Registration changes for Fall

By Ruby Gee     8/17/12 7:00pm

 

The Class of 2016 was the first to test out the new "shopping cart" features of the Rice Schedule Planner during this year's Orientation Week. 

According to the website of Professor Scott Cutler, who specializes in the Practice of Computer Technology, the "shopping cart" schedule planner for Fall 2012 registration is primarily different from the one originally launched Winter 2012 in three ways: 

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First, both the waitlist count and the maximum number of people that can be waitlisted for a course can now be seen under the columns "wMax" and "wCur," respectively. 

Second, by hovering their mice over a course in the calendar area, students can see the course's classroom in the grid at the top of the page. The classroom location should also automatically show up when the student's schedule is printed or emailed. 

Finally, as popularly requested by students, Esther's Schedule Planner is now integrated with Rice's evaluations systems. According to Cutler, students should now be able to switch more easily between semesters and professors. 

McMurtry College freshman Sarah Nyquist said that she utilized the newly integrated teacher evaluation function of the Esther Schedule Planner during this year's registration. 

"I looked a lot at the charts of the teacher evaluations," Nyquist said. "I don't think it was frustrating. I was more confused by which classes to take than how to select them."

Duncan College freshman Ashley Buchanan said the randomized aspect of the registration system was cool. 

"It gives Freshman an equal advantage," Buchanan said. 

According to Cutlet, their future plans include finding a way to better integrate Schedule Planner with Esther so that it can help with the registration process, as opposed to just serving organizational purposes. However, he added that based on the current timetable, current undergraduates will not be able to able to register through Schedule Planner during their time at Rice. 

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