On the Hill
Wednesday, Aug. 22, 1990
section D
View from the top
Lights on the main campus begin to wink on as the sun sets in this view looking west from the north belltower of Fraser Hall. The panorama sweeps from the Campanile, far right, to Watson Library on the left.
Add/drop a part of life
Students can survive if they're smart at enrollment
Rv Ann Sommerlath
Kansan staff writer
After a relaxing summer of sun and sun, many students will return to KU unprepared and unwilling to deal with the baskets of add/dron.
Avoid add/drop entirely.
Here's a tip to help avoid frustration and depression at summer's end;
"It is much better to stick with an unattractive class time than to spend your time switching sections." Jooot's coordinator of academic advising, said.
In addition to the time wester
going through add/drop, entering a
class 2-3 weeks late is a definite
drawback, he said. Often, first
students are seen at that point, and
students who enroll can live at a
disadvantage.
VanZandt said that, because of class and teacher shortages, there are fewer openings in fewer classes. Because of the less attractive schedules, more students want to change classes and sections.
The University's problems with add/drop can be dealt with only on a long-term basis, he said.
"You can't run out and hire graduate teaching assistants because the state is no longer funding the Margin of Excellence." VanZandt said.
The immediate effect is that add/ drop will not be easy.
Students should discuss class changes with the departments offering the classes, he said.
Nor should it be, said VanZandt.
Add/drop should deter students from adding and dropping classes for convenience.
"Departments are extraordinarily willing to be helpful where they can," VanZandt said.
He said it is better to deal with the specific airline rather than with the airport if you have a problem with your ticket or flight.
Gary Thompson, director of student records, compared add/drop to an airline's reservation system.
The best way to add a class is to get a closed class opener card from the department, he said.
Thompson said the only other ways of adding classes were if someone dropped a class, making room for another student. University added a course or section.
Thompson said that to improve the odds of adding a class, the enrollment center makes dropping a class possible. If more students drop classes go to the front of the line.
"It's easy to drop a class because we want to recover the space in the course for someone else," he said.
Neither should be counted on, he said.
Lorna Zimmer, director of the Student Assistance Center, said students should be sure they need to add a class before doing so.
A student who starts the course has missed information vital to the course and does not develop good study habits for the class, she said.
A student should look at the class syllabus before adding a class because adding late is not an excuse when preparing for the class, she said.
Zimmer said she encouraged students to set a reasonable deadline for adding a course.
taking a course.
"Try until then," she said, "and then forget it."
She said a student should know the rules of the school that offers the class before dropping. Some schools have rules for students who drop a class too late.
Some schools guarantee admission to a class for certain majors, she said.
Students should be prepared when they go to the enrollment center, Zimmer said. t could mean the differ- between getting a class and not getting it.
Like VanZandt and Thompson,
Zimmer warned students never to try to add a class to improve the time of day they have it.
"If you can't get what you want,
get what will work," she said.
"Decide if what you can get will work
for you."
New Regents Center to be built soon
By Jean Williams
W. Max Lucas, building committee chairman, said construction documents should be ready for committee meetings on the date of the month or by early September.
Groundbreaking for the new $6 million Regents Center in Overland Park probably will take place late this fall.
Special to the Kansas
The new Rogents Center will be built on the northwest corner of 127th Street and Quivira Road on a 15-acre site donated by KU alumni Clay
Currently, the center is situated in the former Linwood Elementary School at 9900 Mission Road, Overbend Park.
Mary Davidson Cohen, assistant vice chancellor of the Regents Center, said the center opened in 1975 with an enrollment of 325 students. A permanent for Fall 1989 was 3,165 students.
Blair.
Although the overall size of the two buildings is not much different, Lucas said, the new building will be much more efficient. The classrooms in the existing building are all the same size, but the sum center will be varied, which will allow assignment of rooms to be appropriate for the size of the class.
"One of the most exciting prospects the new center offers is the telecommunications network linking it with other universities in the Regents system and with area businesses." Cohen said.
A 150-foot communications tower will enable the University to televise
The building will contain about 53,000 square feet compared to 47,000 square feet in the existing building. Cohen said. It also will include rooms that will accommodate large classes or meetings.
The new telecommunications network also will expand library access for center users. The old center's library already is electronically linked to the Lawrence campus library, including a telephone networks network all access to the other Regents institutions as well. Cohen said.
courses that could be received by businesses with special receiving equipment, she said. A firm's employee could stay at their office for a week or more and that would be televised from either Lawrence or the Regents Center.
The state is providing $2 million of the total $6 million cost. The remaining $4 million will come from 20-year revenue bonds and some private money, Cohen said. All students at the Regents Center will pay an extra $10 per credit hour fee that will help retire the bonds.
Jim Mamalis, Prairie Village, finds information for a caller to the University Information Center
Information Center available to answer student questions
By Julie Cornwell Special to the Kansan
How many trees are on campas? How do you cook a turkey? When will the Jayhawks play next? How do you pay fees?
or you pay the fee. These may be some of the questions that come up in a student's years at the University of Kansas.
The University Information Center is designed to help students with just about any question or to direct their attention to the proper informa- tion a sequent.
The center, on the fourth floor of the Kansas Union, was established in 1970 as a rumor control center to deal with campus turmoil at the height of the Vietnam War protests, said Aaron Rittmaster, an information center research assistant.
tam.
Now the center provides the dual services of answering questions
The nature of the questions really depends on the season. The add and drop period, basketball season and Thanksgiving season all bring different questions, said Eric Lockett, a research assistant.
and functioning as a crisis referral service. Callers in need of counseling, suicide intervention, pregnancy testing information or other personal crisis information assistance by dasing 864-3506
The center receives 500-700 calls a day, and the busiest time for calls is the afternoon and the early evening. During the summer session, the most common questions concern library hours and building hours, Rittman said. At the beginning of the fall semester, the most common question will be about fee payment.
The center's 10 by 30 foot room has windows facing the football field. Each wall is covered with bulletin boards containing information on Kansas City news, local events, Lawrence events, community affairs and general information.
The center has three phones, bookshelves of reference materials and a bed for the night shifts. Each desk has a list of the most requested information under glass. The center is filled with academic events and student-organization events are available for reference.
For unusual questions, the center may rely on other sources. For instance, to answer the question of how many trees are on campus, the center would call in facilities operations department, Lockett said.