LSA Student Government has finally made good on campaign promises to reform the system by which registration appointments are allotted.

Right now, students are placed in groups based on the number of credits they have earned. Each group contains students within a 15-credit range. For example, a student with 68 credits would be assigned to the same group as a student with 56 credits. Within each group, times are assigned randomly.

That means a first-semester junior could end up with a registration time 10 hours earlier than a second-semester junior. And in the race for seats in a popular class, a few hours can make all the difference.

When students register for classes for the winter 2008 term, though, that will change.

Administrators agreed in December to overhaul the system that generates LSA students' registration appointments.

While LSA isn't the only University college that has faced problems with its registration system, the sheer size of its student population - the University's largest - has placed its registration process under more scrutiny.

The new system, proposed by LSA-SG, will increase the amount of credit groups, assigning registration times based more on the number of credits students have than luck.

The new system will also eliminate what the Office of the Registrar calls the random loser phenomenon - a relic from the days before internet registration, when students had to register for classes in person.

"The problem is that if you were initially assigned a registration appointment at a time you had class, you would automatically be dropped into the next lowest bracket," LSA-SG President Joanna Slott said.

In December, the random loser phenomenon was dealt a serious blow by University Provost Teresa Sullivan who voiced her support for the LSA-SG resolution.

Following Sullivan's announcement, the Academic Affairs Advisory Committee, Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs and the Faculty Assembly said they would back the proposal.

"The resolution was passed with overwhelming support," Slott said. "All of the policy is complete, and we are now in the programming stages."

LSA-SG has been working to change the system since 2005, when it passed a resolution that called for a tripling in the amount of credit brackets. With more credit brackets, students are guaranteed a registration date that is more reflective of their academic standing.

The official number of new brackets has not yet been decided.

The 2008 start time is a product of the necessary adjustments to the Office of the Registrar's software, Slott said.