Registering for classes just got easier.
This semester, the Registrar and Academic Advising Department implemented a new process for class registration. 164 Aquinas College students were invited to pilot the system, which has been worked on by Information Technology Services (ITS) for the past few years.
According to Celee Mesler, Director of Academic Advising, the online process is modeled after the current paper version.
“The registration done right now mimics the process to register today. A student still sees an advisor, and the advisor will put a check in a box on MyAQ to show that they have seen the student. The student is free to go home and sign up for classes,” said Mesler.
Senior Becca Lodewyk was one of the 164 students asked to partake in online registration.
“I think the online registration is very convenient, especially if students live off-campus. The system is user friendly and only takes about five minutes to complete if you know which classes you want to take,” said Lodewyk.
Mesler said that students are also able to “get a quicker answer” when signing up for classes. If the student is not able to sign up for a certain class, he/she is notified right away and is able to make a decision to sign up for another class at that time.
The new system still gives priority depending on class level and does not allow for a student to sign up for a class without having the correct prerequisites.
“It’s holding students and advisors to prerequisites, which people may see as a downfall, but I see it as cleaning things up,” said Mesler.
“Once you have entered your classes into the computer it will let you know if you have met the requirements for each class and will not let you continue if there are problems. I feel it was pretty effective. However, I had an issue when I applied which could not be resolved, so I actually had to go to Registrar to work it out,” said Lodewyk.
The advisees of six faculty members, including Kristal Heinz-Ciullo, Jeff McKelvey, Deb Springer, Renee Stale, Betty Smith Banks and Joe Spencer, were randomly chosen to try out the new system. However, of the 164 students chosen for the task, only 29 decided to use the program.
Mesler partially attributes the low numbers to the fact that many seniors did not want to try out the new program. However, those who have tried the program “had a lot of fun,” said Mesler.
However, according to Lodewyk, those who already have their undergraduate schedule planned out will benefit most from the program.
“I feel that upper-classmen will benefit more from this process because they should already have their classes somewhat planned out and can therefore apply for their classes quickly and not have to walk all over campus. I feel that underclassmen should definitely still meet with advisors before going about picking classes because I feel one-on-one guidance with an advisor is very beneficial and an important aspect of Aquinas College which should not be lost,” said Lodewyk.
Despite the low numbers, online registration will be implemented for all undergraduate students in the fall of 2010.
“The hope is that we are going to do it for all undergraduate students for the summer and fall. We have been successful enough to know how to make it go more smoothly,” said Mesler.