Revamped Wolverine Access up for registration

By Rachel Green

Daily Staff Reporter

Last semester's inaugural run of the new Wolverine Access has led to some changes that students will notice as they begin their search through the University's time schedule to chose classes for next semester.

SNRE junior Christina Coger said she is already looking for classes to avoid the rush of students on the system in upcoming weeks.

Winter 2001 registration begins Nov. 20 for graduate students and Nov. 27 for undergraduates.

"I think on my actual CRISP day, the computers are going to be nuts," Coger said.

Coger said she had difficulties modifying her schedule using the new system this semester, in part because she was comfortable with the old telephone registration system.

"In the fall, Wolverine Access was totally unfunctionable," Coger said.

"It was way too slow," she said. "Over the phone it was, like, boom-boom, you're done."

University spokeswoman Linda Hancock Green said student's experiences with Wolverine Access this month should run more smoothly than they did in September.

The Office of the Registrar sent e-mails to all students Sunday indicating that they should visit Wolverine Access online for their registration dates. This deviates from previous years where every student was sent his or her specific registration time and date.

"Sending out those e-mails with your real date and time was a long process that took the Registrar's Office several days," Green said. Listing registration times online gives students better access to their personal information, Green said.

LSA freshman David Biltekoff said because he had problems with Wolverine Access in the fall and plans to register Honor's Advising Office.

"That way, in case I have any problems, they can help," he said.

The Registrar's office changed the functions of Wolverine Access in a many ways.

"The biggest improvement was a direct response to what students were asking for after the Fall drop/add deadline," Green said.

"Now you can search by subject code and by category number," she said.

Coger said she appreciated the new searching functions added to the Wolverine Access Time Schedule.

"The new way to search is just so much easier now," she said.

In addition to improvements made to the class searching features, Green said software enhancements allow the Wolverine Access to run faster.

"You can also chose to see only the open sections of classes," Green said. "That feature has just been pulled into Wolverine Access and it should save some time."

Green said to help registration to run smoothly for next semester students should plan their schedules in advance, with alternate classes if their first choices are filled.

Students who plan to register from off-campus computers should first ensure that both Java and cookies are enabled and they are accessing the system from either Netscape 4.0 or Windows Explorer 4.0, otherwise the computer will not be able to process requests, Green said.

Most importantly, Green said, "Patience will help. Logging off and back on to the system only delays the processing of your request."