Goizueta Business School will end its undergraduate bidding course enrollment system and switch to a direct enrollment system for the Spring 2020 enrollment cycle, according to Undergraduate BBA Assistant Dean Libby Egnor. The direct enrollment course registration system is currently in use by Emory College and was piloted last year for Business School students enrolling in College courses.
Under the bidding system, BBA students allocated a total of 60 bid points to courses they wished to enroll in prior to course registration.
Egnor said the bidding system helped the administration get a preview of student preferences for courses. Under the direct enrollment system, students will be given enrollment appointments for courses in both the business school and the College.
“Using a bidding system provided us [with] a snapshot of what students wanted the most,” Egnor said. “It helped us understand the high-demand courses, and we could effectively adjust course offerings [by] asking instructors if they could teach more sections.”
Egnor said that OPUS will no longer support the online bidding system following recent upgrades. She added that the business school continued the bidding system after the College moved to direct enrollment because the BBA student pool was still manageably small enough to allow administrators to modify course offerings based on demand.
Until Fall 2019, business school students enrolled in their courses between the enrollment periods for College students with junior standing and College students with sophomore standing. Under the new system, business school students will enroll alongside College students based on credit standing.
Egnor said that business school administrators will continue to view course preferences and adjust offerings based on demand. She added that the direct enrollment system will allow students more control over their course selections in real time, as bid points were locked prior to course enrollment.
Gloria Choi (20B) said that while she is worried about being able to enroll in all of her classes, she is happy the “stress” of bidding has been removed.
“Bidding is really stressful,” Choi said. “It’s always a gamble, because you don’t know what other people will bid.”
Marc Ayad (20B) supported the change to a direct enrollment system.
“I think it’s a good step. I don’t see a reason for bidding in the first place,” Ayad said. “It makes more sense to be more congruent with the College enrollment system.”
