Long queues. Blocked enlistment accounts. Inability to enlist subjects due to late grades. These are just some of the challenges that plagued the Ateneo student body once again during the enrollment for this academic year's second semester.
Alumni recall similar frustrations during their stay, highlighting how this problem continues until today. However, this semester's enrollment woes have reached extremes, with students and their guardians lining up in the cold and occasional rains as early as 1:00 a.m. to get their queue numbers, only to wait until late at night to pay their initial enrollment fees. With the senior high school enrollment simultaneously happening, the volume of enrollees for the past four days have shown limitations of the current systems in place. For some parents, this experience stands in contrast to the prestige the Ateneo name holds. In light of this, ThePILLARS Publication collated firsthand sentiments from the same Ateneans who braved long lines and waited long hours on their experiences on the processes in place this enrollment season for the second semester and the need for a proactive, long-term solution to these recurrent, years-long problems.
On the Queue
“The queue for enrolling is unreasonably long, surpassing the previous years by a mile (literally). A more efficient and practical method could have been put in place to help the people in lining up. Having to wait by the gates of the university as early as 1:00 a.m. should not be the normal process.”
Joaquin Pajarillo, 1st-year BS Nursing
“I had no problem with regards to the queue, since it was systematic and it was simple to operate and process...nagets ko po agad kung anong gagawin, kung san pupunta, kung papano magbabayad and yung need pong dalhin. Although may mga nag-cut [in line] lang po talaga sa sequence ng linya bago mag 6:00 [a.m.].”
JM San Andres, 1st-year BSE English
“Hindi ko alam kung ano ang nagbago pero last year's enrollment was tolerable. Pero ngayon, grabe ang haba ng queue. Last year, around 6:00 a.m. nagsta-start humaba ang pila. But now, 3:30 a.m. pa lang, mahaba na agad ang linya. This shows na may problem talaga and need na siya iaddress kasi syempre as new students come…mas dumami ang students. Huwag na sana umabot sa point na need namin pumunta sa school ng 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. para lang luminya. The ticketing system is okay. It's good na may ganon para hindi masayang ang oras ng mga tao kalilinya. I believe na meron pang pwedeng gawin para mas maimprove ang queueing system during enrollment.”
Neil Villanueva, 2nd-year BS Computer Science
“May students na sumisingit/nagpapasabay sa friends nila. Mas okay sana if pumila and maghintay nang maayos kasi lahat naman napapagod.”
2nd-year BS Civil Engineering
“I really believe that this machine offers such an advantageous innovation for the school’s payment system if it is being used the proper way. It had [sic] become one of the sources of inconveniences when in reality, they can open the machine as early as 6:00 a.m. but they opt to always open it at 8:00 a.m. Imagine how the line would have improved if only at 6:00 a.m. the machine is already functioning and giving numbers to those who queued early in the morning. I really don’t understand why the admin still did not order the guards to open the gate once students and parents started lining up? Are they unaware of the situations? Students and parents have risked their health and safety just for the gate to open at 6:00 a.m. The people in the queue would have been in a better and safer environment while lining up when the gates were being opened earlier than 6:00 a.m. Students have been duly paying their accounts only to be accommodated by one to three tellers in TO [Treasurer’s Office]. Where is the justice?”
3rd-year BS Psychology
On the Online Transactions in Payment
“The procedure for the online transactions [in payment] are very confusing, leaving many not to consider it an option for fear of getting scammed and/or losing their money. There was also no definite guideline as to how to proceed with the online payments, which made it all the more difficult.”
Joaquin Pajarillo, 1st-year BS Nursing
“I also have no concerns regarding these since I was able to pay in the school, but judging from what I've heard from my friends, it's a bit slow and it is difficult to use. There's also a problem with processing the payments.”
JM San Andres, 1st-year BSE English
“Grabe ang online transactions. Ang tagal magreflect sa portal. Maeexpire na lang ang enlistment mo, hindi pa narereflect ang payment mo. This was one of the reasons kung bakit mas pinili ko nalang mag on-site payment kasi I am assured na my payment will be reflected as soon as I pay sa TO.”
Neil Villanueva, 2nd-year BS Computer Science
“Matagal ang process. Better sana if mas mabilis na next time para mag reflect agad sa MyAdNU and wala na yung takot na mawawala ang slots.”
2nd-year BS Civil Engineering
On UWES and Enlistment
“The UWES and Enlisting was extremely frustrating, especially for me as a first year nursing student. Apart from never having been through the process before and not having any assistance aside from my peers' and from the few helpful upperclassmen, there was [sic] also the issues with the scheduling that hindered us from enrolling earlier. The schedule for some of our classes have not yet been properly arranged, and as a college that implements block sectioning, we were not allowed to join other classes from other courses and colleges, even if they fit our schedule better. This issue delayed our enrolment even further, which made it much more difficult with all the queues and steps.
Joaquin Pajarillo, 1st-year BS Nursing
“The only problem I had with the UWES was it keeps [sic] on bugging and glitching out, making me return to the login screen while I was enlisting my subjects. On the enlistment process though, I have no concerns.”
