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UW’s new timetable sparks criticism
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by Ken Harris
Monday, March 31, 2008
The University of Wisconsin has switched the format of the
timetable students use to search and register for classes, angering many
students who feel the old format was better. UW has provided students with two formats for the timetable
they use to search and register for classes, a web-based one that runs its
different operations off separate web pages and another located in the
Integrated Student Information System, also known as the Student Center. According to UW Registrar Joanne Berg, UW no longer offers
the web-based format because the university cannot afford to provide both
services, and also because ISIS “really is a better product.” For UW junior Kyle Locher, who works for the UW Help Desk, the
institution made the wrong decision by providing students with an
“inferior” option. “It’s more advanced software, but it does not serve
students better,” Locher said. “It’s much more slow to respond than
the HTML version.” Locher has created a Facebook group dedicated to bringing
back the lost timetable format. The group has grown to nearly 500 members in
less than a week. “I’ve started to talk to other people building proof of
dissatisfaction of students in our system,” he said. “It doesn’t work
out for students because it forces them to use the Student Center that makes
registration very difficult for people.” Locher added one member of the group just recently saw the
web-based version after having been familiar with only the ISIS version, and
the person thought the web-based version was an upgrade for ISIS, not something
that was being eliminated. Berg said the switch to relying solely on ISIS is a
transitional step in a move toward a new product UW hopes to launch within the
next year. The new program will be a course guide that integrates the
timetable, course guide and a description of every class from the faculty
member who teaches the class, she added. But Berg acknowledged the ISIS timetable has problems that
need to be addressed. “We recognize that it’s slow and we feel awful about
it,” Berg said. “We have a lot of programmers working on how to make
it faster.” Locher said UW has “not taken into account what
students’ desires are,” and that UW should continue to use the web-based
timetable until they “roll out” the new product. He added the ISIS
system has been known to be slow or shut down when overloaded with activity
like at registration time. “Sure it might run quickly now, but in a month or so
it’s going to take a lot longer, maybe,” Locher said. According to Berg, students need to alter the way they
search to make the system work best for them. “It’s better if you don’t do big searches on it,”
Berg said. “You need to narrow your search to make it work more
quickly.”
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 10:19am):
Thats Karl....not Kyle.
Thanks again for this article.
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 12:35pm):
DoIT student employees beware; the university and your supervisors are monitoring you if you speak out against ISIS or misrepresent your position in the organization. They're watching this facebook group in particular. Just a heads up.
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 12:55pm):
I would also like to point out that I was not speaking on behalf of DoIT in any way.
Karl Locher
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 2:46pm):
ISIS is greatest thing since sliced bread!
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 4:35pm):
Hwy Kyle's employment at the UW Help Desk was mentioned?
Anonymous (April 1, 2008 @ 12:08am):
We need it, I can't do schedulizer without it.
Anonymous (April 1, 2008 @ 3:19pm):
Hahah. Speaking out against ISIS is a crime! Any DoIT employees found speaking out against Oracle will be severely punished.
Anonymous (April 2, 2008 @ 10:14am):
Beware of the ISIS police
In today’s BH, there’s a front page article about the switch to the ISIS timetable format. The article, and the students cited in it, are very critical of the change. One of them is identified as a “UW Help Desk†staff member who has started a Facebook group urging the Registrar’s Office t o change back. Wanjiru, you may want to assure that he’s voicing these opinions in his role as a student, not in his role as a HD staff member.
Anonymous (April 2, 2008 @ 12:45pm):
Is there anyone out there who really likes the new timetable? I understand that it is a work in progress, but why fix what's not broken? I am really disappointed that UW feels the need to use our money to fund something that was not asked for.
Anonymous (April 2, 2008 @ 4:26pm):
c'mon it's ajax, so it must be better, right? ;-)
Anonymous (April 2, 2008 @ 6:22pm):
10:14 AM,
how did you acquire this (oddly encoded) message?
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 6:14pm):
^NERDS.
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