Changes underway for ISIS as registration begins

As students begin fall course enrollment, changes to the Integrated Student Information System used for registration are underway. New initiatives were presented to the Board of Visitors last week that, if not already in place for this enrollment period, will take effect for the August registration period said Donald Reynard, director of applications and data services.

Undergraduate registration, which began Monday, has yet to reach its peak, but many students and University officials admit improvement measures need to be taken since the current system has several shortcomings.

"ISIS seems to be always busy, and it never works when you want to do your schedule," said first-year College student Matthew Resnick. "It has made me choose classes I might not have ordinarily chosen, ones that are not part of my desired course plan."

Leonard Sandridge, executive vice president and chief operating officer, said in an e-mail that ITC members along with representatives of other offices have been "working hard to improve ISIS before fall registration."

While plans to replace ISIS are still several years off, the University's short-term objectives include making it possible for more people to use the system at one time and allowing students to complete their work without being kicked out, Sandridge said.

With the help of IBM Global Services, Sandridge added, both the technology and the processes surrounding it have been reviewed.

University Registrar Carol Stanley said she has also been aware of the program's deficiencies.

"There are many people at the University who are seriously dedicated to improving the [registration] experience," Stanley said.

According to Reynard, more specific, technical improvements are also under way.

"We are working on numerous technical modifications," Reynard said. "Some are in place for pre-enrollment. A majority will be in place for August registration."

These modifications were presented to the Board of Visitors at their most recent meeting and will be released shortly, Reynard added.

While Sandridge acknowledged in an e-mail that the University will not be able to fix all of the problems surrounding class enrollment, he expects that "the experience for the fall registration will be better than it has been in recent years."