Satisfaction guaranteed?

For how much everyone seems to complain about Onestart, Oncourse and Webmail (including your esteemed editorial board), we were fairly surprised when the results of a University Information Technology Services survey came out last week that claimed 94 percent of users are satisfied with Webmail and 85 percent are happy with Oncourse. The inconsistencies between the UITS survey and the grousing you can overhear on any given day (especially during registration) in any campus building piqued our curiosity. After all our naysaying of IU’s technology, have we actually been wrong? Not likely.\nWhen reviewing statistical muster, the UITS survey results seem extremely fishy. The survey was structured like the class evaluations students do at the end of every semester, by ranking the level of agreement with questions like, “How satisfied are you with the following e-mail services?” on a scale of one to five, one being “not at all satisfied,” five being “very satisfied.” With such a structure, any response of three or higher was considered satisfied, despite three being “neither agree nor disagree.” \nUpon calculating the actual numerical averages of the results (which was not reported by the Indiana Daily Student), a much more believable picture emerges. When looking at average calculations, the average respondent was, in actuality, barely satisfied with both Webmail and Oncourse, with average responses at 3.86 and 3.74 respectively. It looks to us like UITS is guilty of spinning generally unflattering numbers to make it seem like the student body is happier with our technology than it actually is. Considering these factors, we seriously question the results of the UITS survey.\nOne thing, interestingly enough, that everyone seems to be able to agree on is that Onestart is absolutely terrible. Those who remember the pre-PeopleSoft days of INSITE, recall fondly an extremely user-friendly system that allowed for logical browsing while registering for classes, something prominently lacking from Onestart. Sadly a leak of 3,100 social security numbers in 2001 began a realignment of technology at IU. The old system was infiltrated. Onestart is infuriatingly confusing. Though there are fancy widgets in Onestart that consolidate various utilities into a single site, we prefer the registration ease of INSITE and, if possible, continued utility of Onestart – avoiding pesky security breaches of course. Can such a program be found and, if so, can we have it?\nWhether last week’s survey was legitimate or not, we still assert that it would be in everyone’s best interest if some sly UITS techie “accidentally” spilled coffee on the proverbial motherboard and we could start from scratch. There simply must be something out there better than Onestart, and it’s beginning to look like a complete meltdown might be the only thing to persuade IU to get rid of it. Also, as compulsive Internet junkies, we will never stop advocating the outsourcing of Webmail to Gmail. A final word to the 94 percent who think Webmail is so great, we can only think that you’re terribly misinformed, and after a good dose of Google-y goodness, you’ll understand.