Dowling Hall was in a state of commotion last Tuesday as students rushed to turn in their class drop and pass/fail forms before 5 p.m. Sophomores and upperclassmen packed in, impatiently waiting to submit forms before hurrying elsewhere.
"It was absolutely ridiculous," sophomore Asha Alex said. "The system is too inefficient now with everyone swarming into Dowling at five in the afternoon on the day of the deadline."
Oct. 4 was the last day for sophomores, juniors, and seniors to drop classes - and all of the changes were made on paper.
The University recently made preliminary plans for a Degree Audit Reporting System (DARS) for undergraduate students. The system would allow students to add and drop courses online.
With the computer system, students would be able to track their progress on major requirements. As with the current system, Student Information Services (SIS) Online, DARS would keep track of students' credits and grades.
Sophomore Michael Eddy is leading the project within the Tufts Community Union Senate. "[DARS] is going to make it much easier for students to see how close they are to fulfilling their requirements for their major, as well as fulfilling their distribution and foundation requirements," Eddy said.
The Senate is working alongside the administration and technical staff to install DARS.
"We're hoping that in the next year or so [the system] will be implemented," Dean for Undergraduate Education James Glaser said. "There are a lot of details that need to be worked out."
Glaser and Eddy said they have met no opposition to the plan. "It's excellent for faculty and students alike," Glaser said. "It's just a lot of work."
Sophomore Mara Sacks wants the new computer system. "I think having an add drop form online would reduce the frenzy that results from schedule changes," she said. "We can easily sign up for classes online, so we should be able to add/drop them that way as well."
Many other schools already use DARS, including The University of Washington, Miami University in Ohio, Iowa State University, and Northeastern University.
"It's easier and it's a whole lot more efficient," Northeastern graduate student Sayem Khan said. "We don't actually have to get signatures from our professors before the classes start and if you change your mind about courses over the summer you can drop them without contacting the professor."
Other schools are considering switching to DARS. Wellesley College is not currently on DARS but wants to be in the future.
"We do have [a program] that produces reports ... that we send to seniors," Wellesley Registrar Ann Hamilton said. In terms of an actual online degree audit system, Hamilton said, "We aren't there yet."
