Over the years, students have constantly been haunted by enlistment issues within DLSU’s primary enrollment system Animo.sys come enlistment day. The failure to enlist, according to some, stems from systematic problems such as Wi-Fi inefficiency and server capacity that could not accommodate the number of students logging in.
Launched back in 2013, Animo.sys was created as a response to server issues the My.LaSalle system, then the University’s primary enrollment system, was having. Despite the development of Animo.sys, students continue to experience server issues during enlistment day due to the high influx of students enlisting at the same period.
On the other side of the spectrum, external factors that are caused by students themselves are also taken into consideration. Due to the limited number of slots for each subject, some students tend to disregard their flowcharts and enlist in other subjects that would fit their schedule. Others also tend to reserve slots for certain subjects for their friends who are unable to enlist in those subjects. Apart from these, some students also struggle to enlist in their desired subjects because of students who failed these subjects and are now reenlisting in them.
Weighing two sides of the coin
The systematic problem, according to College of Liberal Arts Academic Officer Maybelle Barraca, is outweighed by external factors. She claims that students’ priorities play a huge impact on external factors that drive certain issues on enrollment. She adds that student preferences on certain faculty and time slots over others are one of the main reasons for the issues.
School of Economics (SOE) College President Chloe Cheng posits that it is an issue concerning both the administration and the students. The SOE department’s basis for the course offerings are the classes which are “usually a combination of algorithm computations based on perceived passing rate of classes, number of currently enrolled students, and flowcharts,” Cheng states. According to her, the numbers do not add up since students do not follow their flowcharts and would tend to take the slots of other students who are supposed to be taking certain classes.
Furthermore, Cheng says that their department fails to consider the number of students that shifts in and out of their courses. An example provided by Cheng is in the case of College of Business (COB), wherein some departments within the college tend to forget that they are catering to SOE students under double degree programs who have varying flowcharts compared to regular COB students. “The classes that SOE needs with regards to their COB majors are not offered,” she explains.
Likewise, DLSU Science and Technology Complex Government (STCG) Campus President Kristian Sisayan suggests that one issue is inter-campus enrollment. “That issue is just a result of an even bigger problem that happens in STC, and that is the lack of courses offered to the students. This problem has branched out into several problems such as students forced to apply for petitions or special classes,” he comments.
Sisayan further asserts that the problem is a mix of systematic issues and external factors. He explains that “the course planning system does not adjust to students who shifted, as they follow the flowcharts of regular students in offering courses.” This problem is compounded by the fact that students get delayed sometimes, and the system is unable to account for this factor. Sisayan also notes that electives offered in STC are fixed, meaning that students cannot choose what to take.
As of press time, The LaSallian has also reached out to the Office of the University Registrar, but the office has declined the request for an interview.
Current remedies provided
As of the current term, the administration has presented a solution to these enrollment issues. The implementation of an earlier enlistment system was made possible due to students skipping class for the sake of enlisting. According to Barraca, the system started late 4:00 pm to prevent student absences in classes because it affects their whole day as well. From 4:00 pm, the enlistment system is available until “10:00 pm or even actually 24 hours,” Barraca says.
For SOE, Cheng shares that an “innovative enrollment concerns system” was implemented to collect all kinds of enlistment issues. The system comes with a “follow-up mechanism” that allows officers to contact those who answered the form regarding their concern.
The said enrollment concerns system was a success because they were able to collect and sort data of around 200 students and then compile a proposal which will eventually be forwarded to the SOE department. “We’ve started doing this last term and it’s worked well, we were able to reduce the number of students manually adjusting by a significant amount. But our main concern still lies with coordination with various COB departments because of the issue I mentioned above,” Cheng mentions.
Future solutions
Sisayan suggests that DLSU should implement “an effective course projection system to predict the needed courses for the following term.” He narrates that the STCG has started an initiative where students are consulted about courses they need which are not part of regular course offerings. Sisayan posits that for such a system to succeed in STC, Deans or Vice Deans of colleges must consult with students, and communication must be open among the Academics Director, Office of the University Registrar, and the STCG.
To lessen the gravity of the issue at hand, Cheng emphasizes that students must follow their flowchart so that other students, most especially those that are taking up seasonal courses, will not be affected.
For Aya Gan (III, AB-PSM), such issues can be solved through creating more enrollment websites to avoid the crashing of sites during enrollment periods. “For example, ID 114 and above can use website A, and then ID 113 and below can use website B,” Gan explains.
However, the enlistment problem is not a systematic issue for Rissy De Leon (III, AB-LIM). She asserts that it “does not matter how slow the servers are as long as there are slots that could accommodate every single student enlisting the same course or subject.” Furthermore, she professes that the departments in charge of putting classes during enlistment period should find a way to accommodate every one of the students.
While the University has yet to implement an optimal solution for the enrollment issues, DLSU students will have to result to the current remedies available. Although it may take a lot of time to revamp DLSU’s intricate enrollment system, some possible solutions would be to have more effective course projections, stricter adherence to flowcharts, and better communication between the students and administration.
