BannerWeb Survival Guide

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There are a lot of information in this post so please bear with us. We even recommend bookmarking this page for reference.

Pre-Registration

A FAQ on BannerWeb Registration

Complete listings of Spring 2012 Courses

Spring 2010 Starting and Ending Dates*

*Fall and Spring semester registrations are by seniority so the more credits you have completed/are in the process of completing, the sooner you register and the greater chance you have of enrolling in the courses that you want.

Use the Schedule Planner tool!

This will save you so much time when you are trying to plan your entire semester’s schedule and very few students know about it.

Registration Week/Morning/Night Before

  • Get to bed at a decent hour. There is nothing worse than oversleeping and missing the start of the 7AM sprint.

Courses We Recommend

Here are some courses offered in Spring 2012 that the staffs at the Posse at Middlebury Blog have personally selected.

Lance:

  1. PSYC 0224 – Psychological Disorders with Shirley Collado
    For anyone who visits the Posse at Middlebury Blog, Shirley Collado needs no introductions. As a non-academic faculty, it is a rare and very special occasion whenever Dean (or Professor) Collado gets to teach a course in the psychology department. While I have never taken a course with Dean Collado personally, I have taken the same exact course with the [prior] Dean of the College, Augustus Jordan and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Unless you’re at junior or senior standing though, it may be a stretch getting into the course (although I wouldn’t rule it out completely).
  2. CHNS 0270 – Chinese Sociolinguistics with Han Du
    I took this course my last semester of senior year and while it was probably one of the toughest course I have ever taken (as any course with the Chinese department tends to be), it was also one of the most rewarding. The more prior knowledge about the Chinese language and/or history you bring you, the more you will get out of the course. Professor Du, or more accurately Du Laoshi, was also granted tenure in Spring of 2011 so you can just imagine how awesome she must be.
  3. ENAM 0211 – Global Literature for Youth with Claudia Cooper
    I am ashamed to say that I was actually enrolled in this course and had to drop out of it but not because it wasn’t worthwhile but because I had to fulfill my major requirements before studying abroad. Subsequently when I returned from abroad I was never able to get into this course again. I did manage to take another course with Claudia Cooper (ENAM 0185 – Writing for Children) and it was definitely one of my favorite course at Middlebury. Professor Cooper is not only knowledgeable about children’s literature but a fantastic writing coach as well. Just be forewarned, they are both extremely intensive (but creative) writing courses.
  4. JAPN 0217 – Haruki Murakami and His Generation with Stephen Snyder

Are there any courses that you would recommend? Professors that you have questions about? Just leave a comment in this post and someone’s bound to have something to say about it.

Don’t Forget; BannerWeb Loves You

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For those of us who have been a student at Middlebury long enough, we all know what a delight registering for courses on the college’s server, BannerWeb can be.

Here is how my registration morning game plan used to look like.

6:55AM – Alarm rings. Turn on my computer.
6:56AM – Frantic dash to the bathroom.
6:57AM – Sign on to Bannerweb with the handy sheet of paper that contains the CRNs by my side.
6:58AM – Complain with the roommate/hallmate/that-cute-so-and-so-from-last-night-in-your-bed about how early it is.
6:59AM – Check Facebook one last time.
6:59:59AM – Refresh BannerWeb frantically in the hopes that I will actually get through and see the magical screen with the six boxes at the bottom.

At this point a number of things could happen.

  • A) Your submission goes through and you get into all/some of your classes.
  • B) BannerWeb stalls until you get in only some or none of your classes while you scramble to register your back-up choices or add yourself to the wait list.
  • C) BannerWeb implodes and you and your friends share in the misery of not-taking that introductory class that you needed for your major until senior year with the other first-years who got to register with priority in person.

So in order to facilitate your registration process, The Posse at Middlebury Blog have come up with a guide based on the wisdom of those who have come before us.

So come back this Thursday to check out our “BannerWeb Survival Guide” and “Things to Consider When Choosing Your Courses.”

Albert Bitici: With no time to linger.

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As told by Shipnia Bytyqi (NYMP10).

Albert (in the blue shirt) with his posse!

What happens when one leaves the Middlebury “bubble”? Most current students—myself included—are wondering, anxious, excited, scared. Middlebury alumni, though, know what happens from personal experience and some have even realized that their lives have taken the most unexpected turns post-Middlebury. Albert Bitici, member of New York Middlebury Posse 4 and the Middlebury Class of 2006, shared with me just that kind of story.

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[Stickied] A Note From the Editors: Trusting the Process

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As told by Lance Charles Sun (NYMP9), on behalf of himself and Shipnia Bytyqi (NYMP10)

Middlebury Student in Barcelona

Lance in Barcelona, Spain

So last night I had to give a speech on behalf of the Posse at Middlebury Blog in front of educators, donors and politicians.  My job there was to convey the missions of the blog, give a reading from selected posts and reinforce the importance of the Posse Foundation program in higher education institutions. I would be lying if I said that I was anything but a wreck. As I approached the podium, clutching articles that I had printed out just minutes before, I realized that I had forgotten to actually go through all the articles among the chaos and pick out what I wanted to read. “Aww heck,” I said in my head. Here I was, a representative and co-editor no less, standing in front of a roomful of some of the most important people that could make or break the program with nothing to show. I started to sweat profusely under the spotlight, both metaphorically and physically. My heart raced. My throat dried up. The papers spilled on the floor in my nervousness. And then, I woke up. (This dream actually did happen by the way.)

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