University restarts spring registration
By Jenn Roberts | November 22, 2002Despite reassurances that students would be able to register for classes after a three-day postponement, officials opted to shut down the ISIS system and wipe out all of its processed registration yesterday. The Office of the Provost and University deans made the decision around noon. Their announcement was not a result of technical malfunctions, but a response to student complaints of registration inequity, said Don Reynard, ITC director of applications and data systems. According to Reynard, ISIS was blocked yesterday so that the Registrar's Office could undo student registration that already had been entered into the system, and then reprioritize registration dates. Earlier in the week, ISIS faced a memory management problem, but ITC administrators don't "anticipate any future problems," Reynard said. University Registrar Carol Stanley said registration could be activated as early as Monday, but Student Council President Micah Schwartz said registration likely will be delayed until after the Thanksgiving holiday. If this occurred, registration could overlap this semester's final exams, Schwartz said. Although such a scenario would be "less than perfect, it's worth cleaning the slate," he said. Stanley said she estimates over 100 students have submitted complaints to the Registrar's Office, the Office of the Provost and ITC, urging administrators to start over the registration process. "The student voice is always a concern and a factor," Stanley said. In addition, officials received input from the Registrar's Office, the Office of the Provost and student representatives, she said. Although the decision largely was made to appease students, not everyone will be satisfied by the decision, Stanley added. "We're hopeful it'll take us back to a situation where a majority of people are satisfied," Stanley said. According to Schwartz, complications with ITC earlier this week enabled students of lower registration priority to "slip through the cracks." "This was unfair not only to Rodman and Echols scholars, but to fourth years who have been waiting for priority," Schwartz said.
