Last week, Wayne State College students prepared to register for their spring and summer classes using the new and improved registration schedule. This changed from the days when priority groups got to register based on class level.
The first day of registration, Nov. 3, put the new schedule to the test. As in past years, this was the day the WildcatsOnline crash occurred due to the number of students registering at once. This year, however, that was not the case due to the reduced number of students registering on the first day.
“Spreading the appointments across multiple days helped the network load and allowed a better registration experience for our students,” Rebeka Wilson, head registrar, said.
Preston Stuckwisch, a sophomore honors student who experienced the disaster of registration last year, was moved back a day and registered on Nov. 4. Stuckwisch said the change worked better than he thought it would.
“I feel like the registration change worked,” Stuckwisch said. “I noticed when I registered the computer did not have to think as long as it has previously, which is good.”
Freshman Ian Thompson, who is part of both career scholars and honors, registered on Nov. 5. Thompson did not go through the disaster of last year’s registration, but he said the change did not affect his feelings about being in the priority groups and led to a smooth process in his eyes.
“I didn’t have any obstacles,” Thompson said. “The system worked without issues, and I didn’t run into problems with full classes or errors.”
The change still leaves problems behind for the freshmen when they are trying to enroll in certain classes on the last day of registration. Since freshmen register on the last day, they have to work around all the other students already enrolled, leading to difficulties with full classes.
Dan Gannon, a freshman in honors, also registered on day three. Gannon said it was nerve-racking going into registration because of the WildcatsOnline crash last year, yet the experience was positive.
“My only obstacles were trying to figure out most of my schedule on my own and trying to figure out the maximum number of credits I could take,” Gannon said.
Freshman Samantha Marx had this same problem where she had to work around closed classes to fill her schedule.
“I was stressed out because they were all classes for my major, which I kind of need,” Marx said.
The new registration change, although only used once, came with mostly positive reactions and minimal issues.
“At this time, we have not had further discussions regarding future changes,” Wilson said.