JM San Andres, 1st-year BSE English
“The one word that can describe my experience sa UWES and Enlistment is "stressful." Before pa mag start ang enlistment and tumitingin pa lang ako sa offerings, stressed na agad ako. Kulang ang subjects na nasa offerings, and during enlistment lang nadagdag. During UWES and Enlistment naman, mas dumagdag ang stress ko dahil may deficiencies ako, back account and Form 137… Yung pagkuha ng Form 137, mabilis lang yung process. Mabilis ang process sa registrar's office kaya nakakuha ako agad ng Form 137. Sa back account ko naman, naayos din ng mabilis kasi nakapagcoordinate yung co-scholars ko sa CAAO [College of Admission and Aid Office]. As soon as I was able to activate my UWES account, nag-enlist agad ako para hindi ako maubusan ng slots. Pero ang nangyari is mga dalawa lang ang naenlist kong subject sa second day ng enlistment. Wala pa akong grades sa ibang subject kaya hindi ako makaenlist ng maayos. I was so stressed kasi maeexpire na ang enlistment ko and hindi pa nagbibigay ng grades yung isa kong class. Eh yung class na yun prerequisite ng dalawang subjects na need ko itake this semester. So ang ending, I chose to generate my assessment early kahit na hindi ko pa na a-add yung dalawang subjects na yun. Sobrang stressful talaga yung experience ko during enlistment kasi nakapagplan na ako ng ideal schedule ko. Tapos hindi naman pala masusunod kasi kulang pa grades ko.”
Neil Villanueva, 2nd-year BS Computer Science
“Some of the teachers ay matagal magbigay ng grades kaya hindi agad nakakapag-add ng ibang subjects—nauubusan tuloy ng slots ang ibang students.”
2nd-year BS Civil Engineering
On the Overall Enrolment Process
“The enrolment process as a whole has become like a necessary suffering, a hazing of some sort, to get into the university. Better methods and more practical ways could have been used to make the enrolment easier on our part as the students and the parents waiting in long lines. A more definite and helpful guide was also necessary for the online enrolment. Even the enlisting of the subjects proved to be a challenge.”
Joaquin Pajarillo, 1st-year BS Nursing
“To be honest, the overall enrollment process was a hassle and it was stressful. First of all, there's a problem with regards to the sequence [queue line], the venue, and the way the students and parents/guardians were waiting was a hassle, since imagine instead of sleeping peacefully you're on the premises waiting for the opening. Second, the way the personnel handled the students and parents/guardians weren't that good. It was raining a while ago and some of us requested the guards to let us in but we weren't allowed to.”
JM San Andres, 1st-year BSE English
“Nakakapagod. Hindi pa nag sisimula ang school year pero pagod na agad ako dahil sa enrolment process. Hindi smooth ang process. Nakakahiya talaga, to be honest. Hindi ko alam if ganito din sa ibang universities, pero we're a private institution. Ateneo tayo, diba dapat above the standard tayo? At tsaka hindi lang naman students ang nahihirapan, yung employees na din.”
Neil Villanueva, 2nd-year BS Computer Science
“After all these years, hindi pa rin naaayos ang enrolment process ng AdNU—very chaotic and stressful.”
2nd-year BS Civil Engineering
“Overall, I feel like the money that the students and parents are giving to Ateneo is not being used well because in situations like this, we can see how AdNU still lacks so much. It's time that those in higher ups are being held with utmost responsibility. How can they not foresee the inconvenience of their schedules during the planning of the academic calendar? How can they not have contingency plans after all the years of failed enrollment services? How can they still let the enrollment go for three days without seeing the struggles of their employee and the students as well as the parents? Or should we start asking if they are really aware of the situations knowing that none of their faces have been in the vicinity during enrollment season? AdNU admins have to wake up from their air conditioned four walls and start to see the lackings of their tarnished system. I'm afraid that Ateneo is now becoming an institution that serves only to a few but never to all.”
3rd-year BS Psychology
On Recommendations and Suggestions
“The best recommendation I can give is to have more windows in the Treasurer's Office to ease the transaction process and help with the long queues. Another is to extend the schedule for the enrolment process. Perhaps adding a few days or even just another week would help the students. Next is the queue number. Maybe if we had more machines, the lines would not be so long. As for the UWES, a good guideline would really go a long way and not leave many in the dark.”
Joaquin Pajarillo, 1st-year BS Nursing
“I have no specific recommendations, but I wish they could do something regarding the enrolment process itself, and find a way to not repeat what happened today since it's really stressful.”
JM San Andres, 1st-year BSE English
“I believe na pwede pa talagang maimprove ang enrollment process ng school. I suggest na ayusin ang online transactions ng school. It would be good if one to two business days lang, makikita mo na agad sa portal yung binayaran mo. Also, kapag maayos ang online transactions, mas uunti ang tao na magbabayad on-site. Hindi magiging grabe ang linya kapag enrollment. Regarding naman sa UWES, it would be best if before mag start ang enlistment, dapat lahat ng grades, nasa portal na. Also, dapat lahat ng subjects, nasa offerings na rin.”
Neil Villanueva, 2nd-year BS Computer Science
“Personnel should’ve let the people inside the campus (those who were waiting outside AdNU in the middle of the night) because delikado kapag sa labas lang naghihintay and may mga dala pa na huge amount of money for tuition fee. To those profs na alam na prerequisite ang subjects nila, it’ll be better if mas early sila mag bigay ng grades para hindi rin nakakaapekto sa slots and enrolment ng students.”
2nd-year BS Civil Engineering
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