Waiting lists become optional

McCaslin's final word leaves decision up to each department

Matthew Rubinfeld / Roundup

After long discussions between administration on whether or not to keep waiting lists at Pierce College, a decision is in the process of being made.

“Departments may choose between having waiting lists or not. I will continue to urge departments to choose the no-waitlist option,” said Dr. Joy McCaslin, interim president of Pierce, in an e-mail sent to campus faculty.

Students have had trouble signing up for classes due to scheduled dates that give seniority priority. The only chance that most students have for getting into a class is to enroll on the waiting list.

“You have more of a chance to get into the classes you need, then just showing up hoping you can add the class,” said Mirna Gomez, nursing student.

Administration voted at the last Academic Senate meeting on the waiting list with some departments opting not to use this system next semester.

There is much debate on how taking this system away will harm students, but no determinant decision has been clearly made.

There are departments that will continue to use it and others that will no longer have it available for students.

“The math department has chosen to have no wait list (that is, wait list limit set to zero) on all math classes and that is working fine for us,” said Robert Martinez, math department chair, in an e-mail.

It has been left up to each department to decide on whether the wait list is useful for their students or if it has caused too many problems.

“The Computer Applications and Office Technologies Department is 100% in favor of the wait list,” said Lyn Clark, CAOT department chair, in an e-mail. “We feel it provides students with a fair opportunity of obtaining the class they wish. It also provides students with an indication of ‘how close they are to getting in.’”