During the first four days of course enrollment via ISIS, the newly implemented electronic waiting list system has effectively restricted the often overwhelming amounts of e-mail traffic that professors receive from students requesting access into classes, according to University professors.
Professors from the Spanish, biology, economics and politics departments -- the four departments now using electronic waiting lists -- praised its positive results.
The new system "has been effective in reducing the amount of e-mail traffic; students seem to have gotten the word about the waiting lists," Politics Prof. Leonard Schoppa said.
However, it may be too soon to tell how effective the waiting lists will be as classes reach capacity.
"It's still hard for me to tell how well the system is working since neither of my classes is full yet," Schoppa said. "I recently doubled the size of my class so that it would have plenty of spaces open."
Economics Prof. Mary Lee Epps also said she sees advantages to the new system. The wait list seems to be "restricting the number of e-mails that I am receiving, so it has been helpful in that respect," Epps said.
Like Schoppa's class, Epps' upper-level Economics Development course has not completely filled for the spring, so she has yet to create a wait list for her course.
"The course selection procedure here seems horribly inefficient," Epps said. "I have always found the tremendous turnover that takes place during the first few weeks of school to be very frustrating. The electronic wait list may be a solution to this problem."
Biology Prof. Paul Adler, who is teaching Genetics Lecture and Lab in the spring, said he thinks that it is still too early to tell how much of an impact the wait list will make.
"I have a received a few less e-mails than I normally would," Adler said. "I think having a wait list seems like a good idea."
Although online wait lists have been opened for courses that require professor permission, many students will not sign up for a list until Nov. 23, when all other courses open their lists.
Many students, however, may be unaware of the new developments.
"I received an e-mail concerning the wait lists about a week ago, and I browsed through the departmental Web sites to find out more," first-year College student Mike Sollosi said. "I found very little extensive information about the process."
The University sent another e-mail to the student body yesterday clarifying information about the wait lists.
"I think it's up to the students to work with the new system and also be more discriminating with their choice selections," Epps said. "I think the fact that students can't sign onto more than three waitlists will help to make students more discerning."
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