Assignment #1
Enrollment is one the most important process or procedure that one or a student has to undergo after passing the entrance exam of a certain school. I for one have experienced the most patience testing procedure and that’s the enrollment procedure in the University of Southeastern Philippines. Compared to what I have experienced in high school, the enrollment in this university is way too tiresome. When I first enrolled in this university the first thing that I observed is that the school lack solid information regarding the enrolment procedure. Yes the school provides diagrams and or tarps where they show the flow of the enrolment but I tell those things that they post on the walls of the school are somewhat ambiguous. Ambiguous in a way that the diagrams are not clearly illustrated. I mean, you cannot understand it by just simply looking at it. I do not have a sample of the diagram that was used during my first to second year in this university however I do know that many other students would attest that I am telling the right thing. I also observed that the procedure in the diagram was not really strictly followed or implied.
Another thing that I have observed is that the people involved in the procedure do not follow the schedule intended for the enrollment. People meaning the ones administering the enrollment and of course the ones that are enrolling. This of course cause delays on the enrollment procedure. However when I was already in my third year in the university changes to the enrollment system has been made. I mean it has improved compared to what it used to be. The current enrollment procedures are as follows based on my experience:
1. Payment of fees (Headlight, OCSC, Local Council, etc.)
2. Advising (Signing of the pre registration form)
3. Encoding
4. Cashier’s Office (Payment to the cashier for non scholars / Submission of scholarship card to the student records)
5. Registrar’s Office (official enrollment)
6. Library (validation of library card)
These steps however are not the only steps that are being followed by the first year students. There are additional steps like enrolling in the NSTP offices (CTWS/ROTC). However changes are made to the enrollment system and it has improved it does still have loopholes or shall I say factors that are not really part of the system that cause problems.
1. Ambiguous Diagrams
The diagrams are not properly made and that I am surprised to know that it was made from someone in the institute of computing. Were supposed to be good at this and were supposed to give solutions not make one. I observed that the diagram somewhat disorganized or messy. Also the lines are not properly connected or pointed to the next procedure which greatly affects the procedure. It is somehow ok for those who have undergone the enrolment but we should think about the first timers. They will be the one who will suffer because of that diagram.
To aid this, there must be a properly made diagram or process flow of the enrollment. The characters involved in the procedure must also be properly made (not to mention that I heard that the boy character in the diagram becomes or transforms into a tall person from being small on the end part of the procedure). The lines should also be taken care of. Point the lines on the right direction and make it clear.
2. Limited & Idle Windows
This is one of the factors that cause delays in the enrollment process. Literally the lines on the cashier and registrar’s office are so long like WOWOWEE and there are only two windows for the cashier. And sometimes only one window is operational so obviously there would be much traffic. This case is also the same in the registrar’s office although they have many operating windows however the delays or problems that occur in this office is different which will be tackled on item number three (3).
3. Different Implementation of Rules.
The offices have different implementation of the rules which leaves the students in the middle who take most of the headache. Why? Because they need to go back from this office because this office said things about this something and it turns out that this office says that this office is doing wrong and that this something is right so you better get back to that office and this and that. It is so frustrating to be passed along like a ball and no doing any progress at all. These offices should make a general rule or set of rules regarding the issues in the enrollment especially the requirements. One recent example is the receipt for the local council of the institute of computing. One my classmates complained that the personnel in the registrar’s office did not accept her documents because she lacked the ICLC receipt where in fact that we do not have ICLC fee because we did not have new set of officers. It made her pissed off because our other classmates have already enrolled and that they weren’t asked about the receipt. Clearly there was a misunderstanding in the situation. It is ok if the personnel involved is willing to listen to the explanation but what if the personnel is one old person who has attitude problems and does not listen to your explanation then you will really be pissed off. In this case there was no proper dissemination of information. I know that the personnel were just following standard operating procedure but the ones that are taking the heat are the ones enrolling. They should realize that there is an additional fee if we get to enroll late.
4. First Come First Serve Policy & Its Implementation
It do not really know if everyone has experienced this but in my case I have seen that the first come first serve policy is not properly implemented. One thing is in the encoding procedure. Sometimes you submit your pre registration form early enough but instead those who passed it late are the ones who get to be encoded first. It’s very frustrating, really. Another thing is about the lines. Some people who think that they are doing a kind thing by letting their classmates or schoolmates slip in line in order not to get caught in the long line but they are actually doing it wrong. They are not thinking fair. Well you can’t blame those people who are just trying to be kind. This issue really should be taken care of by the security guards. This thing is not really involved in the system but it is involved in the procedure.
So far these are the things that I have noticed. These things are not necessarily part of the system itself but it is part of the procedure. These things are the factors that should be looked upon and given solution to further improve the system. There are also ideas that I want to share. I don’t really think that this is easy to do but what the hell. The thing that I was thinking about is the idea that the payments of the tuition fees are to be automated. My idea is that the students are able to enroll without actually being there. The procedure is to be automated starting from the advising of subjects. Naturally the students still need to comply with the requirements but after that it is automated. Automated in the sense that the advising procedure will be based on the grade reports of the teachers and then so on and so forth. Even the payment is to be automated. All the student needs to do is to deposit money in a certain bank and then the payment is made from there. Basically that is my idea and I know that I might have been thought up by other people as well.
