Long gone are the days when registration meant students standing in endless lines that snaked their way around the inside of Eaton's Computer Lab down the stone stair case and about the building. In this day of high-speed Ethernet connections and palm pilots, Tufts University is keeping up with the times.
While students two years ago hailed the convenience of a technologically-advanced registration system, the kinks of the system are still being ironed out. Spring registration two weeks ago went off without any major glitches, according to Susan Daigle of the registrar's office, but there were some minor ones.
For example, there was a three-minute time difference between what the clock in the Registrar's Office said and the time on the SIS page. This caused students who logged in to register to receive a computer message that they were not eligible to do so yet.
"We got many calls during the week about people who were concerned that they could not register," she added.
Online registration is not a new concept to universities and colleges on the cutting edge of technology. Colleges such as University of California at Los Angeles and its state system have been using this system since the early to mid '90s. A system for it was implemented at Tufts in the Fall 2000 semester, and students can now sign up for classes by going to the SISonline page and clicking a series of buttons.
Since then, terms such as "clicking off" - meaning to have one's advisor approve one's intended schedule - have become part of a college students' vernacular. While this was intended to simplify the process of advisor approval, some students complain that they have to return to advisors after discovering at their computers that they are still not eligible to register.
"One of the semesters of my sophomore year, I sat down to register just to find out that I wasn't allowed to register," junior Bridget Fay said. "I had to run all the way over to the Science and Technology Center to find my advisor and get him to release me for registration."
Many students also complain that it is difficult to get in contact with one's advisor - especially if the advisor is on leave for the semester. These advisors have allowed others in their department to click off for them. But this is not a problem that emerged because of web registration; students previously had to have their advisors sign their registration forms.
The classes of 2002 and 2003 can fondly - or not so fondly - remember when each student had to have his or her advisor fill out the papers that would be turned into one of the multitude of registrars in Eaton's Computer Lab. Many of these students find the new process convenient despite its small shortcomings.
"The online registration process was really easy for me," junior Austin Tracy, who was away for the fall semester in Washington DC, said. "I guess it might have been a little more difficult for the students who are abroad, with the time differences and such."
This fall, as always, some students were disgruntled with their late registration times, which caused them to be blocked out of desired classes.
"Registration frustrated me because there are hardly any classes offered in the spring and the classes that I wanted or needed for my major were already full by my registration time," sophomore Kimberly Wong said.
Juniors Courtney Brown and Amy Reid both had in-class exams scheduled during their registration times.
"I thought about walking into the exam a few minutes late, but I didn't want to do that," Brown said. "They have our schedules, why can't they schedule our registration time around our schedule?" While registration went smoothly a few weeks ago, this has not always been the case. During registration for the spring 2001 semester last November, when a number of students experienced difficulties logging on or remaining logged on to SIS Online. Many were prevented from choosing their classes at their scheduled times because of technological difficulties because of this.
However, when this problems occur, there is help available. "There were three registration coaches in the Eaton Computer Lab at all times during the allotted registration periods but they were very much underused," Daigle said.
The task of registering online can be even more difficult for students spending their semesters abroad. These students do not often bring computers with them or are not in locations where they can constantly be connected to the Internet. Students abroad often spend a great deal of time traveling and sometimes are not near computer portals.
Some of these students ook to friends on campus for help with their registration time woes when abroad.
Junior Leela Nayak registered for another student who was abroad in Australia. "Her registration time would have been at a very inconvenient time for her, so she sent me all her information and I registered for her," she said.
