The registrar’s office will be working this summer to improve the registration system the university has used since 2000.

The office will put together a council to discuss possible solutions to registration problems. Students and deans will serve on the council.

The seniority order of registration will be discussed among council members; the council will attempt to find a way to reserve more classes for freshmen, sophomores and students with special academic classifications. Members will also discuss ways to improve student-adviser contact and to allow students more flexibility in their scheduling.

“Technical difficulties within the system are going to be looked at,” Registrar Bruce Correll said. “The process will run more smoothly and maybe everyone can be happy.”

Stress and anxiety about schedules is often overwhelming for students attempting to register. Worries about setting up adviser meetings, PIN numbers and required classes closing have plagued the university’s registration process in the past and sparked student animosity toward scheduling.

The previous registration process, known as the Student Record System, was used at the university from 1979 to 1999. Older computer technology and software caused problems for many students. Students were unable to pick class sections and class times. This led to bigger classes and a larger work load for professors to manage. The Student Record System also denied transcript and audit access for students who were confused about what class requirements they still needed to meet. The system forced more contact between students and advisers; students not only needed to obtain PIN numbers, but needed help meeting class requirements and planning schedules.

“Students were unhappy with early classes, and advisers were overwhelmed with student meetings,” Correll said. “The process was changed in 2000, attempting to give students the flexibility they need to create their own schedules in addition to updating technology and preparing for Y2K.”

Today, the university uses the Self Service Registration process, which replaced the Student Record System in 2000. Improvements include personal student information access and more flexibility with classes and advisers. The system allows full transcript access and an audit feature. The audit displays completions, requirements and credit status to help students figure out which classes to take.

The computer system now has the technology to check all prerequisite courses, so it is impossible to sign up for a class that has prerequisites. Students now have the option of choosing what class times and sections they would like to be in. This spreads out the class size when classes are offered at more than one time a day.

The Self Service Registration process also helps to mandate student contact with advisers. Students can decide the depth of contact with their advisers now that students have the ability to see what requirements they have and have not completed. They can choose their own classes at their time of choice without supervision. Students still must contact their

advisers to receive individual alternate PIN numbers that allow registration.

Although the Self Service system has improved, there are still several imperfections that need to be taken care of. The most common problem is getting shut out of a class. Seniors have priority when registering for a class, with freshmen registering last. Freshmen and sophomores are regularly getting shut out of classes they need to meet requirements because of upperclassmen who take them as electives.

“Students feel the pressure to have numerous backup courses to quickly enter into the system in case they are unable to take their first choice,” Jane Tsipenyuk, ’06, said.

Another common problem students experienced this year was technical difficulties. The computer system has failed to respond during registration twice in the past four years. These failures occurred because of software failure in the Web browser and an error in the student code that denies system access. These system errors can be fixed in one to two days, but that time can seem like an eternity to some students.

“Technical difficulty is what makes registration so frustrating,” Hedy Kishel, ’06, said. “Because I am in the business school, there are many required classes for my major. When my computer slows down and stops working, it’s not only frustrating that I can’t control it, but it’s unfair because I get shut out of all my classes when I sat down to register before people who got into them.”

The Brown and White

-- Anonymous, April 29, 2004