News

DSIS to be used final time as students register for classes

MaineStreet portal to be in place for spring registration

By Meghan Hayward

Posted on Nov. 08, 2007, at 12:00 a.m.

It’s that time of the semester when the busy signal of the phone drones in student’s ears and reaching maximum capacity on Web DSIS is common.

Midnight on Monday marked the first day of class registration, with seniors and graduate students having the first opportunity to sign up for classes.

Registration is a stressful time for students and the Office of Student Records. Students are busy picking classes and attaining their random access number (RAN), while the Office of Student Records has to handle students who have forgotten their pin numbers and make sure Web DSIS is up and running.

“As of Tuesday morning, over 300 students were registered with full schedules,” said Tammy Light, director of the Office of Student Records.

Registration for seniors and graduate students began on Nov. 6, juniors on Nov. 8 and sophomores will follow on Nov. 13. First-years can register on Nov. 15.

Registration is stressful for students, but the process they go through beforehand can sometimes be even more chaotic.

Each college on campus has variations in their advising procedures. Some departments offer open advising sessions that allow students to discuss classes with the professors, where they can attain their RAN. Other departments have students meet directly with their advisor where they discuss course options.

The College of Education and Human Development house their own advising center. First- and second-years are assigned to the advising center, which is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Juniors and seniors within the college are given a specific faculty advisor that they have to meet with before registering.

“We have a unique and convenient means of advising,” said Andrea Cole, coordinator of Advising Center. “We offer i-chatting advising where students can log on and converse with an advisor through an IM.”

Due to the number of students enrolled, the College of Business, Public Policy and Health doesn’t require students, except for athletes and first-years, to meet with an advisor before registering.

“Since there are so many students in the program that know what exactly they need to take we felt we were wasting their time, and ours by requiring they meet with an advisor,” Gloria Vollmers, associate dean of College of Business, Public Policy and Health, said.

However, faculty are required to have extended office hours during registration, and if a student wants to meet with an advisor, they are required to work around their schedule.

Holly Dumond, a third-year news editorial major, said that a good piece of advice for first-years is to have a back-up plan.

“Since freshmen are the last to register, it isn’t uncommon for them to not get into a class they wanted,” Dumond said. “It’s important for them to have other classes picked out in addition to the ones they really want to take.”

Kelli Nadeau, a third-year elementary education and child development double major said first-years should be organized going into registration.

“The need to make sure all the CRN numbers are correct and match the class time they want,” Nadeau said.

Fourth-year Eric Whitmore said registration went well for him. “I had no problems getting into the classes I needed,” he said.

The student registration process will soon change. Starting next semester, Web DSIS will be switching to MaineStreet. With MaineStreet, students will be able to choose classes from UMaine, as well as other state universities. It will also provide students better access to their financial aid information and grades.

According to Light, MaineStreet uses a program called The Gradebook, which will allow students to compare their grades to other students in the same class.

“The switch is going to be a slow transition,” Light said. “While in the spring students will register for their fall 2008 classes using MaineStreet, they will register for summer courses using Web DSIS.”

Light said with the new system, student registration will work a lot like an online shopping site. There will be a shopping cart where students can select the classes they would like before registration. Then when students are able to register, they can select the shopping cart full of classes.

“We are also changing the time of registration,” Light said. “Students will now begin registration at 9 a.m. on the day they are eligible.”

Light said the main reason for making this change is so when students experience difficulties, the Office of Student Records will be open, and someone will be available to help.

“We are looking forward to this system and hope it will make the student registration process smoother and easier to access,” Light said.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 8th, 2007, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.