Every year, Northwest Vista College holds Registration Labs to help first-time-in-college students with the registration process. During the latest Registration Lab on Nov. 14, NVC served 551 students.
In the last five years when the event was held, the largest gathering was 383 students in the fall of 2018. During the latest Registration Lab, advisors conducted advising sessions with 207 students.
Although the event was led by Student Success, it was a college-wide effort with participation from faculty and staff from the Academic Area, Student Success, College Services, and the President’s Office.
A special shout-out goes to Dr. Joy Qiaoying Zhou, Jesse Harbert and the NVC Math department for their support. They brought their own laptop cart as all the workstations in the lab were already filled.
The in-person event was from 8 am to 8 pm and a couple of employees stayed on Microsoft Teams until 9:15 pm to support the late evening class sections in EDUC and SDEV.
The lab was in addition to the Student Success Registration Ready Campaign which provided outreach to over 3,000 students. The goal of the campaign is to ensure and assist students in being registration ready on day one of their time-ticketing for spring 2023. It is led by the SDEV, Veterans Center, Access office, and Career/Experiential Learning teams.
Diana Pelaez, an NVC adjunct faculty, said “I brought my FTIC students to the registration lab this week, and many of them were relieved to have a “one-stop shop” for help with registration. Most of my students were able to take care of any registration holds or get one-on-one help from advisors, which helped my students register successfully and with confidence for the spring. It was a well-attended event with students getting help in a variety of ways from many faculty and staff who were all eager to help students.”
Michelle Aguirre, NVC adjunct instructor, said she would highly recommend holding multiple registration labs in the future. She said the staff stayed late into the evening to make sure every student was taken care of.
“As an instructor for SDEV/EDUC classes, we emphasize the importance of registering early to secure a seat in high-demand courses. Instructors use multiple class sessions to educate students on Individual Success Plans (ISPs), transfer institutions, Math pathways, and schedule selection in preparation for the ‘Big Day,’ registration day!” Michelle added. “If it had not been for the assistance of advising, admissions and records, and the student development office our students would have seen multiple obstacles trying to register for essential classes. Many students walked away with appreciation and a feeling of accomplishment as they were able to register for the classes that met their needs.”
Adjunct instructor Miguel Bedolla added, “Working with the students in my courses, during the Registration Lab, allowed me to see them in an entirely new and more adequate perspective. It will certainly modify, for the better, the way I attempt to meet their needs.”
Other enrollment events held by Student Success included helping students with their graduation application, New Student Orientation and Drop-In Advising.
Student Success welcomes all faculty and staff support, and no experience is necessary. The team provides training.
