The majority of full-time community college students aim to get an associate’s degree in two years, but if you’re not properly prepared for your advising appointments, your adviser might not be able to help you register for all the classes you need.
Northern Essex Community College recommends that all first-year students book a scheduling appointment with an adviser to help them register for classes. In my case, I was able to successfully register for five classes per semester with the help of an adviser; however, when it came to the fall semester of my second-year, I was unfortunately told that NECC wasn’t offering any of the classes I needed to be able to graduate by the following spring. This was obviously upsetting to me, as myself and my family had major life plans that were dependent on me graduating by the spring, but the most upsetting part was finding out that there were in fact classes for me to take — my adviser just couldn’t find them for me. So, in hopes of preventing other students from having to take six or more classes in one semester at any point during their college education, I went searching for the answer as to why registering for classes was so difficult.
It’s good to keep in mind that there are certain classes Northern Essex only offers every couple of years. If you aren’t informed about these types of classes by the time you’re registering for classes, or the roster is full by the time you register, you may be faced with waiting two years or longer before fulfilling that program requirement.
On the topic of classes only offered every few years, I spoke with Northern Essex’s Writing Program Director, Professor Patrick Lochelt.
“Unfortunately, the college doesn’t have enough of a student base/interest to run those more niche classes more frequently,” he told me, and by niche classes, he meant, “Fiction, CNF, Screenwriting, even Poetry” for Writing majors. “I wish we could run them all every semester, but the classes simply wouldn’t fill. On top of that, the college just set in place a general standard of courses needing at least 15 students to stay on the schedule during registration ... I know some students who needed some Literature courses for their degree plans this semester, but the in person class that was offered was canceled due to low enrollment, and they weren’t able to get the class they needed.”
In other words, if your major isn’t of great interest to enough students on campus, you’re unlikely to find availability for the classes you need to graduate; it makes one wonder why Northern Essex offers degrees for majors that they don’t regularly offer classes for. A full-time student should be able to obtain their associate’s degree within the two years it should reasonably take, without waiting for enough students to apply in hopes of obtaining that degree as well.
Northern Essex has also previously offered a solution called a “directed study,” where professors can modify the syllabus/class setup to accommodate one student, and will work one-on-one on a specific schedule with the student to get them the exact course credit they need. This seems to be a very helpful solution, and not only for the individual student; it also creates a set-up that can work for a possible online class, which caters to student availability even more. However, from what Lochelt can tell, Northern Essex wants, “to limit the directed study opportunities to students who need classes that run VERY rarely.”
So, not a very accessible alternative, unless you’re in dire need of a course requirement that’s basically nonexistent; a situation that, again, might make one wonder why a student would be in that position to begin with, and why a college would let a student apply for a degree that doesn’t generate enough interest to allow them to finish within two years.
Additionally, it’s also best to know what credit requirements you need to fulfill in order to graduate before booking your advising appointment. When the college recommends you get assistance with scheduling from an adviser, you might automatically assume that the adviser you’re meeting with will be able to tell you what classes you need based on your DegreeWorks information. This was true in my case for my first two semesters — my advisers looked at my degree requirements, found out which classes aligned with the credits I needed, and scheduled me for classes that would keep me on track to graduate within two years. However, when it came to my first second-year advising appointment, I was told that there were no classes being offered that fulfilled my degree requirements (when, in fact, there absolutely were.) To better understandwhy this happened and how other students can avoid a similar situation, I spoke directly with Academic Counselor Maria Medina, the adviser who unfortunately couldn’t find any classes to register me for.
“Depending on the program’s recommendations, they may want you to take something particular,” said Medina, on the topic of free elective requirements, which in my case could have been fulfilled this semester. “For Nursing students, they have free electives, but it has to be of global awareness, which is why so many nursing students take World Religions. For other programs, they’re required to take an elective with humanities awareness... You can choose anything, but we encourage recommendations for better preparation.” In my case, the elective
recommendations that came up on my DegreeWorks weren’t being offered at all.
She noted that there were alternative free electives that I could have been registered for, but because they weren’t the ones specifically recommended by the Writing program, they didn’t come up in conversation, which led me to believe that registering for them simply wasn’t an option.
