An Experiment In Web Based Registration For New Students

Abstract NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract Session 1353 An Experiment in Web-Based Registration for New Students In the College of Engineering and Applied Science James C. Sherman University of Colorado at Boulder Abstract For the Fall Semester 1999, new freshmen and new transfer students entering the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder, were advised to register for their courses via a web-based registration system. This registration was completed prior to meeting with a faculty or staff advisor, and prior to an on-campus orientation program. Previously, the College utilized a telephone-based registration system with mixed results. Today the development of a web-based system provides a more visual and user-friendly registration system. This study comes from a College interest in securing a better understanding of the new student registration experience. A telephone log was maintained for this study by faculty and staff advisors and a follow-up e-mail survey was conducted of our new students once the Fall Semester was underway. This survey secured new student comments on the registration experience and their level of satisfaction with the web-based registration system. Overall, most students registered successfully and were satisfied with this registration process. However, a few students did find it necessary to meet with an advisor to answer specific questions prior to registration. Also, some problems were encountered early on the first day of new freshman registration, when the web-based registration system was overloaded and new freshmen were directed to the original telephone-based registration system. A small number of our new students also found our registration instructions to be vague and incomplete in select areas, prompting a number of calls to departmental faculty and staff advisors. Minor new student schedule adjustments were required once these new students were on campus for the Fall Semester. 1. Past Registration Practice Some colleges at the University of Colorado at Boulder have elected to offer multiple on- campus registration and orientation programs for their new students during the summer prior to the Fall Semester. The College of Engineering and Applied Science has not participated in these summer programs because of concern over the potential cost for new students, difficulties in arranging these programs to accommodate student schedules, faculty and staff summer work schedules, and an assumption that these two-day programs were not needed because of our structured engineering curricula. For the decade prior to the Fall Semester 1999, engineering students registered via telephone or while attending the New Student Orientation Program, offered immediately prior to the Fall Semester.