Vol. 92, Issue 3
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Page
Campus
News
A
& E
Sports
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Q
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NCCU
Sees U
Letters
Sound
Off
University hopes logging on will cut down on long lines
Students will soon have a quicker, more efficient alternative to Eagle Line — hopefully.
By Claude Lumpkins
Echo Staff Writer
Starting Oct. 14 N.C. Central University students will have access to
online registration.
Online registration will benefit virtually everyone. Students will be able to access information in seconds that otherwise would have taken hours.
On the new web site, students will be able to add and drop courses, pay balances by credit cards, access account information, due dates and balances.
Faculty will also have a Web product. They will be able to submit grades which students can access instantly.
The site will also have general information for perspective students who want to know about admissions policies. Perspective students will be able to fill out all admissions applications online.
This new development is part of a UNC system program. Within four to five months, all of the schools in the UNC system should be joining in the move towards a more technological future.
“We’re trying to put all the information in the hands of the people,” says Donald Nolen, director of administrative technology. Nolen says he was in charge of the development of the system and had a lot to do with the customization.
Students, who often spend hours in the financial aid, registrar’s and bursar’s offices, have long known that Central needs an effective way to get registered.
“If you can take general questions out of the office, we should have more satisfied people,” said Nolen.
While the new Web site promises to be a lot more accessible than Eagle Line, the university’s telephone registration system, Nolen said that it will not be going anywhere.
As for the effectiveness of the online registration site, the staff involved in the implementation and development is optimistic that the new product will be an improvement over an arguably flawed system.
“We are here to try to make students’ lives easier and improve the registration process,” said James Stewart, NCCU’s chief information officer. “[The] infrastructure was the hardest part.
“We have built the foundation. Now it’s time to build the house and customize the rooms.”
According to Stewart it’s important that voters support the bond issue.
“The right candidates in office will pass bonds that allocate
more funds for state schools to implement programs like online registration,”
he said.
Even so, some students doubt how efficient the new Web product will be.
“I know people that go to schools that have online registration,” said Heather Smith, hotel and restaurant management senior. “It’s basically the same thing as Eagle Line. There are usually too many people on the site, so half of the time the server is down.”
“People will still probably end up spending most of their time in line at the financial aid office,” said Nicole Stafford, clothing and textiles senior.
But other students are enthusiastic.
“It’s about time they did something. The whole registration process is ridiculous. You spend hours waiting in line just for someone to tell you that they can’t help you with your problem,” said Winslow McGill, geography senior.
In addition to the Web site, students will receive free e-mail accounts when they registration. It will have the “Hotmail” look and feel, said Nolan.
The web site will have 24- hour access. According to Nolen it has to be shut down at night to update files.
Students will be able to log on for online registration between 7 a.m.
and 7 p.m.