Finance students shut out of class

A registration crunch in the Finance Department has Wharton School of Business students in an uproar. Finance 101 and 102 have been so overloaded with registration requests this semester that the department asked all students who want to take the sections to apply through an e-mail waiting list. The problem became even more complicated when the Finance Department computer system crashed last week, according to Finance Chairperson Richard Herring. All waitlist requests were sent back through e-mail, thus setting back the registration process by at least five more days. "It's a nightmare," Wharton senior Niki Adler said last night, echoing the frustration of hundreds of students. Finance 101 and 102 are required courses for all Wharton undergraduates. Wharton Deputy Dean Janice Bellace said last night that four new Finance faculty members have been hired to teach additional sections in order to combat the enormous demand for the courses. "It's a continuing problem, but we're doing what we can," she said. Admissions Dean Lee Stetson said the higher matriculation of students into the Wharton School this year could have also attributed to an increased demand for the courses. The University expected between 380 and 400 of accepted high school students to enroll in Wharton, Stetson explained, but 430 students matriculated. "Normally, we are closer to our estimation of students who will enroll," he said. But Bellace said she was not sure higher matriculation was even an issue. In fact, Finance courses have always been oversaturated, she said. "Wait-listing [only] makes people more aware of how many people are trying to get in," she added. And Engineering and Wharton sophomore Adam Plotkin said getting into the classes was only part of his problem. Registering for Finance classes was "absolutely impossible," he said, because the course register listed incorrect times for classes, and in some cases listed sections that did not exist. Wharton and College sophomore Dan Goldring said he thinks the whole problem would never have occurred in the first place if there had been an adequate number of Finance instructors. "The main problem is that the administration is following the faculty, as opposed to the faculty following the administration," he said. "This means the faculty is deciding when they want to teach, as opposed to the administration deciding which courses they will offer and then finding teachers. "The latter is the method used by every other department in the University," he added. Wharton senior Ben Frost was slightly more optimistic. "I'm sure once they get the bugs out of the system, it will be fine," he said. "However, now it is very difficult because you don't know if you'll get into a class, since they won't tell you where you are on the wait list." And Frost said that by the time the Finance Department straightens out the registration difficulties, students will be behind in their coursework.

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