Rising demand and shrinking dollars caused Sacramento State administrators to halt registration dates for yet another semester.

Spring 2003 registration ended on Sept. 25, turning away any transfer or freshman students who did not register within the allotted time. Fall 2003 priority filing dates are currently underway until Nov. 30, 2002.

“The priority is to ensure that enrolling and current students are able to access the courses they need to graduate in a timely fashion,” said the Director of Outreach and Admissions Office Emiliano Diaz.

The central question for admissions is to determine the maximum number of students Sac State can accommodate, considering the capacity of the campus.Sac State saw a 10 percent increase in student population over the last two years.

According to Diaz, the student population is approximately 28,500 and is not likely to decrease.

University President Donald Gerth made the decision for the admissions closures with student access to campus facilities in mind, Diaz said.

Diaz said up until that point, there has never been a need to curtail the registration due to overpopulation.

“The decision was driven by fiscal constraints of the state,” Diaz said.

The Chancellor’s Office also sets registration policy after considering available funding to the university by the state and estimated campus population growth.

Diaz will meet with the directors of admissions from other CSU campuses this week to discuss how their campuses are dealing with unprecedented growth.

Possibilities for handling the growth are satellite and Internet courses.

Though few in number, the courses can both decrease campus congestion and offer a different style of learning from classes on campus.

Diaz said that the demand for these classes is not high, but the prospect for their popularity may be seen in the future.”I could go for some television classes. The course selection is so slim, but couches beat desks any day,” said government major Les Karpinski.

According to Diaz, approximately 70 percent of students at Sac State come from either the Los Rios Community College system or Sacramento-area high schools.As city population increases, it is likely that the Sac State student body will climb.

In preparation for this possibility, in-house and field counselors have been alerting local high schools and community colleges of the importance of on-time registration.

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