By Matthew Baltrusitis
C.W. Post’s online class registration system has been out for it’s first two major semesters. It’s initial introduction, which was not isolated to just C.W. Post but to all of Long Island University’s campuses, was met with diverse reactions from both university faculty, staff and the student body.
Director of Academic Advising, Bill Polaski, says, “It has definitely helped us breathe easier,” when asked how it has changed registration and advising operations on campus. “It is a much more efficient system that has been saving us a lot of man hours.” Advisors are more available than they previously were and now have a faster registration process. “It used to be an absolute zoo,” said Polaski, “kids were skipping class just to see an advisor and, thatís obviously not what we want.”
The adoption of the new system does not require students to sit down with advisors for every add/drop change they need to make to their schedule. The real advancement with class registration is hnow there is a self-service system in place. Post students expect off-site self-service, and with today’s technology that is available. ìThose who feel they are making a good decision on their own can now do so without our signature on a card,” said Polaski. ìThis does not mean we want to stop students from coming in for a simple Add/Drop, but now itís no longer a requirement.”
Kathleen Christman, senior English major, said, ìThis was a long overdue transition to online registration. Many schools have had this process for sometime now.” Despite her enthusiasm for the system , “online registration should not replace meetings with advisors,î Christman said.
The new software allows for advisors to analyze data of the student body and pay more attention to at risk students and contact students that may have not yet registered for the semester.
Nick Petty, a senior History major, disagrees and wants to see improvement. “There are a lot of glitches with online registration,” said Petty, “classes saying they are full when they aren’t or with electronic transcripts.” Petty also feels that there can be a real lack of communication suggesting upper classmen should be doing online registration and under classmen should be with the academic advisers.
“Academic advisers can get beyond the bounds of their office and form more meaningful relationships with other departments to meet the needs of students,” said Polaski. “Whether with the academic departments or the registrar we can communicate so that we can all reach the same end goal: the success of our students.”
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