To me, the one policy at GU-Q that had the most significant impact on my academic journey was the priority registration policy regarding some Economics and Philosophy classes. As a first-year student, the only thing I wanted to do was to be done with taking my Economics requirements so that I could focus on taking the CULP classes that I wanted. In my second semester, however, I got to be a part of the CEP Class “Economies of East Asia.” I really enjoyed the class and, for once, looked forward to learning some economics as well. In my sophomore year, I decided to pursue a minor in Economics. I did so because I strongly believe in the value of an inter-disciplinary education and Economics provided the ideal antithesis for my CULP specialization. To fulfill the minor requirements, however, I needed to take Calculus 1 and subsequently Statistics. I took Mathematics in my A Levels and was quite excited to study some Mathematics and Statistics and find ways to connect them with my otherwise humanistic classes. I tried registering for Calculus I in my sophomore year, but in both semesters was unable to get a seat because its limited seats were reserved for Economics majors, and I had already declared a major in CULP. I wrote to the professor to ask if it would be possible for me to attend, to inquire whether it was possible to increase the number of registrations in the course: I was told that was not possible. I then was in touch with my deans to ask if I could take Calculus I outside GU, either at another EC university or online, but I was told that any course that is offered at GU-Q was not eligible for cross-registration. The problem was that even though the course was being offered, there was no way I was going to get a seat in it. The course was offered once a year and had a cap of 25 students.
Considering that almost half our batch was majoring in Economics, they, rightfully so, got the priority to register for the class. I gave up trying to major in Economics and decided to pursue a Minor in Philosophy. Again, priority enrollment meant that any philosophy elective that I wanted to take was first reserved for first-year students because they needed to fulfill their core requirements. This is, of course, understandable, but considering the fact that each subsequent batch at GU-Q is larger than its predecessor, it meant that there were always more first-year students who were able to take Philosophy electives than there were seats available in those electives.
In principle, the policy of priority enrollment makes sense as it is crucial for students to be able to complete their core and major requirements with ease. However, if we are given the option to pursue minors, there should be more classes that are offered for students who are not majoring in the discipline but are interested in taking the classes, so that it is possible to complete minor requirements. Or, if that is not possible, students should potentially be allowed to complete the core requirement-for example Calculus I which many students get exempted from if their high school credits transfer- either online or at a partner university. The liberal arts curriculum at GU is an enriching program and being able to pursue and complete minors adds to its essence and would be crucial to the academic development of its students.