On Thursday, Feb. 18, UC San Diego students found that there was a bug on WebReg that allowed them to enroll in up to 19.5 course units, even before their second pass appointment time. In a brief email later that day, the UCSD Registrar announced that WebReg would be temporarily suspended to respond to the technical issues with course registrations.

Roughly an hour later, the Registrar sent out a second email informing students that registration for the Spring 2021 quarter had resumed. Students were given a new second pass enrollment appointment time and they will not be able to waitlist for courses until their second pass time. 

The notice also reminded students that they can enroll in up to 11.5 units during their first pass appointment. During the second pass, students can enroll and waitlist in up to 19.5 units, and up to 22 units starting the first day of instruction. 

Those who had used the glitch to enroll in additional courses earlier than their appointment time reported that they were kept in the class, even after WebReg had been rebooted. Many students took to social media to complain that the situation was unfair, especially to those who need to take certain courses to graduate. 

In an interview with The UCSD Guardian, Muir College junior Janelle Eley said that the glitch with WebReg quickly spread through friends and classmates, and empathized with the frustrations of the students. 

“I realized there was a glitch because every single group chat of UCSD students that I am in, as well as clubs that I am a part of, were talking about [the issue with Webreg],” Eley said. “I think the frenzy and excitement around this incident really highlights how difficult and competitive it is for students to get the classes that they need to graduate.”

The Registrar provided a third update to the Webreg situation the day after on Friday, Feb. 19. The email explains that the overlap between the first pass and second pass was a human error and apologizes for the incident.

“This never should have happened and we know you are frustrated,” the statement read. “We apologize for our error and the additional stress this caused you during an already stressful time.”

The email also addressed the concerns regarding the students who enrolled in more than 11.5 units during the glitch. 

• If a student is still within the first pass appointment time and is registered for more than 11.5 course units, they have until 11:59pm PST on Feb. 19 to drop courses that put them over the limit. If they do not drop classes by the deadline, they will be administratively dropped from their latest enrollments putting them over the limit.
• If a student is no longer within their first pass appointment time and is registered for more than 11.5 course units, they will be administratively dropped from the latest enrollments that put them over the limit.
• If their second pass was erroneously scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 18 and they are registered for more than 11.5 course units, they will be administratively dropped from the latest enrollments that put them over the limit.
• All students who are waitlisted from classes will be administratively dropped. Waitlists will begin during their second pass, which begins on Sunday, Feb. 21.

The Guardian has reached out to UCSD administration and will continue to update this story as more information is made available.

Photo taken by Erik Jepsen for UC San Diego

This article was updated on Feb. 19 at 12:17PM to reflect a third update by the Registrar.