Administrators confident new plan will ease enrollment woes
Brianna Martinez & Kevin Bonneville
Spring registration has already begun at MCC and managers, liaisons, team members and various individuals from Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, and Cashiers Services, are hoping that the changes to the enrollment process are more student friendly.Those groups provided feedback to James Mabry, vice president of Academic Affairs, and Patricia Cardenas-Adame, vice president of Student Affairs, regarding enrollment, scheduling and other processes.
The feedback was compiled into a 24-page spreadsheet of 177 issues, where the issues were grouped, categorized, prioritized and assigned to individuals who were best suited to be able to solve the solution.
During the first couple of weeks of fall semester, several thousand students were dropped from their classes due to non-payment.
This can be attributed to confusion with the new SIS system and the fact that there was poor communication between students and MCC’s faculty.
Many students who were expecting to receive financial aid never received it and were dropped from their classes as a result.
MCC’s administration, led by President Shouan Pan, believes they have the solutions to help rectify the problems that occurred during the fall registration period.
“In August, we took issues and concerns from parents, students and faculty. Our main goal was to make it more student friendly and easier to navigate and I’m confident there won’t be as many problems as last semester,” Pan said.
When students register over the phone or in person, they will receive a packet of information containing steps on how to set up their my.maricopa.edu account, a payment plan, and a due date receipt for when they need to pay for their classes.
“Many times when students come in to have face-to-face interaction, they aren’t aware of when their tuition is due and where to pay it,” said Joni Grover, dean of Student Affairs for MCC’s Red Mountain campus.
“We believe that this will help better educate students by not only giving the document to them in person, but also mailing it to them,” she added.
“The information in the packet is going to be a lot more concise for students,” Pan said.
One of the crucial parts to the packet is the enrollment checklist.
The checklist, which must be signed off by an enrollment specialist, makes sure the student knows where their classes are located, how much their tuition is and when it is due, the last date to drop classes to ensure 100 percent refund, their residency status, and a listing of their tuition and fee payment options.
During the fall semester, students had to pay their fees by 7 p.m. that day leading up to the last week of classes.
Students now have until midnight to pay for their classes and have ideally up to 14 days to pay, depending on how close they register to the start of the class, according to Grover.
When tuition is due and how much it costs can be found at my.maricopa.edu in the student center section.
For students that take part in MCC’s payment plan, there are now smaller monthly payments and low down payments for them to choose from.
According to Pan, members of the faculty will also have scripts to better answer questions students may have during the registration process.
The administration also plans to use some processes they have used in the past.
There will still be what Pan likes to call the “triage system”, which is where faculty and staff go through the long lines during registration asking students about their registration needs to help the lines move along faster.
There will also still be new student orientation held in the Zuni room in order to help any new students with questions and concerns they have about the registration process and the school in general.
Kathleen Perales, dean of Student Affairs, said it would be a good idea for students to start talking to an adviser and get registered for next semester as soon as possible.
The advisement office is empty at this time of the year, according to Perales.
“Students should make an appointment with an adviser now and not wait until the week before school starts when many other students are trying to make appointments,” Perales said.
As for getting financial aid on time, Pan suggests applying early for classes because it can take up to four to six weeks in order for a student to receive it to pay for their classes.
“We want students to ask the specific questions and we don’t want students to be frustrated,” Pan said.
“There are a lot of people here that can help students with their particular needs,” he added.
The first enrollment cancellation for the spring semester will be on Dec. 3 for students who haven’t paid their classes by then.
