Several registration holds prevent students from registering each semester, and since CASPER opened Monday for the spring 2005 semester, students may want to clear their names.

Registration holds are imposed by every academic department on campus to ensure that paperwork and prerequisites are met before students move forward each semester.

“The most common registration hold I see is library fines from overdue books and the last one-third of fall registration fees that haven’t been paid,” Registrar Anita Hall said.

Hall said that new students often face holds having to do with immunization records and transcripts from other schools. She said the hardest holds to take care of are advising holds because each individual department has its own process.

The College of Business Administration is one such example.

The most common hold in the College of Business has to do with academic probation, degree programs center coordinator Sharon Padilla-Alvarado.

Padilla-Alvarado said that students on academic probation are required to meet one-on-one with an academic advising counselor before their registration holds can be lifted.

“We get a couple hundred of these cases each semester,” Padilla-Alvarado said. “I guess the best advice I can give is if you are required to meet with a counselor do it right away or else it can come back and haunt you later.”

Padilla-Alvarado said students who procrastinate often do not get their first choice of classes.

Junior Kristin Jenkins said she came to Sac State as a transfer student last semester and was told she could not register for classes until she provided current immunization records.

“I received an e-mail from CASPER, but after I took care of it I was able to register,” Jenkins said.

Student Jacob Favro said he’s had difficulty trying to register in lower division graphic design classes.

“I have so many units completed that I’m listed as a senior,” Favro said. “So each time I try to register for a lower division class through CASPER I have problems.”

Favro said when CASPER rejects him he contacts the design department and they usually clear up the hold in a timely manner.

Overdue parking tickets can have big consequences on students, including a late fee of up to $50 for each citation.

As of Oct. 31, 2003, students with unpaid parking citations are required to pay their tickets and all other debts before they can register for classes, receive transcripts or diplomas.

Sac State juniors are required to complete the writing proficiency examination before their second semester of junior standing. Those who do not meet the requirement before they reach 74 units will have a hold placed on their registration.

Sign-up dates for the WPE are Nov. 22-24 and Nov. 29-Dec.10 in Lassen 1001, and will be administered Jan.5, 2005.

There is a nonrefundable fee of $25.00, and information on preparatory workshops is available in Calaveras Hall 111.

WPE holds mainly affect students registering in the fall semester.

Financial Aid has a similar system of holds. They usually require students to submit missing forms before they disburse financial aid awards.

Although financial aid holds do not prevent students from registering for classes, they do prevent students from receiving financial disbursements, and that can stand in the way of purchasing textbooks and other necessary items.

Early registration is Nov. 22-Dec.15, and late registration begins Jan.18-Feb. 4, 2005.

Most registration holds are listed on a student’s invitation to register, but sometimes they aren’t posted until after the student has already received his or her invitation in the mail, Hall said.

“The best tip I have for students is to always check CASPER Web the day before their registration date,” said Hall. “The system is updated daily and it always shows the most current information.”