Despite the difficulties encountered by students on ISIS last fall, which delayed the spring registration process, University officials anticipate that pre-registration for next semester will be far less problematic.
According to Don Reynard, Information Technology Communication director of applications and data systems, the problems that plagued registration last fall will not have a big impact this year.
"Last fall, we had a major blitz with some software, which was purchased from an outside vender," Reynard said. To fix the problem, ITC had to return to the vender, which caused further problems and delays. The problem since has been fixed.
The Registrar's Office also has worked to prevent further problems this year. Besides increasing the number of staff members available on phone and e-mail, the Registrar has made scheduling changes to increase the efficiency of preliminary registration.
"We've spread the student release times out considerably," Stanley said. Additionally, the Registrar has not scheduled any release times during the heaviest block of classes, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
"We've had reports from professors of students skipping class to register," Stanley said. In exchange for not scheduling registration times during a good portion of the morning and early afternoon, more release times have been slated for the evening.
While Stanley attributed most of last year's problems to technological issues, she also acknowledged that there were other factors involved.
"We don't like to say it's all at one person's doorstep," Stanley said.
Reynard and Stanley both said students play a large role in preventing delays on ISIS.
"Those who wait until the last day or two are competing with the same resources as the machine," Reynard said. However, Reynard added that overload problems with registration don't usually occur during the pre-registration months, when students are given specific release times.
"Students are not competing against the resources," Reynard said. "We don't anticipate any performance issues."
According to Reynard, ISIS is constantly evolving and improving. ITC plans to install new hardware at the end of January, and a new operating system also will be unveiled after Memorial Day. These changes will help "to bring new efficiencies" to the process, Reynard said.
Preliminary results indicate that the pre-registration process has been working efficiently thus far. According to Stanley, the Registrar has had few complaints.
"We have received more questions about passwords and pin numbers of students," Stanley said. "I don't know if the students realize the power in their hands."
Stanley emphasized the need for students to work with the Registrar to make the registration process work more efficiently. She acknowledged, however, that problems and delays still will be inevitable.
"I wish we had a perfect solution, but, we have to be realistic," Stanley said.
First-year Echols scholar Devon Rood, who was in the first registration group yesterday, said her only problem was being unable to sign up for a class that had a prerequisite, despite having fulfilled the required credit. However, problems were few and far between.
"The staggering of sign-up times helps to alleviate the long waits that occurred on ISIS after original registration," first-year Echols scholar Nora Stone said.
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