As of now, she confirmed that there is no way for students or advisers to stay informed
on program availability. “Advisers don’t have information from the academic calendar until November 2, when registration opens, so it’s true that there’s no way for students to prepare. The Dean or the Department Chair might have information that isn’t accessible to us, which prevents us from making proper academic plans for students. Students can be as proactive as they can, but if we don’t have all the information, we can’t properly help them find the classes they need.”
Despite this, Medina remains hopeful about recent changes regarding a new Vice
President that has arrived at Northern Essex. “Changes take time. I think they are working on having the calendar out sooner.”
This leaves room for optimism, but ultimately, it’s up to the college to keep students and advisors as informed as possible, so that degree requirements can be fulfilled successfully; something that is not being done properly as of now. “It’s not always a
clear path when it comes to advising, but please know that all advisors are doing their best to
Despite this, Medina remains hopeful about recent changes from a new Vice
President that has arrived at Northern Essex. “Changes take time. I think they are working on having the calendar out sooner.”
This leaves room for optimism, but ultimately, it’s up to the college to keep students and advisors as informed as possible, so that degree requirements can be fulfilled successfully; something that is not being done properly as of now.
“It’s not always a clear path when it comes to advising, but please know that all advisers are doing their best to help students navigate their degrees and career goals,” Medina concluded. “Seeing students succeed is very rewarding.”
Getting an associate’s degree within two years should be achievable for any full-time
student who dedicates the proper time and effort, but as of now, it’s unfairly not up to the student’s preparation or the advisors who are there to help them register for classes. There is no way to know what classes are being offered until registration day, and if a student misses an opportunity or a class fills up too soon, there’s also no way to confirm if/when those classes will be available again any time soon. In order to stay proactive and successful when obtaining a degree, program availability and academic calendars need to become more accessible to students and advisers long before registration opens; and as of now, that ball is in Northern Essex’s court.
the credits I needed, and scheduled me for classes that would keep me on track to graduate within two years.
However, when it came to my first second-year advising appointment, I was told that there were no classes being offered that fulfilled my degree requirements (when, in fact, there absolutely were.)
To better understand why this happened and how other students can avoid a similar situation, I spoke directly with Academic Counselor Maria Medina, the adviser who unfortunately couldn’t find any classes to register me for.
“Depending on the program’s recommendations, they may want you to take something particular,” said Medina, on the topic of free elective requirements, which in my case could have been fulfilled this semester.
“For Nursing students, they have free electives, but it has to be of global awareness, which is why so many nursing students take World Religions. For other programs, they’re required to take an elective with humanities awareness ... You can choose anything, but we encourage recommendations for better preparation.”
In my case, the elective recommendations that came up on my DegreeWorks weren’t being offered at all. She noted that there were alternative free electives that I could have been registered for, but because they weren’t the ones specifically recommended by the Writing program, they didn’t come up in conversation, which led me to believe that registering for them simply wasn’t an option.
As of now, she confirmed that there is no way for students or advisers to stay informed on program availability.
“Advisers don’t have information from the academic calendar until November 2, when registration opens, so it’s true that there’s no way for students to prepare. The Dean or the Department Chair might have information that isn’t accessible to us, which prevents us from making proper academic plans for students. Students can be as proactive as they can, but if we don’t have all the information, we can’t properly help them find the classes they need,”
Despite this, Medina remains hopeful about recent changes regarding a new Vice President that has arrived at Northern Essex. “Changes take time. I think they are working on having the calendar out sooner.”
This leaves room for optimism, but ultimately, it’s up to the college to keep students and advisers as informed as possible, so that degree requirements can be fulfilled successfully; something that is not being done properly as of now.
“It’s not always a clear path when it comes to advising, but please know that all advisers are doing their best to help students navigate their degrees and career goals,” Medina concluded. “Seeing students succeed is very rewarding.”
Getting an associate’s degree within two years should be achievable for any full-time student who dedicates the proper time and effort, but as of now, it’s unfairly not up to the student’s preparation or the advisers who are there to help them register for classes.
There is no way to know what classes are being offered until registration day, and if a student misses an opportunity or a class fills up too soon, there’s also no way to confirm if/when those classes will be available again any time soon.
In order to stay proactive and successful when obtaining a degree, program availability and academic calendars need to become more accessible to students and advisers long before registration opens; and as of now, that ball is in Northern Essex’s court.