The University Registrar's office is enacting a change in UConn's course numbering system, extending the code to four digits instead of three. The new system will take effect in time to register for summer classes.
The new number system was designed to allow for more classes to better reflect the level the class is intended for. Classes labeled 1,000 are meant for freshmen, 2,000 courses will be for sophomores and so on, with courses above 5,000 reflecting graduate student courses. The current system, which was first implemented in the 1930s, only extends through 300.
A list of the new class numbers is accessible from the registrar's Web site and an updated course book is set to arrive at the beginning of April.
The new method of numbering will not be retroactively applied to previously completed courses, however. The registrar's office will instead program Peoplesoft to recognize the old numbers for the purpose of graduation requirement and registration pre-requisites. They will also include information about the change on official transcripts to try and avoid confusion.
"Some of the problems people had with the old system was that certain departments were running out of numbers so they couldn't offer new classes," said UConn Registrar Jeffrey von Munkwitz-Smith. "The other key issue was that our current system, which only uses 100 and 200 for undergrad[uate] courses, is somewhat out of step with what universities nationally are using. They use numbers 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, any 4,000 to differentiate between grade levels."
Von Munkwitz-Smith said that his office would frequently receive phone calls from confused parents and graduate institutions who did not understand the system and assumed that students taking 200 level courses during their senior years were only taking classes meant for sophomores.
Problems with the current method also arose in areas of sequencing.
"There are places where the most advanced undergraduate course is labeled 210 and has prerequisites numbered at 270 or 280 because those were the numbers that were available," von Munkwitz-Smith said.
The decision to update the catalogue was actually made about 11 years ago, but was put on hold because the electronic catalogue the university was using at the time could not handle the change. Given the university's adoption of the Peoplesoft system a few years ago, the plan was brought up once more.
Implementation has been going well, according to the registrar.
"We've been working on it for a few years now," von Munkwitz-Smith said. "There are quite a number of places in the Peoplesoft system that needed to be adjusted."
Reaction to the new numbering has been mostly positive, though some students don't share von Munkwitz-Smith's optimism that updating the Peoplesoft system will go smoothly.
"The new system seems like a really good idea," said Jason Gunther, a 6th-semester engineering major who also for ResNet. "I'm worried that the execution might be more than the people working in the registrar's office can handle. It will be interesting to see if they can deal with it."
Von Munkwitz-Smith thought that the biggest problem in using the new system would be for current students and faculty to get used to thinking of classes in terms of four numbers.
"I can't think of any bigger change for an institution than changing course numbers," he said. "It will take some time for people to catch on and start thinking about the new equivalents."
Contact Christopher Duray at Christopher.Duray@UConn.edu.
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