Registration as an Experience
In the mid-60s, students did not register for classes nearly as easily as we do today. The process took several hours and definitely required the students to be in shape! Roz Scherer, who attended the school during those years recalls the episode. She remember waking up in the wee hours of the morning and going to campus. The building housing your first choice class was your first destination. She recalls leaving her hotel room at “ 4 a.m..” She describes the early morning scene of campus:
“You entered the campus when it was dark and lots of people were walking to the buildings that housed the class they were registering for. If the class was a large one, then there would be hundreds of students in line.”
The doors opened from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. When you finally got into the class you wanted to sign up for, you signed your name and received a punch card, called “IBM Cards” to present to the registrar, usually ways away from the class. This was the procedure for each class, so you repeated the process three or four times, each time praying that the class you wanted wasn’t completely filled yet. Some described this process as the moment in their student life when each “new student became a number.”
For a new student, the process was new and exciting. It was nerve wrecking as well. As a freshman, you were overwhelmed with the number of students who were in line and running around with you. There was no guarantee that you would get the classes you wanted, and worst still, you were so tired at the end.
An upside of the process was that most of the freshman met people in the same situation. The University of California having grown exponentially in the 60s, the numbers of freshmen multiplied every year, so more students were in the same situation as Roz Scherer who found the large presence of freshmen comforting:
“Camaraderie developed in those few short hours but even so, you may not see those people again in your career at UCLA - you might not even remember them in class.”
When the semester system was switched to the quarter system in 1966, the process improved marginally, at least in terms of rushing around the hilly campus. The new registration day took place initially in what is now the Ackerman Grand Ballroom, where thousands again arrived in the midst of the night and waited to reach a computer, which was operated by registrar personnel.
In later years the process continued to improve. Now all the student has to do is have an internet connection. Registration is easy as typing in a few numbers. The competitive aspect, however, hasn’t changed, as the campus continually grows in population and the demand for classes rises annually. Instead of running on your feet, fingers are the key, as well as academic achievement (student receive priority enrollment based on class standing, class time, and other scholarship achievements).
The following regulations were listed as the steps each student would take in the 1964 process for Registration:
(1) filling our address card, paying fees, and receiving in exchange a card showing that the applicant has been registered in the Univeristy.
(2) Enrolling in courses according to instructions which will be posted on the University bulletin boards.
(3) Filling registration packet at the office of the dean of his college or school.
All students can perform steps (1) by mail.
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Sarah Mohajeri, 24 May 2005
Bibliography:
Scherer, Roz. Personal Interview. 10 May 2005
UCLA General Catalog 1964-1965. Vol. 4. 22 June, 1964. 38-39.
Image:
"UCLA History Project." 10 May 2005
<http://www.uclahistoryproject.ucla.edu/PhotoGallery/Home.asp>