The maximum enrollment hours for students at Nicholls will decrease from 21 to 18 for the Fall 2012 semester.
Laynie Barrilleaux, vice president of academic affairs, said this change will hopefully prevent students from becoming overwhelmed without seeking proper advice.
“We’re going to try it, but nothing has to be set in stone,” Barrilleaux said. “We’re constantly looking for ways to improve current situations for students as well as from our management standpoint.”
Barrilleaux said that with the change, students who would like to enroll in more than 18 hours will need permission from their respective dean. She said the primary reason for this is if a student plans to take 21 hours, the dean can either encourage or discourage the student depending upon GPA, classification and other scheduled classes.
“It helps us with course management as well, so that students do not just add 21 hours with the intention of dropping,” Barrilleaux said. “With all the empty seats after drop date, it can cost the University a faculty member or sometimes a student who could not get into a class that he or she needed.”
Barrilleaux said one of the suggestions while discussing this change was to limit the number of enrollment hours according to GPA.
For example, a student with a 3.4 GPA or more would automatically be able to schedule 21 hours, but a student with a 2.0 GPA would need special permission.
Another suggestion was to limit freshmen to 15 enrollment hours.
“We don’t plan on doing either of these, but if we find that students are still withdrawing from classes and not doing well, then we might get to that point,” Barrilleaux said.
Barrilleaux also said the University is not charging for enrollment hours more than 12, but charging students per class is an option the University would consider in relation to cutting maximum hours.
“We knew we wanted to cut down the maximum enrollment hours, but it is hard to do things in the spring because the catalog and class schedule are already out,” Barrilleaux said. “Unless you send a zillion e-mails, students won’t know about it, so we are waiting until the fall.”
Barrilleaux said this is also the reason students will see a financial obligation statement when registering for classes to increase awareness about University policy.
Huy Truong, business sophomore from Houma, said he does not think this change is going to work.
“They should let the students do what they want and take as many hours as they can,” Truong said. “It’s up to them how much they can handle.”
Shire Holloman, education junior from Chalmette, said she can see both sides.
“Students should be able to decide what they want to do,” Holloman said. “I can also understand how this would help the administration to handle people who drop classes carelessly.”
“We’re trying. When you incorporate a new policy, you’re never 100 percent sure, but that doesn’t mean you can’t revisit it,” Barrilleaux said. “You try different things until you can get the majority satisfied.”
