Kirby is not alone in campaigning for preregistration.

In meetings of the Faculty Council, a group that discusses issues before they go before the entire Faculty, many professors said they were overwhelmingly behind it.

“Everybody thinks that it is a great idea,” said Wolfson Professor of Jewish Studies Jay M. Harris. “The current system is a mess for graduate students and thus ultimately undergraduates.”

Harris said that most professors have faced difficulties in hiring the correct number of teaching fellows and that having enrollment figures ahead of time would be a great help.

The Core office does currently provide those who teach in the Core with predicted enrollment statistics, which Lewis said are consistently accurate within one or two sections.

When the topic of preregistration has come up in the past, which according to Lewis occurs once every few years, it has often come from disgruntled graduate students.

Lisa L. Laskin, former president of the Graduate Student Council, said she often heard complaints from graduate students not knowing whether they would have a job until days before classes began.

The topic of preregistration was discussed informally at a joint meeting of the Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE) and Committee on Graduate Education last year, but the issue was never pursued.

Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Peter T. Ellison said that preregistration has been an issue as long as he can remember and that he doesn’t think this heightened attention was caused by any “particular precipitating event.”

“It’s been a perennial topic of discussion from time immemorial,” he said.

But this time, the Faculty’s leader has assumed control, and faculty members are eager to add their support.

“Universities and colleges all over the country do this. It can be done...we are not pioneers” Harris said.

Proceeding Cautiously

Harris said that while many faculty members supported the idea, they were weary of the logistical issues involved.