Travel to any corner of the planet, find an individual who has registered for an academic class at some point in his or her life, and then ask what they thought about the process. At Fairfield and every other academic institution, registration is a drag.
But it does not have to be.
Fairfield has the means to operate a flawless, efficient registration system. We have an online interface for registering for classes on Stagweb, a Banner system for keeping track of who is in what class, and even a valuable feature that keeps track of your progression toward graduated senior status, called the “Degree Evaluator.”
The only problem is getting them to work together seamlessly.
It is no secret that registration this year has been plagued with a host of computer-related problems. The Stagweb system has been down or, if operational, impenetrable by the mortal human with an ordinary amount of computer prowess.
Banner cannot keep track of whether certain classes are open or full, and the inconsistent degree evaluation feature works only if a student is not in the honors program, has never studied abroad or has never dropped a course.
Even if a student does not fit into any of these categories, it seems that the function can spontaneously produce an incomplete or incorrect evaluation.
The registrar’s office must rectify these problems, and it must be done soon. We realize that it is impossible to allow every student into every single class that his or her heart desires. However, it is not too much to ask for a functional, under-burdened, optimally efficient system for getting in and out of classes.
Registration is a drag, but it certainly doesn’t have to be. Fix the system, and make happy campers of 3,500 irate and bewildered Fairfield students.
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