700 students register on improved network
With the help of an improved network, all new students registered for classes simultaneously during Orientation Week for the first time. In the first 15 minutes of registration Aug. 25, about 700 students logged on to ESTHER without a system slowdown, Associate Registrar for Student Records Ellen Everett said.
However, students had trouble registering for LPAP courses, as well as freshmen seminars if they have 30 or more Advanced Placement credits.
Registrar David Tenney (Sid ‘87) said registration ran smoothly in part because O-Week advisers and coordinators helped familiarize new students with ESTHER before Friday. By logging on earlier in the week, new students knew their PINs and could identify any account holds before registration.
“One thing that was dramatically different this year…is the fact that we had such help from the O-Week advisers,” Tenney said. “They helped us by encouraging the freshmen to log on early in the week.”
Only 17 new students had not accessed their ESTHER accounts Thursday afternoon, Everett said.
In addition, the Registrar’s Office gave college coordinators, O-Week coordinators and Peer Academic Advisers information about where students should go to resolve account holds. In the past, students often went to the Registrar’s Office, which is usually not the office responsible for placing holds.
“[Students] could go right to the source of the hold and could figure out what the problem was,” Everett said.
New students were unable to register for LPAP courses early in the day. During registration in the spring, courses were capped below capacity to save spaces for freshmen. However, the cross-listed for-credit LPAPs were not uncapped by the start of registration, preventing registration in any LPAP. Everett said the problem was resolved by 10 a.m.
Students who entered with 30 or more AP credits were classified as sophomores and denied registration for freshman seminars. Tenney said from speaking with professors, he understands that all freshmen who could not register for the seminars due to credit hours were allowed to add those courses with special registration forms.
Starting with Spring 2007 registration, students will qualify for special classes, such as freshman seminars, based on matriculation year rather than number of credit hours, Tenney said. However, students will still begin course registration based on credit hours, he said.
Prior to registration, the Registrar’s Office load-tested the system and determined that it could handle such a high traffic volume. Registration began at 8 a.m. In the past, colleges were allotted registration times by lottery.
The Registrar’s Office also set up a hotline to Health Services to resolve any Health Services holds on student accounts, so students did not have to walk to the Wellness Center from the Allen Center, Everett said. Health Services holds are issued for health issues such as lack of insurance or immunizations.
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