Enroll now, reap the benefits

By Troy Daugherty

It’s that time of the year again. No, not football. Open enrollment has started once again.

And it is very important that students this semester make sure to get their new schedules set up as soon as possible.

A lot of the staff at HCC are going to be telling students to get appointments made with their advisors so they can make their schedules, but why should they do it now and not wait until later?

Any student can choose to wait as long as they want before the last enrollment date and there is no penalty. So why do it so soon?

Michelle Wortham, administrative assistant to the vice president of student services, said it is time well spent.

“The sooner students do it the sooner they can make sure to get the classes they want,” Wortham said.

“And if all the students do it quickly it allows the Academic Affairs Office to get a good notice as to what classes are the most popular and if they need to make another one of the same class,” she said.

Most students associate getting their schedule made early with ensuring that they get the classes they need.

In actuality, it does much more, such as letting the school know what classes they may need more of this next semester.

There are lots of reasons to enroll early.

Brad Fenwick, director of Rimmer support services, said there are a number of benefits for students who enroll early.

“It helps ensure that you get the class times that best suit your needs while also helping you to get a specific instructor if you want one,” Fenwick said.

“Also, with the way that it is set up now, you can make the spring schedule a while ahead of time and even make your schedule for the next year ahead of time,” he said.

That is really helpful in making sure that a student completes HCC in a timely manner, he said.

There is a reason that HCC allows students to set up schedules so early.

That is because it opens up opportunities for them to get exactly what they want, when they want.

Each year at Hutchinson Community College, full time students who enrolled during first semester are given the chance to have the first choices of courses to enrolled in for the spring semester. That is what began on Oct. 12.

On Oct.23, open enrollment begins for all the rest of the students.

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