Registering for classes typically involves high levels of stress, hours of sifting through courses and the unavoidable CRISP lady.
With next semester just around the corner, students are beginning to think about what classes fall within the prime 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday line-up.
This semester, thanks to the LSA's Office of Student Academic Affairs, the search for undergraduate classes will be easier than ever before.
When the courseguide switched gears to a totally online database last year, many students moaned and groaned about the loss of their 200-page paper pal.
The team that designed the site displaying next term's class descriptions added several features as an answer to student complaints, said Rick Jones, editor of the Website.
Imagine a personal course expert who could advise exactly which courses fulfill distribution requirements as well as those taught by popular professors. A new search engine allows students to search the courseguide much like Netscape allows computer users to search the Web, Jones said.
The new technology "allows for a tailor-made dynamic courseguide that each student individually creates," Jones said.
The search engine provides a simple search by keyword or an advanced search, which allows students to narrow possible classes down by credit hours, professor, subject matter and other factors.
Students expressed enthusiasm for the system's new features.
Searching for courses by professor allows students to take courses with "someone they know they can trust and feel comfortable with," LSA sophomore Edward McLean said.
Students also said the search will help to relieve some of the stresses associated with finding courses.
"If you know exactly what you want, but don't know what course to take, it would make (your search for classes) much faster," LSA first-year student Erin Krumrei said.
In addition to supplying students with quick answers, the Website offers a weekly "What's New" file. The file lists new classes and cancellations.
"The printed courseguide was two to three weeks out of date before it was even distributed," Jones said.
Once retrieved, online course descriptions offer luxuries not possible on paper. The description, no longer limited to 150 words, gives links to course times, availability, professor homepages and department sites.
LSA sophomore Erin Hopker said that although she never has had a problem finding classes, the improvements "might make it easier to find classes you didn't know about that you could be interested in."
The search engine may be accessed through the LSA courseguide Website at http://www.lsa.umich.edu/saa/publications/courseguide.
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