Registration for the spring 2014 semester is officially underway at Lenoir Community College, with many students seeking out academic advisors as they plan their class schedule.
Pam Mazingo, executive assistant to the vice president of academic and student services, said students can register for the spring semester from now until Jan. 3. She said the college will be closed from Dec.18 to Jan. 1, and only students who have been processed by admissions and have spoken to an advisor will be able to register online during the school’s closure.
Mazingo said advising is very important to make sure students are signing up for the right classes so they can graduate.
“You want to work your way straight from orientation to graduation,” she said. “The only way to do that, is to follow your plan of study and make sure that the classes you are taking, actually are going to give you credit toward the degree you are trying to earn.”
She said students are assigned an advisor in their area of study upon admission to LCC. Also, any full-time instructor is qualified to be an advisor.
She said the college has set up a call center, for this week only, in the administration building, with representatives from each division of the school, including health sciences, business and industry and arts and sciences to help with advising needs. The center is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Friday, and walk-ins are encouraged to stop by.
Jacob Honeycutt, a radiography instructor, has been working in the center and said while it has been busy, everything has been going fine so far.
“Most of them have been responding rather well,” he said. “I try to help keep them on their path and not sign up for classes they don’t need.”
For Ryan Turner, a first semester English major, the meeting with an advisor has been a positive experience.
“They’ve been really helpful so far,” he said. “They sit down and talk about what you need, and the best options are for you going forward.”
In addition to registration, the financial aid office has also seen an increase in traffic.
“I think students are starting to understand how important it is to come in prior to the first day of classes,” said Julie Shewell, assistant director of financial aid. “They are doing more forward thinking.”
She said many first time students have come in asking questions about filling out their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA) form, along with current students who have other questions about the financial aid process.
“We’ve been doing our part to help as many students as we can apply for financial aid,” she said.
Noah Clark can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Noah.Clark@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @nclark763.