Students who attempted to add or drop classes earlier this week probably realized that the beginning of a new year does not mean the end of old technology problems.
An overloaded system prevented students from logging into Student Access Plus for several hours on Monday-a common occurrence that has somehow never been remedied. Although registering online is not only convenient but also ostensibly a time saver, the University should upgrade the system to accommodate student demand.
According to University Registrar John Q. Pierce, the registration system did not experience any technological glitches during the add/drop period at the beginning of the week.
“The computer was slow, due to the volume of people, but there were no real problems,” Pierce said.
This denial is a problem in itself. The University should not wait until the system crashes to take action, but instead seek to improve the technology that is hindering students.
However, frustrated students should not forget that registration has been significantly improved in the past few years. According to Pierce, Georgetown instituted the online registration process three years ago. Before that, there was no electronic waitlist and no summer add/drop, Pierce said.
Two years ago, the Office of the Registrar decided to leave the online system running during the summer, allowing students to add/drop until about a month before the beginning of fall semester.
Although these changes have drastically improved the registration system, Monday’s backlog proves that there is still work to be done. The administration should continue to make improvements in order eliminate registration difficulties.
