After hours of scouring the virtual aisles of ConnectCarolina, worrying over QI and WB abbreviations, filling my cart with yellow triangles and green circles, missing the sneaky “Change Term” button, crying and staring all over, I was finally ready to put my shopping cart through the culminating and terrifying check out.
My schedule was blessed with green circles telling me my efforts had not been futile, but some students were not so lucky.
“It was frustrating this semester because most of the GenEds have been saved for freshmen, so it’s not easy to get into those right now,” freshman Caroline Geradts said.
The befuddling red X’s can also signal a hold or demand a permission number.
“It’s hectic because classes close really fast and you might have a late registration time,” sophomore Erin Farmer said. “And in some classes on ConnectCarolina, teachers have to give you permission to enroll.”
The Student Academic Advising Board meets with advisers and registrars twice a year to provide ideas on how to make the process easier, said Nick Mills, a member of the board.
As a direct result of that feedback, some changes to provide clearer instruction to students are forthcoming, said Chris Derickson, a University registrar.
The registrar’s office is also starting to use Facebook and Twitter to provide forums for feedback in hopes of remedying some of the flaws of the system.
“I don’t think ConnectCarolina does a good enough job telling students why they aren’t getting into a class,” assistant registrar Heather Duncan said.
To clear up the confusion, the registrar’s office is experimenting with an ‘enrollment validation’ option that would inform students if they can enroll in a class and why they may not be able to.
The process would occur before the enrollment period, so students would know why they might not be able to enroll and what they can do about it.
Departments determine restrictions for their respective classes, but the registrar’s office is making an effort to better inform students of restrictions via the “Class Notes” section.
This section describes any restrictions, prerequisites or co-requisites, and the registrar’s office is working with departments to coordinate online permission numbers to streamline the process of granting permission to enroll in a class.
In the coming weeks, the registrar’s office also plans to create a YouTube channel featuring a series of videos explaining the key features of ConnectCarolina, like enrolling, swapping and adding classes.
The videos have step-by-step voiceovers narrating the actions on the ConnectCarolina screen to walk through the intricacies and tips of the website.
Charles Smith, a tech support analyst and the creator of the video series, said this is a preliminary version that they hope to expand and jazz up in the future.
Even with all the confusion and frustration, it’s usually possible to scrape together five classes out of the thousands offered.
“Pretty much it all works itself out in the end, so having patience is important,” Geradts said.
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