For years, enlistment has been a recurring stressor for the student body. Students suffer through long wait times, server crashes, and limited slots to secure their desired courses. But beyond the technical frustrations lies deeper concerns: a troubling pattern of accusations of grade inflation, inequitable access to quality instruction, and a growing sense that policy and pedagogy are falling short.
An old problem in a new term
What should be a straightforward process often turns into a race against time and a struggle with overloaded servers and technical glitches. During online enlistment, students often take to social media with complaints, memes, and calls for improvements.
The LaSallian reached out to the Office of the University Registrar in May 2025 on the enlistment processes and the ongoing system overhaul, “Project Ascension.”
Criscel Lamsin, Project Manager for the Student Life Cycle Domain under Project Ascension, explained that they intend to resolve existing issues by transitioning from on-premise servers to a cloud-based platform by late 2025. The Student Life Cycle Domain encompasses the digital platforms of the University that manage the various aspects of a student’s journey from admissions to graduation.
“The move… will help us better manage high volumes of transactions, especially during peak enrollment periods,” said Lamsin in an email response. She further added that the initiative began with a process redesign exercise that prioritized improving student experience and documenting clearer system requirements.
Students and offices have collectively acknowledged that Animo.Sys continues to cause recurring issues. However, concrete details on the Project Ascension have remained limited, with the publication only being informed of its general objectives.
The Information Technology Services Office (ITS) has been repeatedly contacted by The LaSallian between May and October 2025 for their response, but has not replied at the time of writing.
More than just queues
Beyond technical errors, the process has also revealed deeper academic and cultural issues within the community. The growing competition to get into classes with highly rated professors has intensified the scramble for slots.
It is common knowledge among students that schedules are planned strategically by choosing the most sought-after faculty members. The culture of enlisting classes with “easy 4.0s” or lenient professors makes enlistment more than a matter of access, but also a competition for academic advantage.
The USG’s role in enlistment reform
The Office of the Vice President for Internal Affairs (OVPIA) and the Office of the President (OPRES) have been actively involved in the Enrollment Council, where they air out student concerns.
“We always cascade a post-enlistment survey to evaluate [the] students’ experiences during the [enlistment] process,” said Josel Bautista, former Vice President for Internal Affairs, about his tenure.
Beyond surveys, the University Student Government (USG) also coordinated with the college officers through real-time feedback channels last Academic Year (AY), where students actively report issues that they encounter during the enlistment. The USG then forwards these concerns to the appropriate administrative offices.
Since Term 2 of AY 2024–2025, the OVPIA collaborated with the ITS to address recurring server and connectivity problems. Part of their initiative involved opening computer laboratories during the term break to aid Lasallians with their enlistment. Bautista explained that, “since the computer labs… have a sort of a more secure connection in line with the server, [there is a] higher chance or a better way of entering the server.”
Next steps
While technological upgrades remain central to the enlistment reform, the USG emphasized the need for a more equitable slot allocation system. “[There should be] a better way to secure the slots of the students,” noted Bautista, adding that irregular, transferee, and graduating students often face the most difficulty in acquiring slots.
Although concerns about grading practices and workload of certain professors go beyond the enlistment process, the USG views them as interconnected factors with the existing academic inequity caused by the course enlistment.
It was also mentioned that improving professor evaluation methods is related to the enlistment process, particularly students’ preference for certain professors. The USG, in collaboration with the Academic Support for Instructional Services and Technology, launched a streamlined faculty evaluation system that will be done through AnimoSpace in Term 1 of AY 2024-2025.
As Project Ascension remains under work and the USG continues to be at the forefront of advancing student welfare, it is pivotal for the University to recognize that technological improvements only address a portion of a greater problem caused by the enlistment system. For now, students remain hopeful that ongoing changes will lead to a streamlined and equitable process that will no longer make enlistment a test of patience and a race for preferred professors.
This article was published in The LaSallian‘s October 2025 issue. To read more, visit bit.ly/TLSOct2025.
