Online registration received mixed reviews from students after preliminary glitches in the system occurred when students began registering for the spring semester last week.
Some students raved about the efficiency of the new system, which debuted earlier this month, because it allowed some students to register in less than five minutes. Others said they had a much longer wait.
Registration went horribly, said sophomore Stacey Markman, who signed up for classes Friday morning. It took me over an hour and kept logging me off. I thought (the online system) was going to make registration quick, fast and easy, but they couldn’t handle everyone.
University Registrar Brian Selinsky said he has been getting up every morning before registration begins to double-check the system since the first system problems occurred Wednesday.
The system experienced problems with connections Wednesday and Thursday. Friday’s problem was caused by a production job running on the system while students attempted to register, Selinsky said.
The problems are nothing unfixable and have been fairly short-lived, he said.
Selinsky said the system glitches are not caused by an overload of students.
The equipment is adequate, and the system can handle more than enough (students) for each day, he said. It is something in the process that is not right.
The SCT Corporation will be sending personnel to GW Monday to troubleshoot the system, Selinsky said.
Though some students encountered problems, most students who have used the system agree it is more convenient than phone registration.
Online, there’s no waiting to get on, no cut off after a certain amount of time, sophomore Medeeha Rana said. You just push submit, and that’s it.
The University introduced online registration before the year 2000 because of the necessity to switch over to a Y2K-compliant system, Selinsky said.
The phones were not Y2K compliant, and the machines were too expensive to replace, Selinsky said. We would have liked to switch a long time ago. It makes sense to do it now.
A smaller version of the old touch-tone system is in place primarily as a back-up method for registration, he said.
Associate Registrar Nancy Albert said her office has not received calls from students who do not understand how to use the system.
Despite the glitches several students agreed on one point.
You don’t have to hear that woman’s annoying voice anymore, Rana said.
