Intrudction
This page is meant to answer a number of frequently asked questions regarding the registration for CS 2150: Program and Data Representation. If you are unable to register for the class for one reason or another, this page is for you. If you have already registered for the course, then there will not be any useful inforation for you on this page.
Please understand that the rules for registering for classes are not something that the instructors (including myself) are happy about. These were enacted due to necessity, not because we wanted to do so.
Why the Course Caps?
There has been a very large demand for CS courses in the last few years. Indeed, enrollment has increased by a factor of three within the last half decade, while at the same time the number of instructors has gone down by about 1/3. This means that the student-to-instructor ratio has increased by 450% in the last 5 years.
As a result, the computer science department can no longer service all those students who want to take CS courses. As the courses are required for our majors to graduate, those majors need to get first priority to enroll in those courses, including CS 2150. Once the majors are able to enroll, others (including minors) will be able to enroll, if there is any remaining space.
The way SIS works is that only DECLARED majors will be allowed to enroll initially for most CS courses (including CS 2150). A declared major is anybody who has already declared one of the three computing majors: BA CS (in the College), or BS CS (in SEAS), or BS CpE (also in SEAS). Because CS courses are a required part of one of the tracks for Cognitive Science, SIS should also allow them to enroll.
This is terrible! I pay all this money for my education, and I should be able to take the coures I want to take! Somebody needs to feel my wrath!
I completely agree! I think it's a disgrace. The problem is that resources at the University are not being distributed correctly, and departments like Computer Science do not have enough resources to teach those who want to take their courses.
If you are so inclined, there are people you can e-mail to vent your wrath (although please vent politely): the CS department chair, the SEAS dean, and the Provost.
But didn't the College just give a bunch of resources to the CS department?
Well, sort of. The SEAS dean, the College dean, the CS department chair, and others (in the Provost's office, etc.) were able to "find" some resources to allow College students to declare the BA CS major. This is still not enough resources to allow anybody to take the courses, so the rule of only declared majors taking these CS courses still stands.
What if I plan on majoring in computing, but haven't declared the major yet?
Go declare the major. It is not pratical for instructors to have to evaluate students on how much they intend to declare the major -- and it's not fair to the other students, as different faculty may use a different means of evaluation.
My goal is to double major, but I have not declared computing as my second major yet.
Go declare the major, for the same reason as the previous question.
But I'm a minor -- can I enroll?
Minors do not need the minor for graduation, whereas majors do. And we are currently unable to service our majors, who have to come first. So minors are in the "other" category with all non-computing majors.
I have more questions about the minor
Please email minoradvisor@cs.virginia.edu.
Will you allow me to bypass these rules and enroll when I'm not a major?
No. The rules were set in place for a reason -- so our majors could complete their degree requirements.
So when can non-majors enroll?
Typically 2-3 weeks after registration starts, the majors-only restrictions are removed. I don't control that swtich, though.
Will you let me into a given lab section, even though it's full?
The lab sections have very specific caps becuase there are a fixed number of computers in that room, as well as a fire marshall limit as to how many people can sit in said room. Thus, the caps can not be exceeded, even by one person.
Well, can't I just bring my own computer into lab?
No. For reasons I won't get into here, it's not pratical to have students work on their own computers in the lab room.
Will you sign a course action form for me?
No. Under no circumstances will I ever sign a course action form. This is not becuase I am mean-spirited, but because of the terrible way that SIS handles course action forms. In particular, if a course action form is signed, a course subsequently fills up, and then the course action form is turned in (even if months later!), then it will cause the enrollment to exceed the caps for the labs, which is a problem, as discussed above.
What about allowing me to register via SIS?
It has the same problem as the course action forms -- becuase of the potential delay in when the registration itself happens, the course enrollment can exceed the course cap.
