PARIS to block students

When PARIS opens for fall-term course registration on Monday, March 30, many University students may not be able to register through PARIS. · Most College juniors and seniors who have not declared majors. · Second-semester College freshmen and first-semester College sophomores who have not met with an advisor. · Psychology majors who have not met with a departmental advisor. · All Engineering and Nursing students who have not met with an advisor. It is uncertain how many students would be affected by this block. "The benefit is for the students," said Kent Peterman, executive assistant to CAS Associate Dean Norman Adler. "The major program is one of the key ingredients in the undergraduate curriculum . . . If [students] put off [declaring their majors] until the last minute, they've compromised that part of their education." Peterman said the rule requiring College students to declare their majors by the end of their sophomore year is not new. "[The rule] has been on the books. The only difference is, we've decided to enforce it," Peterman said. Psychology Chairperson John Sabini said the Psychology department has ordered the block on registration "because the Psychology Department thinks that it's important that our majors profit from the advice of an advisor." "We think it's a good thing for students to think about their programs . . . take a four-year perspective and for them to have the opportunity to talk to faculty about it," he added. Exemptions to the PARIS block may apply to juniors on the Communication majors' waiting list. These blocks on the registration system were implemented for the first time last semester. Staff writer Emily Culbertson contributed to this story.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.