It is that time of the semester when we must make the decisions that will affect the next few months of our lives. The time has come to register for classes, which is always a stressful process. But our faithful school is here to save the day. They took it on themselves to take a relatively good registration process and throw it away. As technology is moving forward at a rapid rate, the school apparently decided it would be in our best interest to go back in time.
They created the Student Center, a complex system that makes planning your future even harder than it was before. The system has many features that seem like they could be helpful but they are not functioning for me and many others. They should have given us an option to choose the way we register — using the new Student Center or using what worked before. I would much prefer to register the old fashioned way.
One of the main problems with the new method is its functionality. The course catalog and the planner are on the same server. Now in most cases I would open one in a new tab so I could quickly swing back and forth. This is how I always planned my schedule using the old system. Unfortunately, they used the zzusis server for this, which not only fails often but also lacks in functionality. Unless you use the links on the page, the system will fail. If you click the back button, about half the time it says the page is not recognizable.
None of this would matter had the faculty been given some instruction, or even a manual, on how to work the new system.
I went to my adviser to plan my schedule and get some help. At the time my adviser could not even figure out how to remove my advising hold. I feel like that is something an adviser should know how to do. It is not their fault though — it is the fault of the people in charge of changing the system.
I invite whoever made this decision to provide a rebuttal, but I cannot see how any argument would be valid.
No change was necessary. There was nothing wrong with the previous system. However, WSU thinks we need change, time and time again. Change, when planned carefully, can help a lot of people, but when change is rushed it does nothing right. The Student Center seems rushed.
When I used to plan my schedule I would always check ratemyprofessor.com to make sure my professor was adequate. Under the new system, however, almost every class is labeled to be taught by "staff." This makes planning my classes much more difficult and frustrating.
Despite the website containing a complicated layout on a simplistic design, the website still runs like it had pictures loading everywhere and multiple media files. It is frustrating when I can load and watch a YouTube video in 1080p faster than I can add two classes to the "shopping cart."
All I ask for the current student’s sake, and for those coming to WSU in the future, is trash the new system. Cut your losses and give us our old system back. We liked it — there are very few things students are satisfied with, there was no need to erase such a rare occasion of student unity.
