Registrar, UITS testing online registration

Several students are registering for next semester's classes on the Web using a pilot program that will run until Nov. 17. The purpose of the project is to see if it is ready to be implemented for all students.\nAssociate registrar Roland Cote said nearly 3,000 students from the Kelley School of Business' MBA program, residents of Willkie Quad and students in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation were selected to participate.\nCote said students were chosen from a wide base.\n"We also wanted a defined group that would include a broad population ranging from the sophomore level through the doctoral level," Cote said. "Willkie students were selected because our data indicate that it is the residence center with the highest percentage of students who own PCs. This will help to determine whether students who have PCs at their residence are likely to register from that location or not."\nCote said the project would give them a chance to determine what the impact on public computing facilities might be if all students were allowed to register via the Web.\n"We will be sensitive to the need that some individuals may have for face-to-face interaction and assistance," Cote said. "We must also be aware of accessibility issues, particularly where certain disabilities preclude an individual from using this type of remote facility."\nBut Cote said registering on the Web would help out students.\n"The Web is maturing into a reliable and respected medium for conducting important business," Cote said. "We believe that the convenience offered by the introduction of the Web is a tremendous benefit to the students."\nUniversity Information Technology Services worked jointly with the office of the Registrar on the project. Robert Reynolds, senior software analyst for UITS, said they began focusing seriously on the project in July.\n"The Registrar is in contact with students everyday, so they know what students need," Reynolds said. "We handle technical expertise, so it was important to mesh the two and we were able to meet our goals to have it ready for a pilot."\nThe current student registration system runs on IU's mainframe, called IUIS. To make registration on the Web possible, Reynolds said IU purchased a java program from ResQNet, Inc. in New York.\n"This java program runs on a Web server and is able to translate between the HTML language of the Web browser and the native language of the mainframe," Reynolds said. "The goal of the pilot project is to test the feasibility of making mainframe registration available over the Web, while IU works on the new PeopleSoft student system."\nCote said they will determine the success of the pilot by conducting an analysis of student interaction with registering on the Web, and collecting information and comments from students as they complete the registration process.\n"We will evaluate the nature and frequency of the requests for assistance that we receive during the pilot, and we will evaluate the impact of registration on the Web on existing computing facilities," Cote said. "We hope that if this pilot is successful, and if the modifications required to make it work successfully are minor, that this opportunity will be extended to all students who register in April for the fall."\nFreshman Kristen Da Rosa said she would like online registration to be available to all students.\n"I think it is a great idea," Da Rosa said. "It would be a lot easier and so much more convenient"