Duke Student-Athlete Registration Unlike Michigan Wolverines'

There was a good scoop out of Ann Arbor last week when The Michigan Daily reported that "athletes will receive priority over non-ahletes when registering for classes" in the upcoming term. The new policy drew "criticism from other students who struggle to reconcile coursework with busy extracurricular schedules." Other schools with similar rule exceptions include Northwestern, Notre Dame and Virginia.

All of which begs the question: How does Duke handle class registration for athletes?

Athletes automatically have the first registration window for their respective class. That is, Kyle Singler registers in the first third of all sophomores, but behind all juniors and seniors. For those that don't know, all Duke seniors register in one cluster, and juniors, sophomores and freshmen are split into thirds and register on a rotating basis. In the system, all students are in the first, second and third windows twice in their college careers—but, in this case, not athletes.

This policy generated a good amount of reaction when it was passed in 2000. For a quick summary of the letters and columns that ran in The Chronicle, follow these links.

In the meantime, what do you think about Duke's policy? Should athletes have special privileges and register in the first window of their class? Should they register before seniors? Should they be treated like regular students? Feel free to drop your thoughts in the comments section below.