Progress report: online registration

This Spring semester will be the first in which all of the College's students register for their classes via web registration. Last Fall there was a pilot where a handful of students from each class was selected to participate along with a few professors. In a Web Registration Update meeting last Fri., Feb. 1, administrators, faculty and students gave their feedback and progress reports.The meeting was attended by the following faculty, staff and students: Sharon Albert, Visiting Lecturer for Religious Studies; Dr. Jane Flood, Associate Professor and Department Chair of Physics; Dr. David Nelson, Associate Professor and Department Chair of Mathematics and Computer Science; Debbie Tamte-Horan, Registrar; Karen Schall, Assistant Registrar; Carol Shiner Wilson, Dean of the College for Academic Life and Assistant Professor of Humanities; Harry Miller, Director of Information Technology; John Wardenski, Consultant from NCMS; Jane Hudak, Dean of the Wescoe School; Ellen Pothering, Controller; Meghan Wilson '09, and Laura Winger '10.

To begin conversation everyone was asked to share the experiences they had in using the new program for registration. Students thought that the implemented program was very intuitive, easy to follow with its step-by-step instructions, and a preferable alternative to sitting in the Haas stairwell at 5:00 a.m.

As for the meetings with academic advisors, the process will remain the same, and it is absolutely imperative that students are aware of the advisor with which they are correlated in the system. Signatures can no longer be forged, and students must get signed off by all advisors; meaning that if you are a double major, both advisors need to be met with in order to be able to register. Students will still be held fully accountable for keeping track of their academic progress with general requirements and major requirements, as well as the number of credits they have accumulated. The new online program will not be responsible for making sure students are up-to-date on this kind of information.

Professors at the meeting felt that they will now be more actively involved with the advising process because advisors will have to take a closer look at the courses that students are selecting. Students will have to meet with the instructors of their desired courses for anything having to do with pre-requisites, time conflicts, over enrollment, etc. Only the instructor of a course can use these overrides; academic advisors can only give you their initial permission to begin the process of registration.

There was apprehension towards some of the technology as not all professors understand it in the same way, but last semester's pilot and this semester's first generation will allow for feedback that could lead to many changes in things such as confusing terminology on certain applications. These small things are being improved upon every day right now, and that is why feedback is so important for the offices of the Registrar and Information Technology (OIT); they want this program to be as easy of a transition as possible for everyone at the College.

Both the Registrar and OIT continue to test and update the program in preparation for April registration. OIT is currently in the process of installing and testing a new server to accommodate the increased load, and the Registrar's staff is testing and communicating with both John Wardenski and Vince Pace as issues arise. Other offices including the Controller's Office, Residential Services, and Wescoe are also participating in the testing process. The biggest step for OIT since last Fall's pilot program has been moving the CAPSTONE Database to operate on the new Linux Server.

The Fall 2008 Course Schedule is being created, and since everything is being transferred to the internet, students will no longer be provided with paper editions of the schedule. The Registrar will be providing students with instructional booklets on how to go through the process of registering. There will also be a training sessions held the week of March 25 that students can attend if they so choose. These sessions will also be held for faculty and secretaries at different times.

Everyone that has been involved with creating this new program is very excited to see it up and running for the entire campus to use in April. Information about registration is going to be distributed throughout the semester in various forms including the Message Board, posters, Residential Services, a parent newsletter, faculty meetings, and emails from Mike Bruckner, Vice President of Public Relations.