saying, “I’ve been pretty fortunate the last 4 years in registering for classes since I came in with credits and that allowed me to register earlier than most of my classmates. Although this may be true, being a science major has created some difficulties when registering.”

Hinnenkamp also gave some advice for students during this time. She advised, “It’s important to remember that not every schedule is going to be the perfect schedule and you may not get all the classes you want for a semester. It’s always good to plan for alternative classes to take in case one or two fill up before you register. Utilize your [advisor] like I did and you’ll have all the success you need when registering.”

Some of the newly introduced classes include but are not limited to: Social Justice Research Methods, Journalism and New Media Studies, Women and Leadership, The History of Black Women’s Activism and Introduction to Ethnic and Racial Stereotypes in the Media. In addition to new courses, there are a few new minors which are options for students.

UW-L Junior, Destiny Baitinger, decided to add the new Legal Studies minor and commented on what the minor means to her.

She expressed, “I chose to tack on The Legal Studies Minor because La Crosse unfortunately doesn’t offer an official Pre-Law track. By adding this additional minor, students like me are able to have a strategy with curriculum to prepare for graduate school.”

In addition to Baitinger’s comments, UW-L Senior, Emily Sander, added the new Linguistics minor. Sanders discussed why she choose to add the minor.

Sander noted, “Linguistics was a subject I didn’t know I loved. I found it pretty late in my college career, but it fascinated me. I wanted to continue studying it, and since I hadn’t ruled out grad school yet, I was excited to hear that I could put this on my transcript, as a record of my interest and education.”

Beginning Nov. 14 until mid-December, students will be signing up for their spring semester classes. If you have questions or want more information regarding Spring Registration, you can visit UW-L’s records and registration website: https://www.uwlax.edu/records/registration/.