Registration frustrations

A week before classes started in August, new students were allowed to register for classes. It was a chaotic experience, and because returning students had already registered months ago, a lot of classes only had a small handful of spots left open for new students. I ended up trying to register for several classes until I finally got into two - Introduction to Information Policy (which is a CORE class that everyone needs to take) and Design and Production of Network Multimedia (which I only decided to take because it didn't have prerequisites, didn't conflict with the CORE class I had gotten into, and had a lot of spots left, so I could actually register for it). The whole process took about half an hour from when I first started trying to access the registration web site until I was actually registered for two classes.

Then, when I checked my tuition bill, I was being charged the out-of-state tuition rate even though I was approved for in-state tuition through the Academic Common Market. Apparently, FSU doesn't apply that discount right away - it takes a couple of weeks. It would have been nice if they had warned me first. In the end, the discount was properly applied long before fall tuition was actually due.

I was hoping that registration would go much more smoothly the second time around, but it didn't. Yesterday was the first day of registration for the spring semester. Registration opened at 8 am, so I logged in at 8 am in the hopes that this time I would get my first choice classes. Instead of a registration page, I was plagued by error page after error page for over an hour. A call to the help desk got me a recorded message that basically said that there were problems with registration and to just keep trying. I eventually got in at 9:20 am, successfully registered for my top two choices (Assessing Information Needs - a CORE class and Information Needs of Children - a class in the Youth Services specialization). It was a painful process though. It is quite apparent that the online registration system can not handle the load of everyone trying to register at once. I feel like it was completely luck that I got through when I did, and I don't like relying on luck. There has got to be a better way to do this - either beef up the registration system so that it is able to handle so many simultaneous users, or spread out when people are allowed to log in to register at any one time. (I don't care how - it could be based on lottery or number of credits or shoe size - as long as it doesn't crash the system.)

Despite the fact that the registration process itself was still painful, I was excited to be registered in the classes I wanted - and then at the end of the day yesterday the department sent an email that said they decided to offer Information Needs of Young Adults in the spring. I really, really, really want to take that class. I went back and forth about whether to drop the Children class and try to add the Young Adult class, but I decided to stick with Information Needs of Children for now because according to the course rotation schedule the Young Adult class is offered in the summer and the fall, so I should have two opportunities before the year is out to get the Young Adult class, but the children class is only in the spring and summer, so if I give it up now and don't get into the summer session, I'm out of luck until 2010.

For those who are curious, here are the course descriptions from the College of Information website for the classes I am currently taking and those I will be taking next semester:

Design and Production of Network Multimedia
Examines theory, concepts and techniques for designing, producing, and evaluating network multimedia resources to meet specific information needs. Students engage in collaborative design projects applying theoretical constructs from communication, education, engineering, graphic design and information science to the provision of resources using emerging multimedia network technologies.

Introduction to Information Policy
Course examines selected fundamental policy questions relating to information use, access, and dissemination. Particular attention is given to complex policy issues that involve value conflicts among information ownership rights, personal privacy rights, and public access rights to information in a societal context.

Assessing Information Needs
Provides students with an overview of the user's perspective in the analysis of information needs and preferences. Provides the fundamentals to a broad approach emphasizing a unifying structure to understand human information seeking behaviors.

Information Needs of Children
Materials for children in relation to their needs, interests, and abilities. Evaluation and use of printed and audiovisual materials.