I know this is late, but I have been vary busy trying to get my college to do what they are supposed to do. It's a new adventure with just one installment. Since everything is taken care of (to the best of my knowledge), I now just have to write about it. It begins at the beginning of the month.
I have just arrived at home and I decide it's time to go online and register for my classes next semester. Things are going fine, Intermediate Spanish 2 and Sophomore Assembly get entered with no problem. Then I get to my math, engineering, and science classes. The online registering system is telling me that I do not have the proper prerequisite classes to take these courses. Obviously the system is wrong because I took them at my college last summer. I call the Registrar's office and they inform me to e-mail the dean, Mr. Coleman. I follow their instructions and wait a week.
I check my transcript to find that they are not entered yet, so I call again. They inform me that Dean Coleman has left and there is a new person taking care of things, so to speak. I talk to him and he promises to put my grades on my transcript by the end of the day so I can finish registering. This is last Friday. I try to register all weekend, but it seems that the online registration system is not online. It must have taken the weekend off (That is a second gripe I will discuss later in the article). Monday comes and everything seems fine, except my grades are still not on my transcript.
I call again to find out that their computer crashed and it had to be taken out of the office and fixed, so they couldn't enter my missing grades (They couldn't just use a different computer?). So I wait a couple days (that would place us at yesterday), I try to register but the system will not let me in (again, later in the article). Finally, we call again today. We made sure they put the grades in while we were on the phone to make sure it was done. It should have been done a year ago. They are in, and I was able to register. Of course, some of the classes I wanted were closed by then and I had to make scheduele adjustments, but it's all hammered out now.
But what about that registration system? Ah yes, that abomination. Well, this year my school went through a new company called Campus Pipeline. First off, every time I log in, it tries to send me to a survey that doesn't exist anymore. Usually it just tells me that it's unavailable and sends me to the rest of the sight. But sometimes it just stops there and refuses to load. That's complaint number one.
Next, I have to click all these links just to get to the Banner powered site which is the actual part where I register. I get to the first page inside, then it's a gamble. Sometimes it works and I get to the section where I can register and check my transcript. Other times it will not load like it's taking a break. Then there are the times it tells me that I am not authorised to view that section. That last one confuses me the most. I was able to log in to Campus Pipeline fine. Once that happens, I should have access to my own information. But alas it has to be difficult. All this was going on while I was trying to register and get my grades on my transcript
Now, everything is fine. I'm fully registered. My tuition is paid. And because my missing grades were all A's, my GPA has risen signifigantly. Life is good. That ain't gonna last too long!
Written 8/16/2001 by Chris Taylor