Nail-biting and all-nighters pulled in front of a glowing screen are common sights around campus during UT registration week, when students struggle to find the perfect schedule for the following semester.

UT Senate of College Councils passed Joint Resolution 1601 on Wednesday to add a new tab to the main UT registration website where students can view past course schedules and syllabi of previous classes. All councils voted in favor of the resolution.

Senate president Sergio Cavazos said they wanted to put student registration concerns at ease. 

“We wanted to make registration more accessible for students and provide more resources,” Cavazos said. “We want students to have what they need right then and there, as opposed to having to navigate through all the tabs. It’s really about improving the registration experience for the average student.”

According to the resolution, the syllabi offered to students were previously buried in the University website and only accessible by going from “Catalogs” to “General Information” to “Academic Policies and Procedures” and finally to “Class Syllabi.”

With the new “Past Syllabi” tab on the UT registration web page, University students will be able to evaluate grading scales, past syllabi and previous course schedules to choose classes that can appropriately cater to their academic needs. 

Academic policy co-chairs David Jenkins, English sophomore, and Katie Horstman, economics sophomore, agreed that registration is a certainly stressful time of the school year.  

Jenkins said an overwhelming number of Senate applicants said during the interview process that they wanted to improve UT registration if selected for Senate, and he has experienced similar
concerns himself.  

“Even coming in as a sophomore, there’s almost nothing with a description for the class,” Jenkins said. “Now, with this position, I’ve been able to see how many people have actually had the same concerns as me and want something like this on the registrar.”

Bishop Wash, policy director of Senate and contributing author of JR 1601, said the Senate Executive Board wanted to bring registration issues to the forefront of the policy agenda. 

“If you’re serious about your education, you need the information and resources to make an informed decision about the classes you are going to take,” advertising senior Wash said. “We think it’s going to be a great tool.”

Wash said this resolution is the first part of a multi-step process to make registration easier for University students. Other additions to the UT registration website include schedule planners and professor reviews, which will be modeled from popular sites such as myedu.com and ratemyprofessor.com.